YaleAssure Lock 2 Touch Deadbolt, Black Suede Key-Free Smart Entry Door Lock with Wi-Fi Connected Touchscreen Keypad and Fingerprint Scanner for Code Entry and Remote Access, YRD450-F-WF1-BSP

I recently upgraded to the Yale Assure Lock 2 Touch Deadbolt (Oil Rubbed Bronze) and couldn’t be more pleased. This model is a significant improvement over the first generation. Installation was straightforward and took less than 30 minutes with clear instructions and a user-friendly setup process.One of the standout features for me is the fingerprint sensor—fast, accurate, and incredibly convenient. The built-in sensor that automatically closes the door is a brilliant addition and has worked flawlessly so far. It adds both peace of mind and convenience, especially for a busy household.The build quality is excellent and feels premium in every way. Integration with Wi-Fi and the app works seamlessly, making it easy to manage access remotely. It’s rare to find a smart home product that delivers on design, function, and reliability—this one checks all the boxes.Highly recommend this upgrade if you’re looking for a dependable and elegant smart lock solution

I recently bought and installed two Yale Assure Lock 2 Touch door locks. I elected to get the keyless version with Bluetooth only.It doesn't take too much searching to find plenty of YouTube videos that show how easy it is to defeat conventionally keyed locks. So right off the bat, going keyless was a step up in security. I chose the Bluetooth-only option mainly to keep battery drain to an acceptable level. But it's also the case that I have no need to remotely activate my locks or view their status - never had it and don't need it. On the other hand, without a Wi-Fi-enabled lock you lose geofencing capabilities and remote/timed entry for house cleaners, dogwalkers, and guests.Here though, something that isn't mentioned (or is easily missed) in their sales info is that Yale does not recommend using keyless locks if you only have one entry door because you can be locked out if there is a lock failure. That warning appears in the user's manual.But with the Assure Touch, there are three ways to open the lock: finger touch, keypad code, or with the app if you are within Bluetooth range. And if the batteries go dead, you can touch a 9-volt battery to contacts on the underside of the keypad to enable the lock. So there is plenty of built-in redundancy. It seems like the only failure mode would be if the actual motor-driven locking mechanism somehow broke or jammed. But there is redundancy there if you have these locks on more than one door since the chances that two locks would fail at the same time is probably highly unlikely.Installation was relatively easy but if you don't know what end of a screwdriver to pick up or are intimated by putting together Ikea furniture, it might be a challenge.My main issue came after installation. The user manual is very good in explaining the installation but not so much with getting the app up and running. After install, the manual just tells you to follow the instructions on the app on your cell phone. But I found it like following a road detour and suddenly there are no more signs to follow. I did not find either the app or user manual documentation to be forthcoming in telling you how to configure the lock and how to add other people. You can grant access to other homeowners and guests but it's not immediately clear how. I suppose there is always Google there to help, but at least at the time of this review, there is a 24/7 Yale customer hotline that proved to be quite responsive and helpful.But after you explore the app and get used to it, it offers a lot of functionality. I opted to install the Yale DoorSense hardware (which is nothing more than a little magnet) that lets the door "know" when it is opened or closed. This enables to door to automatically lock at a time delay of your choosing. So there's no more I-wonder-if-I-locked-the-door anxiety when you leave. You can also program in the number of tries someone gets to guess your keypad entry code before getting locked-out for a period of time that's also programmable.But the best part of the lock is the touch entry. It is amazing. You just have to touch (importantly, not press) the finger of your choice on the fingerprint reader and the lock opens instantly (you LOCK the door using any finger). Easy and convenient.This is a well thought-out lock that looks great and is easy to use. I very much recommend it. The only thing left to be assessed is how well it performs over time in regular use. But my immediate impression is that they are very well made and likely to go the distance.

The Yale lock is a perfect example of bad engineering. The lock is beautiful looking, with a very clean design, but has some horrible issues that make it impossible to recommend.Issue #1 - Yale breaks the whole concept of Apple's Home app with this design. With Apple Home, we often share our Home to family members when they housesit or are staying at our house. All of our 80+ accessories work flawlessly, EXCEPT Yale. This is a problem when unlocking the front door is a critical requirement for housesitting. For these family members, the door lock in the Home app says "SETUP NEEDED". It turns out this is because Yale requires anyone using the Home app to also have the Yale app installed, to personally have enabled Home sharing between Yale & Home apps, and to be a FULL ADMINISTRATOR in the Yale app. The point of the Home app is I can avoid using these third-party apps, and that I can share access without requiring everyone else to install these third-party apps. And, no, I don't want my mother or cousin to be an administrator in Home or Yale, with the ability to remove accessories or change critical settings. This is bad, insecure design and incredibly frustrating.Issue #2 - Fingerprints. I bought this more expensive model because the idea of a TouchID-like experience for my front door sounds wonderful. However, the setup process is incredibly error-prone, with the lock often flashing red and the app showing an error message when trying to setup fingerprints. Yale's helpful support article suggests you factory reset the lock when you get the error message (thanks!) even though it requires complete re-setup of the entire lock, and even though the error message eventually goes away if you re-attempt a few times per day until it works. Even once fingerprints are registered, for most family members it works less than 50% of the time, and I appear to be the only one who considers using my fingerprint an option. WORST OF ALL, the fingerprints disappear from the lock once every time you change the batteries (which is more often than the advertising suggests), but the app will tell you that they're still registered. So you first have to unregister each fingerprint, and then re-register each fingerprint, multiple times per year! And again, this process will likely take several days to complete, with you entire family frustrated throughout the process and telling you that you wasted hundreds of dollars on a complete piece of crap, and can we please just go back to using a physical key again, it was so much simpler.Issue #3 – Battery life. Even though we don't use our front door super often, and even though we have strong WiFi signal at the front door, and even though we purchase high quality batteries, the battery life is pitiful, and we have to change them about twice as often as the manual suggests. Rechargeable batteries are not allowed (and will immediately flag a low-battery warning), so this lock is bad for the environment as an energy-hungry device that requires the frequent disposal of AA batteries in a home where we otherwise use 100% rechargeable batteries. But the most annoying part is that this necessitates the fingerprint issue mentioned above.Issue #4 – Entry code sensitivity. Compared to the prior model of Yale HomeKit lock which we used at our last house, this model is very finicky when it comes to entering the entry codes to unlock the door. I typically have to enter the code 2-3 times to get it to register. This is due in part to two poor design choices: the backlit numbers are dimly backlist, making it a bit hard to see them in direct sunlight; and the sound when tapping in the numbers is very quiet, making it hard to hear when you have tapped successfully on a number. Between these two features, it's quite easy to mis-type the code.At this point I'm on the lookout for a replacement device. I personally love the idea of not having a keyslot on the front door, but I may have to give up on this preference for the sake of getting a more functional smart deadbolt in a house full of otherwise mostly flawless home accessories.