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Review: Schlage's Encode Plus Lock Offers Convenient Home Access Right From Your iPhone or Apple Watch
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I love the reliability of Schlage locks, and this one is no exception. Easily one of my most reliable HomeKit accessories. I have a couple of doors where I can't really use a deadbolt since they only have a single hole, but hopefully Schlage will also release a HomeKit (+Home Key and Thread) version of the upcoming Schlage Encode Smart WiFi Lever that they plan to release later this spring.
It's a good idea, but there are better systems that same this. The ones that integrate better; Looks are not always the best, but the usages usability is more important. We have a smart locking home. But they explain, they don't always work. Batteries with most smart locks don't last more than 6 months. This I don't see lasting any longer they half a year.
I've had this lock since last September and it is quite good. It can be unlocked in quite a few ways. My preference is to use my watch. Setting it up with a phone automatically sets up HomeKey with the watch. It's expensive but it's worth it. It's the best HomeKey-compatible lock I've seen. Sharing the key with family is also quite easy to do. 5/5 stars for me. Since I installed it five months ago, the batteries are at 90%.
As a Brit, I immediately associate that look with 1980s/'90s America. Not in a good retro way, more in the same vein as excessive wood panelling.
Now that's some ugly looking lock. At least with it you're announcing that you have no sense of taste so a burglar might think twice before forcing your door open.
How much does it cost? I have a Chinese brand HomeKit dead bolt that I got from Amazon a few years ago only for $100 and it has been working great except for a few glitches when you manually unlock the deadbolt from the inside. Unfortunately they don’t sell that brand on Amazon anymore and all the other brands are a lot more expensive.
Pick this same lock up at the start of the year. Live in a costal town and summer days made other lock with a touch screen not really work well. So far this lock been pretty awesome. Best thing is I made a custom action when I and my Gf after both out of the house to auto turn off the tv, turn on/off some lights and lock the door. When we pull back into the drive way (really when we turn down our street) it auto unlocks and turns on the tv and some lights.
Then having things like guest keys, and checking on the lock from homekit is pretty nice. If you are in the homekit eco system it's over all pretty good. Price is little high but a lot you can do with it.
Then having things like guest keys, and checking on the lock from homekit is pretty nice. If you are in the homekit eco system it's over all pretty good. Price is little high but a lot you can do with it.
Apart from it being extremely ugly and bulky (that's obviously subjective) it will not work with standard doors where I live. Its normal to have 3 dead bolts (top, bottom and mid). And that is exactly for the reason that many mention: Only one bolt is easy to kick open... and then I will also like to see how easy that physical keyhole can be picked.
Try again.. Start working with producers of doors and windows and integrate it into the door instead of a bulky add on.
Try again.. Start working with producers of doors and windows and integrate it into the door instead of a bulky add on.
It sounds like you might be a candidate for the Aqara A100. I’m not sure if it’s available everywhere (not in US, but I’m assuming you’re not in the US), but it is designed with 3 deadbolts, something that won’t work in most American homes. For now, it, along with the Schlage, is one of the few locks that support Apple HomeKey.
Edited to clarify that both the Schlage Encode Plus and the Aqara A100 support Apple HomeKey.
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It's not the Schlage logo on these, you hit the house icon on the lower left that lights up the keypad. It's astonishing how many people can't figure this out and complain online about it.
I stayed in an rural AirBNB recently that had a "smart lock". I ran outside to my car to get something and when I returned to the front door the lock batteries had died and I couldn’t get back in and I had left my phone inside. Had to walk a couple miles to a mini-mart and convince the person behind the counter that I wasn’t insane and just needed to borrow their phone to contact my AirBNB host. Fun times, definitely would have preferred a physical key. 😆
These things are useless if you have a lot of glass on the door. I know it’s against code, but I have a keyed lock on the inside so that no one can break the glass, reach in, and flip the lever to easily open the door. I’ll take my chances using another three seconds to get out of the house in case of fire.
The article fails to mention the good old mechanical physical key to open the lock. I see the keyhole. My question is, can my existing key (which opens all the doors in our house) be enabled to work with this lock with adjustable tumblers or pins?
Back at CES 2022, Schlage introduced the Encode Plus deadbolt, the first smart lock in North America to support Apple's home key feature that lets you unlock your door via NFC just by using an iPhone or Apple Watch. The Encode Plus has been in very short supply since its launch, but I finally got a hold of one and have spent the past few months testing it out.
I have some previous experience with Schlage's HomeKit-enabled smart locks thanks to the Schlage Sense, and my Encode Plus review unit is very similar to the Schlage Sense down to the Camelot trim in Aged Bronze to match my other door hardware. A Satin Nickel color option is also available for the Camelot trim and there's a more modern Century trim available in both of those colors plus an additional Matte Black option.
Installation and Setup
If you've ever installed a deadbolt before, you'll find the hardware installation process for the Encode Plus very straightforward. Even if you haven't, it's not a particularly tricky process. Removing your existing deadbolt typically requires just taking out a few screws on the inside portion of the lock and pulling the two sides apart to remove the main body.
Once that's done, it's simple to take out a couple of screws from the edge of the door and remove the bolt, and then a couple of screws to remove the strike plate where the bolt slides into the door jamb if you wish to replace that as well.
It's essentially the same process in reverse to install the Encode Plus, with a little bit of added complication from the need to feed the wires for the keypad through to the interior unit. The Encode Plus uses a metal plate on the interior of the door to initially hold the two sides of the lock together, and then the bulkier interior unit screws onto that plate.
From there, it's just a matter of installing the four AA batteries into the holder, sliding the holder into the interior unit, and sliding the cover on to hide all of the internals.
Configuring the lock for operation is also very simple, and it can be initiated either from the Schlage app or from the Home app. Either way will prompt you to scan the HomeKit code to add it to your Home app and then ask if you'd like to set up home key access. It's a quick setup process and I had no problems with it. You can also set up extra access codes to allow pet sitters, house sitters, or other visitors to get in without giving away your master code.
Lock details in Schlage app
With Apple's Home app setup, other members of your family can also access the Encode Plus status, automations, and home keys, but due to frustrating HomeKit issues dating back years, I haven't been able to test out this functionality. For some reason, I have been unable to share my HomeKit home with my wife for several years as she never receives my invitations.
In the process of trying once again to set it up for this review, it ended up with me losing ownership of my own HomeKit home and forcing me to set up every HomeKit device in my house from scratch. It's been months and a few of them still remain in limbo even after supposed full resets, claiming they are linked to another home that I of course can't remove them from because no one has ownership of said home.
Operation
Compared to the previous Sense, the Encode Plus operates nearly identically for the most part, with both locks offering keypad and traditional key access from the outside with most of the electronics and the batteries housed on the interior side of the door. It's a much bulkier setup than the new Level Lock+, but it's not an uncommon arrangement and Schlage has managed to shrink the interior unit a bit with the Encode Plus over the Sense.
As HomeKit locks, both the Sense and the Encode Plus show up in the Home app across Apple's platforms, making it easy to view their status along with the rest of your smart home devices. You can also include them in automations and scenes in the Home app, making them work hand-in-hand with those other devices if you wish.
What separates the Encode Plus from the Sense is of course home key support, which means you don't need to type in a code on the keypad or use a physical key to unlock your door. All you have to do is bring your iPhone or Apple Watch close to the deadbolt and it will unlock, granting access to your home.
You can configure home keys to require authorization before they will unlock the door, or with Express Mode they can automatically trigger it to unlock without authentication or requiring you to bring up the key on your device. Express Mode also means you will be able unlock your door for a while even if your iPhone runs out of battery, taking advantage of the last little bit of reserve power in the phone's battery to give you a few hours of cushion.
Home key in Wallet app on iPhone - access code details automatically blanked out in screenshots but can be seen in the app
The home key for your lock lives in the Wallet app on your iPhone and Apple Watch, appearing like a high-quality metal card that fits in with the rest of your cards but which has the extra little touches you expect from Apple like glare on the card that shifts around as you tilt your phone. There's not a lot of functionality on the home key card in the Wallet app, but it lets you see the manual keypad access code linked to it, offers a toggle for Express Mode, and provides a way to quickly jump to the Home app to configure other settings.
I quickly found I needed to hold my iPhone or Apple Watch quite close to the Encode Plus before it will register to unlock. That's not terribly surprising for NFC as a very short-range wireless communication technology and it's good for preventing unintentional activation of the lock, but it also made the home key functionality less convenient for me than I had hoped for.
Rather than pulling my phone out of my pocket, I prefer to use my Apple Watch whenever possible for tasks like this or paying with Apple Pay, but in this case I found it a bit unwieldy to use my Apple Watch.
With a protruding door frame just to the left of the lock, I have to somewhat awkwardly bend my wrist around to get my watch close enough, and that's after having pushed my coat or sweatshirt sleeve up a bit to expose my watch. And then it takes a moment before it registers and unlocks the door. It actually feels more convenient to just use the keypad to type in my access code if I want to unlock the door, but your mileage may vary.
But that's where another minor issue crops up. As on the Sense, the numbers on the Encode Plus keypad are extremely faint under typical lighting conditions, making it hard to see where they are. They illuminate as soon as you press a button on the keypad, but it's an extra key press and a moment of uncertainty each time you enter your code.
Unilluminated keypad
There is a set of wireless signal icons bracketing the "5" to show you where to hold your device for NFC unlocking, and they also help orient you on the keypad at a glance, but it would have been nice to have the full set of keypad numbers similarly visible without requiring illumination.
Using a bit of contrasting color for the keypad numbers would make them easily visible upon approach in daylight with illumination still available to help when it's darker out. It's not a big deal and the extra key press to turn on illumination only takes a moment, but better contrast for the numbers is an easy improvement I wish they had made in the seven years since the Sense launched.
On the interior of the door, the reduction in size of the unit compared to the Sense is a welcome change, although it never really bothered me on the Sense. With a keyed lock cylinder, the electronics, and four AA batteries needed to power the Encode Plus, it's still on the bulky side, so if you're looking for a clean aesthetic, be aware.
Aside from the reduction in size for the interior unit, there is one other change of note on this side of the door. While the Sense had a graspable round knob to manually lock the deadbolt from the inside, the Encode Plus uses a rotating lever. The operation is essentially the same (turn toward the door jamb to lock, turn away to unlock), but the lever design makes it easier to see at a glance from across the room whether or not the door is locked.
I also find the mechanical operation of the Encode Plus significantly quieter than on the Sense, which is nice for not disturbing other home occupants during late night entries or startling my cat.
Wrap-up
Overall, I've found the Encode Plus a nice addition to Apple's HomeKit ecosystem. It's easy to install, offers a fairly clean look, and gives you several different options for unlocking your door.
I've got a few nits to pick with it, mostly around the close proximity required for the NFC to trigger it and the visibility issues on the keypad, but overall it's a worthwhile addition if you're considering a HomeKit lock. It's one of your only options with home key support, and Apple's implementation of that feature is just about as slick as you'd expect and hopefully it will continue to improve with features like easy key sharing via iMessage and other apps.
My HomeKit frustrations do weigh on me a bit, though I acknowledge they aren't Schlage's fault and in this most recent case aren't specifically related to the Encode Plus at all. But in general I've mostly learned to live with HomeKit being a finicky and unreliable system. I'm certainly hoping things will improve with the new home architecture that appears set to finally roll out for real in iOS 16.4, but especially given the hiccups that resulted in Apple pulling the upgrade from the iOS 16.2 update, I'm not holding my breath.
Even with HomeKit's overall issues, I enjoy having dozens of smart switches, lights, locks, and more from around my home right at my fingertips wherever I am, and the Encode Plus fits right into that.
The Schlage Encode Plus is priced at around $320 at vendors like The Home Depot and Lowe's, but availability can be spotty.
Note: Schlage/Allegion provided the Encode Plus to MacRumors for the purposes of this review. No other compensation was received. MacRumors may be an affiliate partner with some vendors mentioned in this article and may earn commissions on purchases made through links in this article.
Article Link: Review: Schlage's Encode Plus Lock Offers Convenient Home Access Right From Your iPhone or Apple Watch
See that point I made? Oh, no... you didn't.
For the sake of a couple of security pins in that keyway you wouldn't be able to rake or bump. What's the point of an expensive lock with such a basic vulnerability? A couple of security pins would deter a lot of chancers who would move on to easier pickings. I don't disagree with your point on if someone wants in badly enough so why bother with an expensive lock at all?
If the batteries die? Have you used a keypad lock like this before? It warns you for weeks before the batteries die. I've been using keypad locks for over a decade, and the batteries dying is not something you worry about.
I have more than one entrance to my house, so if something every happened, I'd use a different door.
It would be nice if they released models without the keylock as well, because a lot of people don't need it and also don't want it.
Well. It’s 3 dead bolts in the A100, but in my door these are like 30 cm from the top and bottom of the door and then one in the middle. On the A100 it seems like they’re all in the middle.
You should be able to rekey the cylinder.
With my Schlage Sense I had the other deadbolt rekeyed when I installed it in 2018, figured easier to present the homedepot person with something they were used to doing.
Yes, but if and only if your existing key uses the same Schlage 5-pin C-keyway (aka SC-1). This is the common Schlage keyway for residential locks. If your existing key is another brand (e.g. Kwikset, ...) then you're out of luck for a simple repinning. It might be possible for a skilled locksmith to replace the whole lock cylinder with one compatible with another keyway, but that may not be easy.
I'd like to see someone release a one-sided smart deadbolt for exactly this purpose.
I ordered one in matte black modern Century trim back in January from build.com. I am not going to see it until mid March, as it is on back order. I am in no rush for it as I doing a major renovation on my house and will be using it on the new front door.