Can someone tell me what’s the best lock to purchase. I am looking for one that works great with ST. The budget is $200-300 dollars. I have been looking at the Schlage BE469ZP Z-Wave Lock. Any help would be appreciated.
There’s no one best like because it depends on the features you need, your budget, your aesthetics, the country you live in, etc.
Up until 2017, personally I would have felt that either Schlage or Yale would be a good choice, and I have used both in either my home or my brother’s.
However, for whatever reason, over the last two years there have been many reports of network difficulties with Schlage locks. Not just with smartthings, with other hubs as well. So while I’m sure there are many people who have these and really like them, at this point, I personally would recommend looking at Yale or the August models that work with Yale.
( Kwikset is a budget brand that works fine with smartthings, but is definitely lower quality than Schlage or Yale as rated by the independent locksmith organizations.)
The next question is whether you need a keypad on the outside or not, or whether you are OK just using the app and Geopresence.
At this point the August retrofit Z wave lock which fits over the inside thumbscrew may be the least expensive at about $130. If you don’t need a keypad, this is well worth considering. It works well with smartthings and Homekit.
https://www.amazon.com/August-Smart-Lock-Connect-technology/dp/B0752V8D8D
If you want a keypad on the exterior side, then personally I like the yale with August WiFi models. These will generally cost between 250 and $300. Again, they work with either smartthings or HomeKit and will work in a smartthings “hub optional” configuration.
https://www.amazon.com/Yale-Security-YRD256-CBA-619-Connected-Touchscreen/dp/B07GQ2VLSD/
(There is a Samsung division which makes a Wi-Fi lock with a fingerprint reader, the SHP-a30 , which is certified for use in the US, but I have only seen it for sale on Australian sites, and I don’t really know anything about it other than that it’s nice looking.)
Be aware that regardless of the brand, native integration may be somewhat limited. Many people end up paying an additional license fee to get access to Rboy’s code library , which can use all of the features of many different advanced smart locks with smartthings. It’s a very popular option. However, it does depend on the old architecture, and I have no idea what’s going to happen in a year or so once the platform transition is complete. So I hesitate to suggest anyone buy a new lock solution that would depend on that option. 
I realize that’s not a very satisfactory answer right now. But it is one of the things that would make me tend to choose a Wi-Fi lock over a Z wave or Zigbee lock if I were looking for smartthings compatibility right now.
JMO
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I’ve had great success with Kwikset…never a failure and generally cheaper than the competition
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Thanks so much, I appreciate your time in response to my question.
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Thanks so much. Price is bot as important as the reliability of the Smart Lock. I will read up on Kwikset.
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You’re very welcome
See the table in the first post here it compares features and also lists pro/cons for various brands/models of locks:
Check out the limitations of locks. For example the BE469ZP is a great lock if you want the built in alarm, but it’s got some issues with the Z-Wave module which can cause it to lose notifications. It’s also got a reprogramming issue where the lock won’t accept the same code twice which can cause problems with lossy mesh transmissions. Yale z-wave module are more flexible and stable from that perspective.
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You information is 
. Thank you for taking time to respond to my original question. I have decided on the Yale lock. emphasized text
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