Smart Home Company SwitchBot announced a new version for its retrofit smart locks. This one can be unlocked with your face. The
SwitchBot Ultra ($159.99 ) works with the new
SwitchBot Keypad vision (99 dollars) uses 3D facial recognition to unlock your door. The company also launched its
SwitchBot Hub 3 (), a smart hub for the home that was first teased back in March. The new products have now been released.
Available for preorder with expected delivery in June. SwitchBot claims that its smart lock
is the first retrofit smartlock with 3D facial detection. It can be retrofitted to your existing lock without having to replace it. The Ultra attaches at the rear of the lock and controls it with a mechanical motor. The front remains unchanged so that you can still use the keys. The Vision keypad mounts outside your door, and connects with the lock via Bluetooth.
SwitchBot Lock Ultra Vision Combo is priced at $249.99 which includes the lock, keypad vision, and a
SwitchBot Hub Mini (19459039) (a hub is needed to control the lock outside Bluetooth range).
Switchbot’s Lock Ultra and its predecessors Switchbot LockPro and Switchbot Lock are compatible with almost all existing locks across Europe and America. When connected to the keypad the lock can also be controlled by a fingerprint, keycode or an NFC card. It can be controlled by a key, an app, or auto-unlocking via geofencing.
According to the company, the Ultra has a battery life of up to nine months on the included rechargeable batteries and a backup battery lasting up to five years. It connects via Bluetooth and requires a Switchbot gateway to connect to Wi Fi and integrate with smart systems such as Apple Home (through Matter), Amazon Alexa and Google Home.
This lock is compatible with the SwitchBot Hub 3.
The company’s latest smart-home hub, is available for $119.99 and allows users to control and integrate SwitchBot Bluetooth products. The Hub 3 can connect up to 30 SwitchBot products to Matter ecosystems, such as Apple Home.
The SwitchBot hub is powered by USB C and has a dial, four buttons and a display. SwitchBot
This new Hub is an entirely different product than the second-gen version. It is larger and has a sleeker, all-black look. It also features a display and dial as well as four customizable buttons.
This hub can also be used as a temperature, humidity and light sensor. The display can be triggered by motion to show information like the indoor temperature, door lock/unlock status and smart home scenes.
This dial can be connected to compatible devices in order to control them. For example, it could adjust the brightness of the lights, the volume of connected TVs and the temperature of the thermostat. SwitchBot claims that the hub will control Matter devices integrated with Apple Home and Home Assistant. The Hub can also be used as an IR controller, and it can be integrated with over 100,000 IR codes. SwitchBot’swebsite is now accepting preorders for the new products
with shipping scheduled for June.
