AqaraSmart Lock U100, Fingerprint Keyless Entry Door Lock with Apple Home Key, Touchscreen Keypad, Bluetooth Electronic Deadbolt, IP65 Weatherproof, Supports Apple HomeKit, Alexa, Google, IFTTT, Gray

I got the Aqara Smart Lock because it works with Apple HomeKit, and I love the idea of just holding my phone or Apple Watch to unlock my door. It's super cool and convenient since I always have my phone and Apple Watch with me.Setting it up took a bit longer than I thought it would, but it wasn’t hard—just a little time-consuming. Once I got it up and running, it worked great with Bluetooth. The Bluetooth connection can take a few seconds to connect when I’m close to the lock, so it’s not instant. But once it connects, I can see logs of who opened or closed the door and control the lock.You really need the Aqara hub if you want to check logs or control the lock away from home. I ended up getting the Aqara Smart Hub E1, which is the cheapest one I could find. It took a bit of work to connect it to my Wi-Fi since it only works on 2.4GHz. I had to temporarily disable the 5GHz band on my Eero router, but thankfully, the Eero app made that easy. It disabled the antenna for 30 minutes, which was more than enough time to finish the setup.Make sure you set it up in the Aqara app first before syncing it with HomeKit. I accidentally tried to set it up in HomeKit first, and that caused the Aqara app to not recognize it, so don’t make the same mistake I did!Once the hub was connected, the lock connected super quickly, much faster than with just Bluetooth. You do have the option of controlling the lock with just an Apple HomeKit hub like an Apple TV or iPad without using the Aqara hub at all, but having the Aqara hub is way better. It gives you faster connections and access to all the management tools while away from home, unlike HomeKit, which only lets you lock and unlock it remotely. So if you just care about unlocking and locking while away from home and already have an Apple TV as a hub, then you technically don’t need the Aqara hub as well.Overall, I really recommend the Aqara Smart Lock. It’s the fastest operating lock I’ve ever used, the fingerprint sensor is the most accurate I’ve seen, and it’s been extremely reliable. It has so many ways of opening it that my family finds it very convenient. I love this lock, and I hope it continues to work well for many years.

The Aqara Smart Lock U100 is by far the best smart lock I’ve ever used! It combines top-notch security with cutting-edge technology, all wrapped up in a sleek design that looks great on my door.Setup was surprisingly straightforward, with clear instructions and seamless integration into my existing smart home system. It works flawlessly with Apple HomeKit, which means I can lock and unlock my door using Siri, the Home app, or even automations. The multiple unlock options—fingerprint, passcode, smartphone, NFC, and traditional keys—make it incredibly versatile.The fingerprint sensor is fast and accurate, unlocking the door instantly without any fumbling. I also appreciate the robust build quality and the peace of mind that comes with the advanced encryption and tamper alerts. Battery life is excellent, and the app gives timely reminders when it’s time to replace the batteries.If you’re looking for a secure and feature-packed smart lock, the Aqara U100 is a no-brainer. It’s reliable, stylish, and elevates the convenience of daily life. Highly recommend it to anyone serious about home security and smart technology!

Overall this is a solid product. One of the few (maybe even the only one) that works with HomeKit. Fingerprint reader works well but capturing your print took a few tries because it kept saying too small. Not being able to unlock when you’re not home is a bit weird. It requires a hub from what I read. But it seems to work with HomeKit. Still figuring some things out but happy with purchase. Install wasn’t hard and is adjustable to fit most doors. And it looks super nice. Looked at some others and they looked lame by comparison.

EDIT: 8/7/23 - Included Cheapo Batteries died (temperate zone temps, one or two motorized locks a day [unlocked for most of day]) Going to see how long Energizer Max batteries lastMost of stuff below is still valid, lock seems fine, it occasionally makes chime noises by itself with no one nearby, so not sure what that isEND EDITI took a chance on this as this seems to be a lower cost homekey compatible Door lock that I wanted to put on back door. I'm comparing it to the Schlage Encode Plus that I have on my front door, Kwikset Homekit Premis and August 2nd Gen which this is replacing to get to a full native homekit door setup. (The August was working within homekit by using homebridge)I watched the initial review videos which is what convinced me as well. I also have other Aqara items and the brand seems to solid and I felt comfortable testing.Initial Impressions are good, the unit is hefty and seems well built, the backplate is a little plasticky compared to schlage and kwikset, but pretty good. You'll need a long shaft philips head driver to attach the back lock to the door plate, that's the only real issue I had with install.They only include QR codes to manual and install video, which was okay, but don't expect detailed paper instructions.Install was fine, trickier for me because I had old 3/4" crossbore/Door Latch hole which I had to enlarge. If you have standard 1" crossbore, you should be fine. The screw on the door jamb side could be longer for security reasons, but the back door its mounted on has a window on it.Aqara pairing was fine, it did have firmware update issue that kept failing, force closing the app and restarting solved the issue. Firmware update happened fine, but took 5ish minutes.Registering fingerprint was easy, its similar to touch ID where it asks you to touch it 7 times.Binding to Homekit app was fine from Aqara App, it even imported the passcode I set on the aqara side to the homekit side. Homekey worked fine.It seems binding to an Aqara hub may improve HomeKit response times.In all, seems like solid cheaper competitor to the Schlage Encode Plus. The fingerprint feature if reliable is nice bonus compared to the encode plus. Time will tell about battery life. I'm tempted to get another to replace the kwikset homekit premis. I'm comfortable rating this 5/5 for now unless I encounter issues or if it eats batteries (it does come with some cheapo batteries which I appreciated).