Aqara U400 review: The futuristic HomeKit smart lock has arrived

I bought my first house earlier this year, so, being a nerd, I’ve made it a priority to turn my house into a smart home. First on the list was a smart lock.

I knew I wanted something with the best possible HomeKit integration and the Read UWB Smart Lock U400 It seemed to fit that bill on paper. So far, I’ve been very impressed with the Ultra Wideband support.

Facility

The installation of the Aqara U400 was quite simple, following this video From Aqara’s YouTube channel. It is more complicated than installing August smart locks I’ve used it in the past, but for good reason. While August locks typically fit over the existing deadbolt, the Aqara lock replaces the entire system.

So, in exchange for that slightly more complicated installation process, you get a more reliable and “integrated” experience.

I installed two Aqara U400 locks, one on the back door and one on the front door. Going into the process, I was a little worried about installing the front door. It’s an older door and the old latch tended to stick if it wasn’t perfectly aligned with the strike plate.

Surprisingly, this was not a problem with the Aqara lock. Again, this is a benefit of how the Aqara lock replaces the deadbolt itself, rather than being an upgrade solution. I also found that the Aqara lock is less sensitive to the resistance of the lock plate. While the Agosto lock “stuck” even with the slightest resistance, the Aqara lock has enough strength to pass even if it jams slightly.

In total, it took about an hour to install both Aqara smart locks. The trickiest part was connecting the two small wires to the back of the lock. The cables are very fragile, so proceed with caution.

Using Aqara UWB Smart Lock U400

What makes the Aqara U400 stand out is the number of ways there are to unlock it.

First, the Aqara U400 supports NFC for “tap to unlock.” Notably, this also works with Express Mode on your iPhone and Apple Watch. This means you can simply tap your iPhone or Apple Watch to lock or unlock the door, without opening the Wallet app or authenticating with Face ID or Touch ID.

But here’s where things get really fun: support for UWB, or ultra-wideband connectivity. Apple additional support for UWB to HomeKit in iOS 18, and the Aqara U400 is the first to take advantage of it.

UWB allows devices to understand exactly where they are relative to each other. Compared to Bluetooth, which is more about general proximity, UWB allows for much more precise spatial awareness, so devices can react based on your exact position and movement. It’s the same technology that powers communication between your iPhone and AirTag, for example.

For the Aqara U400, this means that when I approach the door with my iPhone in my pocket or my Apple Watch on my wrist, the door unlocks before my hand reaches the handle. I don’t have to wait a few seconds when I approach the door.

For me, this is the pinnacle of the smart lock experience. It is the experience that we have been promised for years, made possible thanks to UWB technology. It is probably the mostit just works“Experience I have ever had with HomeKit.

In the Home app, you can even control the “Approach Direction” for the Aqara U400 UWB mount. You can choose whether the door unlocks when you approach from the left, the front, or the right, or all of the above.

In addition to NFC and UWB, you can manually unlock the Aqara U400 in the Home app or the Aqara app. By the way, the Home app integration is incredibly fast. Much faster than any smart lock I’ve used before.

You can also enter a passcode on the lock’s touch panel (which you can set up in HomeKit) or use your fingerprint (which you can set up in the Aqara app). It requires a bit of app hopping to enable all of these options, but most can be done in the Home app.

Finally, there’s a hidden physical key, so you can lock or unlock the door the old-fashioned way if necessary. You can also set up various automations in the Home app, as usual.

And when it’s time to lock the Aqara U400, you can do it from the outside by tapping the lock with your iPhone or Apple Watch or by tapping the lock button on the touchpad. You can also enable auto-lock in the Home app or Aqara app, which will lock it after X minutes.

Unlike the August locks I’ve used in the past, the Aqara U400 uses a rechargeable USB-C battery. Aqara says the battery “lasts up to 6 months per charge.” I haven’t had the lock long enough to test it. You can use the lock’s USB-C port to recharge it, or you can take out the battery and plug it in separately. I’m happy to get rid of the cumbersome CR123A batteries that my August lock used.

Wrap

I’ve used HomeKit smart locks for years, but Skin U400 It is the first that truly delivers on the smart home vision we were promised from the beginning. With previous smart locks, I always had to make some compromises and multiple asterisks that came up when using them. That is not the case with the Aqara U400. It’s very “set it and forget it.”

As it stands now, the Aqara U400 is the only smart lock that supports UWB on Apple Home. Hopefully that will change sooner rather than later. For now, however, credit must be given to Aqara for being the first and getting the implementation done.

You can order the Aqara UWB Smart Lock U400 on Amazon. It’s pricey at $269.99, but worth it for its convenience in my opinion.

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