I've tested dozens of smart locks, but I keep this one for its handy keycard feature

The Aqara U100 Smart Lock is currently on sale for only $135 on Amazon, down from its original price of $230.

Aqara’s first Apple Home Key smart lock in the US arrived after the company offered many Home Key-compatible smart locks outside the country. Was the wait worth it? I’ve had the Aqara U100 for over a year, and the short answer is: Absolutely.

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Getting the Aqara U100 on my front door was reasonably simple, even though my specific review unit didn’t come with instructions. It took a few minutes to figure out which piece goes on before the other, but a deadbolt is a pretty straightforward mechanism, so it was easy. The entire process took less than 15 minutes.

Once the U100 smart lock was on the door, I set it up with the Aqara app on my iPhone and connected it to an Aqara M2 Hub

Although an Aqara Hub isn’t necessary to use the basic features of the smart lock, you do need one to perform remote lock and unlock actions, view the current lock status, configure password settings from your phone, and create automations with other Aqara devices. 

Without a hub, the U100 smart lock can only connect to your phone via Bluetooth and be controlled as long as you’re within Bluetooth range.

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The Aqara U100 smart lock is unique in the US, as it’s the only one on the market to offer the following unlocking options in one:

• Passcode unlock: The U100 lock features a keypad that requires 6-10 digit passcodes to open. You can add one-time passcodes or ones that only work during a preset period, like for a babysitter every weekday from 3-6 p.m. The app allows you to set up to 75 passwords.
• Fingerprint unlock: After setting up my U100 to open with my fingerprint, I’ve never had issues with it not recognizing my print or failing to respond to it. You can add up to 50 fingerprints in the app, and Aqara says its fingerprint reader features a 98.6% recognition rate.
• Apple Home Key: I set up the U100 lock to unlock with my iPhone using the NFC-powered Apple Home Key. This adds a virtual key to your iPhone’s Wallet, and you can open your smart lock only by bringing your iPhone or Apple Watch close to it.
• NFC tags: You can also program NFC tags to unlock the Aqara U100, which is perfect for anyone who isn’t an Apple user, or to use as keycards for houseguests.
• Mechanical keys: The U100 smart lock comes with two physical keys, and the keyhole is hidden behind a sliding panel on the face of the wave.

Although I didn’t find the Aqara mobile app very intuitive, I loved the features available for the U100 lock. You can add other users and give them each a unique unlocking method. For example, I’ve always given myself a passcode and a fingerprint to track who entered and how they entered when checking the lock’s event history.

The app also lets you customize alert settings and choose the voice volume and language for any voice alerts during the locking operation. Thanks to a built-in gyroscope for motion detection, you can set the device to auto-lock when the door is closed (no extra modules are required).

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That said, it wasn’t all sunshine and automatically locked doors. I sometimes struggled with the app’s beta features, especially when it came time to get the U100 to lock behind me or when I swiped it. At one point, I had to go back inside to find the mechanical key because it wasn’t working. I later realized this happens when the lock’s battery life ends after three to four months.

While my experience was mostly positive, I found the app very slow and unreliable at giving me the lock status, even when my phone was within Bluetooth range. Sometimes, it would just give me the wrong status and say the door was locked when I could see clearly that it wasn’t, but this was resolved after a few months and some updates.

ZDNET’s buying advice

Why do I still love the Aqara U100? The pros outweigh the cons, and the firmware upgrades keep improving performance.

Considering how elaborate smart locks can get, I went into this review biased toward the simplicity of the Level Lock+ and the sleek design of the Yale Assure Lock SL. The additional unlocking features that make the Aqara U100 unique turned me around.

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Being able to consistently (and flexibly) unlock my door with either my fingerprint or Apple Watch, and not one or the other, has added the exact amount of convenience to my life that I look for in all smart home devices.

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