Have narrowed down the lock selection to the following Zigbee (keyed) locks for one entrance at my church:
Yale YRD226
Schlage Connect BE468
Kwikset 914
I have combed through the various threads here (and other forums) dealing with these locks and locks on HE in general .... however, I still am unsure of which lock to buy ... though I am leaning towards the Yale currently. Any words of wisdom concerning which direction to go? TIA.
I went with the Zigbee Schlage BE468 primarily because it's zigbee and if I recall correctly, is a better-grade lock (more secure) than the others. That said, for a church, wouldn't you want something made for commercial use? I can't imagine a residential lock will last very long unless it's rarely used.
Yale has their "nexTouch" commercial stuff but it is probably expensive.. another idea depending on what you want to do is use a keypad only lock. Something like the Yale YRD256 - I did that for my side basement door.
Mechanically every HA enabled lock I have taken apart to date, including August, Yale, Kwikset and Schlage are absolute rubbish.
The only lock that even comes close to being commercial grade from a casual mechanical inspection is KeyWe, and these don't seem to be available...
Yep thats why I opted for the keypad style only. It is encouraging that Yale is owned by Assa Abloy though so hopefully the actual locking mechanisms (cylinders and such) will improve in the future..
And sadly, the best of the worst (imho) are Yale and Schlage. I've had WAY too many Kwikset products fail on me (both smart and non-smart).
Pretty much for home use only. I treated the purchase like a smartphone -- it will slowly make itself obsolete by failing. But, I'm sure when that happens in 5-10 years, there will be better solutions.
The #1 issue of smart or dumb locks are the strike plates, not the mechanical construction.
From Consumer Reports:
Many of the deadbolt locks tested by Consumer Reports lack the level of protection you might want or expect. In our labs, a few well-placed kicks or a couple of minutes under assault from a cordless drill was all it took to defeat almost every lock in our ratings. That goes for conventional deadbolts and smart locks—those you can operate with your smartphone.
For the kick-in tests, CR’s test engineers built a custom jig that allows them to swing a 100-pound steel battering ram at a replaceable section of door with the deadbolt installed. They repeat the test eight times, at ever-increasing heights, or until the lock fails. The models that fail—and at least half do—then go through another test round with a reinforced box strike plate installed on a new lock sample.
But the fix is easy:
All locks come with a strike plate that attaches to the door jamb. But as we’ve reported in the past, far too many of those included short screws that catch only the jamb and not the framing of the house. The kick-in resistance of most locks improves dramatically when we replace a stock strike plate with 3-inch screws and a box strike, which you can buy online for as little as $5. “We think manufacturers should include beefier hardware with their locks,” says CR’s lock test engineer, David Trezza. “A lock should be secure without having to buy an aftermarket part.”
I've had multiple Schlage units fail on me after 12-18 months... I've had Kwikset fail on me... I've had Yale fail on me...
They are all the same commodity class of equipment. Don't get suckered into the 'Schlage is harder to break into than Kwikset because of the tumbler design' - that is a red herring. Almost ALL home burglaries break a window or kick in the door anyway - not pick the lock.
THUS - buy whichever one looks nicest to you and is a price you prefer.
You know I have always wondered about using screws vs nails for the strike plate - don't nails have better shearing strength?
Doesn't matter unless you have a decent steel frame. The wood will break apart into pieces long before the screw or nail sheer.
Now, if you DO have a steel framed entry, then it is a good question... I'll try to ask internally.
We have a group where I work that do kick and entry tests for "special testing" in the security and search/rescue space... One of my coworkers can get in any residential STEEL frame door with one kick... But he is a Hulk.
I've also seen them knock the steel frame out of the surrounding wood before, if not installed correctly/well.
All of this is just my point in saying the lock is the least concern of anyone that wants to gain entry. It isn't even a speed bump, really.
If you have someone kicking in the doors or windows to your house your lock is the least of your worries... 
Here's to hoping you have some better protection ready inside.
On the topic. I have two Yale's that I've had for 2 years. No problems at all. Used daily. I have no experience with the others. Oh and they are Zigbee.
This is the kind of strike that CR recommends, full metal and 3 inch screws.
The point of the long screws is that they are long enough to get to the structural framing, not just the less-solid door frame.
I have a Yale YRD256. It gets a bad CR rating with the included plate, It gets a good rating rating with the better plate. Even as it feels mechanically not that great.
That is how a vast majority of home burglaries happen these days... They case the joint, and when no one is home kick in the door and do a quick grab and dash.
They don't care if there is an alarm, as they will be gone in <3 minutes. Grabbing portable high value items - typically art, iPads, laptops, jewelry.
As long as you aren't home... there isn't much you are going to do about that....other than have cameras to catch the dirty b@$@stards.
Luckily for me unless they walked to my house...I'd at minimum have all kinds of high def video of whatever vehicle they came in.
Yeah that's why I have a bunch of Ring devices around the exterior (!!) of our house - for initial deterrent and for post crime analysis. I also use the HE for a consistent light schedule/routine whether we are home or not.
You must not live near the (edit: southern US) border. 
That isn't much of a deterrent here - around here they are out of the country after a few days of robberies.
But a very prudent layer of protection nonetheless - and I have the same.
The Canadian one...but there is about 50 nautical miles of lake between us and them.
I live in a pretty safe area as is. The more likely scenario for me is kids messing around or the occasional casing of something you might leave in your yard. Neighbor had a motorcycle trailer stolen once. Left next to his garage not secured. Neighbor across the street new girlfriend's tires got slashed...pretty sure it was the old boyfriend..but they came asking for my camera footage to prove it.
I've had to share camera footage a few times, too (vandalism stuff - teenagers). It is great to have when you need it!
Thanks for all the replies. Surprisingly, for us, it will probably not get used as much as a lock in a residential setting: Sundays, Wednesday nights and then a few times during the week. I figured it would definitely help with someone forgetting their key or needing to get in to decorate for a baby shower on a certain day/time and me having drive over and unlock it. I am leaning towards the Zigbee Yale YRD226 purely for aesthetics I guess.
Locks should definitely be more robustly made but as my Dad was fond of saying "Locks just keep the honest people out". Therefore, this lock will be used with Dahua Starlight cameras (and Blue Iris) to monitor all entrances as well as the parking lot. We do lock all doors at a certain time during Sunday morning worship and will have a "security volunteer" to monitor these cameras and control access via this lock (for those arriving late). Do they make smart locks for aluminum storefront doors?
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