We tested Door Keeper, the Somfy connected lock – 20 minutes
- As the summer holidays approach, many are thinking of securing their home.
- With Door Keeper, the Somfy brand is launching a connected lock that allows you to manage entry and exit from your home, but also to be alerted in the event of an intrusion attempt.
- For a budget of around 500 euros, this lock, which must be installed by a professional, is practical, efficient and reassuring.
Alarm, surveillance camera… and connected lock. A stone’s throw from the summer holidays, securing your home is one of the concerns of many. With Door Keeper, Somfy is launching its solution to control the entrances to its home. The idea of the security and home automation specialist is thus to offer a solution that combines the management of openings / closings and the detection of intrusion attempts.
To be installed by a professional
“Today, the average person has no idea what a smart lock is. What people are primarily looking for is not to multiply the keys for this or that visitor, but security, ”explains the manufacturer to 20 minutes. Door Keeper, which we were able to test in our daily lives for several weeks, is based on different pillars: a lock motorization compatible with most doors; an external reader with code keypad; an application to control the lock remotely, manage access and keep a history of entries and exits.
The equipment, however quite simple to install as we have seen with our door, must however be installed by a professional.
Connected key, badges, and bracelet
The motorization part takes the form of a block with a refined design (signed by the French studio Elium, which works for LG, Withings or Lexon). It notably contains a removable USB rechargeable battery (announced autonomy: approximately 12 months) and a new cylinder. It is placed on the inside of the door.
Outside, nothing indicates the presence of the system. Only the wireless keyboard to be positioned at the entrance of the house suggests the presence of specific equipment. The whole communicates using a “bridge”, a sort of small wifi / Bluetooth box connected to the mains and located near the door. A set of keys, two badges, as well as a bracelet to personalize (ideal for serving as a key for a child) are provided.
Open and close from your smartphone
Easy to use, Door Keeper is a bit confusing at first. Leaving our house by typing a code on a keyboard (and showing off in front of your neighbors!) Is not reassuring at first. So have you systematically checked that our lock was properly closed after pressing the small lock and the four digits leading to its locking.
This control is all the more important as Door Keeper is extremely silent. Of course, we could have used one of the keys provided, but also the badges or the bracelet (to be configured in the application). Even our smartphone, since the Somfy Keeys application allows you to open or close the door with one click.
“Dare” to go out without our keys …
Likewise, it took us two weeks to “dare” to go out without our keys! Yes, it is stupid. Psychologically, this “back-up” solution seemed necessary to us in case our Door Keeper did not work with the numeric keypad, a badge or the application. This precaution was above all unnecessary. The dozens of openings / closings that were operated without an “emergency-key-just-in-case” absolutely all worked. If the accesses can be unlimited, it is also possible to restrict them.
Equipped with a badge for which we have defined a time slot for use, the person in charge of house maintenance can only come at the defined times, on the same day, every week. His badge is inoperative at another time. And we’ll be free to turn it off this summer when we’re on vacation. For a trusted neighbor, in just a few clicks we have defined an access code for the keypad, which he can use when desired. We could also limit the access or the duration of access to our accommodation.
Notifications that reassure
Reassuring: at each entry or exit, our smartphone warned us with a notification. Even simpler: owners of a connected watch can also receive a notification each time the door is opened / closed. Our Apple Watch thus served as a cookie during our tests, warning us when someone entered our interior, our visitors being identified thanks to the profiles recorded in Somfy Keys.
When you are inside, you no longer need a key. A long press on the large central cylinder of Door Keeper triggers the opening or closing of the door. Overall, the operation, which takes three seconds, still seems a bit long. Longer in any case than if we had simply opened our door with a key and then pressed the handle.
A Discreet mode can even be engaged, further slowing down the mechanics so that they are practically inaudible when you come home late, for example, to avoid waking the household. We tested it but did not use it, the lock seemed sufficiently silent to us.
LED lights as indicators
The Door Keeper box is stylish and discreet. It has a white LED indicator that flashes every five seconds to indicate that the door is properly closed. In use, it seemed insufficient to us. First, we can see it badly in broad daylight. Above all, it would be necessary to associate a red light with it to indicate that the lock is not closed! In the evening, on our way to bed, we often checked our door.
Budget? 500 euros the lock installed, approximately. The price of a mid-range smartphone. That of a certain form of tranquility. Somfy claims a network of 650 installers easily identifiable on the manufacturer’s website. The brand also has competitors, such as Nuki or Linus Yale, which offer somewhat cheaper smart locks, which can be installed yourself, but which do not necessarily offer the same level of comfort in use.