When looking for a reliable smart lock, you should first make sure it has the look you want on your entryway. Whether it is the front door, side door or backdoor, you will be looking at this smart lock all the time and must be happy with the design and finish. And you must make sure it fits your needs in terms of home automation and how you plan to control this smart device. Do you want a smart lock that uses voice commands to lock and unlock your doors? Do you want a smart lock you can access remotely, no matter where you are? Or do you want a smart lock that has a backup plan or a way to help you get inside you home when you are locked outside? We recently completed tested a smart lock from Kwikset that not only looks great but provides 4 unique ways for you to unlock and lock your smart home door, including using your finger. Here is our review on Kwikset’s Halo Touch Fingerprint Wi-Fi Enabled Smart Lock.
4 Ways to Unlock and Lock Kwikset Halo Touch Fingerprint Wi-Fi Enabled Smart Lockwww.youtube.com
Kwikset Halo Touch Fingerprint Wi-Fi Enabled smart lock unboxed. GearBrain
The Halo Touch Fingerprint Smart Lock is a smart deadbolt lock with fingerprint technology for you to use to lock and unlock your door lock. This smart lock is a high quality biometric smart device that is Wi-Fi enabled and does not require a smart hub. It comes with ANSI/BHMA Grade AAA certification which is the highest residential security certification you can get in a smart door lock. It also has 20-minute fire rating and SmartKey Security.
SmartKey Security is Kwikset’s proprietary security system built-in to their smart locks. It’s designed to help prevent break-ins and is pick-resistant and bump-proof. This patented design is what makes Kwikset’s smart locks very secure. It also allows you to re-key the lock in seconds. This comes in handy when you lose your keys, or they might have been stolen.
All features of this smart lock can be set up and controlled using the Kwikset app which is available for both Android and iOS devices. You can set schedules and create customized access to the lock. The app will also guide you through the installation process.
Use Kwikset app to install and operate your Halo Touch lockGearBrain
However, the best feature of this smart lock is the multiple ways to lock and unlock the Halo Touch. Most smart locks come with two or three ways to lock and unlock the device. Halo offers four ways: touch, voice, app and key. All these options are important to have with a smart lock. Imagine you lose your keys or get locked out of your house, having a backup plan is important and will provide a quick way to get back inside. Halo offers you four unique ways which are easy to use and secure.
Touch control is easy to set up in the Kwikset app. You can set up to 100 fingerprints from 50 users and easily disable or delete these fingerprints when needed. For key control, the Halo Touch comes with two keys. And if you want to use the Kwikset app, you will have to connect your Halo Touch to your home Wi-Fi network.
Once your lock is connected to the Internet via your home Wi-Fi network, you will be able to use the app to lock and unlock your Halo Touch from anywhere. You will also be able to connect the smart lock to either Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant enabled devices. Halo Touch works with both voice assistants and will allow you to lock your Halo Touch using voice commands. Keep in mind to unlock your Halo Touch with a voice command, you can only use Google Assistant devices. Google allows you to set up a PIN code in the Kwikset app once you are connected to Google Home app. Once activated, you can use a voice commands, like “hey Google, unlock my Halo lock” and Google Assistant will ask you for your PIN code before it unlocks your smart Halo Touch deadbolt lock.
Once connected to Google Home app and you have set up a PIN in Kwikset app, you can use voice commands to unlock your Halo Touch Smart LockGearBrain
The list price for the Halo Touch Fingerprint Wi-Fi enabled smart deadbolt lock is $249. The Lock is available online at The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Amazon and Build.com. it’s also available at retail. You can check Kwikset site for a retailer nearest your location.
Is $249 a good price for a smart lock? For a standard smart lock from a popular smart lock manufacturer, this price is right in line with the others. Some of the best smart locks cost between $200 to $300 depending on the manufacturer and features. But keep in mind, the Halo Touch comes with 4 different ways for you to lock and unlock your door lock. Most other smart locks only have 2 or 3 ways. Based on Halo’s features, you can say it’s priced right.
The Halo Touch Fingerprint Wi-Fi Lock does come in two designs and finishes. The designs are contemporary and traditional. The finishes are satin nickel and matte black.
Based on the many smart locks we have installed over the past 6 years; the Halo Touch is very easy to setup and install. Besides the instructions that come inside your box, Kwikset also uses the BILT app to help you install your Halo Touch. This app is easy to use and follow. The installation process will take only 15 minutes or slightly longer if this is your first smart lock install.
Halo Touch Fingerprint Wi-Fi Smart Lock is not compatible with your home security systems unless you are using either Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant as your controller or hub. The Halo Touch is compatible with Brilliant smart switches. For those of you who don’t know Brilliant, they are a manufacturer of smart switches which can act as your smart home controller. They are very powerful smart switches and have a robust ecosystem of smart device integrations including Leviton, Honeywell, Resideo, Samsung SmartThings, Ring and Sonos. You can learn more about Brilliant by visiting our review: Brilliant Home Control Switch Review. Also, you can use our compatibility find engine, The GearBrain to find smart devices that are compatible with Kwikset smart locks as well as Brilliant, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant enabled devices. it's free and easy to use. And if you don't find it on The GearBrain, let us know and we will find it for you.
How to Find Products in The GearBrain, Our Compatibility Find Engine for Smart Deviceswww.youtube.com
Halo Touch Fingerprint Smart Lock performed as we expected. We had no issues with installation and the voice command setup with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa was quick and painless. It was interesting that we could not unlock the Halo Touch using Alexa but could with Google Assistant. Hopefully for Alexa users this will change in the near future.
We checked our Wi-Fi signal at the location we tested the lock, and it was strong. As a result, we had no issues with connecting the lock to the Internet or controlling the lock from outside the home. We also setup multiple users for fingerprint access and found the setup process was not as smooth as other fingerprint smart locks, but it worked.
There were a few challenges with Halo Lock. it seems we had a few notification issues with the lock functions. We were not getting all the notifications from users. We learned that if you have a lot of users for your Halo Lock, you could experience missed notifications because there are multiple users logged into the same Kwikset app account. To solve this problem, you should ask all users to create their own Kwikset account and the main user should share the home with these users. If you don’t, you might run into notification problems.
Backside view of Halo Touch Fingerprint Wi-Fi Enabled Smart LockGearBrain
Another issue we had with the Halo Touch is its lack of integrations with smart home security systems and video doorbells. We would have liked to have seen this lock work with smart home security systems like Vivint, ADT, SimpliSafe and more. We know Kwikset has other smart locks that work with these systems specifically, but none of them offer the four different ways you can lock (especially the fingerprint technology) and unlock your smart lock or look as nice as this smart lock in our opinion.
Overall, we did find the Halo Lock to be a very sturdy and well-designed deadbolt lock. It looks and feels like it will be able to withstand the outside elements that can affect a smart door lock. We tested the contemporary designed which reminded us of the Kevo Contemporary Touch-to-Open Smart Lock 2nd Gen (which is no longer available.) This design looks very elegant. It’s a smart lock you would want on your front door.
If you are looking for a smart lock that will work with your smart home security system or maybe your smart video doorbell by Ring or Google, the Kwikset Halo Touch is not for you. You could set it up to work with Ring if you use Brilliant smart switches as the hub. Or you can connect it to a DIY smart home security system like abode, but you would have to use either Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant as your hub and app to set up routines. This might be a challenge for smart home novices. Kwikset does have other smart locks that might be compatible with your home security system, but none come with biometric control or Kwikset’s fingerprint technology.
For Airbnb owners, the Halo Touch could work for your property, but you would have to make sure you delete the shared users after each stay. Also, we are not sure if your guests would want to use their fingerprint to unlock their door lock. It might be a privacy issue for them.
And for small businesses or users with second homes, if you want a nice-looking smart lock on your front door which provides employees or trades access to inside when you are not there, the Halo Touch would work nicely.
Nonetheless, if you just want a smart lock that works on your home Wi-Fi network, no hub required and has 4 different ways for you to get inside your home, the Kwikset Halo Touch Fingerprint is a solid choice. The price for the Kwikset Halo Touch Fingerprint Wi-Fi smart lock is slightly high or near middle of the high end smart lock market, but it is a reliable and sturdy. It’s a smart lock that doesn’t need a smart home hub or connected to a controller to provide remote access anywhere in the world. This smart lock does not come with a keypad or touchscreen, but it does offer 4 distinct ways (fingerprint, key, app or voice) for you to unlock and lock your smart lock and has a nice design. You can share your smart lock with up to 50 users and it is very easy to setup and operate. Plus, it integrates with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant enabled devices to control your smart home entryways. A key reason for getting a smart lock.
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