PENMAMA Smart Lock Review

November 28, 2021December 5, 2021 lock 0 Comments

As a team, we offer you as many different smart locks of different brands as possible. This time we present you a detailed review of a PENMAMA Smart Lock. This is the first time we are reviewing PENMAMA brand at our website. We believe that after reading this review in detail, you will find answers to all the questions that arise in your mind about PENMAMA Smart Lock.

We know that our readers want to see the maximum features of the smart lock they are considering to buy so we will do this review using a Wi-Fi Gateway compatible with TTLocka app which is sold as an extra. Let’s continue to our detailed PENMAMA Smart Lock review.

Connection Standards and Smart Home Controller Options

PENMAMA Smart Lock supports only Bluetooth connection technology as out of the box by factory. Thanks to Bluetooth, you can control the tlock by mobile phone from a maximum distance of approximately 5-6 meters using the TTLock application.

However, if this is not enough for you, you can use any Wi-Fi Gateway compatible with the TTLock application to provide remote access. We used the SMONET Smart Lock Wi-Fi Gateway in our tests and all the information we will share was written as a result of the tests performed with this Wi-Fi Gateway.

Wi-Fi Gateway adds support for Alexa Voice Assistant. Alexa also requires Echo , Echo Dot or any other Echo device. We will share more details at the next parts of our review. It does not have Apple HomeKit support so you can not use Siri with this smart lock. If Apple HomeKit support is a must for you, then you can have a look at Schlage Sense Smart Deadbolt Review and Kwikset Premis Touchscreen Smart Lock Review.

Alexa Voice Assistant

As you all know, Alexa is very widely used voice assistant. Alexa gives you ability to lock, unlock and check if your door is locked or not by your voice. We have tested these voice commands and seen that PENMAMA Smart Lock works with Alexa very well.

Pairing process was also very easy so we believe anyone can manage to finish pairing within 5-10 minutes. You will need Wi-Fi Gateway and Echo , Echo Dot or any other Echo device to complete pairing. TTLock and Alexa apps directing you for all the steps.

Below are the same example voice commands we have used during our tests. We named our PENMAMA Smart Lock as “Front Door” so these commands include the lock’s name too.

“Alexa, lock Front Door.”
“Alexa, unlock Front Door.” (you will be asked for your pin)
Alexa, Is the Front Door Locked?”

Keypad of PENMAMA Smart Lock

Keypad is designed very sleek and modern. It is touchscreen which activates by detecting your touch on the screen. We have not seen any problems at the activating stage as it is activated in 1 second after we put our hand on the screen. The illumination of the keypad is ideal for day and night use.

We tested the sensivity of the screen by pressing various buttons and inputting our user codes. We did not face with problems as it detected all numbers correctly each time we tested. We can easily state that even kids can use PENMAMA Smart Lock‘s keypad.

Locking the door is as easy as touching the # button for 2 seconds. For unlocking, you have to input your user code and press # button. Door unlocks instantly when you input the correct user code.

PENMAMA Smart Lock‘s keypad has a great feature called randomiser. Tgis is basically a code protector against someone watching you while you are inputting your code. You can input some random numbers before your user code to unlock the door. As an example, if your user code is 546327 so you can use 0024546327 because it contains your user code. We tested this too and it worked without any problems.

There is a keyhole hidden under the keypad. You have to slide the cover to access keyhole. Having a keyhole for mechanical key usage is a good advantage. An Emergency Power Supply located at the left side of the PENMAMA Smart Lock to give temporary electric to your lock.

There is nice protection against possibility to have your code seen by someone else while you are entering it. If you are suspicious that someone is watching you then you can just enter your code with random digits before or after it. As an example, let’s say that our code is 45789 so 36345789, 943784578943 and 457894366 will work as they all include our original code 45789.

Operating temperature is defined as -20°C~70°C but we did not have any chances to test this. Once we got more information about this, we will update this review.

PENMAMA Smart Lock is also IP45 certificated so this means water splashes and dust will not be a problem for this lock. Even though, depending on our experiences, you should not expose touchscreen keypads to direct sunlight and water for a long time. Water will make difficult to input the user codes and sunlight can cause crack on your screen or making it impossible to activate the keypad.

User Code Types of PENMAMA Smart Lock

Programming is done over TTLock app as the whole smart locks compatible with TTLock in the market. This is the only way to program user codes. We would like to have the ability to program permanent user codes over the keypad but it is not supported.

TTLock app has a very friendly design so that you can easily understand how to program a user code. We have programmed all possible code types and tested them one by one. All of them worked perfectly. User codes should be 6 – 9 characters long. You can program up to 150 user codes. This is more than enough for most of the people. Below, we will explain all user code types with you.

Permanent: Only use for the most trusted people. Whoever has this code can unlock the door without any time or date limitations. Very ideal for family members or the people living in your house.

Timed: This code is ideal for Airbnb type home rental usages. Just select the starting date and time and define the last date and time for user code to be activate. This code will only work between the date and time range you specified. After the last date and time you defined passes, it will automatically be deleted from the system.

One Time: A super useful user code type. Whenever you need to share a user code which will work for one time, you can use this code. The most common uses of the one time user code are home services, gardener, handyman, neighbor visits, and friend visits. After using one time code, it is automatically deleted from the system and cannot be used again.

Erase: Be very very careful while using this code. It will simply delete all the codes in the memory. We suggest you to double check the code type you are creating before trying it on the lock.

Cyclic: This a recurring code which does not require to program every week. Do you have a visitor to your home every week on certain days and times? If yes, then this code comes to your rescue. To give an example about this code, if there is someone who comes to your home between 10 am and 11 am every week on Monday, Thursday and Friday, you can program a code that is will be active on these days and at the time interval. Once you program this code, it will be active every week on the days and time interval you set, until you delete it from the system.

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. Only the lack of this code is, it lets you to program only 8 digits length.

As a general security rule of TTLock app, we have to remind you that if you don’t use the user codes you have created in the next 24 hours then codes will be deleted from the system.

When someone uses the code, you will get a notification over the phone. You can track each user by details over the app. Overall performance of the PENMAMA Smart Lock is extremely well. You will be satisfied with it.

IC Cards

There are 2 IC Cards coming to you as out of the box. This is a better way to unlock the door elderly people. All you have to do is to touch the card on the keypad screen. If you need more IC Cards, you buy any of them compatible with TTLock.

We have tested IC Cards by programming as permanent and time limited. Both of them worked as expected. It is really a comfortable way to unlock your door.

E-Keys

Do you want to have an alternative way to unlock your door? PENMAMA Smart Lock has E-Keys. E-Keys are different from user codes. E-Keys can be only used on mobile phones via TTLock app. Whoever has the E-Key should install TTLock app to use the E-Key.

E-Keys can be created as the same types we have explained under user code types (except erase). Programming is really very easy. Just open the app and follow the directions.

We have tested all of the possible E-Key types to see how they work. Results were satisfying as we never had problems. Each time we tried to unlock the door, it has worked properly.

Auto Lock Feature of PENMAMA Smart Lock

An extremely useful feature of all smart locks is auto lock function. You basically set a timer over the app to tell the smart lock to lock itseld when that time passes over the last unlocking time. Thanks to PENMAMA Smart Lock‘s wide range of timer options, you can set a timer from 5 – 200 seconds.

We tried this feature very carefully because if the lock is not locking as it should be, this will cause a security problem. We chose 5, 22, 35, 70 and 100 seconds. PENMAMA Smart Lock successfully auto locked itself after the defined time passed over the unlocking time.

We suggest you to turn on this feature. It is not activated by default. It is a very practical way to take out locking process of your life.

Wi-Fi Gateway

A Wi-Fi gateway is a very important addition to a smart lock. You are gaining ability to access your door remotely from anywhere around the door and you can use Alexa Voice Assistant to control the lock by your voice.

We have used SMONET Smart Lock Wi-Fi Gateway to test all features promised. Everything worked fine except a little lags some times which can be accepted as normal. You can also control all other smart locks that use TTLock app with this Wi-Fi Gateway. Please have a look at the list below to see what you can do after adding this device to your PENMAMA Smart Lock.

Lock, unlock your door remotely from anywhere
Remotely add,delete and manage user codes and e-keys
Connect, manage, and provide remote access to multiple locks at the same time
Access your usage logs for user codes and e-keys remotely
Check the status of your battery and get notifications when it is low
Control your lock with your voice by Alexa and Google Assistant

Battery Life of PENMAMA Smart Lock

Battery life is one of the biggest concerns of the people when they wan to put an electronic device on their doors. We suggest our readers to buy Duracell batteries or Energizer AA Batteries to have the longest battery life. PENMAMA Smart Lock requires 4 x AA Alkaline batteries but they are not sending these batteries to you as out of the box.

We made some tests and calculations as we made to previous smart locks we have reviewed. Depending on the average of these calculations, we believe that PENMAMA Smart Lock will have at least 3-4 months of battery life. However, this can change from user to user. We can count reasons such as enabled features, usage frequency, condition of the door, quality of the batteries and weather conditions as the ones affecting the battery life.

When your battery goes down to critical levels, you will hear beep whenever you lock or unlock your door. Also you will get warning from TTLock app. We suggest you to change the batteries in the shortest time as possible but this doesn’t mean that you must change them immediately because generally warnings come when the battery level is around 20%.

As we stated before, there is a keyhole hidden under the keypad. You have to slide the cover to access keyhole. You can unlock your door by mechanical key if you forget to change the batteries. There is also an Emergency Power Supply located at the left side of the PENMAMA Smart Lock to give temporary electric to your lock so don’t panic if your batteries drain completely.

Battery changing is really simple. You just have to press the small hole located on the cover of the interior unit with a fine tipped tool such as pen of pin. After that, you can slide up the cover and change the batteries. It will take 1 minute to finish the process.

Installation process of PENMAMA Smart Lock

Installing a smart lock does not require any experience. Almost all of the smart locks have the same installation steps. PENMAMA Smart Lock is also a very easy to install smart lock. If you are worrying about this, you should not.

We will share our experience during the installation of this smart lock but before we go ahead, we want you to have a look at the dimensions given below in order to be sure that PENMAMA Smart Lock will fit to your door.

Door frame: at least 110mm

Door thickness: 1-1/2” to 1-7/8” (38mm-48mm)

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

There are two holes required. Most probably your door is already drilled with a hole sized 2-1/8” (54mm) but you will need an extra small hole to fasten PENMAMA Smart Lock better. You will find the drilling template which makes drilling perfectly easy for you inside the box.

Hole in the door: 2-1/8” (54mm)
Diameter of the small hole: 3/8”(10mm)

Please check the image below for all details

We spent almost 12 minutes to complete installation of PENMAMA Smart Lock. We didn’t prefer to drill the 10mm small hole because it was already fitted well on the door. All we used was a Phillips-head screwdriver during the installation.

You can expect to finish installation in around 20 minutes maximum if you are new to these kind of things. If it takes longer than 20 minutes, you are probably doing something wrong so we suggest you to stop for couple of minutes and read the manual carefully.

We are sharing PENMAMA Smart Lock user manual at here. Instructions explained step by step so if you follow them you will not have problems. If you want to watch a video for installation, please have a look at the video below.

Technical Details Chart of PENMAMA Smart Lock

Item Weight	3.25 pounds
Product Dimensions	‎2.56 x 6.18 x 1.58 inches
Voltage	1.5 volts
Batteries	4 AA batteries required. (not included)
Operating Temperature	-20°C and ~ 70 °C
Material	Zinc
Batteries Included?	No
Batteries Required?	Yes
Battery Cell Type	Alkaline

Cons and Pros of PENMAMA Smart Lock

We are finalizing our review with last thoughts and list of cons and pros. We liked the locked to be honest. Every function of it working properly. It’s sleek design adds more beauty to your door.

All of the controls from mobile phone, no matter if in Bluetooth range or far away from home remotely, worked as expected. We loved the sensitivity of the screen which is very important for touchscreen smart locks.

If you are asking us whether we would buy PENMAMA Smart Lock or not, we would say “Yes”. If you are looking for another alternative to this lock we can suggest you:

SMONET Keypad Smart Lock Review

Narpult Fingerprint Smart Lock

Kwikset SmartCode 910 Z-Wave Smart Lock

Hornbill Smart Lock Keyless Entry Deadbolt

Below you can find the list of cons and pros of PENMAMA Smart Lock:

Pros:

Sleek and beautiful design