Your door, your phone and the people who need to get in decide which smart lock is best, long before the finish or the brand does.
The best smart lock is the one that fits your door, your phone and the people using it. For most homes that's a full replacement smart deadbolt with a keypad, a BHMA rating on the box and a key or 9V backup, with Wi-Fi or Matter only if you want control from away. Renters and suite owners usually do better with a retrofit that keeps the existing deadbolt and keys.
The connection decides what you can do from the couch versus the office, and how often you buy batteries.
Rule of thumb: to stop carrying keys, a keypad on Bluetooth is plenty. To let the dog walker in while you're at work, you need Wi-Fi or a hub, and if a HomePod mini or Nest Hub already lives on your counter, a Matter-over-Thread lock can use the border router you own.
Most smart locks offer two or three ways in. Pick the one the least techy person in the house will actually use.
Codes are the workhorse. Everyone gets their own, so a former cleaner loses access without anyone else changing theirs, and the Encode Plus holds up to 100 codes. Skip birthdays and 1234, and wipe a touchscreen now and then so the smudges don't give the game away.
Great for kids too young for a phone and too distractible for a key. The Weiser Halo Touch stores up to 100 fingerprints across 50 users, and the eufy Smart Lock C220 up to 50. Enrol two fingers per person, one on each hand, for the day someone arrives with a bandage or a full grocery bag.
Your phone becomes the key, and some locks open as you walk up: the Yale Assure Lock 2 Touch offers optional Auto-Unlock, and the Encode Plus works with Apple Home Keys, so a tap of an iPhone or Apple Watch opens it. Lovely, until your phone dies on the doorstep, so treat the app as a bonus rather than the only way in.
A keyed smart lock keeps a cylinder as backup, which also means a cylinder that can be picked like any other. A keyless lock has nothing to pick but depends entirely on power, so it needs a dead-battery plan. Yale sells key-free versions of the Assure Lock 2 with 9V emergency terminals; every other lock in the table below keeps a key. For rentals and suites, a key is usually the simpler life.
Before you fall for a finish, check what's actually in your door.
A retrofit replaces only the inside thumbturn. The August Wi-Fi Smart Lock mounts over an existing single-cylinder deadbolt, and because the outside doesn't change, August notes your keys still work. It runs on two CR123 batteries, rated for up to three months. It's the quick, reversible option, but the lock is only as strong as the deadbolt you already had.
A full replacement swaps the whole deadbolt, outside keypad included. The Encode Plus fits doors 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inches thick with a 2-3/8 or 2-3/4 inch backset, the same standard prep as a regular deadbolt. You get a new bolt, a new strike and a BHMA rating for the complete lock.
Standard smart deadbolts are made for bored doors. The eufy C220 listing says outright that it isn't compatible with mortise locks, and a multipoint door needs hardware matched to its gearbox rather than a boxed deadbolt. A condo suite door off a corridor sits in a fire separation, and the 2024 BC Building Code requires those doors to latch and self-close (Articles 9.10.13.9 and 9.10.13.10), so a smart deadbolt should join the existing latch, never replace it or hold it open.
A small motor can't shove a bolt the way your wrist can. If the bolt rubs the strike, the motor stalls, the lock reports a jam, and repeated attempts run the batteries down. The Encode Plus quick start guide has you close the door and run the bolt with the thumbturn to check it moves smoothly before a code is ever entered. Do that test before you buy. If you have to lift or push the door to lock it, fix the strike or hinges first; the guide to replacing a door handle or lock covers measuring and strike alignment.
Smart deadbolts are tested like mechanical ones. Schlage lists the Encode Plus at ANSI/BHMA A156.40 Grade AAA, top marks for security, durability and finish, and Weiser lists AAA for the Halo Touch. Yale rates the Assure Lock 2 Touch ANSI/BHMA Grade 2, and eufy rates the C220 BHMA Grade 3, certified after more than 100,000 lock and unlock cycles. Letters and numbers come from different scales, so compare like with like.
Schlage expects about six months from the Encode series and names the usual drains: a weak Wi-Fi signal, heavy daily use and pairing with two apps at once. Cold matters less than people fear, because on the Encode Plus the batteries sit in the inside assembly, and Schlage rates the exterior to -35°C and the interior to -10°C. Energizer's AA alkaline datasheet gives an operating range of -18°C to 55°C, and a Surrey winter rarely gets near either limit. Use the chemistry the maker asks for: Schlage and Yale both steer you to alkaline AAs, while the August lock is built for lithium CR123 cells.
Keypads live outside, so check the weather rating. In the IP code, the International Electrotechnical Commission rates solids such as dust from 0 to 6 with the first digit and water from 0 to 9 with the second. Yale rates the Assure Lock 2 Touch IPX5 and eufy rates the C220 IP53, so the Yale scores higher on water; Schlage publishes an outdoor operating range instead of an IP number.
Every lock warns you first. The Encode Plus flashes a low-battery icon after you enter a code, then shows it solid when it's critical and won't work until the batteries are changed. After that, the backup depends on the model: a key for keyed locks, and on key-free Yale models a 9V battery held to the emergency terminals for temporary power. The eufy C220 has a port on the bottom of the outside unit for a portable charger, and August owners simply use their old key. Buy batteries the day the warning appears.
No single winner here, just the models that suit each kind of household. All five are sold for use in Canada.
A new door comes standard-prepped, so a full replacement is easy. The Schlage Encode Plus suits a front door: AAA rating, built-in Wi-Fi, Matter certification with Thread, Apple Home Keys and a keyed cylinder as backup. Prefer fingerprints? The Weiser Halo Touch is also AAA, with built-in Wi-Fi and a SmartKey cylinder.
If you rent out a basement suite in Surrey, codes make turnover easy, but section 31 of BC's Residential Tenancy Act says a landlord can't change the locks or "other means of access" to a rental unit unless the tenant agrees and gets the new access. Treat a code like a key. For the suite door, a Bluetooth Yale Assure Lock 2 with a keypad needs nothing from the tenant's Wi-Fi. Renting yourself? The August retrofit keeps the landlord's key working, but you still need written permission first.
Fingerprints and auto-lock earn their keep here. The Yale Assure Lock 2 Touch combines a fingerprint reader, a keypad and Auto-Lock for the teenager who never locks anything. The Halo Touch covers 50 users, and the eufy C220 offers fingerprints, 100 passcodes and two keys, though its Grade 3 rating makes it a better fit for a side or garage door than the front.
Under the Strata Property Act's Standard Bylaws, altering a door on the building's exterior or one that fronts on common property needs the strata's written approval (Bylaw 5). The strata can't unreasonably refuse, but it can make you responsible for the cost. A retrofit leaves the outside untouched, which can make the conversation easier, but ask anyway.
Fitting a smart deadbolt to a standard, well-aligned door is a reasonable DIY job. Call a locksmith when the door isn't prepped, the bolt drags, it's a multipoint, mortise or fire-rated door, the strata wants a written scope, or you want the override key cut to match your other locks.
Most locksmiths in Metro Vancouver charge roughly $85 to $130 to fit a smart deadbolt you've already bought, and roughly $220 to $580 to supply and install one, depending on the model. A keypad-only deadbolt without Wi-Fi runs roughly $80 to $120 to install, and a smart lock with a matching handle set roughly $420 to $700. If the strike needs realigning first, add roughly $65 to $120.
| Model | Type | Connection | Entry methods | BHMA rating | Batteries | Key override |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schlage Encode Plus | Full replacement | Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz), Matter with Thread | Touchscreen keypad, app, Apple Home Key | A156.40 AAA | 4 AA, about 6 months | Yes, keyed cylinder |
| Yale Assure Lock 2 Touch with Wi-Fi | Full replacement | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | Fingerprint, keypad, app, Auto-Unlock | Grade 2 | 4 AA alkaline | Keyed, or key-free with 9V backup |
| August Wi-Fi Smart Lock | Retrofit, inside only | Wi-Fi (2.4 or 5 GHz), Bluetooth | App, your existing key | Your deadbolt's rating | 2 CR123, up to 3 months | Your existing key |
| Weiser Halo Touch | Full replacement | Wi-Fi | Fingerprint, app | AAA | 4 AA | Yes, SmartKey cylinder |
| eufy Smart Lock C220 | Full replacement | Wi-Fi | Fingerprint, keypad, app | Grade 3 | 8 AA, about 8 months | Yes, plus an emergency power port |
Any connected device can have flaws, but the everyday risks are more ordinary: codes shared and never deleted, default settings left alone, and firmware that never gets updated. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security's IoT guidance advises changing default passwords, using two-factor authentication and keeping devices patched. Delete codes when people move on, too.
Yes. Keypads, fingerprints and keys all work at the door with no internet, and Bluetooth locks talk to your phone when you're close by. Wi-Fi only adds remote control and alerts, and a Matter-over-Thread lock reaches the internet through a border router rather than your Wi-Fi.
A AAA-rated smart deadbolt is tested to the same A156.40 standard as a mechanical one, so it can match a good deadbolt. A Grade 3 model is lighter duty, and a retrofit is exactly as strong as the deadbolt it sits on. Either way, the strike, the screws and the frame matter more than the electronics.
Only with your landlord's written agreement. Section 31 of the Residential Tenancy Act says a tenant must not change a lock or other means of access to the rental unit unless the landlord agrees in writing or the director has ordered it. Keep the original hardware so it can go back on when you move.
Usually, for an entry door. Standard Bylaw 5 requires written approval before altering doors on the building's exterior or that front on common property, and approval can't be unreasonably withheld. Under section 120 of the Strata Property Act, the Standard Bylaws apply unless your strata has filed different ones, so check yours first.
If the bolt drags, the door is multipoint or strata-controlled, or you'd rather skip the instructions, Fast Locksmith Surrey supplies and fits smart locks, squares up the strike so the motor isn't fighting the door, and sets up the codes before leaving. Call 604.900.8174 or book online with the model number or a photo of your door, and you'll get a price range on the first call.
Other posts and services worth reading before a smart lock goes on the door.