However, you must pay a monthly subscription fee to receive accurate notifications and be able to see the timeline of when the door is closed and unlocked, and who activates it. Otherwise, you will just receive a notification that the lock was used without specifying what exactly it did. The app will show you if the lock is currently locked or unlocked, but the vague notifications and lack of a history aren’t exactly helpful. I also had a connection drop at a random time of night. See a vague notification that something It happened at 12:30, something in the morning, and I was completely scared because my house had been robbed during the night. I hadn’t, but I didn’t know until I signed up for a subscription to view my history.
Photography: Nena Farrell
After that incident, I chose the Standard Plan ($7 per month) which is designed for self-control of my home. There is also the Pro Plan ($25 per month) That includes a professional monitoring service, but it’s designed for Abode’s larger smart home systems and not just the lock.
Speaking of which, while you don’t have to use Abode Lock with other Abode security setups and centers, you can add them as an accessory. Abode has three security centers and starter kits to choose from: the basic Abode Kit ($140)he Smart Security Kit ($280)and the Iota All-in-One Security Kit ($330). Each of them has a different type of hub; The main differences are that the cheaper hub doesn’t work with Apple HomeKit and the iota has a built-in camera. However, all three work with the same accessories, so you can upgrade them later and reuse the accessories you received. Adding a hub allows you to create automations within the Abode app, so you could set Abode Lock to unlock when you get home.
You can also use Abode Lock with smart home systems without needing a hub, but you’ll still need one of the subscription plans. The Amazon and Google ecosystems work with all three hubs, as do Sonos and Bose products, but you’ll need one of the more expensive hubs if you want it to work with Apple HomeKit.
door stops
Photography: Nena Farrell
Abode Lock, despite everything it can do, cannot tell you if your door is locked, only if the lock is in the closed position. Some smart locks come with door sensors so you can see if both doors are closed and closed in one place.
The Abode lock cannot do this, but all of their centers come with a Mini Sensor ($25) which can be used on doors and windows, so any core package could help solve this problem to some extent. However, if it’s something you’re worried about, it’s certainly not as seamless as being a single device that can do both. My door, as poorly rented as it is, has a loose knob that sometimes won’t close until we screw it back on, so this missing feature is a bigger problem for me than most people with better doors ( or just normal). .
Since Abode’s core business is its complete security system, it makes sense to have some features that you can only access by doing everything you can in Abode. Still, you can enjoy several features right out of the box with just Abode Lock, and no one outside your home will notice.