Sold Secure Diamond standard plays nicely with all the major ecosystems
We’ve tested a lot of smart locks, and a lot of them fall short. The Brisant Ultion Nuki didn’t on any count, and we particularly like the well-thought-out approach to both installing and actually using a smart lock. The fact that your existing door furniture is unchanged, the fact that an old-fashioned key and thumb turn can still open and lock the door are significant real-world positives. They’re particularly relevant for those who might not entirely trust ‘smart locks’, and stand as a robust answer to the inevitable ‘what happens when the batteries go flat’ question. It’s not the cheapest of smart locks, and you’ll want to splash out on the Wi-Fi bridge, maybe the keyfob too, which pushes the price up. However, it’s without doubt one of the best smart locks on the UK market at the moment, assuming you have a compatible Eurocylinder lock.
Pros
- Easy DIY install
- Retrofit
- Secure
Cons
- Not cheap
- Extra Wi-Fi bridge required
- Bulky
The Brisant Ultion Nuki represents a pragmatic take on the smartlock, which is frankly a welcome move.
The central scheme was to take an established UK security brand’s lock know-how (Brisant) and pair it with European smart home firm Nuki’s tech.
Read this: The best smart locks
This is a good strategy, as there are many smart locks on the market that attempt to be experts in both these areas, and they’re traditionally quite separate.
It effectively combines a Nuki Smart Lock 3.0, which can be retrofitted onto traditional doors, with a high-quality Ultion door lock and internal handle.
Read on for our full Ultion Nuki review.

Brisant Ultion Nuki Review: Design and installation
The first good news is that the Brisant Ultion Nuki smart lock can either be installed by an expert, or by a competent DIY-er. And, in this case, competent means capable of operating a screwdriver.
The kit comes with a variety of handle fixings to suit 215mm, 211mm, 122mm and even doors with an escutcheon lock, but they’re easy to navigate and work out which you need.
Your existing internal lock body needs to be swapped out for a new Brisant Ultion version, which requires a single retaining screw to be removed and replaced, and after this your new internal handle needs to be screwed into place top and bottom.
The nice thing about the Brisant Ultion Nuki is that you keep the same exterior door handle, which simplifies logistical matters considerably.
The inside part of the lock hosts the ‘Nuki’ part of this equation, which is basically a clever motor unit that will turn the lock from the inside.
The outer ring is a manual thumb-turn, so if the batteries run flat or some other digital disaster occurs, you can still open the door by simply turning the ring.
Similarly, the lock is a standard key-operated one, so a normal key will open the door in an emergency. The lock is powered by four AA batteries, which are not only easy to source, but last between six months and a year, and you’ll get in-app notifications as they start to fade.
The lock itself is rated to Ultion’s 3-Star Plus standard. This means it meets the requirements of a classic 3-star lock, as well as the Sold Secure Diamond standard, 1,000,000-plus durability test cycles, and has a “lockdown” mode.
When an attack is detected, a firing pin is set off to stop the door being opened. It also comes with a £2,000 security guarantee.
If a burglary happens within five years, and they got in by snapping an Ultion lock, you get £2,000. It’s not a replacement for home insurance, but shows Ultion has confidence in its locks.

Brisant Ultion Nuki Review: Pricing
The basic Brisant Ultion Nuki is £239, but you’ll inevitably need to go for the next bundle up, which includes the all-important wifi Bridge, which is £328.
For £407 you’ll get an additional keypad, and for a more spendy £456 you’ll get a key fob too – there’s also an option to get the keypad and key fob without the bridge for a mere £367, but removing remote access from a smart lock seems pretty counter-intuitive.
Brisant Ultion Nuki Review: Features
The features of the Brisant Ultion Nuki are extensive, in part due to the large number of potential peripherals that can be sync with the unit and then put to use.
The central point is the app, which allows you to add extra devices, in this case a Wi-Fi hub (for remote access), followed by a car-style key fob, and a separate number pad.
The latter allows a numeric code to open the door, which might be useful for shared buildings like offices or storage areas, for example.
The app of course also allows the user to lock and unlock the door, as well as get involved in more granular controls, such as automatically re-locking the door after a set period, a neat idea we rather liked.
Another neat trick – assuming you’ve sprung for the Wi-Fi hub – is of course opening the door remotely, such as for a guest who’s arrived early, or for a housemate who’s forgotten their key.
The best thing about these various options is that they’re configurable, so can be switched off if they don’t suit you, and codes can easily be changed if you fall out with your cleaner (or partner).
For example, you can configure geofencing so the lock unlocks when you’re nearby, but if you’re regularly nearby but don’t want the door unlocked (working from home or visiting neighbours for example), then this is easily ignored.

Brisant Ultion Nuki Review: Performance
Overall, we were impressed with the Brisant Ultion Nuki on several levels. Build quality is excellent, especially of the lock parts, giving you confidence that the security of the door isn’t being compromised.
The technical part of the lock – the ‘smart’ element provided by Nuki – works pretty seamlessly in testing.
The app is pretty stable too, rarely hanging if left open and suddenly toggled, and is quick to open from ‘cold’ if force closed and opened from the icon.
The simple swipe to unlock is intuitive and trustworthy, and goes to show just how much development must have gone into the deceptively simple system.
It can connect with all of the major smart home ecosystems including Ring, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit, IFTTT and AirBnB — as well as the Nuki app — using Bluetooth 5.0.
The Ultion Nuki doesn’t have Wi-Fi as standard, unlike the Nuki 3.0 Pro, so if you want to be able to operate it from virtually anywhere you’ll need that £89 Nuki Wi-Fi Bridge.
The Brisant Ultion Nuki is available now and you can buy direct from Amazon.