Yale Linus Smart Lock Available in the UK
Yale UK has just released its latest smart lock compatible with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home. The unfussily named Linus Smart Door Lock is available in two finishes (silver, black), and looks like an elongated version of the non-HomeKit August Smart Lock. This isn’t so surprising, as August is owned by Yale, who are in turn owned by the Assa Abloy. Still, the August range is all designed for deadbolts, whereas the new Linus is designed to work with euro-cylinder mortice locks.
The Linus Smart Door Lock is placed on the inside, just like its August equivalent, so you can continue to use your own external lock and keys. The module is designed to sit over the top of the key on the inside of your door, and just like the Nuki Lock 2.0, requires that the inner key remains in the lock, as the thumb turn for the Linus fits over that key in order to automatically lock or unlock the door.
The Linus uses four AA batteries, and in terms of size, the lock is 58 mm in width, 58 mm in depth and 150mm in length. For security, it uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology encryption, as well as AES 128 bit and TLS encryptions.
All the functions you would expect of a smart lock are available with the Linus, including Guest management, which allows users with the August app to open the app via a virtual key you assign to them, or via a pin code with the optional Smart Keypad. With the optional Linus Connect Bridge connected to WiFi, you can get access to monitoring of who has entered the home using their phone or pin, as well as notifications sent to your phone. You can also remotely open and close the door for anyone that doesn’t have their keys, phones, or for a delivery person who needs quick access to the property to drop off a package.
The lock itself uses Bluetooth for a direct-to-phone connection, but there’s also the aforementioned Linus Connect Bridge that allows the lock to connect to your WiFi Network. Unsurprisingly the Linus Connect looks identical to both the Yale Connect Bridge and the August Connect Bridge, although according to a Yale representative, they’re not cross-compatible unfortunately. There’s also the optional Linus Smart Keypad, which is a carbon-copy of the August and Yale Smart Keypads, although we’re not sure if the August and Yale models are cross-compatible.
The Linus Smart Lock is available via Amazon.co.uk or £219.99, but if you order direct from Yale’s UK website, and you’re a new customer, you can get some money off your first order.
Credit to Ross Hovey for first spotting this item
Yale UK are also supposed to be releasing a ‘Yale Access Module’ for their other existing smart locks such as the Keyless Connected and Conexis L1. This module will talk to the same Linus Connect Bridge. There is still no sign of this module yet on their website.
There is some confusion over whether the Linus Connect bridge supports remote HomeKit access. Apple may not allow this for security reasons. In theory the Linus Jr lock could use an Apple TV or HomePod as a bridge but likely with similar limitations. The Linus Connect bridge does however allow the Yale app to remotely control the lock e.g. to add an additional pin code for the keypad and it would also be used for AirBnB use.
Tread very carefully before making this significant investment in your home security.
I was an early adopter in this product suite, purchasing from the US under the August brand before they were bought by Yale’s parent company ASSA ABLOY and entered the UK market.
I bought two Doorbells and three Locks in the view that it would allow me to see who was at my door and then make a decision about who to let in.
In summary the doorbells have never worked reliably over the two years that I’ve had them and have been ‘offline’ significantly longer than they’ve been ‘online’. Their customer support is ‘web bot’ first and by the time you’ve fought for a telephone call you’re in for a long one (albeit the call rep had the patience of a saint) – yesterday I spend 70 minutes on the phone trying again to bring the devices ‘online’ to no avail.
At the end of the call I was told as they were out of the 1 year warranty they wouldn’t help. In essence, putting all the *non functioning* wizardry to one side these should be a doorbell and a lock… both of which should be expected to last many times longer than one year. On probing it also transpired that they’ve stopped production of all models apart from the latest one… and probing further still the latest model of the doorbell, which is advertised as ‘coming soon’ has actually also already been on sale but has now been pulled from sale. I suspect when Yale bought the company they’ve pulled the plug on the doorbells (because they can’t get them working whereas Ring – an Amazon company – is grabbing the market share): so my warning is this – after spending probably close to £1000 on an integrated system that is reliant on the ongoing support of the company that makes them to make them function (eg providing the web services) they’ve turned their back on existing customers to suite their own strategic roadmap. And I fear they could do so again! Good luck