Smart Lock - Deadbolt Handle Lock (A290)

A deadbolt handle lock with a lever above and below the keypad panel, in black anodised aluminium. It is the shape most people picture when they think of a smart lock on a front door: you unlock it and pull the handle, rather than unlocking it and then hunting for something to grip.

• Why a handle rather than a bare bolt
• Five ways in, and no gateway
• Fitting a deadbolt handle lock, and mortise options
• Batteries and getting in without them
• Handle or bare bolt

Five ways in: fingerprint, IC card, a wristband, the Tuya app and a mechanical key. Wi-Fi is built in, so there is no gateway to buy. From the app you can unlock the door from anywhere, hand out temporary passcodes and eKeys to a nanny, a housekeeper, a tenant or a guest, and read back the record of every entry.

It handles left or right doors, adjusted at fitting, and takes doors 35 to 55 mm thick. There is a doorbell in the panel and a durability rating of 300,000 cycles.

An alarm warns you when the batteries are getting low, and if you ignore it, any phone charger or power bank with a micro USB lead will wake the lock at the door. Four alkaline cells run it. If your door takes a bare deadbolt with no handle, take the A220 instead.

Why a handle rather than a bare bolt

A deadbolt handle lock puts a lever above and below the keypad panel, so you unlock and pull in one movement. The alternative shape, a bare deadbolt, leaves you unlocking the door and then hunting for something to grip. On a front door that is used twenty times a day the difference is not cosmetic.

The panel is black anodised aluminium alloy, rated to 300,000 cycles, with a doorbell built into it.

Five ways in, and no gateway

Fingerprint, IC card, a wristband, the Tuya app and a mechanical key. Wi-Fi is built in, so there is nothing else to buy: it joins your router on its own.

From the app you unlock the door from anywhere, hand temporary passcodes and eKeys to a nanny, a housekeeper, a tenant or a guest, and read back a record of every entry. It holds up to 150 cards and an unlimited number of eKeys, and runs on Android 4.3 or iOS 7.0 and above.

Fitting a deadbolt handle lock, and mortise options

It handles left or right doors, set at fitting rather than ordered as a version, and takes doors 35 to 55 mm thick. The standard mortise is a single latch adjustable from 60 to 70 mm. Dual latch 5050, 5572, 6085 and 7054 bodies can be ordered if that is what your door already carries, so tell us which one is in there.

Batteries and getting in without them

Four alkaline cells run it, and an alarm sounds below 4.8 V so you get warning rather than a surprise. If it is ignored, any phone charger or power bank on a micro USB lead wakes the lock at the door, and two mechanical keys come in the box.

If your door takes a bare deadbolt with no handle, the A220 is the same idea without the levers and we will point you at it.

Handle or bare bolt

If your door needs something to grip when it opens, this is the one. If it takes a plain deadbolt with no lever, the A220 is the same lock without the handles and costs less. That is the only real choice between them.

Tell us which mortise is in your door. The standard here is a single latch adjustable 60 to 70 mm, with dual latch 5050, 5572, 6085 and 7054 available to order. Both are in smart locks. App notes at tuya.com.