Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

I depart my home and my entrance door locks. I come again, and as I attain for my door, it unlocks. I by no means have to consider it. That’s the sensible lock dream, one largely realized by the $270 Aqara Smart Lock U400 and its early help for Apple’s new Dwelling Key hands-free unlocking function.

The U400 appears to be like like many different sensible locks. It’s a black rectangle inside and outside, albeit with a barely curvier floor than the Aqara U100 that was on my door. It has a keypad, a fingerprint sensor, a keyhole, and help for NFC-based unlocking by way of Aliro—that’s a brand new, common sensible house digital key commonplace from the Connectivity Requirements Alliance, the group additionally behind Matter. Aliro is already in a few sensible locks, however the U400 one-ups nearly each different sensible lock out there immediately by utilizing your iPhone or Apple Watch’s extremely wideband (UWB) sign for hands-free sensible lock unlocking, a brand new Dwelling Key function Apple introduced in 2024 that’s coming to sensible locks in the end.

The U400 works with any sensible house ecosystem you’ve got, due to the common sensible house commonplace Matter. It doesn’t want an Aqara hub; it’ll connect with your sensible house community utilizing Thread, a low-power wi-fi mesh networking protocol that’s an enormous element of Matter. That, plus the U400’s velocity, dependable operation, straightforward set up, and a number of unlocking choices that embody a fast fingerprint scanner, keypad, NFC scanner, and bodily keys makes this the one sensible lock I would like for my entrance door, in the interim.

Come on in; the UWB is okay

Bodily, the U400 feels well-built and appears good for what it’s, however it’s undoubtedly on the chunky aspect—an enormous rectangle in your door that’s very clearly a sensible lock. On the skin, the matte black expanse on the prime of my assessment unit hides a backlit keypad that solely seems if you shut your door or if you firmly faucet it. Underneath that’s the fingerprint sensor, then a slide-down cowl for the bodily key-hole. Inside, a slide-off cowl reveals its rechargeable battery and a few buttons for configuring and resetting the lock.

You probably have an Apple Dwelling Hub with Thread, equivalent to a HomePod mini or Apple TV 4K, you may configure the U400 to unlock by itself, utilizing Apple’s Dwelling Key Specific Mode function, as you stroll as much as the door—no authentication needed. That’s not a brand new factor for sensible locks, after all. The final sensible lock I reviewed, the Stage Lock Professional, does the identical factor via completely different means, and it really works fairly effectively. However being a Dwelling Key function implies that when you add it to your own home, anybody registered to your Apple Dwelling family robotically has it; they only want to ensure Dwelling Key’s Specific Mode is turned on for his or her digital home key.

The opposite factor is that UWB is much more exact than the Lock Professional’s mixture of Bluetooth and your location to determine when to unlock. Whereas the Lock Professional would unlock as I began up the walkway towards my porch, the U400 would solely unlock as I acquired shut sufficient to succeed in for the door, and didn’t set off if, say, I turned on the final second to go sit on my porch furnishings or stopped midway up my steps and went again the opposite means. Neither did it ever unlock after I acquired shut from the within, even when I attempted to idiot it by strolling towards the door from bizarre angles.

It really works that means as a result of Apple updated Home Key in iOS 18 to make use of UWB for precisely this function. And I’d like to let you know that it’s completely hands-free without end, however it didn’t fairly work that means for me. The excellent news is that after I had my Apple Watch (a Collection 9, however this was additionally true for my companion’s Collection 8, in addition to my child’s Collection 6), I might stroll as much as the door, and proper as I reached for the deal with, the U400 unlocked and I might simply… open my door. It labored that means each time I attempted.

However hands-free unlocking was quite a bit much less constant after I solely had my cellphone. Once I held it above waist-level, the function labored simply in addition to with my Apple Watch. If it was in a messenger bag on my again, the sensible lock tended to not set off till I used to be standing proper towards the door. It didn’t work in any respect with the cellphone in my pocket, until I raised my knee or pulled the cellphone out. Figuring a part of the issue could also be that my entrance porch is a step down from my door and places the lock at head degree (I’m about 5’10”), I redid all of this on degree floor, with the door open into my home and the U400 “locked.” That point, my cellphone appeared in a position to set off the lock from my pocket much more reliably, simply not till I used to be shut sufficient to present my door a smooch. Which I’d by no means do; I’m not a door smoocher, I swear.

Even with these pocket issues—which most likely received’t have an effect on you in case your deadbolt sits at a extra cheap top than mine—it’s arduous to beat UWB-based hands-free unlocking. For Apple Dwelling customers, that alone makes this among the best sensible locks you should buy, and ultimately it might for everybody else, too. Samsung Galaxy customers within the SmartThings ecosystem can unlock the U400 by tapping their phone to it, due to Aliro, however received’t get hands-free unlocking till the second quarter of this year. Google Pixel and different Android homeowners should anticipate the opposite ecosystems to totally roll out help for both methodology, although.

Shifting previous UWB to the opposite unlocking strategies, every thing the U400 does, it roughly does as effectively or higher than my Aqara U100. As an illustration, it persistently solely took a few second to unlock the door with NFC scanning, by holding my iPhone or Apple Watch as much as the keypad, similar to utilizing tap-to-pay in a retailer. Fingerprint scanning was virtually instantaneous, and extra dependable than it was on the U100, which all the time appeared to take two or extra tries each different time I left the home.

The U400 virtually all the time responded inside a few seconds after I requested Siri to unlock it from my cellphone, or after I talked to a HomePod to lock it. That’s quick sufficient that I would truly use Siri willingly, and never as a final resort, the best way I’ve different sensible locks previously. The keypad took some getting used to; it took extra forceful touches to wake it or enter codes than on the contact pads for locks just like the U100 or the TCL D2 Professional, and I saved having to return and re-enter my code or faucet it a number of instances to get the backlight to activate. It wasn’t an issue as soon as I acquired the hold of it; simply one thing I made observe of.

Select your ecosystem

I really like when a sensible lock works with my sensible house and I don’t must rely solely on that firm’s app. To me, that may be the distinction between a great rating and an okay one, even when it’s an in any other case good sensible lock. That’s not an issue for the Aqara U400, after all: its Matter help means it really works with any sensible house platform price contemplating, offered there’s a Thread border router, like a HomePod mini or an Amazon Echo machine made in recent times.

For the primary few days, I didn’t even hassle connecting the U400 to my Aqara community. As a substitute, I used the lock solely with Apple Dwelling, my most well-liked ecosystem, and really, I’d haven’t any downside persevering with to take action. I might nonetheless do many of the issues I’d need to, together with configuring and utilizing hands-free unlocking, organising visitor entry codes, scheduling automations, and setting the U400 to lock a while after its inner gyroscope detected the door had been shut. I didn’t even want to attach it to the Aqara app for issues like including fingerprints or calibrating the lock, as a result of I might do all of that on the keypad utilizing the U400’s built-in voice immediate menu.

You’ll want the Aqara app for some stuff, like adjusting the lock’s speaker quantity or setting it to beep out an alert when you depart it unlocked for greater than a set period of time. You may as well flip to the Aqara app to set a lockout interval—how lengthy the keypad goes unresponsive after 10 unsuccessful passcode entries. And the app allows you to put it in Bluetooth-only mode, which stops all distant entry to the lock. Past that, although, the Aqara app can also be a full-fledged sensible house app in its personal proper if in case you have a Matter-over-Thread-capable Aqara hub, just like the Hub M3, to attach the U400 to, so you may contain the lock in automations with different Aqara gadgets, even when you don’t use one of many extra well-known ecosystems.

Set up and battery

Putting in the U400 is precisely like the method for putting in the Aqara U100 I already personal, which is to say that it’s straightforward when you’ve ever put collectively a sensible lock, or perhaps a conventional deadbolt, and solely took me round 10 minutes. Should you haven’t achieved both or it’s been some time, I’d advocate watching Aqara’s installation video, because the paper directions included within the field aren’t as clear as they could possibly be round, as an illustration, what to do with the cable that feeds via and connects the outside half to the inside half. (It’s meant to be pushed again via the opening in the direction of the outside portion of the lock, or else the inside half received’t sit flush towards the door.)

The U400 comes with a USB-C-rechargeable battery pack, one thing extra sensible locks ought to have. There was sufficient juice to get the lock arrange after I completed, however barely—the unit I acquired was in determined want of a recharge, and if I had it to do over once more, I’d set up the lock on the finish of the day when no person else might be coming house, so I might cost the lock in a single day. That’s primarily as a result of ready for its battery to cost is a ache—I didn’t measure this initially, however I did later. And after I plugged it in, utilizing a cable and adapter that has no downside supplying as much as 100 watts of energy, it took two hours so as to add round 35% of cost.

After you cost and insert the battery for the primary time, the U400 will invite you to do some setup utilizing the keypad. This included calibrating the sensible lock on your door and organising customers’ fingerprints and door codes. That’s a fantastic factor, because it means you should use this sensible lock with out ever connecting it to an app or a sensible house ecosystem in any respect. Individually, there’s a Matter QR code on the lock; scanning that acquired it related to my Apple Dwelling community inside a few minutes.

As for battery life, Aqara says it’ll last as long as six months on a full cost. I didn’t take a look at the U400 lengthy sufficient to know if that’s correct, however I’ll say it misplaced about 15 % of its battery throughout per week and a half of testing. That will appear damning, however I put this explicit lock via extra strenuous testing than standard as I attempted out its hands-free unlocking in as some ways as I might consider, locking and unlocking extra instances in in the future than I in any other case would. If it really lasts six months, although, that’s respectable for a sensible lock. Plus, having a chargeable battery pack is an enormous mark in its favor, particularly when you head to an Apple Retailer to purchase the $300 Deluxe Kit version, which comes with a spare battery. I nonetheless wouldn’t get used to leaving house and not using a key; there’s no backup battery if the U400 dies. It does have a USB-C port on the skin, although, for emergency energy by way of an influence financial institution.

An excellent sensible lock for Apple customers

Should you’re an Apple Dwelling person with even a considerably current iPhone, the Aqara Sensible Lock U400 is de facto dang good, particularly if in case you have an Apple Watch. I wasn’t shocked that UWB is a bit finicky this early within the recreation, however what did shock me is how dependable it was after I had my smartwatch on.

Android customers ought to wait to purchase the U400 or search for alternate options. With Aliro nonetheless in its infancy and no UWB help for Android gadgets, this sensible lock is hardly higher than many cheaper alternate options. In my expertise, a fingerprint or palm vein-scanner is extra handy than easy NFC scanning, and there are many alternate options that supply these for a lot much less cash, together with sensible locks I’ve talked about on this very assessment.

The U400 prices $270, which feels about proper if you toss in hands-free unlocking with UWB, particularly contemplating how effectively it really works when the UWB radio of your iPhone or Apple Watch isn’t being blocked by something. I want I might rely on it extra when my cellphone is in my pocket, however it’s nonetheless so reliably aware of my Apple Watch that I don’t need to use anything on my entrance door.