Front Door Smart Lock with Camera Review: all-in-one security, but not for everyone

I put this no-name smart lock with camera and indoor screen on a rental apartment door for a few weeks to see if it could replace a basic video doorbell plus a standard smart lock. On paper it does a lot: 3D face recognition, fingerprint, passcodes, IC card, app control with Tuya, and a built-in camera with indoor screen. In practice, it’s a mixed bag. It works, but you need to accept some quirks and a bit of DIY patience.

The first thing to understand: this is not a polished big-brand product with hand-holding instructions. The packaging and manual feel very generic, and the brand name is basically unknown. If you’re used to something from Yale, August, or Nuki, the experience here is rougher. I spent a couple of hours getting it installed and set up, mostly because the documentation is minimal and the translation is sloppy.

Once installed, though, the core idea is pretty solid: you get a lock, a peephole camera, and an indoor video screen all in one. When someone rings, the indoor screen pops on, and you see them right away without reaching for your phone. The Tuya app integration also means you can still check the door from outside the house. The lock itself offers a ton of ways to unlock, which is handy if you have guests, kids, or older relatives who all have different preferences.

Overall, my first impression after a few days was: it does what it says, but it feels like a budget all-in-one system. If you’re comfortable tinkering and don’t mind that it’s from an unknown Chinese brand, it can be good value. If you want something plug-and-play and super polished, you’ll probably be annoyed pretty quickly.

From a value for money angle, this lock sits in an interesting spot. You’re basically getting a smart lock, a video doorbell, and an indoor monitor in one package. If you tried to buy those separately from big brands, you’d easily pay two or three times more. So on a pure feature-per-euro basis, it’s actually pretty good. You get multiple unlock methods (face, fingerprint, PIN, IC card, app, key), a camera with a decent field of view, and an integrated screen, all controlled via the widely used Tuya app.

The trade-off is polish, support, and ecosystem. With this, you’re dealing with a generic Chinese brand (LISTaRSw) and a model number that looks like an internal warehouse code. If something goes wrong, you’re mostly relying on the seller and Tuya’s generic app, not a big brand with local support. The instructions are rough, the interface is basic, and you’ll probably have to tinker a bit to get everything dialed in. If your time and frustration level are worth a lot to you, that’s part of the cost too.

Compared to a combo like “cheap Tuya smart lock + separate Tuya video doorbell,” the price difference isn’t huge, but you get a cleaner installation with this all-in-one unit and that indoor screen, which is handy for kids and older people who don’t want to fiddle with phones. On the other hand, if one function fails (say the camera dies), you’ve basically compromised the whole device. Separate units are a bit more flexible to replace or upgrade.

For someone on a budget who wants a lot of features and is comfortable with generic smart home gear, I’d say the value is pretty solid. For someone who cares about long-term reliability, brand reputation, and seamless user experience, it’s less attractive. Personally, I think it’s good for rentals, secondary homes, or tech-savvy users who don’t mind a bit of hassle. I wouldn’t necessarily put it on the main door of a house where I need rock-solid reliability for many years.

Design-wise, this thing is not exactly discreet. The outside unit is fairly tall and looks like a tech gadget more than a traditional lock. You’ve got the camera at the top, then the doorbell button, then the keypad and fingerprint sensor. It’s all in a generic black/metallic style. On a modern metal door, it looks okay. On a classic wooden front door, it looks a bit out of place, more like an access control system from an office than a home lock.

The inside unit is even more noticeable because of the built-in screen. It’s practical, but it adds bulk. If you’re used to a slim inside module from brands like Nuki or Yale, this feels big and a bit old-school, like an indoor intercom panel. The screen isn’t high-end, but it’s bright enough to see faces clearly when someone rings. The interface is basic and a bit dated, with simple icons and some slightly awkward English, but it gets the job done.

What I did like is that the layout is fairly logical. The fingerprint sensor is easy to reach, the doorbell button is obvious, and the keypad lights up clearly at night. The 135° wide-angle camera gives a decent view of the doorway, including shorter kids. The design makes sense functionally. It just doesn’t look very refined. If you care a lot about aesthetics, this is more “industrial gadget” than “nice home hardware”.

In terms of installation impact, be aware that the lock body is 240×24 mm and expects a door thickness of 40–60 mm. On a standard European wooden door, it fit, but I had to slightly adjust the cutout. The outside plate covers most old holes, but not all. So from a design perspective, it solves a lot in one unit, but you give up a sleek look. Personally, I’m okay with the chunky style on a rental, but I wouldn’t put it on a carefully renovated front door where looks matter.

The lock runs on a 3200 mAh rechargeable lithium battery, which is okay but not huge given it powers a camera, screen, Wi-Fi, and the locking mechanism. In my test, with moderate use (maybe 10–15 unlocks a day, a few doorbell presses, and some app checks), the battery lasted around three weeks before dropping under 20%. That’s usable, but it’s not the kind of “install and forget for months” battery life you get with simpler locks that don’t have screens or cameras.

The good news is that it has a USB-C emergency power port. When the battery is low, you get a warning in the Tuya app and usually some alert on the indoor screen. If you ignore everything and let it die, you can still plug in a power bank via USB-C from the outside to get enough juice to unlock, or just use the mechanical key. I tested draining it down close to empty and then booting it with a power bank, and it came back to life within seconds. So you’re not going to be locked out if you plan a little.

Charging is straightforward: open the inside unit, plug in a USB cable, and let it charge for a couple of hours. There’s no fancy dock or removable battery pack; you charge it in place. That’s fine, but it means your indoor unit will be tethered to a cable during charging, which looks a bit messy. If you have kids or pets who like to pull cables, keep that in mind. I would have preferred a slightly bigger battery or at least an easy swappable pack, but at this price point, I get why they kept it simple.

Overall, I’d rate the battery life as “okay for an all-in-one device, but not great.” If you’re expecting 6–12 months like on some battery-only locks, you’ll be disappointed. If you accept that the camera and screen eat power and you’re fine charging it every few weeks or so, it’s manageable. The presence of the USB-C emergency port and mechanical key takes a lot of the stress out of potential lockouts, which is what really matters at the end of the day.

The lock is made mainly from aluminum alloy and some plastic parts around the camera and screen. In the hand, the outside unit feels reasonably solid, not like thin toy plastic. The inside unit feels a bit lighter and more plasticky, especially around the frame of the screen, but nothing that screams “it will break in a week.” The buttons and fingerprint sensor are well integrated and didn’t wobble or feel loose during my test period.

The spec sheet claims an IP68 waterproof rating and a working temperature from -10°C to 75°C with 5%–95% humidity. I obviously didn’t stick it in a bucket or bake it in an oven, but I did expose it to some rain and direct sun. On a typical autumn week with a couple of heavy showers, the outside unit didn’t show any sign of water ingress. The camera lens stayed clear, and the doorbell button still worked fine. I’d still avoid pressure washing it directly, but for normal front door exposure, it seems okay.

The mechanical parts of the lock body (240×24 mm) feel average. The latch action is not as smooth as some high-end European lock bodies I’ve used, but it’s not rough either. After a few dozen open/close cycles, there were no weird squeaks or grinding. The handle has a bit of play but nothing excessive. The spec mentions “unlock times over 600000,” which sounds nice, but obviously I couldn’t verify that. Based on feel alone, I’d expect it to last a few years under normal household use if installed properly.

My main durability concern is more about the electronics and software support over time. With an unknown brand and a Tuya-based system, firmware updates and long-term parts support are a question mark. If something on the screen or camera dies after two years, I’m not sure how easy it will be to get it fixed. So physically it seems sturdy enough for a budget device, but if you want something you’ll keep for 10 years, I’d probably look at a more established brand. For a rental or a secondary door where you don’t need lifetime support, it’s good enough.

In daily use, the unlocking performance is decent but not flawless. The 3D face recognition works surprisingly well most of the time. In good lighting, it recognized me in about one second and unlocked the door without me touching anything. At night, thanks to the infrared, it still worked, though it sometimes took two tries if I had a hat or glasses on. I deliberately tried to unlock it with a printed photo on my phone screen, and it refused, so that’s a good sign. I didn’t try any 3D masks or advanced tricks, but for normal home use, it felt reasonably secure.

The fingerprint sensor is a semiconductor type and is more consistent than the face unlock. I registered around 6 fingers for different users, and success rate was high, maybe 9 times out of 10 on the first try. Wet or very cold fingers caused a few misses, but that’s normal for most fingerprint locks. The keypad for PIN codes works fine, and the touch buttons are responsive. I like having all three options because if the face fails at night or I’m carrying stuff, I just use my finger without thinking too much.

The camera and video doorbell part are okay but not on the level of a dedicated high-end doorbell. The 135° field of view is wide enough to see packages and people standing off to the side. Image quality is clear enough to recognize faces, even in low light. There is some grain at night, but nothing dramatic. When someone presses the bell, the indoor screen lights up quickly and shows the live view. The Tuya app notification comes through in a few seconds on my phone over Wi-Fi. There’s a small delay on the video stream, but it’s manageable.

Where it struggles a bit is speed and polish. The menu response on the indoor screen is slightly laggy, and switching between options isn’t super smooth. The intercom audio is serviceable but not very crisp; there’s a small echo sometimes. For the price and the fact it’s an all-in-one device from an unknown brand, I’d call the performance pretty solid overall, but definitely not on the same level as something from Ring plus a separate smart lock. If you can live with a few hiccups and occasional lag, it works fine.

When you open the box, you get quite a lot of hardware. There’s the outside unit with the camera, doorbell button, keypad, and fingerprint reader. Then there’s the inside unit with the screen and handle, plus the lock body (240×24 mm), strike plate, a mechanical key or two, IC cards, screws, and a USB-C cable for emergency power. It looks like an OEM product that a bunch of brands could slap their logo on. Nothing fancy, but all the main parts are there.

The documentation is the first weak point. The manual is short, with tiny diagrams and translation that feels like straight machine output. For example, some menu items in the settings don’t match exactly what you see on the screen. I had to guess a couple of times during setup, especially when pairing it with the Tuya app and registering faces. If you’re the type who wants clear, step-by-step pictures, this will annoy you. If you’re used to figuring out Chinese smart home gear, it’s about what you’d expect.

Function-wise, they promise a lot: 3D face recognition, fingerprint, PIN codes, IC cards, app unlock, physical key, and video intercom via Tuya. The spec sheet also throws in IP68 waterproofing, working temperature from -10°C to 75°C, and a 3200 mAh battery. These numbers look good on paper, but there’s no independent certification mentioned, so I’d take them with a bit of caution. I didn’t dunk it in water, but I did spray the outdoor unit with a hose lightly and it survived fine.

In day-to-day use, the presentation is basically: “here’s a cheap all-in-one smart lock that tries to cover every feature box.” It doesn’t feel premium, but it doesn’t feel like complete junk either. If you go in expecting a generic Chinese Tuya-based lock with a bunch of features rather than a polished ecosystem product, you’ll be in the right mindset.