Switchbot’s latest lock can unlock with a look

SwitchBot’s caller keypad has built-in facial recognition. It works with its caller retrofit astute lock, the SwitchBot Lock Ultra. | Image: SwitchBot

Smart location institution SwitchBot has announced a caller mentation of its retrofit smart lock, and this 1 you tin unlock with your face. The SwitchBot Lock Ultra ($159.99) works with the caller SwitchBot Keypad Vision ($99.99), which uses 3D facial designation exertion to unlock your door. The institution besides launched the SwitchBot Hub 3, a astute location hub that was first teased successful March. The caller products are present available for preorder and should vessel successful June.

SwitchBot claims its fastener is the archetypal retrofit astute fastener with 3D facial recognition. As a retrofit lock, it tin beryllium installed without replacing your existing lock. Instead, the Ultra attaches to the rear of your fastener and controls it utilizing a mechanical motor, leaving the beforehand unchanged, truthful you tin inactive usage your keys. The Vision keypad is mounted extracurricular of your doorway and connects to the fastener via Bluetooth.

The SwitchBot Lock Ultra Vision Combo costs $249.99 and includes the lock, imaginativeness keypad, and a SwitchBot Hub Mini (a hub is required for controlling the fastener extracurricular of Bluetooth range).  

Unlike astir retrofit locks, Switchbot’s Lock Ultra, and its predecessors Switchbot Lock Pro and Switchbot Lock, are compatible with astir each existing locks successful Europe and America. In summation to facial recognition, erstwhile connected to the keypad, the fastener tin beryllium controlled with a fingerprint, a keycode, and an NFC card. Without the keypad, it works with a accepted key, app control, and auto-unlocking utilizing geofencing (which activates the fastener erstwhile your smartphone arrives astatine your house). 

The institution says the Ultra tin get up to 9 months of artillery beingness connected the included rechargeable artillery and besides has a backup artillery that lasts for up to 5 years. It works implicit Bluetooth and requires 1 of Switchbot’s gateways to link to Wi-Fi and integrate with astute location systems, including Apple Home (through Matter), Amazon Alexa, and Google Home.

The fastener tin besides enactment with the caller SwitchBot Hub 3 ($119.99), the company’s latest astute location hub designed to power and integrate SwitchBot’s Bluetooth products. The Hub 3 tin span up to 30 SwitchBot devices to Matter ecosystems specified arsenic Apple Home. 

The caller Hub is simply a implicit revamp from the second-gen version. Larger and with a sleek, all-black design, it comes with an integrated basal and features a display, a dial, and 4 customizable buttons.

The hub besides functions arsenic a somesthesia and humidity sensor, arsenic good arsenic a airy and question sensor. Its show tin aftermath up connected question and amusement accusation specified arsenic indoor somesthesia and doorway lock/unlock status, and the buttons tin power astute location scenes.

The dial tin link to compatible devices to power them, for example, set the brightness of lights, the measurement connected connected TVs, and the somesthesia of a thermostat. SwitchBot says the hub tin power Matter devices that are integrated with Apple Home, and it volition enactment with Home Assistant.

The Hub is besides an IR controller and tin integrate with implicit 100,000 IR instrumentality codes.

The caller products are present disposable to preorder from SwitchBot’s website, with shipping slated for June.