Update 20/07/21: It’s actually possible to integrate using e.g. Tasker or MacroDroid and the Bold Smart Lock on Android. If you enable the “Auto activation” feature for your lock, a notification will show when you are nearby the lock. This notification persists until you close it. It also includes the name of your lock. You can add a “notification interaction” action to MacroDroid, which can be set to click button 1 based on the name of your device (as filter for which notification to interact with). If you have a dedicated Android device, you once need to trigger the notification for each lock you like to interact with. Next you can setup the action. Using the webhook trigger, you can also remotely control the locks without requiring the Connect device (as long as the phone is within Bluetooth range).
Update 05/07/21: The Nest Hello facial recognition seems somewhat unreliable at times. If it misses your face, you get a new attempt ringing the doorbell though. I’ve also ordered a Bluetooth beacon to see if I can use it to trigger access when outside in front of the door. Will keep updating here.
Update 24/06/21: Although it is not (officially) supported, I now managed to connect IFTTT to the gateway and hence can use my Google Assistant to activate the lock (or garage door) 😀 Also if Nest Hello recognizes my face it will auto-unlock the door (not sure yet if that works well in practice). Finally to allow guests in, I can just send them a link using WhatsApp and they no longer need the app 😀
Update 21/06/21: Just ordered 2 more locks to replace overdue cilinders. Loqed is too expensive to replace multiple locks, so let’s see how my life will be with Bold. Our main door remains with key for now, will update when we replace it.
Update 20/06/21: The Bold Connect supposedly can be used to open/close automatic garage doors. I broke away the plastic clip protecting the connector, and connected 2 wires (from a UTP cable) to our Hormann SupraMatic P garagedoor controller (adding the wire to the preexisting impulse wiring which was already there for the original remote control). IT WORKS! I can now open/close the door using the Bold Connect. Very cool. Fortunately it’s close to the cylinder so I can still remotely control it. I was about to return the package, however this is too cool so instead I’ll buy 2 more cilinders 🙂 Is this the best smart lock out there? Probably not (yet). However it seems worth to support them and hopefully they continue active development.
As long as I can remember, I desired a (physical) keyless life 🙂 With upcoming father’s day I decided to treat myself to the Bold Smart Lock.
I preferred a cylinder replacement type, and a lock which would still require human action to open the door (since that should significantly save on battery and avoids the door accidentally opening by itself). Although the Bold Smart Lock does not yet integrate with third-party applications, I figured to give it a go with MacroDroid (e.g. linking it to our Nest Hello).
June 18th 2021 the lock (SX-33) and “Connect” arrived. The lock feels solid and was very easy to install. The “pin” feature worked well for me. I didn’t try the Bluetooth auto-unlock, since I am mostly around the house and it is only suited for people actually leaving to some other place and then returning home.
While using the lock, I quickly realized what functionality I actually have been looking for:
- Access without phone (for myself, other external person requiring one-time access, etc)
- Verification if the door is actually locked (at night in bed)
Only the Loqed seems to be able to detect you are actually outside (and not inside). If such “outside detection” is not present, any auto-unlock won’t work reliably and hence rather than grabbing my phone each time starting an app and clicking a button .. I rather unlock directly somehow. The pin works acceptably on the Bold, however especially for visitors (whom I cannot ask to install an app) it is not very intuitive and e.g. a keypad would be preferred.
The Bold cannot (yet) show the state of the lock. Also no event is recorded when locking/unlocking the door from the inside. I often forget to check if my locks are in “night mode”, and need to get out of bed again to check. From a smartlock, you’d expect to be able to check it from your phone.
There are no optional app notifications (yet) for any lock activity unfortunately. That seems another basic feature which is missing.
Finally the “Connect” is a bit disappointing. Practically, it is easier to give someone a guest pincode than using my mobile to unlock remotely. Since there is no API or IFTTT, I rather use a spare old Android which I can use for automation with e.g. MacroDroid. That would make the lock much more exciting.
Conclusion: Bluetooth unlock won’t work for me since it cannot reliably detect if I am outside/inside, the PIN trick is not intuitive enough for incidental guests, deal-breaker is the lock doesn’t record an event when it is locked/unlocked from the inside and hence I cannot view the state of the lock (night lock or not). Support did indicate the hardware can technically detect the state, however they have many feature requests and cannot indicate if and when that would become available. I may also try Nuki and/or Loqed.
