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igloohome Smart Mortise Lock retails for S$649 with free installation during this promotion period. The usual retail price is S$849.

The smart mortise lock is igloohome’s third door lock. The first being igloohome Smart Deadbolt Lock 01 and second being igloohome Smart Deadbolt Lock 02.

This mortise lock is priced slightly higher than deadbolt lock as mortise lock come with both lock and handle. So this lock will directly replace the mortise lock found in most HDB main doors.

Upgrading From Deadbolt?
I spoke to igloohome about upgrading my existing igloohome Smart Deadbolt Lock 02 to the igloohome Smart Mortise Lock. But I was told it is not recommended.

I can see why that is the case.

Installing the deadbolt lock doesn’t require you to remove your existing mortise lock, as it is installed above it by cutting another hole through the door.

You can replace your existing mortise lock with the smart mortise lock directly. That works. But the hole that has been cut for the deadbolt lock will always be there unless you change the door.

So if you do not want to replace your door, you are left with two options. Leave the existing deadbolt lock or remove the existing deadbolt lock.

If you choose to leave the existing deadbolt lock there, it is okay. But why do you need two locks again?

If you choose to remove the existing deadbolt lock, the hole requires patching, and that may comprise security, which is not an issue in Singapore. But aesthetically wise, it will look hideous, and I am not sure whether your other half will agree to it.

So I decided not to upgrade it and pass the mortise lock to my brother who will be getting his new flat soon.

Unboxing

• Front Assembly
• Back Assembly
• Mortise Assembly
• Mortise Shaft & Pin
• Back Plate
• Strike Plate
• 22x Assorted Screws
• 4x AA Alkaline Batteries
• 2x Key Cards
• 2x Key Stickers
• 2x Physical Keys
• Drill Sheet
• User Guide

Four alkaline AA batteries are provided. The batteries should be able to last you about a year based on my experience with the deadbolt lock.

Please only use alkaline AA batteries. Do not use rechargeable or super heavy duty batteries as it might spoil the lock. igloohome recommends Energizer or Duracell.

Installation
Installation takes about an hour, and it involves dismantling your existing mortise lock and replacing it with igloohome Smart Mortise Lock.

The door strike is slightly protruding out from the door. The exposed edge of the door strike is quite sharp, so your arms might accidentally brush it if you are not careful.

The width of the door strike is standard, and it seems it will not fit well for main doors of HDB BTO flats.

In case you miss the unboxing contents, the mortise lock comes with two physical keys, two small RFID key cards, and two RFID key stickers.

The two physical keys are non-duplicable outside the factory. If you happen to lose your keys, you can contact igloohome, and for a fee, they will change the physical keyhole alongside a new set of keys.

Design
Both igloohome deadbolt lock and mortise lock use Zinc Alloy for the frame and have a black brushed metal finish. For the back portion of the lock, it is mainly made of plastic. The front portion of the lock is water resistant (IP65), so it can withstand rainwater splashes.

Personally, I think the mortise lock looks more beautiful than the deadbolt lock.

It is more seamlessly integrated with your door as it comes with both the handle and the lock.

If you are using the deadbolt lock, the deadbolt lock maybe in black but your existing mortise lock will be in another color. And that might not look aesthetically pleasing.

Features
igloohome’s deadbolt lock has three modes of access. PIN code, Bluetooth Key, and Physical Key. The mortise lock has four. The additional fourth one being RFID card access.

Some features that are present in the deadbolt lock are also in the mortise lock and they are:

• Security Lockout Mode: If an invalid PIN code is entered 5 times, the lock will stop operating for 5 minute.
• Low Battery Warning: A beep sound and red flashing keypad indicates when battery power runs low.
• Emergency Power Supply: When lock batteries are flat, an external DC9V battery can be used to jump-start the lock.
• Tamper Alarm: The lock will sound if intruders attempt to pry the lock from the door.
• Privacy Mode: Activate this from indoors to prevent electronic entry from the outside.
• Decoy Security Code: Enter random digits before your password to reduce risk of intruders checking fingerprints.
• Timed Re-lock: Select the duration (between 5s to 120s) before the lock automatically locks, regardless of how it was unlocked.

Apart from the above features, some features can be found in the mortise lock only.

• Fire Alarm: When the sensor detects a temperature between 50°C – 70°C inside the house, the mortise will unlock automatically.
• Volume Adjusting: Select the volume of the lock that suits your needs.
• ESD Protection: The circuit board is protected from the damages incurred from a high voltage surge.
• Anti-panic Exit System: Allows you to open the door by simply pulling down on the lock handle from inside, without twisting a separate thumb turn.
• Sensor Re-lock: The lock will re-lock when the door is closed.

Want to add that the mortise lock supports both timed and sensor re-lock.

Using It
The setup process is slightly different from the deadbolt lock as there are two pairing methods available. The first one is the simplest which involves just scanning the QR code on the setup card using the igloohome app.

The second method involves the manual Bluetooth pairing.

Unfortunately, the QR code pairing method is not yet ready, and hence I have to pair using the second method.

The setup instruction booklet is ahead of its time. There are still a lot of missing features in the app itself. Like the ability to scan QR code (as mentioned above) to start the setup and the capability to edit the generated PIN in the app.

So for first-time users to igloohome, they will find it confusing. My brother was wondering why he could not edit the generated PIN. So I told him the feature is not yet ready. So to edit the PIN, he has to do it on the mortise lock itself. The instructions are found in the deadbolt lock user guide as it is not indicated in the mortise lock user guide.

Interestingly, I just realized that both deadbolt and mortise lock user guide doesn’t have instructions on how to hard reset the lock. To hard reset your igloohome lock, remove the battery cover at the back. Then, press and hold the button (there is only one button) and key in your master PIN code.

Because of the mortise lock anti-panic exit system, opening the door from inside takes only one step. Unlike the deadbolt lock, you don’t have to twist the thumb turn and pull down your existing lock handle. For the mortise lock, you have to pull down the lock handle, and the door will open. It is convenient.

Using the RFID card to open the door is extremely fast, it is faster than entering your PIN or using Bluetooth to unlock. If I am using the mortise lock, it will be my favorite method of unlocking the door. Unless of course, I did not bring the card out or my hands are full.

igloohome App
App-wise, the UI, and functionality remain the same since I last reviewed it for the igloohome Smart Deadbolt Lock 02. I will not go into details.

The UI might remain the same, but there are some under the hood improvements. With every app update, I feel that the app is much snappier and the Bluetooth connection is much more stable.

Despite that, I still feel the app is buggy when it comes to UI. Sometimes you will see duplicated keys, and if you refresh it again, it will be gone. Sometimes when you update activity logs, your existing logs will disappear, and when you update it again, it will return.

Those are not critical bugs, but it gives a feeling that the app is buggy.

The app is also iPhone X optimized, something that many companies still fail to do.

Since the mortise lock supports RFID keys, the app now provides the functionality to add an RFID key.

My brother discovered a bug when adding a new RFID key using the app. If you changed your master PIN before issuing a new key for “Key Card Holder,” you will never be able to add an RFID card. You will get an error that says “Please update activity log before registering key card.” Even if you update the activity log, you will still get the error.

The only way around it is to hard reset the mortise lock, add the RFID card, then change your master PIN. Apparently, once you follow this sequence, you can continue adding RFID card even after changing your master PIN.

Conclusion
Despite being almost two times the price of the deadbolt lock, the igloohome Smart Mortise Lock is still one of the cheapest smart mortise locks around.

The igloohome app is still buggy, but it will get better as time goes by. It is already much better as compared to two years ago when I first started using it.

One of the features that I like and is missing from the deadbolt lock is the RFID card access.

Most of the time I am using a PIN code to unlock my door as it is faster than Bluetooth. But it is good to have an additional unlock mode like RFID card. The card is thin and can be placed in your wallet. Also, for older people, they might not remember things that well. Having an RFID card to tap and open a door is much simpler than asking them to key in a PIN code.

Regarding aesthetics, having a single lock on your door will look more beautiful than having a separate lock and handle. So the igloohome Smart Mortise Lock will look better on your door as compared to igloohome Smart Deadbolt Lock 02 and your existing mortise lock.

If I have the chance to turn back time, I would wait for the igloohome Smart Mortise Lock and have not gone with the igloohome Smart Deadbolt Lock 02.