I installed a “smart lock” on the front door of our home almost 12 years ago, it was cool but it’s a distant memory now as we look at the future in this Aqara U400 Review.
The EFTM Snapshot: It’s expensive, I get that, but if you want a smart lock, this is the one. Every single possible way of unlocking your door including the most amazing which is for the latest Apple devices – just walk up and it unlocks!
Key (get it) to the success of this door lock is the number of ways you can unlock it. Aqara say eleven ways, let me try get to that number.
- A Physical Key
- Fingerprint
- Six-digit PIN
- NFC Tag
- Ultra-Wide band device
- Aqara App
- Smart Home (Ask Siri or Alexa)
That’s really the bunch – but I think a few things also count like the “one time code”, “scheduled guest codes”, Automations.
But look, the thing is – it works however you want it to and however you could imagine it would.
Installation of the Aqara U400
I am the single least “handy” if you’re talking “handyman” activities. But having self-installed that original smart-lock over a decade ago, I realised that door locks are actually bloody easy.
On this one, there was just one speed hump. Putting the front keypad on, easy. Plugging the power cord which goes through the door into the battery and latch inside your door is tough! Firstly, it’s a fiddly little cable and clip. Secondly, the cable is seemingly very very long compared to the thickness of the door. In the end I think I jammed it back toward the front and it’s probably curled up inside now – it really just needs the slack to be taken up in the rear battery unit and latch.
From there, all good, manually check the locking mechanism works and you’re off to the races.
Fingerprints, PIN and NFC
Setup a user for everyone at home, and each of them can register several fingerprints.
Then give them all their own unique six digit code too!
This helps so you can get notificaiton of who opened the door.
I was hopeful that all the little NFC tags I had at the office might also work on the lock, but no, you gotta buy them from Aqara. $80 later and I had four of them.
Hold one of these in front of the lock to pair to any user, then from then on that tag unlocks the door by dangling it in front of the keypad.
Love it, simple and easy.
Apple HomeKit and Matter setup
The kit you buy comes with this little USB-A dongle, frankly, I don’t fully understand what this does – I assume it’s how the lock communicates with the smart home devices on your network including Apple HomeKit, but that’s not really made clear.
All I can tell you is that I got this working and setup in the app, and after that tried to get the Apple HomeKit setup going.
And failed, a lot of times.
Frustrating as hell, I don’t have an Apple “Hub” device. My Apple TV was older, I don’t have a HomePod and yeah, struggling. Because it seems this whole amazing open “Matter” ecosystem really needs that.
So, I bought a newer generation Apple TV. Did this fix it? No, Not initially. But, I gave myself some clear air, took a breath and came back to it.
And boom, it worked.
Frankly, my Apple “home” is a complete mess. If my wife could see how messy it was, I’d be in big trouble. Fortunately the Apple Home lives in a digital space she doesn’t enter, so we’re safe.
With that setup, a new option becomes available – adding a “key” to this lock to your Apple Wallet.
The Apple Advantage
And that’s where having a recent iPhone is a huge deal. iPhone 11-14 all have UWB, but 15 onward have a second generation “better” UWB chip.
With A “key” in your digital Apple Wallet you can just walk up to the door. A green “UWB” logo will light up when it detects you and the lock opens. Boom!
I find that this works seamlessly about 70% of the time. The other 30% I’m standing at the door for maybe 1 second before it lights up. Enough time to contemplate throwing the fingerprint up there.
Not a deal breaker, and I’ve tweaked the settings to “look” wider and work earlier – still nothing.
In the end, as a person who doesn’t carry house keys ever (because I drive a different car every week, it’s impossible to keep tabs on them), this has been a life saver for me. Especially given I come home carrying parcels a lot too!
Android losers living with the Aqara U400
No, Android owners are not losers! You read that wrong:). Android owners are the losers in this space though because there’s no clear path to UWB support. I’m told Samsung owners are in luck using Matter and Smart Things, I’ll test this soon and update.
Seems simple to me that Google would implement for the most premium of Android devices.
The simple things
I just love that we can now set the door to lock automatically. We had this set to “on close” but have since extended out to a minute after close. Turns out that’s enough time to run the bins out without feeling locked out and using a fingerprint.
Simple design is good too, and in particular the back battery cover just slides off and the battery comes out with ease.
It was on 26% battery when we installed it, I took it out once to charge and it’s only on 33% now – that thing really needs some time to charge – but I keep forgetting to do it overnight when everyone is home!
So, in summary – the Aqara U400?
Love love love. At $550 ($590 at Apple) it’s far from cheap. But come on, how good are all those features?
Yes, in simple terms, you could pay less for one with most of the features, but if you want the ultimate future proof smart lock for your door – the Aqara U400 is the lock you’re looking for.
Trev is a Technology Commentator, Dad, Speaker and Rev Head.
He produces and hosts several popular podcasts, EFTM, Two Blokes Talking Tech, Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars, The Best Movies You’ve Never Seen, and the Private Feed. He is the resident tech expert for Triple M on radio across Australia, and is the resident Tech Expert on Channel 9’s Today Show and appears regularly on 9 News, A Current Affair and Sky News Early Edition.
Father of three, he is often found in his Man Cave.
