Yale's New Google-Friendly Smart Lock Makes a Great Security Starter. Here's Why

8 / 10 Score Cnet Score CNET provides expert, unbiased reviews of products and services. When we assign a score, we use a scale of 1-10. Each product we score is evaluated by criteria specific to its category with most assessing pricing, quality, features and performance. Read more on: How we test Yale Smart Lock with Matter $140 at Amazon Pros Simplified design is sturdy and makes installation easier Matter compatibility with extra support for Google Home (an app I like) In-depth settings with vacation mode, volume settings, autolocking and more Affordable for a smart lock at under $150 Yale's installation instructions are great and the design makes it easy, especially if you use Google Home Cons Inside battery cover is slightly flimsy The door sensor add-on is a pain to install, although optional No fingerprint access or similar extra features Table of Contents Yale's New Google-Friendly Smart Lock Makes a Great Security Starter. Here's Why Yale's design is simple and reliable Installation proved smooth for a smart lock Google Home and Yale's plentiful smart lock features Final thoughts on the Yale Smart Lock with Matter Yale has a long-term partnership with Google Nest , yielding collaborations including the Yale x Nest smart lock . But that lock is several years old now, and Yale has a new model available in 2026: the Yale Smart Lock with Matter. (Matter is the smart home standard that platforms such as Google Home support.) The new Yale Lock is available for around $150 , making it one of the more affordable deadbolt replacement smart locks . By cutting out some of the old clutter and streamlining installation, Yale has created a lock that's particularly well-suited to smart security newcomers. It also offers many of my favorite lock features , including customizable auto-locks, quick pass creation and a vacation mode . But the latest Google-friendly Yale lock isn't perfect. I'm not a huge fan of the add-on sensor, even i