eufy Video Smart Lock Review

Part video doorbell and part door’s lockeufy Video Smart Lock is a unique hybrid smart home device that allows you to lock and unlock your door using your voice, a fingerprint scan, a mobile app, a touchpad, or traditional keys. It’s also a smart doorbell that offers crisp 2K video, dual motion sensors, smart motion detection, and free local video storage. It’s expensive at $399.99, but its versatility, performance, and rich features earn it an Editors’ Choice award for smart locks.

eufy Video Smart Lock Design and Features

Video Smart Lock is a complete lock set that comes with everything you need to replace your old lock. Includes interior and exterior escutcheons, a Wi-Fi chime box, strike plate and deadbolt assemblies, a pair of keys, mounting screws, and other assorted mounting hardware.

With rounded edges and a matte black and dark gray finish, the outer shield offers a sleek aesthetic, but at 7.2 x 2.8 x 1.0 inches (HWD), it’s one of the largest locks we’ve seen. The durable metal alloy casing has a IP65 waterproof rating to protect yourself from the elements. It contains a fingerprint scanner on top, a 2K (2560 by 1920) camera, four infrared LEDs for night vision, a 12-button backlit touchpad, and a microphone. The touchpad has 0-9 keys, as well as lock/unlock and back buttons. The lock also offers motion detection, a feature you don’t get with the comparably priced Lockly Vision Doorbell Camera Smart Lock ($399.99). In fact, the Eufy lock uses dual motion sensors (PIR and radar) to improve detection.

A doorbell button below the touchpad lights up blue when pressed or when someone approaches the door. The chime button lifts off the lock face to reveal a keyhole for opening the lock with traditional keys. A speaker, a reset button, and a USB-C port for emergency charging are located on the bottom edge. At the rear are the Wi-Fi and data cables that connect to the inner shield.

(Credit: Eufy)

The interior component shares the same finish as the exterior and measures 7.6 by 3.3 by 1.1 inches. It has a thumb-turn knob for manual bolt operation and a removable cover that conceals the 10,000 mAh rechargeable battery pack. The battery is rated to last up to four months with regular use. Just remove the package and charge it for several hours with a USB-C cable (not included). The battery compartment also contains a pairing button to pair the lock with the included Wi-Fi bridge.

The Combination Doorbell/Wi-Fi Bridge is the same plug-in device that comes with the eufy Smart Touch Lock with Wi-Fi ($259.99). Contains 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios and connects wirelessly to the lock and your home network. The bridge measures 3.7 x 2.0 x 1.0 inches (HWD) and has a gray fabric cover, two foldable Wi-Fi antennas, and an LED indicator that flashes green during setup, turns solid blue when is connected and glows solid red when the internet connection is lost. A microSD card slot on the left side is used for local video storage, but you’ll need to supply your own memory card (up to 128GB).

Video Smart Lock offers intelligent alerts that can differentiate between movement caused by people and other objects. It will send push alerts and record video when motion is detected or doorbell button is pressed and save video to micro SD card. The lock supports voice commands, routines, and video streaming from Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, but does not work with Apple HomeKit or IFTTT.

eufy app experience

Video Lock uses the same mobile app as other Eufy devices, including the double bell ($259.99) and the reflecting camera ($179.99). A panel on the Devices screen displays the name of the lock, an image of the last captured event, and a play arrow. Tap the arrow to start a live video feed that also features a Lock/Unlock button and manual Record and Snapshot buttons. There’s also a two-way talk button, a mute button, and a quick response button that plays a pre-recorded or custom response when pressed.

(Credit: Eufy)

Tap the gear icon in the upper right corner to access the settings screen. Here, you can create custom responses, configure motion detection settings, and enable a Loitering Detection option. The latter will send an automatic alert, ring the doorbell, or trigger a quick response if someone stays on your property for a specified amount of time. You can also set an exit detection option that will notify you when someone has opened the door but then leaves the area.

Power manager settings let you view battery life and choose between optimal battery life (ring only, no motion detection), balanced battery life (limited motion detection times), and optimal surveillance ( 60 second video clips). One touch lock allows you to lock the door with a long press of a button, and auto lock will automatically lock the door after it has been open for a certain period of time. The Scramble Passcode setting allows you to unlock the door by entering random numbers before or after entering the actual passcode, and Wrong-Try Protection allows you to set a specified number of incorrect passcode entries before the device enters a lockout period of your choice.

Other settings include video and audio quality controls, notifications, ringtones with an option to use Alexa as a ringer, and calibration.

Installation and use of eufy Video Smart Lock

Installing the physical Video Lock is as easy as installing any door lock. I started by removing my old lock (including deadbolt and strike plate) and installed the new lock and strike plate. I followed this with the outer escutcheon, being careful to slide the tail into the deadbolt slot and feed the data cable through the hole in the door, and then affixed the escutcheon to the mounting plate on the inside of the door. I connected the data cable to the interior escutcheon, connected the escutcheon to the mounting plate, and used the rotary knob to make sure the lock was working smoothly. Lastly, I put the battery away (make sure to charge it beforehand) and was ready to add the lock to my eufy account.

Due to the required jumper, setting up the lock requires two main steps. First, I opened the mobile app, tapped the plus icon on the Devices screen, and selected the Wi-Fi Bridge & Doorbell Chime from the list of devices. I used my phone to scan the QR code at the bottom of the doorbell when prompted, plugged it in, and tapped Next. I pressed the sync button until the LED flashed green, tapped Next again, and entered my Wi-Fi password. I waited a few seconds for the doorbell to connect to my network, gave it a name, and waited a few more minutes for the firmware to update.

Getting back to the lock itself, I tapped Add New Device when prompted, selected Video Smart Video Lock, and selected the bridge I just installed. At this point, you can watch an installation tutorial video or skip it. I touched the Sync button on the inner shield for five seconds until I heard a beep, touched Next, and scanned the QR code that appeared in the app using the doorbell camera. Within a few seconds of hearing a double beep, the lock was successfully paired with the bridge and added to the app. I tapped Next, gave the lock a name, followed the instructions to calibrate the lock, created a master access code, and enrolled my fingerprint. After a quick firmware update to the lock, the installation was complete.

(Credit: eufy/PCMag)

Video Smart Lock worked flawlessly in tests. The touchpad was responsive, as was the fingerprint scanner, which provided instant lock and unlock operations every time. The lock had no problem following app commands or issuing voice commands to lock and unlock the door, and the auto-lock feature worked as described.

The doorbell camera delivered colorful 2K video during the day and sharp black and white video at night. Motion notifications came quickly, as did doorbell pushes and video recordings of motion events. The camera did a good job of identifying human movement and ignoring wind-caused movement from passing leaves and cars. I created an Alexa routine to have a wyze bulb turn on when doorbell button was pressed and it worked with no problem.

unlocked potential

The eufy Video Smart Lock may cost more than most smart locks, but its 2K doorbell camera and excellent feature set make its $400 price point a bit more palatable. This lock offers more ways to lock and unlock your doors than most smart locks, including your voice, your phone, a fingerprint scan, a touchpad, and with a traditional set of keys. The integrated video doorbell provides excellent 2K video and accurate motion detection, and installation is relatively easy. We’d love to see more interoperability with third-party devices, but that doesn’t stop it from winning an Editors’ Choice award for smart locks. If $400 is too rich for your blood, the $249 Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro Wi-Fi (also an Editors’ Choice winner) offers numerous ways to open and close the door and includes a fingerprint scanner, but it doesn’t have a built-in video doorbell.