SwitchBot Lock Ultra for Mortise Locks: Hidden Gem or Trash?
As a Professional Locksmith in Vancouver, I’ve seen my fair share of the bizarre and the unusual. More so with the exploding popularity of Amazon Marketplace with its oddball locks and security hardware. Ten years ago, I would have laughed at the idea of installing a lock from Amazon but things have changed significantly since.
While most of these non-standard products are still of lower quality and of questionable origin, the dramatic rise in prices of popular North American name brands like Weiser, Schlage, and Yale are forcing many of my customers to look for alternatives. One that has recently been brought to my attention is the SwitchBot Lock Ultra. So it is a Hidden Gem or does it belong in the Trash Bin?
As always, if you have any questions or comments, please call/text me at 604-363-2760 or email me at alex@locksmithvancouver.com. I would love to hear from you. For in-person visits, our Downtown Vancouver Key Store is located at 555 West Hastings St and is open Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm. Our PoCo location is not open to the public.
Quick Overview of the Electronic Mortise Locks
I recently had a client who wanted to install an electronic lock that would work with a Colombo Mortise Lock. If you have read my previous articles about Colombo Mortise Locks, you know that they’re pretty horrible and I would not spend any more money on it than I had to.
While electronic locks for cylindrical locks are common, mortise locks can be difficult or very expensive to electrify. Most major mortise lock brands like Schlage and Sargent make an electrified mortise lock to be connected to an Access Control system with a power supply, controller and RFID reader/keypad. It’s very expensive for just one door, so it’s not common in the Residential market.
Electrified mortise locks are not very common in the Commercial Market either. I see them most often in new builds for Fortune 500 companies like Apple and so on. Due to their higher price point, most buildings use electric strikes combined with cylindrical levers. Most retrofits would use a standalone product like the popular Schlage CO-100 series for mortise locks.
The most popular electrified mortise lock would be Schlage with their EL/EU models in the L Series. Followed by Sargent with their KP 8200 series. For better or worse, Colombo does not make electrified mortise locks. Not sure I could trust it to last as long as the other two brands.
Manipulation of the Thumbturn
So if you have a slightly oddball mortise lock brand like Colombo and FSB, you will need a 3rd party electronic device that can be paired with your current lock. Most of these products like the Switchbot Lock Ultra focus on manipulating the inside thumbturn. Once the proper credentials are applied, the motor mounted on the inside of the door will turn the thumbturn one way or the other.
Before I get into the pros and cons of the SwitchBot specifically, there are some several factors you need to consider before installing a device like this on your mortise lock.
- Ensure your door and frame has near perfect alignment. If your lock is already hard to lock/unlock, you will very quickly burn out the motor. Your lock should be “smooth as butter” to use.
- Most thumbturns are secured to the door via one or two very small screws. If your electronic lock is not perfectly centered, the thumbturn can be ripped off the door eventually.
- Mortise Locks use high tension heavy duty springs. This can cause electronic motors to burn out more quickly or cause gear slippage issues.
- This type of device only works with non-toggle mortise locks. If you don’t know what that is, contact me for more info.
- Your thumbturn should be uniformly flat. If you have a tapered thumbturn like from the Sargent 8200 series, the device may not work properly.
- Be aware that if the electronic lock fails, you may be looking at a complete lockout where even the key may not work.
Compared to cylindrical electronic lock, I think the most concerning issue with a thumbturn manipulating electronic lock like the SwitchBot Lock Ultra is the final point in the above list.
If the battery simply dies, you should be able to use the existing key to unlock the door. If you don’t carry your manual override key with you, a Vancouver locksmith can open the door via lockpicking or drilling if need be.
However, I have serviced two customers in the past who had similar security hardware like the SwitchBot Lock Ultra where their device suffered catastrophic failure. There was a malfunctioning motor in one and the other’s gears had slipped; thus, the two devices were completely seized up.
The manual override key would not unlock the door as the device would not turn over. As a result, I spent a lot of time and effort unlocking the door via destructive methods. While it was eventually possible to open the doors with minimal damage, the clients were left with quite a hefty bill.
In comparison, electrified mortise locks provide the benefit of keeping the electronics and mechanical parts modular. If the electronics fail, it usually does not impact the mechanical components at all. The exterior key and the interior thumbturn will always work. However, these systems are costly for a reason.
The SwitchBot Lock Ultra
I honestly never even heard of this brand before a client told me that he was installing it on his Colombo Mortise Lock. My initial impulse was to tell him that it was a bad idea but I decided to take a closer lock at the lock first. After all, there have been great advancements in consumer electronics in the past 5 years and China makes pretty much all of them for Western customers.
Having done my research and having gotten my hands on one, here are my pros and cons of this lock.
| Pros | Cons |
| Triple power redundancies | Sticker mounted lockbody |
| Rechargeable main battery pack | Flimsy thumbturn adapter |
| All the frills you would ever want | Too many frills and options |
| Metal geared system | Thin cheap plastic everywhere |
Pro #1: Power Redundancies
In terms of the battery power, this lock has triple redundancies like the USS Enterprise. According to its marketing materials, the main battery pack will last 12 months. The secondary backup battery will provide 1000 uses, and the tertiary backup battery will provide 5 emergency unlocks.
The primary battery pack is rated to last only a year, which is unusually short compared to its peers. However, most North American brands do not have a backup or a secondary backup power source. In addition, based on the secondary battery, the SwitchBot Ultra seems to be based on a 3V architecture. Most competing products in his segment are based on 9V architecture with the standard 9V square alkaline battery.
When the SwitchBot Lock Ultra runs out of power, you can pull the power pack out and recharge it using the cable it comes with. While you wait, you will rely on the secondary power source.
The backup battery is not your standard AA battery; instead, it’s a CR123 batter,y which may not be readily available in your area. Plus it definitely costs more to replace as it’s not rechargeable like the main battery pack.
Finally, the third power source seems to be a circuit-mounted battery for emergency uses only. It cannot be replaced easily as it’s accessible only after complete disassembly. If you have let both the main and the backup batteries run out of power, you probably have neglected the multiple warnings the lock gave you. I hope you kept the manual override key handy.
The most frequent calls we get about electronic locks is that the power has run out and the client does not carry the manual override key with them. If you are a serial procrastinator, the SwitchBot Ultra is the right lock for you. If you drain all three power sources without recharging, you probably deserve to be locked out.
Pro #2: All the frills you want
If you like complex devices with multiple functions and uses, this lock is right for you. Not only does it have your standard Bluetooth and Wifi access, it also can be equipped with a keypad, fingerprint reader, and facial recognition camera. This lock has something for everyone, albeit via a separate device mounted on the door or door frame.
I cannot comment on the reliability of the fingerprint and facial readers. The online comments are fairly positive but no one has undertaken any serious research to see how easily these readers can be fooled. There’s nothing in the marketing materials from SwitchBot that shows how many points of reference it takes.
Obviously, the more points of reference it uses, the more secure the system is. When Apple first released its facial recognition system, there were stories about how easy it was to defeat by using a similar face. iPhones have gotten a lot better since, but this is Apple – a multinational giant. Is SwitchBot using the same hardware and software? Kind of doubt it.
However, in the end, if you want a lock that can be upgraded to use the latest gadgets, the SwitchBot is an excellent choice. It seems to work with every app and smart home system currently on the market.
Pro #3: Metal Gears
People who have read my previous articles and talked to me directly would know that one of my pet peeves with consumer grade electronic locks is their use of cheap plastic gears and RC motors. You can hear the whining and grinding themselves to death every time you use them.
On the other hand, SwitchBot claims to use metal gears with direct drive motors for a longer lasting, smooth, and quieter performance. Albeit, I have not ripped it apart to verify if this is true. While I’ll reserve my judgment regarding the longevity of their metal gears, the lock is indeed smoother and quieter than almost any other electronic deadbolt on the market.
Con #1: Too many frills
I think most homeowners would agree that they don’t build home appliances like they used to. For example, the older refrigerators were simpler but they last much longer than modern versions with more bells and whistles.
The same is usually with consumer grade electronic locks. More features usually means that there are simply more failure points that can break and the SwitchBot sure has a lot of features, upgrades, and extra modules.
Unfortunately, this product and this company does not seem to have a very long track record. Competitors like Schlage have been around for over a hundred years which lends a certain amount of credibility to their product line.
While I hope the SwitchBot proves to be a great product over a decade of use, it just has not been around long enough. So I recommend purchasing or using the product with the idea that some features may break/malfunction over time. Plus, as an online only product, warranty and product quality issues will probably never be honored.
Con #2: Thin cheap plastic
One of the things I noticed about this lock is just how light it is. It probably has to be based on the third and final Con discussed below. Even with weight reduction in mind, you can tell that the plastic lockbody and parts are made from just the cheapest plastic they could source.
It’s super light duty and will crack/chip/scratch easily. If anything fails first on this lock, it will probably be a plastic component.
If you have ever held an older but simpler electronic deadbolt like the Schlage BE365 in your hand, there is definitely a sense of weight and sturdiness to the product. The outer casing is all metal, so it could be dropped and it will probably chip the floor.
The SwitchBot feels like a light breeze will blow it away into the sky. If you drop this lock, it may bounce a couple of times due to its plastic composition before shattering or cracking.
The modular parts like the mortise lock upgrade are made from the same cheap plastic. It won’t surprise me if it cracks and fails from continual use. The springs inside a mortise lockcase are designed to provide a significant amount of tension as they are technically Grade 1 Commercial Heavy Duty Lock Hardware. The tiny screws that hold the thumbturn manipulator in place are comically small and thin. They won’t last very long under heavy tension.
Con #3: Sticker mounted lockbody
When my client showed me this lock, my first question was how it was mounted onto the door. Turns out that the SwitchBot Ultra is mounted onto the door via a sticker.
Now 3M mounting stickers are pretty reliable. They can hold a surprising amount of weight and like I said the SwitchBot Ultra is a fairly light lock. However, a sticker is still a sticker. If your door has a habit of slamming shut due to the miscalibrated door closer or if you live in a warm humid climate, the lock may not be for you. The vibrations from the impacts of the door slamming and the dampness from the humidity will degrade the sticky surface.
Next, the sticker does not run through the whole surface or the lock. It is applied only to a fairly small portion. Kind of like the heel of a shoe. If the rest of the lockbody/foot is allowed to move around, the mounting tape may eventually come off.
Finally, anything sticker mounted can cause issues down the road. If you ever have to remove the lock off the door for servicing etc, you may damage the door paint/veneer. If you’re renting, I recommend talking to your landlord before installing the lock. Overall, I’m not a fan of a lock that is stuck onto the door via a sticker.
Please note that for cylindrical deadbolts, the SwitchBot Ultra uses the deadbolts side bolts like its competitors. The sticker mount is used only for Mortise Lock and Jimmyproof Rim Cylinder Deadbolt versions.
Final Thoughts
So far, I think the SwitchBot Ultra can be an excellent choice for clients seeking to electrify their mortise locks without breaking the bank. It definitely has its advantages and can be upgraded with the latest tech including fingerprint and facial recognition readers. However, its build quality and mounting solution leaves much to be desired. On the other hand, it’s quite inexpensive compared to more well-known brands and models.
As always, if you have any questions or comments, please call/text me at 604-363-2760 or email me at alex@locksmithvancouver.com. I look forward to making your day better.
