Google Nest x Yale Connect Smart Lock

EDIT: I was mistaken about one detail, Google Assistant will NOT unlock the door, only lock. I had tried it that way and assumed it would work both directions but not-so. Doesn't affect my rating or view on it, just thought it'd be helpful info to provide. tl;dr: The negative reviewers probably couldn't tie their own shoelaces, and if you want to know why, read on. Normally I do a pro's and con's review, but after seeing the 'top review' on this product being a disparaging review stemming from his lack of knowledge on install and usage (which was all in the manual and app), I figured I'd make a review to respond. Here are the top bullet points of the other negative reviews and the reality of them: • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 40000% 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘵 𝘰𝘳 1000% 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 (𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣) 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢 9𝘷 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬. 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘: This is a half truth. If you install the strike plate so it misaligns with the deadbolt, it'll be finnicky about wanting to lock. With a dumb deadbolt, you can force it with your fingers. You wouldn't want the motor to force the lock as it'd burn it out quickly. This is entirely avoided by performing a proper install to begin with, which in my case just meant using a small flathead and hammer to knock some of the wood away where the strike plate was going to sit before screwing it on. And then the bit about needing a 9V? The lock itself is powered by 4 AA's, and it warns you well in advance when the lock needs a battery swap. If you let it die, you'd really have to be negligent. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘕𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘: This is just flat out wrong. Not only can you add individual family members (who can also each have their own unique passcodes), you can create guest and temporary passcodes. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘕𝘰 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘪 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳. 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘: This is true, but while having proximity would be great, it's not secure. If you forget your phone in your house, your door will stay unlocked. Then what? • 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘕𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵, 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘: This is also flat out wrong. You can grant two levels of access to other members you add to your family, administrative rights or Home-Entry-Only. They can be granted unique codes and they have no access to settings. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮 & 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 & 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘: The tailpiece is identical to the "dumb" deadbolt I replaced. The difference is that the Nest's tailpiece has some leeway where it's attached to the turn assembly BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T INSTALL IT OTHERWISE. This amount of give is purely for install purposes and doesn't detract to the "locking security" of the deadbolt. The only way to break it is trying to purposely break it off or if you improperly tried to slot it through the bolt assembly. I'm sorry but that's like complaining a butter knife has no durability after stepping on one end and lifting the other end with your arm. Anyway. Hope this helps anyone looking to try this thing out. Maybe if some of the other reviewers read manual, they'd be sitting pretty right now, but y'know. The only difficulty I had was pairing the Nest Connect, and it was A-okay once I disconnected the Bluetooth headphones I was using during install.