Gadgetory

I'm here at my homes front door I've been busy testing out a new smart lock no it's not that dumb deadbolt but rather a retrofit device that's attached to it on the inside of the door it's called the quick-set kevo convert and with it I can use the Kibo app to lock or unlock my door with just a tap at 150 bucks the Kibo convert is a little bit less expensive than other smart locks most of which cost at least $200 and over about a week of testing it worked really well installation was a breeze thanks to the Kibo apps Illustrated instructions all you really need is a screwdriver in about ten or twenty minutes of your time and don't worry if you don't use a quick set deadbolt the Kibo convert actually comes with multiple sets of parts and adapters that will let it work with a wide variety of common residential locks so why would you want to give your dumb deadbolt a brain well for one it'll let you use your phone to get in if you ever forget your key or if you just need to check whether you lock the door or not after you've climbed into bed it'll also let you share digital app enabled access with others you can share as many of these eqi's as you like and they can even come with time restrictions or expiration dates now pardon the pun but there are also a couple of key limitations here first of all the Kibo convert uses bluetooth which means that you can't control it remotely if you're outside of Bluetooth range you can buy the Kibo plus Wi-Fi gateway to fix that and access it from anywhere but that'll cost you another hundred bucks and while the Kibo convert will connect with a couple of notable third-party products and services including nest those connections seemed pretty shallow to me for example you can connect the lock lift but you can only use it to trigger your if recipes you can't use those ifs recipes to trigger the lock you also can't connect the kevo convert to any other larger smart home platforms no smart things no twink no apple homekit support and sorry alexa but doesn't work with you either all that adds up to a pre basic smart lock that might be a really good fit for renters who aren't allowed to ditch their existing deadbolt but one hundred and fifty dollars still feels awfully expensive to me and probably not enough of a disk to keep me from spending a little more on something with better features and integrations