Best Smart Lock for a Front Door: Keypad, Fingerprint, Wi-Fi or Matter

Most replacement smart deadbolts fit a standard US door prep: a 2-1/8 in bore hole through the face of the door, a 1 in hole in the edge for the bolt, and a backset (the distance from the door edge to the center of the bore hole) of 2-3/8 in or 2-3/4 in. Measure your backset with a tape from the edge to the center of the existing lock. Most smart deadbolts ship with an adjustable latch that covers both.

Door thickness is the other number. Standard exterior doors are 1-3/4 in thick. The Philips Wi-Fi deadbolt below lists doors from 1-3/8 to 2 in. If your door is thicker than 2 in, or your existing deadbolt is double-cylinder (a key on both sides), check the maker's fit guide before ordering, because many smart locks need a thumb turn on the inside.

Check the strike side too. If the bolt drags when you lock by hand today, a motor will struggle with it as well. Adjust the strike plate before you install, or the lock will drain batteries and jam. Ultraloq does not recommend the U-Bolt Pro for metal doors, so check the maker's notes if yours is steel.

A keypad is the most universal entry: everyone in the house and every guest uses the same pad, and codes can be scheduled or deleted from the app.

A fingerprint reader is faster for the people who live there, since there is nothing to remember or type. Every fingerprint lock below also has a keypad for guests. Palm vein readers suit households where fingerprints read poorly, such as young kids, older adults or people with dry or worn fingertips.

Built-in Wi-Fi is the simplest way to unlock from anywhere: the lock joins your 2.4 GHz network with no hub. The trade-off is battery life, because Wi-Fi radios draw more power. Keep the router within about 65 to 70 ft of the door, which is what Philips and Ultraloq list.

Bluetooth-only locks work from your phone at the door and need a bridge or hub for remote access. Matter over Thread locks talk to a Thread border router (many Apple TV, HomePod, Google Nest and Echo models act as one) and show up in Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa and SmartThings at the same time. Thread sips power, which is why the Ultraloq Bolt SE lists up to 18 months on Thread.

If you have no Thread border router and do not want one, buy built-in Wi-Fi. If you already run Apple Home or Google Home with a Thread device, a Matter lock joins with no extra hub.

Smart locks list battery life in months, and the spread is wide. The Schlage Encode runs about 6 months on four AA batteries, which is 8 AA cells a year. The Lockly Flex Touch and the Ultraloq Bolt Fingerprint list 10 months or more. A Thread lock like the Ultraloq Bolt SE lists up to 18 months, less than one battery change a year.

Every lock here warns you in the app before the batteries die, and most have a backup: a physical key, a USB-C port for emergency power, or both. Lithium AA cells last longer in cold weather than alkaline, but check the manual first, since some makers, Philips among them, specify alkaline only.

Auto-lock on a timer throws the bolt a set time after unlocking. That works, but if the door is still open, the bolt sticks out and the door will not close. A door sensor fixes that: the lock knows the door is shut and locks right then, and it can alert you when the door is left open.

The Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro and Bolt Fingerprint Wi-Fi include a door sensor, and the Yale August uses DoorSense. The Philips deadbolt has timer auto-lock only, with no door sensor.

A retrofit lock replaces only the thumb turn on the inside of the door. The outside cylinder and keys stay, so a landlord sees no change and you take the lock with you when you move. Both picks below add a wireless keypad you mount next to the door.

Retrofits only fit single-cylinder deadbolts, the kind with a thumb turn inside. Check the keypad range too: Philips lists 39 in from the lock, and Yale's keypad must sit within Bluetooth range.

Under the Grade 1 picks, the trade-offs are the security grade and weather rating. BHMA Grade 3 is the entry certification level, Grade 2 is the middle, and Grade 1 is the highest residential rating. An IP53 rating handles rain on a covered porch; IP65 is better for a door that takes weather head-on.