Smart Lock U50, Apple Home Key, Keyless Entry Deadbolt, Black | Matter Over Thread, Keyless Entry Door Lock, Touchscreen Keypad, IP65 Weatherproof, Supports Apple HomeKit, Alexa, Google

Bluetooth - checked, Apple home key - checked, Keypad - checked, Very clean look and functionality - checked, Price - checked. I was able to check all of my boxes with this lock. Simple, reliable (so far), no hiccups and relatively easy installation. The best part - you just bring your iPhone close to the keypad and it opens. No need to even turn your phone’s screen or go to the app - it works as a hotel key, just bring it close and it works. That’s what I was looking for when I did my research on the smart locks. The keypad is also great in case if you left your phone behind, no worries. It’s responsive and looks clean. I really like the overall design. It’s not bulky and feels right. What to watch out for: beware of a back lid where batteries live. It is HARD to remove. Every time I did, I thought I broke it. It’s tight and has nothing to do with how easy it looks on the instructions video. Believe me - it’s not the case. There is a little groove/slot to use the tool provided to open the back lid but when you do it literally feels like you are gonna snap it broken. Luckily it hasn’t happened yet, let’s hope it’s just the way it was designed and it’s gonna hold strong. But honestly - I’m not looking forward to the time I’m gonna have to replace the battery…

I absolutely love using my Apple Watch or iPhone to unlock my door, especially when I’m carrying groceries or my hands are full. I bought this smart lock because its description clearly states HomeKit compatibility. The setup process was incredibly easy, and you didn’t need to download the Aqara App to connect it to HomeKit. The auto-locking feature is fantastic; it locks the door within seconds of closing it. However, if it doesn’t lock, it’s probably because the door didn’t close properly. This particular model (U50) doesn’t have fingerprint recognition, which I don’t mind. Connectivity is excellent, and I’ve been using it for over six months without needing to charge it (I’ll charge it soon). I believe the battery life is quite good. I haven’t encountered any issues so far and don’t anticipate any in the future. I highly recommend it!

This is a nice door lock overall. I liked the way it looked, which was the leading reason I bought it. I love the way it looks on my door, and it still looks brand new nearly a year later. The sun beams directly on it all afternoon, so it is VERY well made to still not be fading or malfunctioning. The different smart features are really neat with this lock. With a hub, you can open it from anywhere, generate one-time codes, set up numerous users (with various roles), and many other cool things. I got this almost a year ago and I’ve still not had to replace the batteries yet. I used nice batteries, but still, that’s impressive. The app always connects quickly, too. My biggest complaint is that it takes a few taps for the keypad to start registering. It’s not true buttons, just a screen, which looks super cool but makes the lag very annoying. Anytime I’m unlocking the door, or locking it behind me, I have gotten used to just pressing the screen over and over again before it’ll register anything. If I could go back in time, I likely would try a different lock instead of this one. I absolutely love the way it looks more than any others I’ve seen, but the issue I mentioned above is so annoying. Appearance alone gets 5 stars, though.

I'm an Android user so mainly wanted to comment on the NFC tag situation. My plan was to put an NFC sticker on my phone to be able to open this lock with it. Unfortunately had to dive pretty deep into this before I figured it out. TLDR: Buy blank Mifare Classic 1K tags to work with this lock. Available as fobs, cards, stickers, etc. It's a pity none of this is mentioned in Aqara documentation and I had to take the trial and error route. None of the NFC cards or stickers I had at home worked with this lock. If the card is locked or unsupported U50 does responds to it in normal operation mode, but completely ignores them when pairing, no errors, warnings or any useful info. I've ordered branded Aqara NFC tags from ali and these worked just fine, but I wasn't initially able to figure out what made the difference. Also, these are fobs, not stickers, so didn't help me much to get to my goal. Aqara fobs are Mifare Classic 1k, ISO 14443-4. Turns out all tags I had before were either of a different type (e.g. Mifare UltraLight, etc.), or were the right type but non-blank for one reason or another. That is until many months later when I got a blank Mifare 1K as a freebie with a different product and by some providence decided randomly to give it another try, hoping if perhaps something changed with firmware updates or policy changes, etc. The card did work, to my big surprise, and then by some trial and error and using up a few blank NFC tags I figured out that U50 does write data to the tag and locks it when pairing (without any notice or consent, of course) and it has to be a blank Mifare Classic for this to work. PS I've initially also purchased an Aqara E1 hub from ali (together with those branded Aqara tags) and that didn't go too well. The hub was locked to Mainland China and I had to buy another one from a US seller before I could make the lock work remotely. Overall happy with the lock. It's been over 2 years and it's on its 3rd set of AA batteries. Pretty reliable.

I'll have to admit that I'm very frustrated right now, but it's true what the others have said. The app is absolute garbage, ESPECIALLY for Android users. It will pair but it disconnects Bluetooth immediately. I have tried to restart this three times, only to end up with the same result. I'm trying so hard to work around this. Here are the methods I'm currently using: I used the Homekit feature on my wife's iPhone 16 Pro Max, so she can use her phone to unlock the door. The rest of us in the family are using the PIN, because I couldn't set up the app on my Android phone on day one. Having said that, I felt my last workaround would be using my self-hosted Home Assistant would give me some relief due to this device having Matter, but NOOOOO. Of course Aqara goes against the standard and requires that you buy their stupid hub in order to fully utilize the Matter feature. This lock is fast and responsive, and it's a shame that the app is garbage. The other issue I've been having is visibility. This is actually two issues in one paragraph. It's bad enough that I have to WAKE THE LOCK before I can even input my PIN, but as someone who is severely hard-of-hearing, sometimes I can't hear the beep to know the lock is awake, and to make matters worse, it's hard to see the backlight activate during daylight; thereby, it makes it very difficult to know if the lock is awake or not. Finally, the last issue I've had with this lock: my technophobic mother-in-law could not get through our front door to drop something off when we were away from home. I don't know why, since Homekit is new to me, we couldn't remotely unlock the door for her, which made things more frustrating as she struggled to unlock the door and even set off the alarm (...lol funny now that I think of it). In this case, I would have set up a fob for her so that she wouldn't have to deal with this, but I can't set up a fob IF I CAN'T USE THE APP. So, everyone reading this, maybe you'll be able to get by on using the PIN and your Apple phones, but otherwise... Don't bother with this product. The hardware is great (except for visibility during bright days), but the app severely severely severely hampers the usability of this "smart lock".

I wanted to wait until I had used it before giving a recommendation, and I can assure anyone reading this that this product is excellent: easy to install, the batteries last a very long time, and it is compatible with HomeKit without any issues. 100% recommended.

Day 1 review: I bought this lock to replace a Yale Assure Lock 2 which completely died after only about a year. This was significantly cheaper and well reviewed so I figured I will give it a shot. So far I am not very impressed. The motor is super underpowered so I had to very carefully adjust my door so that there is no lock binding whatsoever. Even after I got it to have nearly zero friction I still got one failure to lock out of 10 attempts. The keypad is extremely slow, you have to wait a few seconds between each keypress or else it won't register. The gyroscopic door sensor does not work, it registers that the door is opened but then won't register that it was closed afterwards. The lock does not connect to wifi and can't be controlled remotely unless you buy the hub which is separate. To change the batteries you need a special prying tool; this comes with it but I feel like I am certain to lose this tool over time; not sure why this isn't just a normal sliding battery cover. You could probably use a normal screwdriver to pry the cover off but I feel like that would damage it. On the plus side, it looks great, it locks the door, and the apple wallet key thing is awesome. I'll give it a day or two to see if I warm up to it but right now it seems like I may need to return it. If I do end up keeping it I will for sure need to get the hub.

Typical Easy installation for a door lock. If you already have a lock you are replacing. Solid construction instructions are available online and print and video form. It’s nice not to have to do anything with your watch or phone to unlock the door. The key if needed is a standard 68 size replacement that can be copied anywhere.

Funciona muy bien

Auto lock when the door closes is unreliable. A third of the time doesn’t lock so have to be always on the lookout if door lock is triggered or not. Other than that it’s been good.

Been using this lock for more than a week. Homekey is very reliable with iPhone 12, 15 and Apple Watch SE. Installation is fairly straight forward. Build quality is very solid. I wish the battery door is easier to open - it need a pry tool and I am sure I will misplace the tool. App has a Homekit standalone mode which allows setting up the lock without an Aqara account. It pairs the lock with Homekit no problem. However, firmware update kept failing in this mode. I had to create an Aqara account to use the full feature of the app, then I was able to update firmware successfully. My HomePod mini is pretty far away from the lock at the back of the house, so querying lock status or unlocking from Home app take a few seconds. This is expected. I am actually surprised that it works over this long distance.

Looks great at first and has very nice build quality, but it’s a nightmare if you can’t guarantee a strong Bluetooth connection between the lock and your primary Apple Home Hub (no WiFi.) I installed this for our garage side door to the outdoors so it wasn’t on the open level of our home near an Apple Home Hub. It only works when within range of our phone. Home Key worked most of the time, but status updates in Apple Home were horribly inconsistent. One option would be the Aqara hub but that only helps you with their own integration or for Google/Alexa. It won’t help with the Apple Home integration issues. We could never see the status accurately and automations constantly failed. Secondly, my garage side door gets morning and mid-day sunshine. The lock acted really wonky when in direct sunlight. It wasn’t especially warm to the touch or anything, and temperature was in low 20s Celsius. Even tapping HomeKey failed multiple times in these conditions. I’d recommend an alternative like Schlage’s Encode Plus, which has built-in WiFi for connecting to Apple home and their own Schlage Home app.

First impression? This thing's got more tech crammed into it than a spaceship. It’s got keyless entry, Apple Home Key, Bluetooth, and even works with Alexa and Google Home. Basically, if you have a smart home ecosystem, this lock's like, "Sure, I can work with that." The Good: Keyless Entry: No more fumbling with keys like a caveman. Just use your phone or the keypad. It's like I'm in a sci-fi movie every time I come home. Multiple Entry Options: You can unlock it with your phone, Apple Watch, or even set up multiple codes for different people. Got in-laws visiting? Give them their own code and revoke it when they leave. Genius. Integration: Works with Apple HomeKit, Google Home, Alexa, and IFTTT. You can even set it up to unlock when your kid gets home from school. It’s like having a personal doorman. Security: This lock is no joke. Meets BMHA Grade 3 standards, which is solid for home use. Plus, you can rekey it if needed, so you’re not stuck if something goes wrong. Easy Installation: Comes with all the parts and screws you'll need. Just follow the QR code instructions and you're golden. The Bad: Bulky Design: This thing is a beast. It's like strapping a mini safe to your door. Not the most elegant, but hey, it’s a smart lock, not a fashion statement. Hub Required: If you want to integrate it with HomeKit or Google Home, you need a hub. More gadgets, more money. They get you every time with this stuff. Battery Life: Runs on four AA batteries. While they claim it lasts long, if you live in a place with harsh winters, you might be swapping batteries more often than you’d like. At least there's a USB-C port for emergency power. Overall, the Aqara Smart Lock U50 is a solid choice if you’re looking to upgrade your home security without breaking the bank. It’s got a few quirks, like needing a hub for full functionality and its less-than-sleek design, but the convenience and peace of mind it offers are worth it. I’m giving it 4 out of 5 stars because, let’s face it, nothing’s perfect, but this comes pretty close for the price.