Yale's Smart Delivery Box helps keep your packages from getting stolen

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A delivery box with a smart lock is a good way to thwart porch pirates.

(Image credit: Future)

Package theft is a problem, but not everyone is comfortable with Amazon's Key program, which automatically unlocks your front door so a delivery person can drop off a package inside your house. 

Yale's new Smart Delivery Box, announced at CES 2020, looks to be a sensible solution to deterring porch pirates. It's a large plastic box whose lid is locked shut by a small Bluetooth-controlled latch. When you get a notification from a security camera that someone's at your door, you can remotely unlock the Delivery Box so they can leave the package inside. The Smart Delivery Box will be available later this year for around $200. 

The box itself is a pretty basic plastic container made by Kingsley Park. It measures roughly two feet tall by 2.5 feet wide, and comes with an insulated bag should you happen to order groceries. A stand for the box can be filled with sand or water to keep thieves from simply carrying the whole thing away.

The smart lock inside the box is pretty small, about the size of one of those power cubes you use to charge your smartphone. Because it runs on Bluetooth, Yale says the lock should last for years before needing to be recharged. 

(Image credit: Future)

Yale also sells the lock separately as the Smart Cabinet Lock ($79). In this capacity, it can be used to keep your kids from raiding the liquor cabinet, or to keep others out of sensitive places. The lock also has a safety button, in case your child accidentally locks themselves inside.

The company said that it thinks the Smart Cabinet Lock will be very popular with AirBnB hosts who want to secure their personal property but don't want to have to move everything in their homes. 

In order to control the Smart Delivery Box and the Smart Cabinet Lock remotely, owners will also have to purchase the Yale Connect Wi-Fi Bridge. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi Bridge can connect to only one device, so you'll need a Wi-Fi Bridge for every Yale smart lock you own.

The Smart Delivery Box will cost $229 by itself, $279 with the Yale Connect Wi-Fi Bridge, and $299 with the Yale Connect Wi-Fi Bridge and Cooler Bag. The Smart Cabinet Lock will cost $79 by itself or $129 with the Yale Connect Wi-Fi Bridge.

Be sure to check out our CES 2020 hubfor the latest news and hands-on impressions out of Las Vegas.

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Mike Prospero
Mike Prospero
U.S. Editor-in-Chief, Tom's Guide

Michael A. Prospero is the U.S. Editor-in-Chief for Tom’s Guide. He oversees all evergreen content and oversees the Homes, Smart Home, and Fitness/Wearables categories for the site. In his spare time, he also tests out the latest drones, electric scooters, and smart home gadgets, such as video doorbells. Before his tenure at Tom's Guide, he was the Reviews Editor for Laptop Magazine, a reporter at Fast Company, the Times of Trenton, and, many eons back, an intern at George magazine. He received his undergraduate degree from Boston College, where he worked on the campus newspaper The Heights, and then attended the Columbia University school of Journalism. When he’s not testing out the latest running watch, electric scooter, or skiing or training for a marathon, he’s probably using the latest sous vide machine, smoker, or pizza oven, to the delight — or chagrin — of his family.