August Adds Cheaper Smart Locks, DoorSense Tech And Smart Doorbell

The smart home movement, while still in its relative infancy, is in full swing with various companies offering complete (or near complete) solutions. August is one of them, and it has gone and refreshed its smart home product lineup with new and more affordable versions of its smart lock, and a professional edition doorbell camera.

This the third generation of the August's Smart Lock product, and it looks unlike either of the previous ones. It is compact with an oval-shaped industrial design that now features a thumb turn dial. The new version also doubles up battery life compared to the previous model, and sports a DoorSense sensor that can detect when the door is open or closed. The sensor also allows the Smart Lock to lock the door as soon as it's closed rather than run on a timer.

Previously August was charging $229 for its Smart Lock. This new version is $149, making it more accessible to first-time smart home buyers. Combined with supposedly easy installation, those on the fence about converting their home into a smart one will find quite a bit of appeal here.


August's Smart Lock Pro ups the ante with Z-Wave Plus compatibility so that it can be integrated with a range of alarm and whole home smart systems that use the same technology. Both it and the regular Smart Lock boast support for Alexa and Google Assistant when connected to the company's Wi-Fi Bridge. The Smart Lock Pro also supports Apple's HomeKit.

In addition to Apple HomeKit support, August is testing a DoorSense feature that works with the Pro model and sends an alert when someone leaves the door open. This is currently in beta.

The Smart Lock Pro with Connect is available now for $279.


Finally, August also announced a Pro version of its Doorbell Cam. It notifies the user when anyone rings the doorbell or when motion is detected. You can see and speak to visitors at your front door using the company's app, and it works whether your are home or away. It also has a feature called HindSight that shows you what was going on before motion was detected.

The Doorbell Cam Pro is available to pre-order at $199 and will begin shipping October 10th.