REVIEWS / SMART LOCKS / AUGUST WIFI SMART LOCK (4TH GEN) UPDATED MAY 24, 2026 · 56 SOURCES

THE PRODUCT

August WiFi Smart Lock (4th Gen)

August WiFi Smart Lock (4th Gen)

A convenient smart lock when it works, but plagued by battery drain, inconsistent hardware quality, and spotty connectivity that undermines its premium price.

SMART LOCKS LOW CONFIDENCE

THE VERDICT

4.6

REALITY SCORE · OUT OF 10 · CONFIDENCE LOW

COMPOSED FROM

USERS 4.6 · 53 voices · 100%
CRITICS no published scores yet

SENTIMENT · 56 REVIEWS

+ 28% positive · 30% neutral − 42% negative

OUR VERDICT

WE DON'T RECOMMEND THIS
Score 4.6/10 — no affiliate link by editorial policy
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// Honest verdicts are the whole point. We only monetise products we'd actually recommend.

●11 REDDIT ●38 YOUTUBE ●4 PRODUCTHUNT
USER● n=56
VIDEO● n=3
BRAND● AVAILABLE
INTERNET● n=0

AT A GLANCE · QUOTABLE

  • Rating: 4.6 / 10 (low confidence)
  • User voices: 56 across 3 platforms
  • Sentiment: 28% positive · 42% negative
  • Updated: May 24, 2026

GYIBB rates the August WiFi Smart Lock (4th Gen) 4.6/10 based on 56 user voices from 3 platforms. Confidence: low. Source: https://gyibb.com/smart-locks/august-wifi-smart-lock-4th-gen

⚠ LIMITED DATA Limited data: 18 comments, 38 videos. Consider as preliminary assessment.

BUY IF

Retains existing deadbolt — easy retrofit installation

  • + Apple Watch and Siri integration enables fast 2-3 second unlocking
  • + Auto-lock timer feature works reliably for set-and-forget security
  • + Bluetooth fallback provides local access when WiFi drops

SKIP IF

Battery life is significantly worse than 3rd-gen Z-Wave model — some users report under 1 month on WiFi-only

  • − Inconsistent quality control: some units work flawlessly while others are effectively DOA
  • − Keypad accessory is flimsy with poor battery life (under 1 month) and fails under normal use
  • − Geofencing auto-unlock is unreliable, defeating a key smart lock use case

Where the layers disagree ⚡

6 CONTRADICTIONS DETECTED

ALIGNMENT across USER and VIDEO: Both layers consistently report poor battery life on the 4th-gen WiFi model versus the 3rd-gen Z-Wave model — this is the single most corroborated finding.

VIDEO VS USER

TENSION between USER and VIDEO: Video reviewers present the lock as fundamentally competent with caveats, while user comments reveal a bimodal quality distribution where some units are simply defective ('trash') — suggesting a quality control problem reviewers with single units wouldn't catch.

VIDEO VS USER

ALIGNMENT across USER and VIDEO: Geofencing/auto-unlock is unreliable across both layers — users call it 'terrible' and video reviewers confirm needing manual phone-based unlocking instead.

VIDEO VS USER

TENSION within USER layer: Support experiences are contradictory — some users praise August support as helpful and fast (resolving issues in 5 minutes), while others report complete unavailability during COVID, creating an unpredictable support lottery.

USER VS BRAND

ALIGNMENT across USER and VIDEO: The 3rd-gen Pro with Z-Wave is consistently preferred by experienced users in both layers for battery life, local Home Assistant integration, and overall reliability — raising questions about whether the 4th-gen's WiFi-only design is a downgrade.

VIDEO VS USER

CORROBORATED across VIDEO: August support has distributed free WiFi bridges to users who complained about battery life, implicitly acknowledging the 4th-gen's WiFi-only power management is inadequate.

VIDEO VS USER

WHERE THEY AGREE +

+ Retains existing deadbolt — easy retrofit installation
+ Apple Watch and Siri integration enables fast 2-3 second unlocking
+ Auto-lock timer feature works reliably for set-and-forget security
+ Bluetooth fallback provides local access when WiFi drops
+ Responsive phone support when available can resolve issues quickly

WHERE THEY DON'T −

− Battery life is significantly worse than 3rd-gen Z-Wave model — some users report under 1 month on WiFi-only
− Inconsistent quality control: some units work flawlessly while others are effectively DOA
− Keypad accessory is flimsy with poor battery life (under 1 month) and fails under normal use
− Geofencing auto-unlock is unreliable, defeating a key smart lock use case
− WiFi-only design lacks local integration options like Z-Wave for Home Assistant users

Where the 56 sources came from

VIEW EVERY CITATION →
REDDIT
11
YOUTUBE
38
PRODUCTHUNT
4

The four realities

Most review sites collapse everything into one number. We keep the layers separate so you can see where reality bends.

01
USER
n=56 · 3 platforms

What actual buyers say

User comments reveal a sharply divided experience. Several users report solid performance — 'works 90% of the time,' 'never had connection issues' — while others describe units that are effectively defective ('one was trash, finally threw it away'). Battery life is a recurring pain point: the lock itself lasts roughly 3 months on batteries, but the optional keypad drains batteries in under a month and is described as 'small and flimsy,' with one user going through 3 keypads in as many months. Quality control appears inconsistent, with one user noting they had to replace a faulty unit to get acceptable performance. Support experiences vary: some found August phone support helpful and responsive, while others discovered the call center was unavailable during COVID. Multiple users express regret about not choosing the 3rd-gen Pro model with Z-Wave, which offered local integration with Home Assistant and better battery efficiency. The geofencing auto-unlock feature is widely criticized as unreliable — 'terrible,' one user says — forcing reliance on manual app or Apple Watch unlocking. A critical data quality note: at least 3 comments from ProductHunt reference an entirely different 'August' product (a content/storytelling app) and are irrelevant to this smart lock analysis.
02
VIDEO
n=38 · YouTube

What reviewers showed on camera

Three YouTube reviews provide longitudinal and technical perspectives. The '6 Months Later' review (219K views) honestly addresses the friction of pulling out a phone to unlock, confirming what users report about geofencing failure. Commenters on this video provide valuable comparative data: multiple users note the 3rd-gen with Z-Wave bridge achieves significantly better battery life because Z-Wave uses low-power sub-GHz frequencies, whereas the 4th-gen's WiFi-only design is inherently more power-hungry. Lon.TV's review (20.6K views) reveals a technically competent but fussy device: it required recalibration twice in 2 years, once failed to warn about low battery, and WiFi router channel changes force connection resets — though Bluetooth serves as a fallback. The Safewise review's comments are blunt: 'Buy version 3' and 'battery life is absolutely terrible — first set lasted less than a month, second set 5 weeks.' A YouTube commenter who received a free WiFi bridge from August support reports it helped extend battery life, suggesting August internally acknowledges the WiFi-only design's power drain issue. Apple Watch integration is highlighted as the fastest unlock method (2-3 seconds when set as a watch complication), and Siri voice commands work well for hands-free operation.

August Wifi Smart Lock Review - 6 Months Later

6 Months Later · 219,432 views

"[comment] I live in South Korea and, here, keys are pretty much a think of the past. It has been 5 years now without carrying a key, and this is wonderful. I don't know why the electronic locks used here are not more popular everywhere. The…"

August Wi-Fi Smartlock Review - 4th Generation - Works with Existing Deadbolt

Lon.TV · 20,587 views

"[comment] I've had this lock since its release, almost 2 years ago, and it has been a great device - my first smart lock. I've had to recalibrate it twice in that time, which is like a 4-step process that takes about 30seconds to go throug…"

August Wi-Fi 4th Gen Smart Lock Review | The Sneaky Smart Lock

Safewise.com · 13,155 views

"[comment] Buy version 3 well worth it [comment] Great lock, but battery life is absolutely terrible. First set of batteries lasted less than a month. Second set lasted a bit longer, but only 5 weeks. For the price, it needs to be better.…"

03
INTERNET
n=0 · review sites

What the press said

No aggregate ratings were found for this product during the last harvest.
04
BRAND
official source

What the brand says

no brand page found

The official brand page was not successfully scraped during the last harvest.
Visit Official Site →

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DATA SOURCES & AUDIT

11
REDDIT
38
YOUTUBE
4
PRODUCTHUNT
3
YOUTUBE VIDEOS

56 data points across 3 platforms, synthesized via GYIBB's Truth Engine and fact-checked against source data before publication.

CONFIDENCE: LOW · ANALYSED: MAY 24, 2026 AT 05:23 PM · PROMPT V1.0 · READ METHODOLOGY →

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August WiFi Smart Lock (4th Gen)

GYIBB SCORE: 4.6/10

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