These responses are mean.
They are indeed. Frankly, I'd say more along the lines of this is getting utterly ridiculous, and not a small amount down right irritating — I'm following this thread to see if any useful comments or product comparisons turn up, and wading through the sea of crud is not particularly enjoyable. Though it probably wasn't helped any by Dave's own response to the device — the sheeple always come out, in the shadow of their shepherd. Anyhow…
While people are so busy tearing into the weaknesses of these locks, so few of you seem to have stopped to consider that just about any padlock can be bypassed with the old spanner trick (I think I saw one post that seemed to go mostly ignored), and even the front door of your home, no matter how good the lock(s), can be bypassed by a brick through your window. Most of the attacks on this lock which are being discussed, require substantially more sophistication than either of those. And many of the locks we rely on every day, are more of an advisory signal than actual real security (in most cases, the real security is the video camera watching over it, and the stupidity of most people trying to breach them).
No, I wouldn't be using one of these to protect the crown jewels, or even the power tools in my shed. But my school locker if I were still in school, the plastic box I kept my oh so very private stuff in as a little kid, or if it was the weatherproof version, then the front gate, or the padlock on my bike back in school again — I'm fairly certain this padlock is still better than the ones I use (and have used) in any of those situations, and the convenience it offers doubly so; I'd much rather something like this on my gate than having to fumble with a key while it's pouring rain on a winters night (my current gate padlock is a $10 Coles jobbey, since anyone wanting to bypass it can — and all too often do — simply jump the fence anyhow. Yet I for one will be paying the extra for the convenience, since that signal, as weak as it may be, still has it's purpose — especially in a police report), same for my bike back in school (which was behind a locked fence most of the day, and more or less watched by teachers for the rest — and where there were plenty a time where I'd have much rather pressed a button, than have to fumble for the key).
And yes, it's easy enough to tuck a spare battery in your bag, wallet, etc., for when it's needed — for the convenience (and sometimes safety) of not having to take out your keys at all. Not to mention keys can get lost, or stolen, and if you've leant them to someone who neglects to give them back, they're a heck of a lot harder to revoke. I also have more than one set of keys; the house keys are the smallest ring, the car keys have a clip so I can attach them to the house keys when I go out by car, or leave them at home when I go out walking. The shed and window lock keys and the likes stay at home, and the keys to the toolboxs inside the shed are on yet another key ring. Why don't I just put them all on the same ring and take the whole lot with me everywhere? It's the same reason I'd use one of these locks for some jobs but not others — the toolbox keys are separate because I sometimes leave the shed unlocked for a few hours, and it happens to be a whole lot harder to walk off with the whole toolbox, than it would be to swipe the not inexpensive spanner set in it. I honestly don't care if someone can open the padlock with a piece of cut up can, when it's locking a gate that can be more easily jumped over — either action is going to draw an observers attention, fiddling with the lock like that probably even more so than simply jumping the fence.
Now, I do appreciate the discussions on the strengths and weaknesses of this lock, and I appreciate that there are some IoT devices that just, well, shouldn't be (just about every IoT device in the adult industry, for starters). But these padlocks — though certainly somewhat weaker than an equivalently priced keyed one — still have a good deal of utility within appropriate circumstances, and comments like the recent, "You might even be able to rescue members of the opposite sex who were silly enough to buy one of these locks" (and you're just the most recent of the seeming majority of posts in this thread saying such things), demonstrate a severe lack of ability to think outside your own limited world view, and really don't contribute positively to the thread (not to mention I know members of the opposite sex who would quite rightfully take significant offence at a comment like that), at least one of which was a fellow student back in University, studying Engineering.
And while the digital security of many of these locks pains me even more than their physical security, I myself will still be keeping an ear open for further reviews of flaws (and fixes) regarding these bluetooth enabled padlocks with an eye to purchasing one well before next winter; give me time to choose at least the brightest of an admittedly not particularly bright bunch, for the very important job of locking a perhaps somewhat ineffectual front gate — so long as it stops random delivery people letting our dogs out, and posts that signal that you're not welcome beyond this point without invitation.