Aqara U400 Smart Lock Review: Worth the Upgrade (and the Hub Swap)

Aqara Products
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I run a very Apple Home–heavy house—50+ HomeKit devices deep—so smart locks aren’t a novelty for me. Before the U400, I was already living with an Aqara M2 hub, a U100, and a U50. When the U400 dropped, I jumped on it immediately.

I pulled the U50 from my garage side door, moved the U100 there, and installed the U400 on my front door (where the U100 was)—prime real estate.

Here’s the honest part: the M2 hub doesn’t support Matter with the U400 for HomeKit services. That meant buying the new M200 hub. Mildly annoying? Yes. Regrettable? Not even a little. It works so much better.

(Also… anyone want a gently used M2 hub and U50 lock? DM me :sweat_smile:)

Once the M200 was in place, the U400 has been rock solid.

And I mean rock solid.

The Magic: UWB + Home Key

Ultra Wideband is the real star here. The proximity detection is insanely good—fast, reliable, and completely frictionless. Walking up to my front door and having it just know I’m there feels like the future working as advertised.

I haven’t even bothered using the fingerprint sensor yet—and that says a lot. Apple Home Key has always been one of my favorite Aqara features, and the U400 absolutely nails it. Smooth, instant, and deeply integrated into my Apple ecosystem. I love that I can walk from my Hyundai Ioniq 5 to my Aqara U400 and both will perform unlocks using UWB and Home Key. It just works and its sexy.

Expanding the Aqara Ecosystem

This lock pushed me further into Aqara land. I’ve since added six FP300 presence sensors in preparation for replacing two Ecobee thermostats with the upcoming W200 units. I’m genuinely excited to test Aqara’s whole-home presence setup—it feels like everything is finally clicking into a single, intelligent system.

Final Take

Yes, needing the M200 hub was an extra step and cost :frowning: . But once that hurdle was cleared, the U400 has been flawless. If you’re deep into HomeKit and care about speed, reliability, and next-gen features like UWB, this lock absolutely delivers.

Thanks, Aqara. You got me again.

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Here’s some pics. I love that it matches very well with my door handle.

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Awesome review, thanks for sharing!
BTW… you got 6 FP300s?! That’s crazy lucky, they’re always out of stock LOL

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I jumped on it fast last week when I saw it was in stock. I have the same on my ecobee so I wanted to do the same

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I am loving the UWB auto unlocking and surprised at how well and consistent it works. I have a Kia EV9 and I have the digital key and it works about 70% of the time right away, so I had mixed hope on how this will do. But man like you said this just is like living in the future that actually works. So it just confirms that the digital key implementation in my car is hit or miss and the Aqara team did amazing with this lock.

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Damnit. Our Ioniq 5 works very well. Not as solid as u400.

My Rivian doesn’t have it. And I was looking at an ev9 in March when my Rivian lease is up.

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@Caroline_Zzz how do I get the bonus 50 points for this review?

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The EV9 key works most of the time. There’s just definitely been moments that I will be just sitting out in the cold fumbling with my phone to unlock the car. I love the EV9 otherwise it’s a great car and you should check it out. Maybe the new models will fix the radios or something. I think I will be switching to the EV6 when the lease is up. Just want something smaller.

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Do you happen to live in a cold climate? We have the U100 and the lock gets super stiff and the motor isn’t strong enough to turn it to lock/unlock. Curious if this has been addressed in this new model.

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i dont. im in socal so not a great representative to give you that info. its been getting to the 40s at night, so its “cold” but not east coast winter cold.