One of the common issues with just about every smart lock is that, eventually, their batteries are going to run out. If, like me, you put off the low battery warnings, you'll ultimately be locked out of your house. More than once, I've had to run to the local 7-11 to pick up a 9-volt battery to temporarily get back inside.

While a few smart locks with solar panels were launched earlier this year, Ring — the video doorbell company — thinks it found a better solution with its first smart lock.

The Ring Smart Lock, as the new device is creatively named, has a small dial below the keypad; if the lock's batteries run out of juice, you can twist the dial back and forth a few times to charge up a supercapacitor inside the lock. This will give the lock enough power for you to enter your code to get back inside your house.

I tried it out with a demo unit, and all it took was a few short twists to charge up the lock, which remained powered for about 20-30 seconds, which should be plenty of time for you to enter the code. You can see in the GIF below how quickly it charges; the display is not included in the actual lock.

Apart from that, the Ring Smart Lock looks to be on a par with most other basic smart locks. It has a fingerprint reader directly above the keypad, but lacks any other sort of biometric authentication — not that it's needed.

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