Oh man I love the fingerprint reader on the U100 it’s my go to way to unlock. It’s so fast and easy. When I’m holding stuff like bags, the watch to unlock becomes super nifty. I’ve never used my phone yet, but I imagine if you already have it in hand it’s pretty convenient.
Great review as always Stephen. Have you tried the M3 with many Thor party devices? I believe they have opened it up now to accept most(?) zigbee devices?
Did you give access to your Home Data? If you’ve already paired it in Apple Home the Aqara should recognize it automatically. If that’s not working, factory reset and add to Aqara app first
In 9:30 you said not turn on tv from ir blaster...... in Aqaba app 11:18 using camera hub g3. In camera I open infrared remote control - programmed tv - 3dots on right top- related items of Device -scenes + - add- present programmed tv - remote control button - power - save. You will see added execute card in scenes. Click on it - 3 dots on top right - add to home kit - pick icon in HomeKit app in scenes you can finde yours tv. Work for me.
I gave up on it. Enough people said their lock was fine and I had this U50 coming, so just took it down. Def contact Aqara though as it’s a known issue and I’ve had commenters say they’ve gotten a free replacement.
How would you say it compares (when used with the M3 hub) with the Schlage Encode Plus ? I prefer no external hub if possible and a traditional keyhole (hidden or not).
If you want to go hubless, I’d go Schlage Encode plus. It has faster response than all other HomeKit locks (including this one) and is the only model with Thread connectivity, which offered even greater reliability.
Hub is required for the Aqara app, yes. Feature that require the hub: temporary PIN codes, guest codes, and auto locking. Although iOS 18 is getting guest access so that will solve some of the issues there!
I heard another reviewer say that if you set up the U50 in the Aqara app or with Matter, then you cannot use HomeKey. Is that so? I just bought the U100 this morning as I am trying to consolidate tech brands to just a few brands and Aqara seems to be feature-rich for the price. I almost bought the Yale Assure 2 Plus or the Schlage, but the premium price just does not seem worth it for no extra features. If the U100 works out then I may get the U50 garage door later on, but not if using one tech disables the other. I have an Alexa/Homekit home, so I need my tech to work simultaneously with both ecosystems.
I’d be curious to know this as well, I’d like to manage the lock from the Aqara app (and Home Assistant) but not being able to also use Homekey would be a dealbreaker.
That’s incorrect. But I would suggest setting it up in HomeKit *first*. If you add it to the Aqara app first, and then use matter to get it into HomeKit, Home Key will likely not work. But I set mine up through HomeKit first, then Aqara, and I can use Home Key + Aqara features all interchangeably.
@@beardfm I got my U100 yesterday and added it to Aqara first and then bound it to Homekit and then to my Aqara HUB . Homekey would not work at first. I found advice online to pull out the batteries and reboot the lock and then Homekey and everything works perfectly since. I'm not using Matter with anything other than Eve products which work flawlessly for me on Homekit and Alexa. Love your shows.
I have the U100 and the lock will unlock with my iPhone, and fingerprint. But it stopped working on my Apple Watch Ultra any ideas how to fix this? Thanks 🙏🏾
@@vilecreature8640 You have no idea what you're talking about. It's encrypted not some little NFC scan here to do a silly trick open. 25 years in IT Security, sit down with your false none sense.
@@badtoro the fact remains a crack head will find a way to open it, same shit is going on right now with cars. And unless it reinforces your door frame as well it's still just as vulnerable to traditional means of BAE. Also saying "sit down" is cringy as hell, your typing on UA-cam stop trying to be hard it's pathetic.
This lock is trash. I tried for a month to get one working and finally gave up before I couldn’t return it for a refund and went with a Yale Assure instead which was WAY easier and faster to set up and get working.
Did you get an early review unit? These just went on sale. The U100 did have some issues which I address here: ua-cam.com/video/9l6mJ8tE-u0/v-deo.htmlsi=P_MhA7V27KGsKRBt
Oh man I love the fingerprint reader on the U100 it’s my go to way to unlock. It’s so fast and easy. When I’m holding stuff like bags, the watch to unlock becomes super nifty. I’ve never used my phone yet, but I imagine if you already have it in hand it’s pretty convenient.
I do enjoy the fingerprint too, it’s also great for kids that don’t have devices yet
PIN codes in apple home are amazing, wish other locks would support this!
Same! The Yale lock does too which I reviewed here: ua-cam.com/video/BFSnPBkPNp4/v-deo.htmlsi=xfHuQsX_qboTfu18
@@beardfm I heard the Yale lock did not support PIN code in Apple home app? All video reviews say it doesn’t work you need the Yale app.
Can I program my own NFC fobs to work with this lock? Would I need to have a hub to do that?
Awesome video as usual
Thanks again!
Great review as always Stephen. Have you tried the M3 with many Thor party devices? I believe they have opened it up now to accept most(?) zigbee devices?
Thank you! They did open it up, but don’t have any Zigbee devices to test at the moment. I tried to make sure everything I ever got was HomeKit so… 😅
Aqara is my fave. 🎉
They make great stuff!
Great review. I have trouble pairing to the Aqara app. Other users have experienced this issue as well. Any thoughts? Thanks.
Did you give access to your Home Data? If you’ve already paired it in Apple Home the Aqara should recognize it automatically. If that’s not working, factory reset and add to Aqara app first
In 9:30 you said not turn on tv from ir blaster...... in Aqaba app 11:18 using camera hub g3. In camera I open infrared remote control - programmed tv - 3dots on right top- related items of Device -scenes + - add- present programmed tv - remote control button - power - save. You will see added execute card in scenes. Click on it - 3 dots on top right - add to home kit - pick icon in HomeKit app in scenes you can finde yours tv. Work for me.
Thanks for sharing. Nice. Blessings on your day.
Thanks you too
The battery life issues on the U100 are very real. Did you have any luck RMAing the U100 or have you given up on it?
I gave up on it. Enough people said their lock was fine and I had this U50 coming, so just took it down. Def contact Aqara though as it’s a known issue and I’ve had commenters say they’ve gotten a free replacement.
How would you say it compares (when used with the M3 hub) with the Schlage Encode Plus ? I prefer no external hub if possible and a traditional keyhole (hidden or not).
If you want to go hubless, I’d go Schlage Encode plus. It has faster response than all other HomeKit locks (including this one) and is the only model with Thread connectivity, which offered even greater reliability.
Confused.. is the Hub required to use the Aqara app? What features require the Hub?
Hub is required for the Aqara app, yes. Feature that require the hub: temporary PIN codes, guest codes, and auto locking. Although iOS 18 is getting guest access so that will solve some of the issues there!
@@beardfm Thank you!
Does this allow you to key it to existing keys that I already have?
I haven’t done that, but other commenters have brought it to Lowe’s / Home Depot and don’t it successfully.
I heard another reviewer say that if you set up the U50 in the Aqara app or with Matter, then you cannot use HomeKey. Is that so? I just bought the U100 this morning as I am trying to consolidate tech brands to just a few brands and Aqara seems to be feature-rich for the price. I almost bought the Yale Assure 2 Plus or the Schlage, but the premium price just does not seem worth it for no extra features. If the U100 works out then I may get the U50 garage door later on, but not if using one tech disables the other. I have an Alexa/Homekit home, so I need my tech to work simultaneously with both ecosystems.
I’d be curious to know this as well, I’d like to manage the lock from the Aqara app (and Home Assistant) but not being able to also use Homekey would be a dealbreaker.
That’s incorrect. But I would suggest setting it up in HomeKit *first*. If you add it to the Aqara app first, and then use matter to get it into HomeKit, Home Key will likely not work. But I set mine up through HomeKit first, then Aqara, and I can use Home Key + Aqara features all interchangeably.
@@beardfm I got my U100 yesterday and added it to Aqara first and then bound it to Homekit and then to my Aqara HUB . Homekey would not work at first. I found advice online to pull out the batteries and reboot the lock and then Homekey and everything works perfectly since. I'm not using Matter with anything other than Eve products which work flawlessly for me on Homekit and Alexa. Love your shows.
Can you have key card to multiple iphones ?
Everyone you’ve invited to be a resident in your Apple Home can use the Home Key feature on their iPhone / Apple Watch!
@@beardfm Oh ok.. But like i have multiple iphones under same icloud, will the key feature appear on all my iphones ?
I have the U100 and the lock will unlock with my iPhone, and fingerprint. But it stopped working on my Apple Watch Ultra any ideas how to fix this? Thanks 🙏🏾
Oh shoot, hm, may need to reset it
Thank you I will give that a try
@@beardfm Thank you the reset worked! 👍🏾
My only concern is if the criminals can hack cars, can they hack these smart locks?
I’m sure they could. Though it’s prob easier to just break in the good “old fashioned way”…
As the comment below says, since it’s not Wi-Fi, I imagine it would be pretty challenging to “hack”
Pretty easily, it’s NFC and a flipper zero can brute force it. To be fair it’s far more likely for them to just kick the door in or break a window.
@@vilecreature8640 You have no idea what you're talking about. It's encrypted not some little NFC scan here to do a silly trick open. 25 years in IT Security, sit down with your false none sense.
@@badtoro the fact remains a crack head will find a way to open it, same shit is going on right now with cars. And unless it reinforces your door frame as well it's still just as vulnerable to traditional means of BAE. Also saying "sit down" is cringy as hell, your typing on UA-cam stop trying to be hard it's pathetic.
This lock is trash. I tried for a month to get one working and finally gave up before I couldn’t return it for a refund and went with a Yale Assure instead which was WAY easier and faster to set up and get working.
Did you get an early review unit? These just went on sale. The U100 did have some issues which I address here: ua-cam.com/video/9l6mJ8tE-u0/v-deo.htmlsi=P_MhA7V27KGsKRBt
@@beardfm oh no I didn’t notice this was a new model. It was the U100. So this one fixes those issues pretty well then?