Nuki Smart Lock 3 review: The perfect door lock?

If you want a smart door lock, you can't get past the Nuki company. We tested the Nuki Smartlock 3.0 and compared it with the 2.0. 

Design and processing:

The design of the Nuki Smart Lock 3.0 is kept very simple. Compared to its predecessor, the white color is no longer only available as a "Limited Edition", but even as a standard color. I personally like that very much, because it simply looks better on most doors, especially ours. The Austrians continue to use plastic as the material, which feels high-quality for the asking price and is well made. The lock weighs 460g and measures 110 x 60 x 60mm, which should make it nice and unobtrusive on most doors.

The Nuki Smart Lock 3 only comes in white, which should look good on most doors (Image: TechnikNews)

Setting up the Nuki Smart Lock

The Nuki Smart Lock 3.0 is available in different versions, as not every door is identical and so a cylinder variant is requested when purchasing on Nuki.io. Nuki offers an "installation check" on its website, which determines the correct cylinder variant for you with just a few clicks. As soon as the products have been delivered, the installation of the door lock can begin. The Nuki lock should only be used inside the house, not outside. The lock can be opened with a click, otherwise you will not be able to open the door from the inside.

In addition to the Nuki, the accessories can be set up directly (image: TechnikNews)

The Nuki itself is attached to the door using mounting plates and placed on top. Drilling into the door is therefore no longer necessary, everything works within a few minutes. If you want to use the lock later in another apartment, you need new mounting plates because the adhesive pads are not reusable. However, Nuki itself offers spare parts on its website.

As soon as the plate is hanging on the door, the key is inserted into the cylinder and the Nuki is placed on the plate. Again, no screwing or drilling is necessary, everything works by hand. If you have a Nuki Power Pack, you can operate the lock with four AA batteries, which can be recharged via USB-C.

Functions and integration into the smart home

If the lock is on the door, the furnishing goesprolet go Since our test device came to the Nuki with a few other accessories, we set them up right away. Nuki is very keen to collect as little data as possible. No account is required to use the lock, nor do guests need to create an account if they want access. This is not the case with many other manufacturers, here Nuki clearly has an advantage under data protection law.

No account is required for online access either, only the web panel requires an account, but is optional. The company rejects security concerns, Nuki writes on its website that it has never had a security gap in its system, but we cannot verify this. Here we have to rely on the manufacturer's information. The external service provider "AV-Test", which specializes in IT security, reported butthat the Nuki lock (2.0) is secure. All communication works via Bluetooth, along with a two-step authentication via app.

The Nuki app is clear, but is slow in places. (Image: TechnikNews)

Firmware updates can then be made in the app, or link the lock directly in HomeKit, Alexa or Google Assistant. With Alexa, opening and closing is possible, with Google only closing. In the HomeKit system, a HomePod or Apple TV can also function as a "mini bridge", but the options in the Home app are more limited than in the Nuki app.

Auto Unlock and Lock N Go

After an initial calibration, the lock is ready for use. The accesses can then be distributed in the app, the auto-unlock settings can be specified, or the LED brightness can be set. Apropos Auto-Unlock, probably the best feature of the Nuki lock: It worked for me in 7/10 cases. Especially when you carry the shopping home and then the door opens like "magically", you are quite blown away by the Nuki. But if it doesn't want to, especially in situations like this, you get annoyed.

Otherwise, it's no problem for me to quickly go to the app on my phone and click on "Unlock". This also allows you to set the radius in which the auto-unlock is activated. So if you leave this radius around the house and then re-enter, the feature is activated. The app also shows a log of which device did what and when. This makes it possible to see which user opened the door and when it was locked. The admin panel also contains the Lock N Go function. This allows you to close the door again after a set time after opening it.

Night mode can also be set to automatically close the door at night. Incidentally, the Nuki control also works with smartwatches. Since I only own a WearOS watch, I can only speak about my experience with this operating system, but there is also an Apple Watch app. This option is a lifesaver, especially when jogging or when the cell phone battery is empty, if you didn’t take the physical key with you.

Volume of the Nuki 3.0

One of the biggest criticisms of the Nuki 2.0 for me was the volume. After more than a year, the Nuki didn't really get any quieter and sometimes sounded like a circular saw. The Nuki 3.0 should be quieter, this was stated in the press releaseprochen. And has it gotten quieter? Yes, in any case. The volume has dropped significantly. It's still not at the level I'd like it to be, but the promise has been kept, I've noticed a significant reduction.

Accessories for the Nuki Smart Lock

But Nuki is not just a door lock, it is a whole ecosystem of products. Nuki sent us a few of them with our test device so that we could test them too. I have already mentioned the first product, the battery pack. This replaces the many AA batteries and has become an essential for me. A quick charge of around an hour recharges the batteries, but this also requires two USB-C cables. The second really useful accessory is the Nuki Bridge, which I already described in detail in my Nuki 2.0 test report.

Nuki is not a lock, but an ecosystem (Image: TechnikNews)

In short, this means that you can control your Nuki lock from anywhere. In the Nuki Smart Lock 3 Pro, which we unfortunately cannot offer due to deliveryproproblems, this WLAN module is already built in. With the Power Pack and Bridge, the normal Nuki also has all the functions that the Pro supports. With the Bridge, you can control who can enter the house or grant access even when you are on vacation.

The optional accessories

The other two accessories are more optional and must match your usage behavior. The Nuki Keypad can be hung outside the door and has proven to be very reliable review. This means that the door can also be opened with a key code, which is particularly useful when you've run out of smartphones. However, since this is expensive at €79 and is not absolutely necessary, I would not classify it as “essential”. But if you would like to have that, I can recommend the keypad. Fun fact: Nuki does not allow 0s on the pad, so dates of birth are not taken as a code.

Nuki is not a lock, but an ecosystem (Image: TechnikNews)

The last accessory is the Nuki Door Sensor. This recognizes whether the door is closed or not and can, for example, send you a warning if you leave your house and the door is open. With the Lock N Go, the door also notices whether it has fallen shut and then locks the door automatically. These are nice features, but not a MUST. If you are considering getting a Nuki, then the most important accessories are the power pack in place no. 1 and in place no. 2, the bridge. They really make an essential difference in everyday life.

The keypad doesn't have a 0 so you don't enter your date of birth (Image: TechnikNews)

Nuki Smart Lock 3.0: Conclusion

The Nuki Smart Lock 3.0 is a successful successor to an already good product. The best new feature is probably the price. At 149 euros, it is not the cheapest smart home product on the market, but it is a lot cheaper than the 2.0 launched (200 euros). In return, you still get a reliable, secure and stylish smart lock with many setting options that collects little data. But if you are interested in at least buying the bridge and the power pack, you can go straight for the Pro model, which has even more in terms of workmanship.

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