SimpliSafe’s new $99 smart lock automatically bolts when you arm your alarm - The Verge

We’ve called SimpliSafethe best home security system you can install yourself— and while there’sa reported vulnerability we now need to test, I’m pretty sure existing owners will want to hear about the company’s latest product: the SimpliSafe Smart Lock.

It’s coming September 15th for $99, and it’s designed to work pretty closely with SimpliSafe’s latest alarm system — to the point it can automatically lock the door when you arm your alarm, or evenstopit from locking when your door’s open if that door has a contact sensor. That way, you don’t accidentally smash a beefy deadbolt into your doorframe.

Mind you, some rival alarm systems like Amazon’s Ring Alarm and Google’s Nest Secure alreadylet you arm and disarm alarmswhen youlock or unlock a compatible smart lock, and SimpliSafe already lets you do the one-press-to-arm-and-lock trickwith an August Smart Locktoo.

But SimpliSafe also says its new smart lock is the thinnest on the market at 0.9 inches — compare to 2.3 inches for an August Smart Lock Pro or 1.5 inches for aNest x Yale— and comes with an external PIN pad you can mount anywhere on the outside of your door, so you don’t have to choose between keyed and keyless entry. In fact, it’ll also work with SimpliSafe’s key fob and interior keypad.

If you want to unlock the door with an app, though, SimpliSafe is weirdly charging extra: you’ll need to be paying $25 a month for the company’s remote monitoring service. If you’re already paying for that, no big deal, but it’s a strange limitation.

The lock will be available in black on black, white on white, or white with a nickel-colored thumb turn when it arrives at the company’s website next month, and it should go on sale at Best Buy on October 13th as well.

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