The latest innovation in smart home technology is to be less smart-looking. Level Home launched its latest smart lock, the Level Touch, and it looks more like a manual key lock than a gadget of the future.
The Level Touch opens with a finger touch, voice command or NFC key card (included with the lock). Users can grant guest access remotely through the Level app, which will act as a personal key. It’s also BHMA AAA-certified, which is the highest standard for security, durability and finish for locks, not just smart locks. And unlike its competitors, it doesn’t look the part of a smart lock. Where the smart lock market has opt to park the extra hardware on the exterior of the lock, Level designed the lock such that it remained the same size as a standard issue door lock. The difference: one looks bulky, unpleasant and plainly “smart,” while the other blends in.
Level
LevelRead More
The Level Touch is the follow-up to the brand’s original product, the Level Bolt. John Martin, Level’s co-founder and CEO, along with a cohort of other former Apple employees, built the lock to integrate into a home without looking or performing like a piece of new tech. The main hurdle was getting all of the hardware to fit into a tiny package, so the team built its smart locks from the deadbolt up. All of the electronics are housed in the lock mount and deadbolt, which accounts for its comparatively tiny size. The company asserts users can install the smart lock in a majority of deadbolt slots, and installation can take as little as 10 minutes using a single screwdriver.
The Level Touch is comes in four finishes (only satin nickel is available now) and retails for $329.