ᐅ Strike plate and smart door lock (Nuki / Bold)

Hello everyone,

We have a multi-family house, but only relatives live there. I want to switch to smart door locks and am considering whether to choose Nuki Ultra or Bold. The main differences are:

Nuki Smart Ultra:

• It actually turns the key, so it can open and close both the latch and the deadbolt
• If someone doesn’t have a smartphone, they can still lock and unlock with the traditional key
• Battery lasts about 6 months

Bold Elite SX33:

• The exterior knob is free-spinning. By activating it via smartphone or a clicker, the knob is engaged and you can lock or unlock. This extends battery life significantly
• If someone doesn’t have a smartphone, they can lock and unlock with the clicker
• Battery lasts about 2 years (and apparently even longer depending on use)

Prices are relatively similar for the complete package. There isn’t much difference. We have 1 main entrance door, 4 apartment doors, and 1 garage door.

1. First question: What is the name of the latch on the strike plate that allows the door to be opened without a key by simply pushing harder? (The latch basically doesn’t hold against the strike plate)

2. Second question: What are the strike plates called that have a latch allowing the door to be opened without a key by pushing harder? Are these also available for apartment doors? The strike plate height is 20cm (8 inches).

Use case: Children come home from school at midday. On the main entrance door strike plate, we have the latch “unlocked” so the children can enter anytime without a key or smartphone. At our apartment door, they have to knock or ring the bell.

With Nuki, the following would be possible:

• You unlock the latch on both the main entrance and apartment doors. The children could enter anytime. Via the app, you could lock both doors by engaging the deadbolt into the strike plate again. Then a key or clicker would be needed. So at certain times the children could just enter freely.

With Bold, I don’t see this option. But you could give the children a clicker. If they lose it, you can simply deactivate it. This isn’t as problematic as losing a key.

3. What are your thoughts? All other common use cases should be similar. Which would you tend to choose? Does anyone have experience with either system?

Regarding points 1 and 2: This is commonly known as a "door opener."

• Electric door opener
• Electric door opener with lever for mechanical release

For apartment doors (approximately 19-20cm (7.5-8 inches) high), I have not yet found a strike plate where such a door lock could be installed.

I just found out that Nuki apparently also has a remote control, which means it could be suitable for children as well. It’s called the "Nuki Fob."

The app in the Play Store has a higher rating for Nuki, with over 1 million downloads and a score of 4.4, compared to Bold with 100,000 downloads and a score of 3.7.

The biggest difference would be:

• Nuki: Automatically retracts the latch/bolt when you open the door (this could be an advantage or disadvantage)
• Bold: Activates the door lock, but you have to manually turn it to open.

What are your opinions or preferences here?

I think the Nuki is great. It can be combined with all kinds of devices (remote control, fingerprint scanner, keypad) and works very well.

netzplan schrieb:

UseCase: Kids come home from school around midday.

There are inventions like keys. Then the kids can go in and out anytime, 24/7, without any technology. Just something to consider. As far as I know, it’s a proven technology used billions of times.

Nuki and similar devices are an add-on. They help simplify things, like remotely unlocking the hallway for delivery personnel to leave packages, letting grandma in during vacation to water plants, and many other use cases (also with the additions mentioned above).

I often have “caught” kids here who don’t have a key with them.
We now use fingerprint and chip access so our child can basically always get in. The fingerprint sensor is not always 100% reliable when fingers are wet, but there is the chip in the backpack as a backup. However, we combined this with other systems (automatic lock / Goliath video intercom) and do not use Nuki or Bold.

As a child, I also once lost a key. That would be really expensive with today’s locks and locking systems. Just to get a key duplicated for our security lock they wanted around €100.

Systems similar to Bold were used at work on the interior doors. After a lot of consideration, I ruled out something like that for my own front door because I don’t have a second entrance door and I also wanted to keep a mechanical way to open it. Whether an 80-year-old grandma always notices if something suddenly blinks or beeps—employees at my previous company often didn’t manage that either. As the landlord, you would likely have to act as an emergency opener sometimes and always keep the right batteries on hand.

I liked the Nuki system. Only the volume and the bulky unit on the door were often mentioned negatively in many reviews, and it couldn’t be integrated with my video intercom.
That is why we retrofitted an automatic lock with a motor on the front door.

You should definitely check as a landlord that this is acceptable from an insurance perspective.

Musketier schrieb:

I thought the Nuki system was good. The only issue that came up negatively in many reviews was the noise level and the bulky device on the door.

The problem seems to be resolved now (although I haven’t seen the new version personally yet). With the Lock Ultra featuring a lock cylinder (SKG with three stars – meaning good security), additional keys cost only 28€ (about $30). I find that quite appealing.