The smart lock WELOCK U81 we’ve had since winter on the apartment door and the whole family uses it every day. It unlocks with a fingerprint, PIN code, RFID card, the app, and the classic key—and after months of use we can tell you what worked well and where it might disappoint you. The hardware convinced us, because the lock holds firmly in the door and it’s practically impossible to mess with, but the app didn’t impress us as much.
Keys can stay in the drawer, the lock will ship from a European warehouse
WELOCK U81 you can buy directly in the brand’s official store, which ships it from a European warehouse, so you’ll get it by courier in about a week and you won’t have to pay anything extra upon delivery. With the lock you get a 2-year warranty and 30 days for returns if, for example, it doesn’t fit your door. If you want to control the lock remotely too, choose the variant with the WIFIBOX3 Wi-Fi gateway.
WELOCK U81, 2-year warranty
TIPExpress delivery from a European warehouse without customs duty and VAT.
This product will be delivered to you express from a local warehouse in Europe. Delivery from EU warehouses usually takes 2–10 days and is handled by a courier. When delivered, you don’t pay any extra fees—no customs duty or VAT.
TIPExpress delivery from a European warehouse without customs duty and VAT.
This product will be delivered to you express from a local warehouse in Europe. Delivery from EU warehouses usually takes 2–10 days and is handled by a courier. When delivered, you don’t pay any extra fees—no customs duty or VAT.
If you want to compare other models too, WELOCK now has Halloween sale on smart locks, where they cut the whole range by up to a third, including the cheaper Touch41 and the newer ToucA51.
Installation went exactly as in the manufacturer’s video
WELOCK U81 replaces a standard cylindrical insert, so there’s no drilling in the door, the handle stays the same, and when you move you can take it with you. We installed it according to the official video below and didn’t run into any issues. You loosen the screw on the edge of the door, pull out the old insert, slide in the new one, screw in the internal part with the batteries, and finally set up the lock in the app.
Before buying, measure your door, because according to the manufacturer U81 fits doors 60 to 115 mm thick, and for thinner doors from 50 mm the box includes a cover plate. The lock’s ID is printed directly on it, so take a photo of it before installation, because after mounting you won’t see it anymore.
Stays rock-solid—unlike the cheaper Touch41
We also have experience with the cheaper WELOCK Touch41. The biggest difference you’ll notice immediately when you first pick up the U81. U81 sits firmly in the door and the outer panel doesn’t move when you turn the knob or when you close the door, so it doesn’t feel like a cheap toy glued onto the handle. The outer part is stainless steel and plastic; on the door it protrudes as a narrow panel with the fingerprint sensor, a knob, and a keypad.
The keypad with a small display wakes up with a touch and shows the time, date, and battery status—so with every unlock you can see how much power is left. The fingerprint sensor is at the top above the knob, and when reading the finger it lights up blue; after a successful unlock, the ring lights up green.
Fingerprint, PIN & card: How we use it every day
We unlock most often with a fingerprint because it’s the fastest. You hold your finger up, the ring lights up green, and the WELOCK button connects to the lock, so you can turn it like a key. When it’s locked, the knob spins freely so the lock can’t be damaged by forceful turning. What it looks like in practice, you’ll see in our short video.
The lock remembers up to 100 fingerprints, 200 PIN codes, and 199 RFID cards. At ours, everyone saved their fingers from both hands, so the door opens even with a bag in one hand—and for extra safety we also added a PIN and a card.
You can add random numbers before or after the correct code so nobody can peek it, and after five incorrect attempts the keypad will lock for 90 seconds. For a visitor or cleaner, you can also create a temporary code in the app that stops working after the set time.
You can practically never get it locked out
With a smart lock, people worry the most that the batteries will run out and they’ll be left standing in front of locked doors. U81 runs on four AAA micro batteries, which according to the manufacturer last 10 to 12 months, although in Smartzone’s test they measured about 6 to 9 months. When the batteries are nearing the end, the lock warns you with every use: the fingerprint ring blinks red five times, the lock beeps three times, and a “Battery Low” message appears on the display. You can’t miss it—unless you did it on purpose.
The final backup option is a mechanical key—two pieces are included in the package. At first glance, you can’t see where to insert it, but you don’t need to disassemble anything because the keyhole is hidden under the silicone sleeve of the button. Just pull that sleeve off. In German tests, the key sometimes caught on the second or third attempt, so take it only as an emergency solution.
Weakest point: the WELOCK app
The hardware pleased us, but the WELOCK app feels outdated—and it’s the only thing we’d change on this lock. It doesn’t have Slovak or Czech, so you end up tapping through it in English. The icon-based menu—like Authorization management, Add Time-Limited Password, or Sync record—looks more like a service menu than a modern app. That said, it works reliably and lets you set everything that matters, from adding users to time-limited codes for visitors.
Without a Wi‑Fi gateway, the lock communicates with your phone only via Bluetooth, so the unlock history is downloaded to the app only once you connect to the lock. If you want to unlock remotely, receive real-time notifications, or link the lock with Alexa or Home Assistant, you need a WIFIBOX3 gateway, which you can buy right in the package with the lock.
Foreign reviewers see it the same way. According to Smartzone, the app looks cheap and is poorly translated, and Nerdsheaven called it less advanced than the apps from competitors like Nuki or SwitchBot.
What foreign tests say
We also went through reviews from German websites that had the U81 in hand, and in most cases they match our experience. Basic Tutorials handled the installation in under ten minutes and praised the quality of the plastic. Smartzone considers the fingerprint the most reliable and most used way to unlock, while Hardwareluxx liked the slow battery discharge and had no issues with the PIN code or the key.
Among the drawbacks, besides the app, the same points come up repeatedly: the beep when unlocking can’t be turned off, the button is quite small, and when recording a fingerprint the lock scans your finger only five times—so Hardwareluxx sometimes had to hold the finger down two or three times. You can fix that by saving the same finger multiple times, or by adding a second finger as well. The lock has no motor, so it won’t unlock or lock itself—you always turn it using the button. If you want a fully automatic lock controlled from your phone, you need to go for a motorized model.
Technical specs of the WELOCK U81
You can find the most important specs in the table below. When choosing, especially check the door thickness, because it determines whether the lock will fit without additional adjustments.
| - | WELOCK U81 |
|---|---|
| Unlock methods | Fingerprint / PIN code / RFID card / app via Bluetooth / mechanical key / Alexa via WIFIBOX3 |
| Capacity | 100 of fingerprints / 200 of PIN codes / 199 of RFID cards |
| Users | 10 administrators + 190 users |
| Power | 4× AAA battery (not included in the package) |
| Battery life | 10 to 12 months, depending on the manufacturer |
| Battery low warning | 4.5 V / red light / beeping / text on the display |
| Door thickness | 60 to 115 mm (from 50 mm with the cover plate) |
| Operating temperature | -25 °C to 60 °C |
| Material | Stainless steel + PC plastic |
| Lifespan | 100,000 cycles |
| In the box | 2 mechanical keys / 3 RFID cards / Allen key |
| App | WELOCK (Android / iOS) / no Slovak |
WELOCK U81, 2-year warranty
TIPExpress delivery from a European warehouse without customs duty and VAT.
This product will be delivered to you express from a local warehouse in Europe. Delivery from EU warehouses usually takes 2–10 days and is handled by a courier. When delivered, you don’t pay any extra fees—no customs duty or VAT.
TIPExpress delivery from a European warehouse without customs duty and VAT.
This product will be delivered to you express from a local warehouse in Europe. Delivery from EU warehouses usually takes 2–10 days and is handled by a courier. When delivered, you don’t pay any extra fees—no customs duty or VAT.
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