Researched — not tested
We don’t own this lock. Everything below is manufacturer specification, certification records and owner reporting — tagged so you can see which is which. One claim in the earlier version overstated the field and is corrected in place.
The same lock as the Encode Plus from the door’s point of view, and a completely different one from your network’s. Grade 1 on the commercial scale, Grade AAA on the residential one, an anti-pick shield and a three-mode alarm — identical hardware, identical certification.
What changes is the radio. Z-Wave Plus is low power and mesh, so it does not compete with your Wi-Fi, it keeps working when your internet does not, and the batteries last roughly twice as long. The price is a hub you must already own or go and buy.
Physical security9
Battery life9
Reliability without internet9
Setup complexity5
Value for money7
How to read this page
Physical security scores identically to the Encode Plus because the hardware is the same. Everything separating these two locks is about how they talk to your house.
TestedPhysically in hand. Nothing on this page carries this tag.
DocumentedPublished specification, standard, regulatory filing or security research.
ManufacturerThe maker’s own claim. A claim, not a fact.
CommunityOwner reports and locksmith consensus. Informed opinion.
CorrectedSomething we previously published that the record doesn’t support.
Before anything else, because it is the mistake most likely to cost you money.
"BE469" names a series, and the letters after it decide which radio is in the box. The current Z-Wave Plus model is the BE469ZP; earlier stock shipped as BE469NX on the older Z-Wave generation, and the range has also appeared with other trim and protocol suffixes. Documented
Why it matters
Z-Wave Plus is the generation that gives you the longer range, better battery behaviour and mesh improvements this page is about. An older non-Plus unit is the same lock physically and a meaningfully worse one on the network. The listing photo will not tell you which you are getting; the suffix will.
This is the same trap as the Kwikset 660, which ships in pin-tumbler and SmartKey versions under one number. Model families are where the specification hides.
Everything below describes the Z-Wave Plus version.
The important thing first: this lock has the same physical security as the Encode Plus. Grade 1 on the commercial scale operated by the Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association, and Grade AAA on the residential one — top of both. Manufacturer
In test terms that is ten blows from a 75 foot-pound impact ram with the lock still working, against five for a Grade 2 lock and two for Grade 3. Documented Choose your protocol, not your security level, because the security level is the same.
The built-in alarm is identical too, with three configurable modes: an activity alert when the lock is operated, a tamper alert when someone interferes with it, and a forced-entry alert that is genuinely loud rather than a polite notification. Sensitivity is adjustable through the hub. Manufacturer The touchscreen is fingerprint-resistant so wear does not reveal your code, and it works through gloves.
One claim we have narrowed
An earlier version said every competitor — Yale, August, Wyze, Level, Aqara — "tops out at Grade 2." We have not verified the certification status of every lock in that list, and one of them does not belong in it at all: the August is a retrofit with no grade of its own. Corrected The defensible statement is narrower and still strong: Schlage is the only major manufacturer holding Grade 1 across its connected range, and the connected category has broadly settled at Grade 2.
Z-Wave Plus in North America runs on the 908.42 MHz band — nowhere near the 2.4 GHz your Wi-Fi, phones and microwaves are fighting over. Documented Three consequences follow, and they are the whole argument for this lock.
It does not compete for your bandwidth. The lock talks to a hub, not a router, on a band nothing else in your house is using.
It gets stronger as you add devices. Z-Wave is a mesh: every mains-powered Z-Wave device — plugs, switches, sensors — repeats the signal. A single Wi-Fi access point in a large house gets worse with distance; a mesh gets better with density.
The batteries last roughly twice as long. Maintaining a constant Wi-Fi association is the single biggest drain on a connected lock, and Z-Wave does not do it. Owner reports and Schlage’s own figures put this lock around a year on four AA cells where the Wi-Fi Encode Plus wants replacing far sooner. Community That is not a small quality-of-life difference on a device you only think about when it fails.
And it survives your internet. If the connection drops, the lock still talks to the hub locally. Automations keep running. You do not lose control of your front door because your provider is having a bad afternoon.
The actual cost
You need a hub — SmartThings, Ring Alarm, Abode, Home Assistant or another Z-Wave controller. If you already own one, this lock slots in and immediately gains remote access, automation and logging through that system, and it is the better buy of the two Schlages. If you do not, the hub is a real added cost and the extra setup step, at which point the Encode Plus is the simpler answer.
One more difference worth pricing in: this model manages 30 access codes against 100 on the Encode Plus. Manufacturer For a household that is ample. For a rental with rotating guests it may not be.
The Spec Sheet
Product
Schlage Connect BE469 series — full deadbolt replacement with touchscreen
Current model
BE469ZP, Z-Wave Plus. Check the suffix before ordering Documented
Certification
Grade 1 on the commercial scale and Grade AAA on the residential one Manufacturer
Radio
Z-Wave Plus, 908.42 MHz in North America — separate from the 2.4 GHz band
Hub required
Yes — SmartThings, Ring Alarm, Abode, Home Assistant or similar
Batteries
4 × AA, roughly double the service interval of the Wi-Fi Encode Plus Community
Access codes
30 — against 100 on the Encode Plus
Alarm
Built in, three modes: activity, tamper, forced entry
Touchscreen
Fingerprint-resistant, works with gloves
Works offline
Yes, locally through the hub during an internet outage
This is the lock most people overlook and a decent number of people should buy instead.
If you already run a Z-Wave hub, the case is close to unanswerable: identical Grade 1 hardware to the flagship, roughly double the battery life, a radio that does not touch your Wi-Fi, and local control that survives an outage. You are getting the better lock for the same security and less annoyance.
If you do not run a hub, none of that lands. You would be buying a controller you do not want in order to make a lock work, and the Encode Plus does the same job out of the box.
Check the suffix. Price the hub honestly. And whichever Schlage you end up with, the bolt is only as good as the jamb it lands in — reinforce the frame before you spend three hundred dollars on the cylinder side of the problem.
Verdict — 7.8 / 10
The same lock as the Encode Plus with a better radio and worse onboarding. Own a hub and it is the smarter buy. Do not, and it is the wrong one.
