August Home, Matte Black Wi-Fi Connected Smart Keyless Entry Door Lock (4th Generation) Review

The humble house key has remained fundamentally unchanged for centuries, a testament to its simple effectiveness. Yet, in an era of connected everything, its limitations are becoming increasingly apparent. This is the space where the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock (4th Generation) stakes its claim, not as a replacement for the key, but as its intelligent evolution. It promises a future of keyless convenience, remote access, and enhanced awareness of our most personal space. After extensive testing, it’s clear that August has crafted a refined, powerful, and impressively compact device that largely delivers on that promise, albeit with a few modern trade-offs.

Design and Installation: The Art of the Retrofit

One of August’s most brilliant design choices has always been its retrofit nature, and the 4th generation perfects it. Unlike competitors that require you to replace your entire deadbolt mechanism, the August lock attaches to the interior thumbturn of your existing hardware. This means your exterior lock remains completely unchanged, and your original keys still work as a reliable backup. For renters, this is a non-negotiable feature, and for homeowners, it means installation is a remarkably simple, 15-minute affair with just a screwdriver.

This new model is 45% smaller in volume than its predecessor, a significant and welcome reduction. The solid, anodized aluminum body and a subtle ridged texture around the edge provide a premium feel. The matte black finish is sleek, modern, and resistant to fingerprints. The faceplate is held on magnetically, providing effortless access to the two CR123 batteries. While the exterior remains anonymous, the interior unit is still a noticeable piece of technology on your door, but its reduced size makes it far more discreet than ever before.

Performance and Key Features: Connected and Aware

The headline feature of the 4th generation is its integrated Wi-Fi. Previous models required a separate, plug-in Connect bridge to get your lock online, adding cost, complexity, and occupying an outlet. By building the Wi-Fi radio directly into the lock, August has streamlined the entire experience. Setup is faster, and the connection for remote locking, unlocking, and status checks is reliable and responsive.

The lock’s magic truly shines with its signature features: Auto-Unlock and Auto-Lock. Using a combination of your phone’s GPS and Bluetooth, the lock can detect when you’re returning home and automatically unlock the door as you approach. When it works, it feels like the future. However, this geofencing can occasionally be inconsistent, sometimes unlocking a few seconds too late or, rarely, not at all, requiring you to pull out your phone. The Auto-Lock feature is more dependable, securing the door after a preset time. This is augmented by DoorSense, a small sensor that tells the lock if the door is physically ajar. This crucial feature prevents the nightmare scenario of the lock engaging the deadbolt while the door is wide open, providing genuine peace of mind.

The App and Ecosystem: Total Access Control

The August app is the command center for the lock, and it remains one of the best in the industry. The interface is clean, intuitive, and powerful. From the main screen, you can see the lock’s status (locked/unlocked and open/closed) and operate it with a simple tap. The true power lies in access management. You can grant permanent, temporary, or recurring digital “keys” to family, friends, or service providers with ease. Every lock and unlock event—whether manual, via the app, or automatic—is logged in a detailed activity feed, giving you a complete history of who has come and gone.

For the tech-savvy homeowner, smart home integration is critical, and August excels here. With out-of-the-box support for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit, the lock slots seamlessly into any major ecosystem. Asking Siri to lock the door or checking its status through a Google Nest Hub works flawlessly and adds a significant layer of convenience to daily routines.

The Verdict: A Premium Retrofit for the Connected Home

The August Wi-Fi Smart Lock is an elegant and powerful solution for anyone looking to upgrade their home’s entry point. Its genius lies in its simplicity—an easy-to-install retrofit design that works with your existing keys, now enhanced with the convenience of built-in Wi-Fi. The sophisticated app, robust smart home integrations, and the intelligent DoorSense feature create a comprehensive and reassuring access control system.

However, the convenience of direct Wi-Fi comes at the cost of battery life, which is noticeably shorter than Bluetooth-only models. Furthermore, while the auto-unlock feature is fantastic, its occasional inconsistency reminds you that it’s a convenience, not a certainty. Despite these caveats, the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock is a top-tier product. It is the ideal choice for renters, smart home enthusiasts deeply embedded in an ecosystem, and anyone who values a polished user experience and the ability to manage home access from anywhere in the world.

Where to Buy:

Check it out on Amazon