Best and Worst Door Locks
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Most burglaries involve criminals forcibly entering your home, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics—and that includes coming through your front door. But even if you’re diligent about locking up, you need a good deadbolt to thwart thieves. (If you're worried about thieves breaking in through windows, see our home security system ratings.)
That's why CR engineers conduct kick-in tests using a custom-built jig that swings a 100-pound steel battering ram against a locked door. They repeat the test eight times, with the ram raised to ever-increasing heights—or until the lock fails.
"In our brute force kick tests, the cause of failure is more often than not the short screws used to attach the strike plate to the door frame," says Misha Kollontai, CR's test engineer for door locks. "When this is the cause, replacing the included strike plate with a reinforced strike, which costs as little as $10, improves the locks' resistance to kicking by magnitudes."
After putting dozens of locks to the test, we’ve selected five of the best from our door lock ratings. The list includes models from August, Medeco, Schlage, and Yale. We’ve also included four models to skip. These performed poorly in our physical challenges and/or our tests specific to smart locks. CR members can click on each model name for detailed ratings and reviews.
To learn more about our tests, check out our door lock buying guide. And for more door lock options, see our complete door lock ratings.
Yale Premier Single Cylinder YH82
CR's take: The Yale Premier Single Cylinder YH82 is one of the strongest conventional deadbolts you can buy. It stands up well to kick-ins as sold and receives a Good rating for drilling, which is the highest score of any standard deadbolt in our ratings. Other locks are better-designed to resist picking, though. This Yale lock also comes with a lifetime warranty on its internal mechanism and its finish.
Medeco Maxum 11TR503-19
CR’s take: The Medeco Maxum 11TR503-19 is the strongest deadbolt across all of our lock categories. It rates Excellent for drilling, withstands kick-ins very well, and is designed in a way that makes it very difficult to pick.
Schlage Touch Keyless FE375 CAM
CR's take: If you want a door lock with a keypad but don't want it to connect to the internet or your smartphone, consider this Schlage Touch Keyless FE375 CAM electronic deadbolt. It receives an Excellent rating for its resistance to picking, and proves difficult to drill and kick in. This Schlage comes with a 25-year warranty on its internal mechanism and a five-year warranty on its finish.
Yale Assure YRD256-CBA-619
CR's take: The Yale Assure Lock SL uses its sister company August's smart lock app and platform. That means it offers many of the same features as the August smart lock below, including remote control, an access log, voice control (via Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit/Siri, and Google Assistant), electronic keys, and a door open/close sensor. In our tests, the Yale receives a Very Good rating for its resistance to drilling. It's also impossible to pick, because it's keyless, and it's very resistant to kick-ins as sold.
August WiFi Smart Lock AUG SL05-M01-G01
CR's take: The August WiFi Smart Lock is the successor to the August Smart Lock Pro, offering a smaller physical design and connecting directly to WiFi without the company's $79 WiFi adapter. It receives identical scores in our performance tests—with a rating of Excellent for remote operation—and offers all of the same features (including those that required the WiFi adapter), except compatibility with Z-Wave smart home hubs. Its feature set includes auto-locking and unlocking, voice control (via Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit/Siri, and Google Assistant), access logs, electronic keys, and a door sensor. If you'd like to use PINs with this lock, August sells a separate wireless keypad for $60.
LockState LS-DB500R-SN
CR's take: The LockState LS electronic lock is highly susceptible to drilling, picking, and kick-ins as sold. This lock simply won't do much to protect your front door.
MiLocks DKK-02SN
CR's take: The MiLocks DKK-02SN electronic lock stands up to drilling fairly well, but that's about all this lock can do. It's susceptible to picking and doesn't stand up well to kick-ins even when reinforced with a box strike plate.
MiLocks ZWF-02BN
CR's take: The MiLocks ZWF-02BN smart lock is very easy to drill, pick, and kick in (even when reinforced). There are stronger, more feature-rich smart locks worth considering.
Weslock 671
CR’s take: The Weslock 671 is a weak deadbolt that can’t stand up to drilling, picking, and kick-ins as sold. There are better options for the money.
