Nuki Smart Lock Pro Review
We have a problem: sometimes we get to our studio front door and our hands are fully occupied, so getting a key out to unlock it is a clumsy look that involves placing things on the ground, which isn’t ideal when it’s raining. Fed up with this quandary, a solution has presented itself: it's called the Nuki Smart Lock Pro, a smart lock that retrofits onto your existing door cylinder while continuing to use your existing key.
Design
Actually, it’s the fifth generation of this product, and for anyone who appreciates substantial, weighty hardware, they will feel right at home with the Nuki. It’s really quite careful in its design language, with a rounded housing using high-quality materials, such as stainless steel, that feel nice to touch and interact with if manually locking or unlocking. It suits where it lives on our aluminium Origin bi-fold door that serves as the entrance to our studio. The Nuki comes with two body covers, one in black and the other in white. Our bi-folding doors are anthracite grey, yet we felt the white body cover, with its contrasting look, worked better here than the black cover, which is also supplied. The materials of the door and Nuki Smart Lock Pro marry together really well, and it doesn’t look like we’ve bolted on something as an ugly afterthought; it just blends in.
Installation
We were expecting a quick install based on the marketing materials, but this is absurdly quick and clean to do. Essentially, we began by placing the mounting plate onto the cylinder; it uses screws to grip the cylinder itself rather than penetrating the door or lock in any way. Once mounted, it acts as a bracket for the Nuki Smart Lock Pro to screw onto, with the existing key acting as the anchor point. Once on, you're finished and just need to calibrate the lock with the app. Which directs you step by step through the install to configuring how you want to use the lock.
There's no modification to the door, no drilling, no permanent commitment of any kind. Nuki also supplies an adhesive mounting plate for different door configurations and setups where the standard bracket isn't suitable, which speaks to how broadly the system has been designed to accommodate varying hardware.
In Use
The Nuki Smart Lock Pro earns its keep most visibly in daily use, where the auto-unlock feature is pretty much the flagship offering, using Bluetooth alongside your phone's location awareness to make entry feel almost invisible. As we approach the studio door, the lock recognises our arrival and the brushless motor unlocks automatically. Optional auto-locking can then secure the door again once we've left. It sounds simple, and it is, but the execution is what matters, and here it works reliably across multiple devices and users without conflict.
Because our Origin bi-fold door requires the handle to be pushed upwards before the multipoint lock can fully engage, scheduling becomes a genuinely useful tool rather than a novelty. During working hours, we can configure windows where the lock remains passive, preventing it from constantly attempting to cycle through a lock or unlock when people are moving in and out. Without that, the mechanism would be working against the door rather than with it.
For our own access, the Apple Watch is something we've become quietly fond of. It allows locking and unlocking directly from the wrist with the Smart Lock Pro, though it does require a manual tap within the app to action either; it won't happen automatically as it does on the phone. But that changes when you combine it with the Nuki Keypad 2.0 NFC. A tap of the Apple Watch against the keypad is all it takes to open the studio, using Apple Home Key via the Nuki Keypad 2 NFC. It feels faintly futuristic, and on the occasions we've stepped outside without our phone, it's proved more useful than expected. For those who may have an Airb'n'b rental or office space where giving keys to every person who needs to enter is a tricky arrangement, this additional Keypad 2 NFC is a nifty solution. It connects wirelessly to the Nuki Smart Lock Pro, making it possible to set a code for each person or time period.
Beyond scheduling, the app shows us a full activity list, button & LED function, integration into your smart home (the Nuki Smart Lock Pro integrates with Apple Home via Matter), and manages connections. There’s also granular control over things like locking speed, which when slowed down makes it quieter, and a feature called Lock 'n' Go, which automatically locks the door a set number of seconds after it has been unlocked, useful if you're stepping inside with your hands full and don't want to think about whether the door has secured itself behind you (wouldn’t work for us as the handle has to be pushed upwards). It's a small thing that removes a specific anxiety entirely, though obviously for the right kind of door. One thing we noticed which initially ruined the experience was that the lock was going into a low power setting to conserve battery, but for some reason didn’t wake for network access quickly enough and would become dormant. We disabled this low power mode and it never presented any issues after this and has always been alert, although will likely need recharging more often, which is done via a proprietary magnetic charger that latches onto the lock. For us, a socket is nearby so charging isn’t a concern, but if it is, removing the lock is straightforward with a simple twist, and charging will be complete in around 2 hours. A full battery is rated to last between 4-9 months and we expect ours to perform towards the lower end of the claim.
Verdict
The Nuki Smart Lock Pro (5th Gen) delivers on the promise of a smart lock that unlocks as you arrive and secures itself when you leave. Importantly, though, it's a design that doesn't require you to replace the cylinder, but instead you can use your existing key within the lock. It's a gloriously simple solution, installed in minutes, and for a studio or rental space where handing out keys is impractical, it solves a real problem with very little fuss. It's a great example of technology removing friction from everyday life while simultaneously improving security.
