Level Bolt (Wi-Fi) Smart Deadbolt - Make Your Lock Smart & Keep Existing Hardware and Keys - Lock/Unlock from Anywhere - Level App for iOS & Android - Works with Apple Home, Alexa & Google, White

The Level Bolt with Matter is an amazing piece of engineering and design! Called “The Invisible Smart Lock”, the Level Bolt sits inside your deadbolt, only replacing only the existing latch and strike plate. No one will ever know you have a smart lock! Installation can take less than 10 minutes. Simply remove the existing latch and strike plate. Replace the latch with the Level Bolt, insert the motor, then install the CR2 battery and like magic it just works! For me, the time-consuming task was removing putty from around the existing strike plate added by our home builder and needing to slightly trim the wood behind the strike plate, as the Level strike plate is thicker than a standard contractor-grade strike plate. On inserting the CR2 Battery, Matter-compatibility executed a notification on my Google Pixel phone to “Set Up Your Device”. I simply scanned the supplied QR Code and everything self-installed, with Google Home being the default platform. Even before installing the Level app, most everything worked within my Google Home ecosystem, including naming the bolt and controlling the lock, less battery status. For security, you can’t unlock the bolt by a “Hey Google” voice command, but you can lock it. From within the Google Home app, you can remotely lock or unlock the bolt from anywhere. The packaging also claims compatibility with Apple Home, Amazon Alexa and SmartThings. I recommend also installing and registering the Level Home app. It adds firmware updating, calibration, sound level settings, battery status, Auto Lock options (setting a duration from 30 seconds to one hour to auto-lock my door after unlocking) and more. You can setup sharing and create a “Pass” e.g. setting temporary access for your visiting in-laws. he Level Home app does not include its own Google Widget, but the Google Home Widget works just fine. I definitely recommend the Level Bolt with Matter.

TLDR; Perfectly designed and machined, easy to use and integrate, but you'll likely need to do a little work on your door unless your builders were perfectionists. Also, get the connect wi-fi dongle. I recently got a house with a smart lock that told me I was unable to use it due to not being the "owner." While this makes sense from a security perspective, there was apparently no way to reset the device, even with full physical access, without engaging the prior homeowner. This wasn't a problem as we'd been in contact, but annoyed me no end. That, plus the fact that the prior smart lock was a tumor attached to the deadbolt, ate batteries, etc. led me to seek out a better solution. Level's bolt is the better solution. It is hidden in the door, uses your original hardware, seems to not be vulnerable to any standard attack with magnets etc. It's designed very well, to spec and standards, and works perfectly. The app is low footprint and can be dropped once you hook the lock up to google home or alexa. It just offers more details about lock and unlock history. I gave "alexa integration" five stars, though I am using it with Google Home. I have to assume the experience is similarly easy. Ease of install should be five stars, but it does require more fiddling with hardware than other on-top solutions. Ideally this would amount to a couple more screws to take out. However, beware that most homes are not drilled and cored to exact spec. This lock measures perfectly according to spec, but my door did not. I ended up carving out a little more wood on the wall side for the deadbolt to fit through (not much, it was flat before but drilled offcenter with a round hole). I also had to do a bit of carving with a chisel to get the strike plate on the door side to fit properly. All-in all, it was very satisfying and not hard, just a little time-consuming. Once it was in place, the rest of the setup only took a couple minutes. I'm fairly certain that the problems with door fit were why the prior lock solution ate batteries, as the motor in it had to struggle (as would a human with fingers) to get the deadbolt into place. Now that the hole is in the proper place for the deadbolt, keys, fingers, and the smart lock all work with no pressure/effort, and the lock has been in place for longer than it took to burn through a new set of batteries on the prior smart lock I had. Big thumbs up.

The auto-unlock feature doesn't reliably work with Android phones. According to the support person I talked with, this is an issue with the Android OS, not their lock. Unfortunately, I learned this after I could no longer return the lock, so now I am stuck with a smart lock that doesn't do the one thing I wanted it to do. Fortunately, I found a suitable replacement in the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock, which seamlessly auto-unlocks with my Android phone. It's puzzling why August was able to overcome the alleged Android OS issue when Level couldn't. This has cast doubt on the support agent's explanation. I had to install the Level Bolt lock twice to get it to lock/unlock most of the time. Even then, the lock still failed to lock/unlock if the door wasn't closed perfectly. While it would be nice to have a hidden smart lock so no one can tell it is a smart lock, it is more important for me to have a lock that works. If you are an Android user and the auto-unlock feature is essential to you, I highly recommend purchasing the August lock instead. It was easier to install and just works. I have had no issues with the August lock failing to lock or unlock, as I had with the Level Bolt.

I purchased the "Matter" version of the lock and while it took a little bit of work to get it installed and working, it's very impressive so far. We are currently living in a rental, and this is a perfect solution for us because I can't change the key for the door, and I also can't change the external hardware. Software setup was very easy using the Level app on an iPhone. I did get an error when trying to add it to my Apple Home. When I went through the prompt to associate it to a room in the Home, it failed. However, the lock still showed up properly and I was able to update it in the Home app without any problem. This matched up well with the current Kwikset hardware on our door. The deadbolt where this is installed requires a little effort to turn initially and I was concerned that it wouldn't work, but so far that has not been an issue. What did require a little work was the strike plate (the part on the door frame where the bolt slides in). The bolt was rubbing one edge of it, which increased resistance, and it would stop. I had to file that side down and then it would move without issue, but I was still not getting it to show "locked". I realized that the bolt was just slightly longer than the original bolt, and I had to increase the depth of the hole a few millimeters. Now it works every time. I've had a couple of other smart locks in my previous home and typically when you send the unlock or lock request you have to wait a few seconds before you get a response. This lock seems to work instantaneously. It has a little chime that sounds when it operates, which you has an option for volume or to turn it off. I was a little concerned that the battery would be inconvenient to change, but it's inside the bolt and just requires you to twist off the cap to change it. I'm curious how long the battery will last.

It's ok! But not impressive or amazing; the auto-lock in 5 minutes type setting is not consistent (despite proper installation); it does work 90% of the time, but not 100%. When it doesn't work, it does nothing and left unlocked. In this state you can still use the app to force-lock manually; but very strange it doesn't trigger auto-lock despite it knowing door is shut and it is suitable for locking action. Otherwise, good app, easy to install, have physical key backup and generally satisfactory. You won't regret the purchase but be aware of the occasional misses on auto-lock. Fingerprint reader works well, multiple fingers, temporary guests and so forth -- all good on that front.

For us this product has one job: to open and close the lock via the app no matter where we are. For this purpose, we were excited to get this, but it unfortunately failed: - wouldn't fit 2 of 3 doors we wanted to use it for (make sure you have very, very standard doors and hardware, or the right tools to widen bolt bore holes which we unfortunately did not have with us at the time of install ... a notable difference from most locks is the size of the bolt which is larger presumably to fit the battery) - on the door we were able to use it on, it ended up totally jammed, to the point where the lock wouldn't even close manually, after operating ok for about a month (unfortunately for us, this took us beyond the return period on amazon) - The wifi bridge that came with the lock doesn't seem to work very well and would periodically disconnect after which I'd need to plug and unplug it, despite other devices in the area not having a problem connecting to wifi and the bridge being located within the suggested distance from the level lock. this eroded our confidence in being able to use the lock truly remotely which is an issue for us) We also have an August lock and while it is definitely not pretty, it works. If you're going to go with Level, I'd a/ do some extra research on door compatibility beforehand and/or have some boring bits on hand and b/ assume you need to have really, really strong wifi within 20 feet of the lock

This lock has been a game changer for our home! I love that it connects seamlessly with Alexa, which makes it so easy to unlock or check the status when we’re not home. The installation was straightforward, and I like that it works with our existing keys, so we didn’t have to change out hardware. It feels super secure, looks clean since everything is hidden inside the door, and the convenience of remote access gives us real peace of mind. Highly recommend if you want a smart lock that blends in and just works!

Tried the Level Bolt first as I wanted to keep the orignial hardware matching. After a few days of trying to make it work properly, and a useless chat with support, I decided to return it. Why? Connectivity is not great at all, even with the bluetooth range extension on and using an Apple Homepod for connectivity with Homekit. Siri can unlock the door but i t takes too long and sometimes fails. The lock is well made and easy to install but fails in connectivity. FYI - I returned this item and purchased the Levelo Lock+ - WOW, such a difference in quality and connectivity. Works with Siri, and unlocks quickly and with a sound via the Homekey in iphone or apple watch. Skip the bolt and get the Lock.