The august wi-fi smart lock is one of the few smart locks that upgrades your door without changing how it looks from the street or forcing you to give up your keys. Instead of replacing the whole deadbolt, the august wi-fi smart lock retrofits onto the interior side of the lock you already own.
That single design choice is what makes it a landlord-friendly, renter-friendly, and DIY-friendly option. Below is exactly how it works, what it takes to install, and the safety points that matter before you pick up a screwdriver.
What “Retrofit” Actually Means
Most smart locks are full deadbolt replacements: you remove your entire lock, including the outside keyhole, and bolt in a new one. August took a different path. The 4th-generation August Wi-Fi Smart Lock is a round unit, about 2.8 inches wide and 1.8 inches deep, that mounts only on the inside of your door over the existing thumbturn.
Your original deadbolt, strike plate, and outside key cylinder all stay exactly where they are. The August simply grabs the interior thumbturn and motorizes it. Turn the physical thumbturn, use your phone, or use your key from outside, all three still work.
Safety note: The August retrofits the interior side of a standard single-cylinder deadbolt only. It does not fit double-cylinder deadbolts (key on both sides) or mortise locks. Confirm you have a single-cylinder deadbolt with a rotating interior thumbturn before buying.
Why Keeping Your Keys Matters
Because the outside cylinder is untouched, every physical key you own keeps working. That is a bigger deal than it sounds.
- Renters can install it without altering the landlord’s hardware, then swap the original thumbturn back when they move.
- You always have a mechanical backup, so a dead phone or a Wi-Fi outage never locks you out.
- Family members or a cleaner who prefers a key are unaffected.
- There is no rekeying and no locksmith visit.
Features of the 4th-Generation Lock
The current August Wi-Fi Smart Lock, priced around $200 to $230, folded the Wi-Fi bridge that older models needed into the lock body itself, so no extra plug-in adapter is required.
- Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: Lock, unlock, and check status from anywhere through the August app, no separate Connect bridge needed.
- Auto-Lock and Auto-Unlock: The lock can throw the bolt on a timer after you leave, or sense your phone approaching and unlock as you reach the door.
- DoorSense: A small magnetic sensor tells you whether the door is not just locked but actually closed.
- Activity feed and guest access: See a timestamped log of every lock and unlock, and grant time-limited digital keys to guests without handing over a code or a physical key.
- Voice and platform support: Works with Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Home, and Samsung SmartThings.
The 4th-gen unit is roughly 45 percent smaller than earlier August locks and runs on two CR123 batteries that typically last three to six months.
Installing It Yourself
Installation is genuinely a 10-to-15-minute job with a single Phillips screwdriver. Here is the sequence.
- Download the August app and start the setup, which walks you through each step with photos.
- Remove the two screws holding your current interior thumbturn plate. Leave the deadbolt and outside cylinder alone.
- Attach the August mounting plate to your existing hardware.
- Choose the adapter that grips your thumbturn tailpiece, from the set of sizes in the box, and snap it in.
- Twist the August lock body onto the mounting plate until it clicks.
- Install the two CR123 batteries, then run the in-app calibration so the lock learns the fully locked and unlocked positions.
- Stick the DoorSense sensor on the frame where the app indicates.
If your thumbturn is stiff to turn by hand, fix that first. A little dry lubricant in the deadbolt or a strike-plate adjustment matters, because the motor should not fight a sticky bolt.
Safety and Security Considerations
Smart convenience should never weaken the physical door. Keep these points in mind.
- Your deadbolt is still your security. The August motorizes the same bolt you had, so the grade and strike-plate anchoring of the original lock still define your door’s real strength. Long 3-inch strike-plate screws into the stud remain the best cheap upgrade.
- Keep a backup entry. Because the key cylinder is untouched, you always have a physical way in. Keep a spare key accessible to a trusted person.
- Secure the app account. Use a strong, unique password and turn on two-factor authentication, since your digital keys live behind that login.
- Mind Auto-Unlock. It is convenient but relies on your phone’s location. Review the geofence radius so the door does not unlock while you are still down the block.
- Batteries are your lifeline. Respond to the low-battery alert promptly, and remember the outside key still works even if the batteries die completely.
Battery Life and Everyday Reliability
The 4th-generation lock runs on two CR123 lithium batteries, the same type many cameras use, and a set lasts roughly three to six months depending on how often Auto-Unlock wakes the motor. The app pushes a low-battery warning well before the lock quits, and swapping cells is a 30-second job that never interrupts the outside key.
Reliability comes down to two things: a clean deadbolt action and solid Wi-Fi at the door. If your router sits far from the entry, a mesh node or extender near the door keeps remote commands snappy. When Wi-Fi drops, Bluetooth still lets your phone control the lock at close range, and the thumbturn and key always work regardless of network status. That layered fallback is a large part of why the August earns trust over months of daily use.
August vs. Full-Replacement Smart Locks
It helps to know when the retrofit design is the right call and when it is not.
- Choose the August retrofit when you rent, when you want to keep your existing keyed entry, or when you want a reversible install with no exterior change. The 15-minute, screwdriver-only job is a real advantage.
- Choose a full-replacement keypad lock when you specifically want a code pad on the outside so guests, cleaners, or kids can enter without a phone or key. August covers this with a separate Smart Keypad accessory that mounts by the door and pairs to the lock, so you can add code access later without swapping the whole system.
The takeaway is that the August grows with you. Start with the interior retrofit, then bolt on a keypad only if and when you need code entry.
Who Should Buy One
The August Wi-Fi Smart Lock is the clear pick when you want smart access without changing your door’s exterior, without rekeying, and without losing your physical keys. Renters, key-sharing households, and anyone nervous about a full deadbolt swap get the most from it. If you instead want a keypad on the outside so guests punch in a code, look at a full-replacement lock or add August’s separate Smart Keypad accessory.
For a fast, reversible, key-preserving upgrade, the retrofit design is hard to beat. Confirm you have a single-cylinder deadbolt, budget about 15 minutes, and you can be locking your door from your phone the same afternoon.
Getting the Most Out of It
Once the lock is running, a few habits turn it from a novelty into something you genuinely rely on. Set Auto-Lock to a delay that fits how you leave the house, typically 30 seconds to a couple of minutes, so the door secures itself after you walk out with your hands full of groceries. Pair DoorSense with a notification so you get an alert the moment the door is left ajar, which is the failure mode a plain deadbolt can never catch.
Guest keys are the feature owners end up loving most. Instead of hiding a spare under the mat, issue a digital key that works only during a set window, then let it expire automatically. Dog walkers, house cleaners, and weekend visitors get in without a physical handoff, and the activity feed shows you exactly when they came and went. If you share the home, give each household member their own login rather than passing one account around, so the log stays meaningful.
Finally, test the whole chain once a month. Lock and unlock from the app, turn the thumbturn by hand, and open the door with your key. That two-minute check confirms every layer of access still works before you ever need it in a hurry.
