August Smart Lock 1st Gen: The Original Bluetooth Deadbolt
Product Details
The August Smart Lock 1st Gen launched in 2013 and changed how people thought about door locks. It was the first product to prove you could add a smart lock without replacing your existing deadbolt or drilling new holes. The round, puck-shaped body clipped over the interior thumb turn. Your keys still worked. Your door looked the same from outside. That idea - the pure retrofit - is now standard in the industry, but August invented it.
This review covers the original model, the AUG-SL01-M01-G0X, for anyone researching the product line's roots, evaluating a used unit, or tracing how the category evolved.
Hardware Design and Build
The 1st Gen lock has a round form factor roughly the size of a hockey puck. It's made of metal with a brushed finish. The design won a few industrial design awards when it launched, and it still holds up visually. It mounts on the interior side of your door and connects to the existing deadbolt thumb turn using a metal adapter plate.
August's retrofit approach is simple: remove your current interior hardware, attach the adapter to the thumb turn, clip on the lock body, and install the batteries. No new holes. No locksmiths. Your existing deadbolt cylinder, keys, and exterior hardware stay exactly as they were. This made it easy for renters and homeowners alike.
The lock runs on four AA batteries. August rated battery life at around 3 months. That's shorter than later models, which improved the estimate to 6 months.
Connectivity and the August Connect Bridge
The 1st Gen uses Bluetooth only. That means your phone must be within Bluetooth range (roughly 30 feet) to send a lock or unlock command. It doesn't connect to your Wi-Fi network on its own.
For remote access, August sold the August Connect bridge, a small Wi-Fi adapter that plugged into a wall outlet near the door. The bridge acted as a relay. Your phone talked to the cloud, the cloud talked to the bridge, and the bridge talked to the lock. It worked, but it added cost ($50 at launch) and another device to manage.
Later August models built Wi-Fi directly into the lock body, making the Connect bridge unnecessary. The 1st Gen's Bluetooth-only design was a deliberate choice in 2013: Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE) was new, battery life was the priority, and home Wi-Fi was less standardized than it is now.
Compatible Platforms
The 1st Gen launched before most smart home platforms matured. By mid-lifecycle it supported:
- August app (iOS and Android)
- Alexa voice control (added later via app update)
- Works with Nest via August's own bridge
Apple HomeKit support was not available on the original model. That came with later hardware revisions.
Auto-Lock and Guest Access
Auto-lock was a core feature from day one. You set a timer in the August app, and the lock engages after that delay. Options ranged from 30 seconds to 30 minutes. It's a simple feature, but it's the one people use most. Forgetting to lock the door is a common problem, and auto-lock solves it.
Guest access worked via virtual keys sent through the app. You invited a guest by email or phone number. They got a key tied to their August account. You could set access windows: permanent, date-limited, or time-of-day-limited. You could revoke access with one tap. For people managing cleaners, dog walkers, or Airbnb guests, this was a genuine upgrade over hiding a key under a mat.
The activity log showed every lock and unlock event with a timestamp and a name. That audit trail was useful for households tracking who came and went.
Setup and Getting Started
Setup takes about 15 minutes. The August app walks through each step.
What You Need
- A standard single-cylinder deadbolt (not a double-cylinder or chain bolt)
- The correct adapter for your thumb turn size (two options included)
- Four AA batteries
- The August app on iOS or Android
You remove the interior thumb turn, attach the adapter to the existing spindle, and snap the lock body onto the adapter. The app then guides you through calibration: the lock learns your deadbolt's locked and unlocked positions. After calibration, you can lock and unlock from your phone.
For remote access, you plug in the Connect bridge in a nearby outlet, add it in the app, and connect it to your Wi-Fi network. From that point, you can lock and unlock from anywhere.
Historical Context for the Product Line
The 1st Gen is significant because it defined the retrofit smart lock category. Before August, smart lock options required full deadbolt replacement - Schlage and Kwikset made keypad deadbolts, but you swapped out everything. August's insight was that most people don't want to replace their hardware or change their keys.
The product launched through a Yves Behar design partnership, which gave it a clean industrial look that stood out. August released the 2nd Gen in 2015, the 3rd Gen in 2017, and the Wi-Fi Smart Lock Pro later, each improving battery life and adding built-in Wi-Fi. The 1st Gen was discontinued around 2017-2018.
If you're comparing the full August lineup, the 1st Gen serves as context for understanding why later models added what they did.
Final Thoughts
The August Smart Lock 1st Gen is a discontinued product with real historical weight. It didn't just sell well - it created a product category. The retrofit-only approach it pioneered is now the default design for dozens of competing products from Yale, Schlage, Kwikset, and others.
For practical use today, the 1st Gen is hard to recommend over newer options. Battery life is shorter. There's no built-in Wi-Fi. DoorSense and other features added in later models are missing. You'd need to find a used unit and a used Connect bridge, and August's software support for the original hardware has become limited.
But if you're a smart home history enthusiast, or you inherited one and want to know what you're working with, the lock still functions. The app still pairs. Auto-lock still works. Guest keys still send. It's a solid product from a different era of the smart home market, and it holds up better than you'd expect for hardware that's over a decade old.