Geek Smart Door Lock Review

We continue to review different smart lock models for our readers who visit our website. This time, we will share with you a detailed review of the Geek Smart Door Lock, which we have not made any reviews on our page of Dato brand before and which has attracted our attention recently.

We believe that when you read this review from beginning to end, you will find answers to all questions about Geek Smart Door Lock in your mind and you will be able to make a final decision whether to buy this smart lock or not.

To demonstrate the maximum capabilities of this smart lock, we will do this review by integrating the separately sold Geek Smart Wi-Fi Gateway into the system.

Connection Standards and Smart Home Controller Options

When Geek Smart Door Lock comes to you after you buy it, it only has Bluetooth connection technology right out of the box. Therefore, you need to download the Datahome app to control the smart lock through the app.

If you want to use Google Home and Alexa voice assistants, or if you want to access your lock remotely, Geek Smart Wi-Fi Gateway is absolutely necessary. Please don’t forget that, to control your Geek Smart Door Lock by Alexa Voice Assistant, you will need Echo or Echo Dot and for Google Assistant, you will need Google Home.

We are sharing our experiences with voice assistants below.

Alexa Voice Assistant

Alexa is one of the most common and smoothest voice assistants out there. Our personal favorite voice assistant is Alexa. Until recently, Geek Smart Door Lock was not compatible with Alexa. However, thanks to their newly released Geek Smart Wi-Fi Gateway, you can now control your lock by your voice with Alexa.

As we stated above, you will need Echo or Echo Dot in order to use Alexa Voice Assistant. First you need to do a pairing process for the gateway and Alexa. We are sharing a detailed pairing manual for Geek Smart Wi-Fi Gateway and Alexa at here. After the pairing process is finished, you can unlock, lock or find out if your door is locked by using the sample voice commands at the bottom.

Alexa is one of the most widely used voice assistants worldwide. You can lock, unlock and check if your door is locked by using just your voice. In addition, by integrating Alexa’s connected home automation system, you can ensure that the lights turn off when you lock your door or disarm the alarm when you unlock the door. We are assuming that the name of your lock is “Home”.

“Alexa, lock Home”
“Alexa, unlock Home.” (your pin will always be asked to complete unlocking)
Alexa, Is the Home Locked?”

Google Assistant

Google Assistant is another voice control option which is compatible with Geek Smart Door Lock. Pairing process is not difficult if you follow the instructions.

Google Assistant can be used by the following example voice commands:

• Lock: “OK, Google, lock my front door.” (use the name assigned to your door in the app)
• Check Status:“OK, Google, is my front door locked?”
• Unlock: “OK Google, unlock my front door.” (you will be asked your pin to complete unlocking)

These voice commands are tested by us for a while. We have not seen any problems and all of them worked as expected.

Fingerprint Reader of Geek Smart Door Lock

The fingerprint reader is on the top of Geek Smart Door Lock. You can have your thumb read very easily due to its location. There are 120 fingerprint memories in total. This figure is not only more than enough for home usage but it can also be used in small-sized workplaces.

Adding a fingerprint is done by using the Datahome app or over the keypad menu. We were able to add fingerprints very quickly and easily. You can add fingerprints as time limited which will work in the time range you define or permanent. The reading performance of the fingerprint reader is extremely good. Approximately after 0.7 seconds, fingerprint was recognized almost every time we tested.

According to our tests, the rate of reading the finger correctly is around 90%. At the same time, we saw that the fingerprint reader performed very well at the kids fingerprints which are generally difficult to be recognized by readers. If you face with problems, you can try to add same finger with different angles to solve the problem.

As a general warning, we remind you to be careful not to have a wet finger when using the fingerprint reader. Dato claims to have a learning A.I. which continues to learn your fingerprint to perform better each time you use it. This seems to be true but we will continue to test this to be 100% sure about it. Geek Smart Door Lock is an absolutely successful product as a fingerprint reader.

Keypad of Geek Smart Door Lock

On the front of the Geek Smart Door Lock, there is a keypad with a touchscreen. When you put your hand on the keypad, its lights are turned on and keypad gets activated. Sometimes we had to try 2-3 times to activate the keypad so it is not very responsive.

The keypad’s backlit is suitable for night use, but you may have problems under the bright sun during the day. According to our tests, the keys do not look bright enough under direct sunlight so you might will need to use fingerprint reader or mobile phone to unlock the door.

In general, such smart locks also have a key on the outer side for locking with a single press, but since the operating principle is slightly different in this smart lock, there is no such key. Instead, the system locks automatically after 5 seconds after you unlock the door.After it gets locked, you can still turn the knob but latch will not move so it will not be unlocked.

There is a security measure to hide your code, if you think someone is watching you while entering your user cod. If you have a 4 to 6 digit user code, you can unlock your door by putting random numbers at the beginning or end of your code. This code can be maximum of 12 digits in total including your original user code. As an example, if you user code is 836303 then 6343836303 and 836303889 will unlock your door.

We did not have the chance to fully test how Geek Smart Door Lock performs against weather conditions because we could not catch a very hot or very cold environment. Instead, we reached out to experienced customers who had previously used this smart lock for their opinion. We could not get clear information about cold weather, but we got information that sometimes it causes problems in hot weather. According to the company’s claim, Geek Smart Door Lock can work up to 158 °F (70°C). It also has an IP54 certificate so this means it is not waterproof, but it is resistant to water drops splashed around.

User Code Types of Geek Smart Door Lock

You can register 200 user codes in total to Geek Smart Door Lock. These user codes have to be between 4-8 digits. You can generate different types of user codes which we will explain in the following section of the article.

The programming of the user codes is done through the Datahome app or from the keypad. There is a very simple user menu, you can quickly understand how to program codes over the app. Here you can find the Geek Smart Door Lock user manual that explains the steps required to program the fingerprints and user codes. Please don’t forget that you will need Geek Smart Wi-Fi Gateway in order to add, delete, manage user codes.

Code types you can program:

Permanent: It is a type of code that you can give only the most truested people. The people with permanent code can unlock the door whenever they want. This code will not be deleted until the master deletes it from the lock.

Limited time: This code is generally used by people who rent their house for a short term. It offers a perfect solution especially for Airbnb uses. After you enter the starting date and time, you specify the end date and time, so that the person you have given this code can unlock the door only within the time range you specify. When the specified time interval is over, it is automatically deleted from the system.

Once: The one time usage code is the user code type that is widely used among smart lock and electronic lock users and offers a practical solution. When you give a one time usage code to a person you want to enter to your home only once, that person can unlock your door by using this code. Once it used, the one time usage code is automatically deleted from the system. By giving this code to your neighbors, friends, people who come to the house for various services, you can get rid of the trouble of giving permanent codes.

Custom: This code gives you option to program permanent code and time limited code. It is technically grouping these 2 code types together under a single type.

You have to use a user code within 24 hours after programming it to your Geek Smart Door Lock. If you do not use the codes, they will be automatically deleted from the system for security reasons in 24 hours. We also want to point out that frankly it upset us that there is no code type for recurring guests. If there are people entering your house at certain hours and days every week, you will have to program a limited time code over and over again each time. However, if there was a recurring code, this code would run on the days and hours you specified until you delete it from the system.

You can see the entire usage history through the app. There is a detailed usage table for each user separately. Also, whenever a user code is used, you can see it as a notification from your phone. To access this feature remotely, you need Geek Smart Wi-Fi Gateway.

IC Cards

IC Card programming is done as easily as programming fingerprint and user code. You can complete the programming process quickly by entering the menu on the program or on the keypad. There are 2 IC Cards coming to you as out of the box.We programmed one of these IC Cards as pemanent and the other one as time limited. Both of these cards worked as expected wihout problems.

IC Card can help kids and elderly people to unlock the door easier. You can add all IC Cards with the same features as this card to the system as an extra option.

E-Keys

E-keys have a different structure when compared to user codes. You can program the exactly same type of E-Keys as the user code types we have explained above.

After programming an E-Key and sending it to your visitor, your visitor should install Datahome app and paste the E-Key you shared with him/her to the Datahome app.

E-Keys can not be used over the keypad. You do not need internet to share electronic keys, you can program and share electronic keys without internet connection remotely.

Geek Smart Wi-Fi Gateway

As we mentioned earlier in our review , as out of the Geek Smart Door Lock can only be controlled from the mobile phone within the Bluetooth coverage area. You need Geek Smart Wi-Fi Gateway to remotely access your smart lock and use voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Home.

Installation was very easy for us. You will probably complete the setup completely within 3-4 minutes without any difficulty. Another nice feature of Geek Smart Wi-Fi Gateway is that it is compatible not only with Dato, but also with all smart locks using the TTLock app.

Below, you can find the list of new capabilites added to Geek Smart Door Lock after pairing with this Wi-Fi gateway. A product that we strongly recommend you to buy. Pairing manual can be found at here.

• Ability to lock and unlock your door away from home remotely
• Add,delete and manage user codes remotely
• Connect, manage, and provide remote access to multiple locks at the same time
• Access all usage logs remotely
• Check the status of your battery and get notifications when it is low
• Use your voice to control your smart lock by Alexa and Google Assistant

Battery Life of Geek Smart Door Lock

Almost everyone who wants to buy a smart lock is curious about the battery life and wants to know what to do when the battery runs out. Geek Smart Door Lock needs 4 x AA Alkaline batteries to operate. Dato company is not sending you these batteries so you should buy them. We always suggest our readers to buy Duracell batteries or Energizer AA Batteries for the best battery life.

DatoHome company claims that this smart lock will finish batteries in 1 year so we wanted to confirm this. This smart lock requires minimum energy as you have to turn the knob on your own to unlock the door. We calculated the average battery consumption by making various tests. It looks like Geek Smart Door Lock will have a battery life of 8-9 months minumum.

We want to remind you that this figure can be shorter or longer as each user use it in the way thay want. Some people will enable different features, use under different weather conditions and use it less or more frequently. We have learned that battery life goes down as short as 1 month under very cold weathers. Also please keep in mind that your door’s condition may effect the battery life dramatically.

When battery gets as low as last 50 usages, you will hear a warning as “battery is low, please replace” and you will be notified over the app too. If you forget to change the batteries, you can unlock by supplying temporary power from powerbank to the micro USB port entrance located at the bottom of the knob. There is no chance to unlock by using a mechanical key.

The process of replacing batteries is not very easy, but not too difficult. The first thing you need to do is to unscrew the screw on the cover of the indoor unit and remove the cover. Then, remove the batteries that come across, put the new batteries into the cover you just removed and close the indoor unit by slitting the cover and reinserting the screw. We have seen smart locks with a much easier battery replacement procedure, but there is no exaggeration for Geek Smart Door Lock either. You can replace the batteries within 2-3 minutes in total.

Installation process of Geek Smart Door Lock

Installing of a smart lock on the door is often an issue hat grows in the eyes of people who want to buy a smart lock for the first time. There is nothinh difficult to install Geek Smart Door Lock on your door. Just make sure that your door have the following specs stated below.

Door thickness: 1-3/8” to 2-5/8” (35 mm – 65 mm)

Backset: 2-3/8” or 2-3/4” (60 mm or 70 mm)

Lock mounting hole (see the image below): 1-7/8” (45 mm) ~ 2-1/4 ” (55 mm)

Please have a look at the image below to confirm that your door have these dimensions.

We finished installing in about 13 minutes and the only tool we used during installation was a Phillips head screwdriver. No special skills or any other tools needed. If your door needs drilling, there is a template to show you how to do it correctly. We think that a person who knows how to install a standard knob can install Geek Smart Door Lock in approximately 15 to 17 minutes.

We are sharing the Geek Smart Door Lock installation manul at here. This manual also includes the user guide. If you want to watch rather than reading instructions, below we are sharing you the installation video of this smart lock.

Technical Details Chart of Geek Smart Door Lock

Item Weight	3.21 pounds
Product Dimensions	8.4 x 7.5 x 3.7 inches
Voltage	1.5 volts
Batteries	4 AA batteries required. (not included)
Water Resistant	IP54 Certificated
Material	Plastic
Batteries Included?	No
Batteries Required?	Yes
Battery Cell Type	Alkaline
Warranty Description	1-year warranty

Cons and Pros of Geek Smart Door Lock

This is the ending of our review. We want to tell you our honest thoughst abou Geek Smart Door Lock. We will also list the all cons and pros of this smart lock as a list.

Geek Smart Door Lock is a nice product but it is not the one of the best options at the price range it is sold. Fingerprint reader is working well but keypad sensivity is not as good as fingerprint reader.  Having multiple ways to unlock the door is exciting. IC Cards working very well.

There are different user code types but recurring code is not possible to program. Some people might really need it so we wanted to point it out one more time at here.

Alexa and Google Assistant working very well with Geek Smart Door Lock after adding Geek Smart Wi-Fi Gateway to your home network. We never had problems with remote access and everything worked properly.  We are satisfied with it.

So after reading all of these things, if you are asking us if you should buy this smart lock or not, we can say “probably yes”. We say probably because there are more alternatives at this price range. Some similar smart locks with fingerprint reader, keypad and IC Cards: SMONET Smart Lock, Narpult Fingerprint Smart Lock, Sifely Smart Lock and Harfo F01 Smart Lever Door Lock. Below you can find the list of cons and pros.

Pros:

Small and knob style design

Easy to install

4 ways to unlock

Easy to add user codes, fingerpints and IC Cards

120 fingerprint memory

200 user code memory

Stable and fast fingerprint reader

Anti-peep password protection

One time,temporary and permanent user code types

Ideal for Airbnb 

E-Key creating without internet

Alexa and Google Assistant compatible (requires Wi-Fi gateway)

Remotely lock/unlock the door (requires Wi-Fi gateway)

Remotely add,delete and manage user codes (requires Wi-Fi gateway)

Long battery life

2 different low battery warnings

Micro USB port for power backup

Logs of usage for all user codes and fingerprints

IP54 certificate

Cons:

Auto lock is limited to 5 seconds

Backlit is not bright enough for day usage

Slightly difficult to change batteries

Keypad is not very responsive

No recurring user codes