Kwikset’s Newest Lock Has the Best Door Sensor I’ve Ever Seen | WIRED

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Kwikset is no newbie in the lock game. The company has been around since the 1940s making your classic locks and doorknobs and has been making smart locks under its Halo line since 2019. The Halo line originally consisted of two locks, the Halo Keypad and the Halo Touch. As of today there’s a third: the Halo Select.

The Halo Select packs a variety of updates and changes from the previous Halo models, including a quieter motor, unlocking via geofence, and a brand-new door sensor. It's also the brand's first lock compatible with Matter, the smart-home standard that allows smart-home devices to communicate without requiring multiple apps and hubs.

It took Kwikset a while to come out with a Matter lock after companies like Yale did it first. “This was not an easy feat for us," said Charlie Doughtery, Kwikset's electronics brand manager. "We as a company wanted to put out something that was great for consumers and offered a best-in-class consumer experience, and really made sure we got there before we decided to release to market.”

A lot of these features we've already seen in smart locks. But based on what we've seen so far, the Matter experience is one of the best I've seen, and the super-minimal door-status sensor is a particularly refreshing take in the world of smart sensors. More on that below.

This isn't the first Matter smart lock, but the Matter experience that Kwikset designed into its app is pretty impressive.

Now, the whole point of Matter is that you shouldn't need separate apps to manage all of your devices. Kwikset still requires you to start with its app for the initial setup, but then you'll head into the Lock Settings and tap on the section labeled Matter, where you can easily switch over control to your smart-home ecosystem of choice. The app will prompt you to choose Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Home, or Samsung SmartThings when you switch over to Matter, and then will hand over the keys to your choice of ecosystem.

After testing a few Matter devices, I don't mind starting with a brand's app, and I think it especially makes sense when installing a smart lock as opposed to, say, setting up a smart plug or smart light bulb. There are several more steps involved when you install a smart lock, and getting it wrong can mean no working lock whatsoever on your door.

The Kwikset app will also make it easy to switch back control to Kwikset and Wi-Fi if you decide Matter isn't for you. There are more features available if you choose the Kwikset-controlled path, like guest codes and using the included door-status sensor, but the lock does promise better battery life when using Matter.

The most exciting addition to Kwikset's newest lock is the included door-status sensor. It works like any other door sensor—the sensors line up to tell you whether the door is closed—but it's a super-slim, discreet style compared to other options on the market.

Kwikset hasn't had door sensors before, but other smart-lock brands like Yale (which now owns August locks) have offered these for a while in conjunction with their locks, and plenty of other smart-home gadget makers have offered stand-alone door and window sensors for a similar experience. In both cases, it's a two-part sensor that sits on your doorframe or window frame and door or window, and usually requires a few sticky cushions to perfectly line the two parts up so that the sensor can correctly identify when the door is opened or closed.

Kwikset won't use that system. Instead, the brand designed a super-slim magnet-style sensor that you'll place into the doorjamb where it can connect with the lock. It looks incredibly sleek and seems like it would be much easier to place than trying to perfectly line up two separate sensors on a door and frame. Only testing will tell if this is indeed the case, and it's top of my testing list once it becomes available.

The Kwikset Halo doesn't have a specific launch date but is expected to be available at retailers like Lowe's and Amazon by mid-November and will retail for $279.