Bought a U400 despite not being in the Apple ecosystem, because we have Samsung devices and those should be able to take advantage of the UWB features soon. Upgraded from a U100 connected to the M2 hub and shared via Homekit to Home Assistant. Now that the U400 is a direct matter device, we were able to directly connect it via the third party matter configuration to Home Assistant.
Comparison versus U100: For reference, the configuration looks like U100 → M2 → Homekit → Home Assistant whereas the U400 → Matter → Home Assistant directly. The normal flow and installation went quite well and we moved the U100 from the frontdoor to the backdoor. The U400 has a very similar installation experience except there are some quality of life improvements that make it more like a true/traditional security lock that weren’t found on the U100. It’s slightly slimmer but taller and unlocks and locks incredibly fast. I realized that I was used to waiting a couple seconds after fingerprint unlocking to actually open the door with the U100 and now I cannot move my hand fast enough to beat the U400.
App usage: Because of the difference in configuration, the U100 has more features in the app accessible including swipe to lock, passage mode, and door status sensing. I don’t have an Aqara matter controller, so I can’t verify if these features would appear if it was connected that way.
Surprise Annoyances: One of the features listed for the U400 is that it can be rekeyed. The marketing site specifically says “This lock can be rekeyed, allowing you to change the physical key without replacing the entire lock cylinder.” Searching for how to do this is non-existent. There’s lots of locksmith-level & warranty voiding methods to rekey a lock but this lock is the first they have marketed as rekeyable and yet I cannot find out any information on how to do this. I figured I would be able to take my U100 key and configure the U400 to accept it, minimizing the keys I need to have as standby… awaiting instructions!
I also had the battery charging problem that has been mentioned in firmware updates. I’ve charged the battery while in the unit and directly and the first full day it just stayed at 27%. The next day, trying both methods again, it made it to 43%. After doing the beta firmware update, I was able to get it to 100% while connected to the unit so anyone having charging issues I would recommend updating the firmware directly. It could just be a matter of reporting the battery percentage wrong, but the red charging light stayed on most of the time during my initial trials so hard to say.
Overall, after my disappointment in not having instructions on rekeying, it’s been a great, fast, reliable lock. I hope future updates will enable UWB for Android/Samsung and I can update this with how that works for me as well.
