Yale Conexis L2 review: A remote-controlled smart lock

In the UK, the ‘multipoint locking’ door is a familiar sight. These are the type where you have to lift the handle upwards to engage the locking mechanism, and then you use a key to lock it in place.

Yale was one of the first companies to produce a smart lock for this type of door, and it was the first to receive a BSI IoT kitemark, offering reassurance that not only was it mechanically secure, but had also been tested against hacking via software.

The problem – at least one of the problems – was that there was no way to remotely control the lock due to a lack of Wi-Fi. There was a solution: to install the Z-wave module for £49.99 and pair it with a home automation system such as Samsung SmartThings.

Now, though, Yale has launched the Conexis L2 which comes with the new Yale Access Module and Wi-Fi Connect Bridge, so you get remote access out of the box.

However, the smart lock itself is the same, so you can upgrade an L1 to be an L2 by buying the Module and Bridge kit, which Yale sells on its own for £99.98.

As the smart lock itself hasn’t changed, you can read my Conexis L1 review to find out what it’s like to install and more about the hardware itself.

It’s available in the same range of finishes: white, black, chrome, satin nickel and polished brass.

Here I’ll focus only on what the L2 is like to use, its features and the Yale Access app. The only difference in terms of installation is that you’ll install the Access Module into the lock’s special slot before inserting the four AA batteries.

There’s still no HomeKit support, although if Yale adds support for Matter with a firmware update, that could solve the issue for those that prefer smart home devices to support HomeKit.

Yale Access app

The other big difference is that the Conexis L2 uses the Yale Access app, which replaces the Conexis L1 app.

That will come as great news for anyone upgrading their L1 lock as the app didn’t have many fans.

Once the lock is installed, you’ll finish setting everything up by installing the app on your iPhone or Android phone. The first step is to create a home, name it, and then choose where your smart lock is installed, typing in a custom name if you like.

Then, you scan the QR code on the Access Module and follow the instructions in the app to pair it with the lock.

Next, you scan another QR code on the back of the Connect Bridge, plug that into the mains and follow the instructions to pair that with the Access Module and connect it your home Wi-Fi.

Finally, and optionally, you can stick the DoorSense magnet on your door frame next to the lock if you want to get notifications when it’s left ajar accidentally. This comes with a white plastic cover to help it blend in. That’s great if you have a white PVCu door like me, but you might want to paint it if your frame isn’t white.

Again, in the app you can set this up in the lock’s settings where it will walk you through calibrating DoorSense with the door shut, open wide and then ajar. You can customise how long the door needs to be left open before you get a notification.

There’s integration with Alexa and Google Home, which lets you check the status (locked or unlocked) and to unlock it.

Locking and unlocking

A crucially important fact to understand about the Conexis L2 (and any smart lock that works on multipoint doors) is that it cannot lock the door for you, either in person or remotely. This is because of the way lift-to-lock doors work: the handle must be lifted by a person.

When the handle is lifted, the motor kicks in automatically and operates the actuator, which is the part that replaces your old Eurocylinder. This is the equivalent of when you used to turn the key to lock the door.

Similarly, when you use one of the unlocking methods, the motor turns the actuator to unlock the door, at which point you can push down the handle to open the door.

There are three ways to unlock the Conexis L2.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

First, you can tap one of the included RFID cards onto it, and it will unlock immediately. This might be the method most people will use, but it’s not all that different to using a key. If you forget to take the card or fob with you, you won’t be able to get back in.

Second is to use your phone. On the home screen of the Access app, you simply tap and the red, broken circle will animate to a broken green circle while the L2 unlocks.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

The beauty of this is that it works whether you’re standing by the door or in another country. Obviously, you need to be careful that you don’t unlock it remotely if there’s no-one around to lock it again.

But this is a good method if you need to let a visitor in remotely.

If you try to lock it without the handle being lifted, you’ll see this error:

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

See also  Huawei Nova 10 Pro review

Third is perhaps the most convenient: auto-unlock. Once set up in the Lock Settings part of the app, the Conexis L2 will switch to ‘away’ mode when your phone moves a preset distance from home, and you set both the precise location of home as well as the distance you need to be before this happens.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Then, when you return and your phone is detected just a few feet from the lock, it will automatically unlock.

The reason for the ‘away from home’ geofence is to prevent accidental unlocks when you’re moving around your home: you don’t want it unlocking whenever you go near the door with your phone.

Guests

Just like the Conexis L1, you can set up other people with access, whether family members, friends, the cleaner etc.

For each person, you can choose whether they have App Access or Contactless Key Only. If you assign the former, you can subsequently register a contactless key to their account.

Unlike Conexis L1, you can hand out unlimited app access without paying for ‘virtual keys’, which is good to see.

When you send an invite to someone, either by keying in their mobile number or by choosing them from your phone’s contact list, you can select whether they have access ‘always’, ‘recurring’ or ‘temporary’.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

Recurring is a step down, allowing you to choose a single time period between which they can use the app to gain access to your home. You can then set which days of the week this period applies.

It’s a shame it isn’t more customisable, as you can’t define multiple periods, or set different times on different days.

Last, there’s Temporary, which could be a workaround for this limitation, as you can set a start date and time, and an end date and time. In both cases, you can set  times to the minute.

It’s worth noting that if you’ve registered a contactless key to a user, you can’t also set up scheduled access: their key will give them access at all times.

For each person, you can assign them to be a Guest, an Owner or None. As well as actual guests, you might give your kids Guest access as it prevents them from inviting or removing other guests and owners, adjusting lock settings, and it also means they can’t see the activity feed or guest list.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

It also means they can’t use auto-unlock, which is reserved for Owners, just like those other features.

Performance

I installed the Conexis L2 on my French doors where the white model wasn’t too bad a match for the handle on the adjacent door.

As you can see, it’s considerably bigger overall, with the internal part bigger still. Unlike some other smart locks, it isn’t so bulky that you can install it only on inward-opening doors. I tried it on two outward-opening doors and it worked well on both.

Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry

See also  X1 raises $25m for good bank card

The Access app is much better than the Conexis L1 app, although it wasn’t immediately obvious how to register a key card or fob as this is done via the Guest List. You select a person, then you can assign them a key. Those that come in the box are pre-paired, but pairing a new one is a simple case of tapping it on the reader when prompted by the app.

Surprisingly, auto-unlock worked really well, unlocking the door as I approached the house. Only once was it a little slow and didn’t unlock until I’d stood in front of the door for a few seconds.

One feature I couldn’t get to work was DoorSense. I went through the calibration process twice, and both times it claimed to have been successful, but thought the door was permanently open. This meant you’d see confusing messages in the app such as Open | Locked, which make no sense.

Part of the issue is that the app shows Yale’s Keyless Connected Smart Lock, not the Conexis L2, and asks you to rotate the lock as part of the process.

Also, when I initially had difficulty pairing the Connect Wi-Fi bridge, I tapped on the help button only to be directed to the August web site, which was jarring.

Yale bought August a few years back, and the bridge (the whole Access kit, in fact) is simply a rebadged August device.

Price & availability

Being a smart lock for UK doors, the Conexis L2 is sold only in the UK. It costs £289.99 from Yale, or £400 if you want someone to come and install it for you.

For context, the original Conexis L1 costs £199.99, and you can turn that into an L2 if you buy the Access Module and Connect Wi-Fi Bridge for £99.98.

That means the L2 offers a saving of around £10 overall. It’s also £20 cheaper than the Ultion Nuki (including the Nuki Bridge for remote access). The Nuki offers a couple of advantages: it retains your original external handle and still lets you use a key, and also offers an optional keypad, which allows for guest access without requiring them to download the app and create an account.

Blusafe’s Origin Smart is another alternative, costing £299 with including its WiFi Bridge. This has a fingerprint sensor and, because of that, is the only lock for multipoint doors that allows you to get back in your home even if you’ve forgotten your keys, phone and key fob.

Verdict

The Yale Conexis L2 is a good smart lock that’s much improved over the L1 simply because it uses a different app and now has Wi-Fi connectivity.

It’s still a shame Yale hasn’t made a keypad available for it, which would make it a more compelling prospect for Airbnb properties, but for homeowners that want a smart lock for  their own families, it’s a decent choice.