CES 2026: Aqara Launches U400 Smart Lock With HomeKit and Hands-Free UWB Unlocking

[Mousse]

Does this only use a rechargeable battery, or can it be hardwired?

If you think about it. How would you wire a door lock? The door is detached from the wall, except for the hinge. Wiring through the hinge or on the hinge side means the wire will flex constantly. That's a recipe for a broken wire or a pinched wire. You'd have to run the wires through some sort of sleeve to protect it. Too much of a hassle, IMO.

 

[Tyson14zoll]

So if someone steals your iPhone, they can just walk into your house?

Just like if they steal your keys?

 

[dannyyankou]

If you think about it. How would you wire a door lock? The door is detached from the wall, except for the hinge. Wiring through the hinge or on the hinge side means the wire will flex constantly. That's a recipe for a broken wire or a pinched wire. You'd have to run the wires through some sort of sleeve to protect it. Too much of a hassle, IMO.

Oh yeah, I didn’t even think of that. And the wire would need to somehow be fed through the inside of the door to hide it.

 

[Blackstick]

I always wonder about these door locks as it pertains to doors that "change" based on the season. Some times of the year my deadbolt is buttery smooth to latch, but then in the winter my door needs a little push-pressure to latch it so it all lines up happy.

It has been looked at by two different door specialists and they're happy with how it's set etc, and suffice it to say, depending on whether it's 90ºF or 9ºF outside, it has different "personalities" as the house shifts/moves due to the seasonal temperature swings.

No idea how a smart lock will handle when my door needs a nudge to latch.

 

[tennisproha]

I've tried some Aqara products and their Matter over Thread implementation is really really poor. On top of this, in order to unlock full functionality they require onboarding through their app instead of the Matter QR codes. They do this to capture personal network data and since they're a Chinese company, that's gonna be a non-starter.

 

[grassfeeder]

6 months battery life is not very good. Especially, considering that the lock uses what look like 2x 18650 Li-Ion batteries. The product page has a photo showing the lock being charged by hanging a portable charger from the door handle. That’s not a serious product.

I also wouldn’t trust the fingerprint sensor. Fingerprint sensors are hard to make right (remember how many years it took top tier Android phone manufacturers to catch up to iPhone’s fingerprint sensors). What random parts bin did Aqara get theirs from?

At least Aqara is shipping. Schlage announced the Sense Pro with Matter-over-Thread at last year’s CES and it has been crickets since.

6 month battery life is better than what I get out of my Yale by a long shot and that doesn't even barely work with rechargeables.

 

[Martin Bland]

6 month battery life is better than what I get out of my Yale by a long shot and that doesn't even barely work with rechargeables.

I get a year or more with rechargeables in my two Yale locks, the Assure SL and the Lock 2. I have the Bluetooth variants which I believe Aqara's Thread radio should be able to match in power efficiency. Is yours WiFi?

 

[bozzykid]

So if someone steals your iPhone, they can just walk into your house?

If you lose your phone you should always enable Lost Mode in Apple's Find My. It disables Apple Wallet and presumably home keys. Or you could just wipe your phone remotely.

 

[hlovatt]

I have a U200 lock and it is a terrible product. You can’t unlock with a key because the motor fights you. Also hard to open from inside for same reason. Support now use, tried everything suggested and no change. Hopefully new one better ☹️

 

[erihp]

I wonder if the UWB feature requires use of the Aqara app, I assume so. Sick of advanced features being advertised but requiring something outside the Homekit ecosystem to function.

Curious how the device registration is performed. If allowed in a 'Homekit mode', that is passable, but a user shouldn't have to create an account to use a product feature that should require a vendor backend.

 

[longofest]

I wonder if the UWB feature requires use of the Aqara app, I assume so. Sick of advanced features being advertised but requiring something outside the Homekit ecosystem to function.

Curious how the device registration is performed. If allowed in a 'Homekit mode', that is passable, but a user shouldn't have to create an account to use a product feature that should require a vendor backend.

It does not. Aliro UWB is baked into wallet based credentials.

 

[erihp]

It does not. Aliro UWB is baked into wallet based credentials.

But how do you get the wallet card?

 

[svish]

Nice to see a rechargeable battery. Seems like a good smart lock, however I am not in need of one and won't be buying it.

 

[longofest]

But how do you get the wallet card?

Fairly certain for single family residential based locks its just homekey that now implements aliro under the hood. For multifamily residential and commercial, the access control manufacturer or integrator provides an integration with Apple to provide a multifamily residential key or commercial employee badge.

 

[macduke]

Since the lock can be unlocked automatically if you're near it, turning on the auto-lock ensures that it doesn't stay unlocked if it's activated accidentally.

Seems like it would be annoying for my door to unlock every time I walk past it. And I do a lot. My front door is directly between the dining/kitchen and the garage/laundry room doors. Even walking from my living room to either of these places I have to walk past the front door, with the way my walls are structured. It’s like a T-intersection with my front door at the top center of the T.

 

[spazzcat]

I always wonder about these door locks as it pertains to doors that "change" based on the season. Some times of the year my deadbolt is buttery smooth to latch, but then in the winter my door needs a little push-pressure to latch it so it all lines up happy.

It has been looked at by two different door specialists and they're happy with how it's set etc, and suffice it to say, depending on whether it's 90ºF or 9ºF outside, it has different "personalities" as the house shifts/moves due to the seasonal temperature swings.

No idea how a smart lock will handle when my door needs a nudge to latch.

I had smart locks for over 5 years had no issues with season changes

 

[spazzcat]

Seems like it would be annoying for my door to unlock every time I walk past it. And I do a lot. My front door is directly between the dining/kitchen and the garage/laundry room doors. Even walking from my living room to either of these places I have to walk past the front door, with the way my walls are structured. It’s like a T-intersection with my front door at the top center of the T.

They address this in their video, it knows if you are inside or outside.

 

[grassfeeder]

I get a year or more with rechargeables in my two Yale locks, the Assure SL and the Lock 2. I have the Bluetooth variants which I believe Aqara's Thread radio should be able to match in power efficiency. Is yours WiFi?

yup. the wifi eats batteries.

 

[Bistroengine]

But how do you get the wallet card?

If you're an iOS user, you just add the lock via the Apple Home app and the card will show up in everyone's wallet app who are in your home group. I initially had trouble adding the U400 to Apple Home trying to scan the device QR code. The trick was to tap the '+' plus button, then 'options' and type the Matter code in manually. For whatever reason, scanning the QR code failed every time.

edit: Also, another tip. Once the Home card is in your wallet, go to the card and tap the 'i' (info button) and enable 'tap to unlock', and/or 'unlock on approach' if you want to use the UWB auto-unlock feature. Mine were enabled by default, but everyone else in my family had to enable these 2 features.

 

[Bistroengine]

I’ve had the Yale Assure lock for almost 2 years now and hands free unlocking is so great. This sounds better with the UWB.

I just replaced my Yale Assure Lock 2 Touch with the U400. The Yale lock was terrible for many reasons. One, it would forget all my settings when the batteries died, and I'd have to re-setup everything all over again. When I did put new batteries in, it was a crapshoot if it would work normally again. I'd sometimes need to reboot it several times to get functioning properly. Second, after about a year it started chewing through the expensive Energizer lithium batteries, and would only last about 2 months at best. Third, while the Yale is a smaller unit, you had to buy a different lock if you wanted to use Apple Home keys.

The U400 has been great so far. I like that you can recharge the battery while it's still in the unit. UWB has been working flawlessly once I finally got it working. On top of this it offers ALL the unlock methods in a single unit (code, fingerprint, NFC, UWB, and physical key).

 

[erihp]

If you're an iOS user, you just add the lock via the Apple Home app and the card will show up in everyone's wallet app who are in your home group. I initially had trouble adding the U400 to Apple Home trying to scan the device QR code. The trick was to tap the '+' plus button, then 'options' and type the Matter code in manually. For whatever reason, scanning the QR code failed every time.

edit: Also, another tip. Once the Home card is in your wallet, go to the card and tap the 'i' (info button) and enable 'tap to unlock', and/or 'unlock on approach' if you want to use the UWB auto-unlock feature. Mine were enabled by default, but everyone else in my family had to enable these 2 features.

nice, thanks for the info! i like that this means the delivery of the wallet card does not require their app!