Love the options to enter our home
I was at a point where my wife would get mad at me if I was home after her work shift and I didn’t unlock the door in time since her keys were always either lost, or deep in her large work bag. I decided to look into something where she didn’t have to worry about her keys anymore and it was simple and reliable for her to use.This solved all our issues. This works with HomeKit almost perfectly except for one thing.I like the fact that the fingerprint reader is accurate and fast. It never feels like we’re waiting too long for it to unlock. It takes maybe about a second to confirm your fingerprint, and then it makes a chime, and then you can hear the door unlock. I haven’t had an issue with the fingerprint reader. I know some people have complained, but I just make sure my fingers are dry and it works 99% of the time. I think the biggest flaw when using the fingerprint reader is the angle that you programmed it at. I would say, program your reader with the door closed, and as close to a real-world scenario so the angle is as accurate as possible.I like that it also has a combination code (6-digits) that you can also program in, just in case your finger is dirty or wet. This is a good back up.I like that it has a physical key as well. I’m still someone that likes to carry my keys everywhere, and it just helps with ease of mind that I know if anything electrical fails (like the battery dying), I still have my physical key to use to enter. I haven’t had any issues with the battery after 6 months, and the app still states that my battery percentage is high. I’m sure they last longer than the stated (8 months).I also like that it integrates with HomeKit. We both have iPhones and being able to use NFC by just tapping our phone on the door is amazing. I usually have my phone in my hands, and this is another cool feature to use, granted I don’t use it as much as the fingerprint reader. Also, I cannot get the HomeKit key to work on my wife’s phone, so I can’t really recommend this as a good working feature. I wanted to be able to just share the key through HomeKit whenever I need to let someone in my home when I’m not there, but the way I’ve been doing that is just unlocking it through the HomeKit app when I know someone is waiting by the door. This takes about 30 seconds for it to unlock, but it’s a nice feature to have when someone needs to get inside your home for an emergency.Overall, I would highly recommend these to anyone looking to get smart home locks. I’ve already received a couple of compliments and when people come over, they ask about them all the time. Don’t spend too much time looking anywhere else, these locks make it easy to enter your home and make sure it is secured at the same time.

Love this lock. It has been completely reliable since installation.Fingerprint access is quick and works every time. I also use Apple Home Key, which makes unlocking with my phone or watch seamless.The ability to set temporary codes has been a game changer. I used it recently for the cat sitter while I was away. Easy to set up, and I could track entry times from the app.The lock feels solid, looks clean on the door, and has handled Melbourne weather without any issues.If you want something that just works and gives you flexibility with access, this is a smart choice.

THE PROBLEM—If your existing lock uses a drive-in style deadbolt (round, no faceplate), the deadbolt included with the Aqara U100 Smart Lock is incompatible as it has a non-removable faceplate. The tailpiece slot on the Aqara Deadbolt (the part that accepts the rod and turns to extend and retract the deadbolt) is uncommon, at least according to the locksmiths I’ve spoken with.Some doors cannot be modified to include a faceplate, such as metal doors, or, like me, you might want to avoid modifying your door to have a faceplate.SOLUTION—Buy the Design House 783332 Pro Deadbolt from Amazon ($14 CAD as of writing) as it has a removable faceplate and can be used as a drive-in style deadbolt that has a slot compatible with the U100’s tailpiece (the rod that goes through the deadbolt and turns to extend and retract the deadbolt).If you receive a calibration error with this deadbolt, try calibrating the lock with the door open (the app will tell you to have it closed). If it works, you’ll need to chisel out the hole for the deadbolt in the doorjamb/doorframe to allow the deadbolt to fully extend to prevent constant beeping (and error messages in the app). I think this was an issue with my particular door, as the hole for my deadbolt seemed overly shallow.If the Design House 783332 Pro Deadbolt is unavailable, or if you want to try to find one with a shorter deadbolt, other deadbolts from Design House or Emtek that use a + shaped slot for the tailpiece should work.BACKSTORY / FULL EXPLANATION—I was excited to try the U100 as a replacement for my two August Smart Locks— they eat CR123A batteries for breakfast and would routinely disconnect from my Apple HomeKit setup.My first attempt at installing the U100 came to a complete halt— the deadbolt latch included with the smart lock has a non-removable faceplate that requires modifying your door if it was configured for a drive-in (round, no faceplate) style deadbolt.I wasn’t comfortable modifying my doors to accommodate a faceplate, and I wasn’t going to pay a professional to do it. After all, I justified this new smart lock purchase based on estimated battery savings, and I wasn’t about to extend my timeline to riches.After visiting a Home Depot and two locksmith shops, extensive Googling, a support email to Aqara, and a plea to Reddit, I couldn’t find a solution that didn’t include modifying my door to fit a faceplate. According to the locksmiths I spoke with to find a compatible drive-in deadbolt, the part where the tailpiece slides through the deadbolt to turn the lock was one of a kind. So my first U100 went back to Amazon.This kept me up at night—every fiber of my being wanted to stop buying CR123A batteries. Then I remembered the August Lock came with a deadbolt tailpiece compatibility graphic— my first good lead.According to the August Lock deadbolt tailpiece compatibility graphic, Defiant, Emtek, Weiser, and Weslock, all use a similar tailpiece (size and orientation) to the Aqara U100’s deadbolt.After some Googling, the Emtek tailpiece slot appeared to be positioned in the right spot on the lock and utilizes a + shape which should allow it to be compatible with the U100 tailpiece. The tailpiece slots from the other brands could theoretically work, but I didn’t want to risk the mechanism having reversed lock/unlock positions.Looking on Amazon for Emtek replacement deadbolts, I found a brand called Design House which seemed to utilize the same tailpiece slot and placement as Emtek. All of their locks come with a faceplate, but my prior research suggested that the faceplate on most locks is removable. I landed on the Design House 783332 Pro Deadbolt, which was $14 Canadian and shipped with Prime.Once I received the new deadbolt, I easily slid off the faceplate (no tools required) and ordered a new Aqara Smart Lock U100. When it arrived, I installed it following the instructions but used the Design House deadbolt instead of the Aqara. As the tailpiece slot on the Design House is + shaped, be sure to match the orientation of the tailpiece with the knob on the interior side of the U100 so that you don’t have to disassemble and reassemble the lock to change which way the tailpiece fits into the tailpiece slot on the deadbolt.After installing, when setting up the smart lock in the app, I received a calibration error that I couldn’t move past. After a quick panic that there was some special magic in the Aqara Deadbolt, I wised up and tried calibrating the lock with the door open (rather than closed) to triangulate the issue. Sure enough, it calibrated, but it still wouldn’t work with the door closed (the smart lock would beep, and the app would throw errors and require recalibration).As it turns out, the hole for the deadbolt in my doorjamb/door frame was shallow and didn’t allow it to extend fully. I did have to chisel out the hole, but this was an issue with my original door installation and not resulting from the Design House deadbolt being freakishly long.I’m still playing around with the smart lock (I just installed it), but in early testing, it’s been very responsive in HomeKit to lock and unlock the door at home and when I’m away. HomeKey and the Fingerprint Reader are lightning fast, and the integrated numbered is much more delightful to use than the (sold separately) August Lock keypad. I’m excited that there is an easy-to-activate “Passage Mode” that can be activated on the lock itself, allowing you to temporarily turn off auto-lock (which, after living with a smart lock that doesn’t do this, was a key-selling feature).I’ll update this review if I encounter any issues.I hope this helps!MattETHICS DISCLOSURE—I did not receive any compensation or free products for this review. All products mentioned above were purchased without reimbursement and I am not affiliated with Aqara or Design House in any way.