What do I need to make NFC and / or UWB work with my S26U?

Aqara Products
1

I got the Aqara U400 lock on sale from Amazon, and frankly, it’s been pretty disappointing so far.

All I really want is to unlock my door hands-free using UWB with my Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra , or at the very least, tap my phone using NFC. Apparently, neither of those features works out of the box?

I’ve connected the lock to Home Assistant via Matter, and I even have an Apple HomePod set up. Everything works fine on that end, but none of the Samsung apps (SmartThings or Samsung Wallet) will let me add the lock. They keep telling me I need a hub, but the lock didn’t come with one.

So, as of now, I can only unlock the door using the Aqara app, Home Assistant, or a physical key. I know fingerprint and PIN code options are available, but I’m not interested in using those.

I suppose I could buy some NFC cards and keep one in my wallet, but that kind of defeats the purpose of having a smart lock with UWB and NFC support.

What’s the cheapest way to get NFC tap-to-unlock or hands-free UWB working with my Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra? More specifically, which hub is actually required? Do I need an Aqara hub, a Samsung SmartThings hub, or something else?

I already have an Apple HomePod and a working Matter-over-Thread network through Home Assistant, so I’d rather not buy another hub unless it’s absolutely necessary. I’m also confused about why another hub would even be needed when the lock is already connected and working through Matter.

3 Likes
2

I don’t have a Samsung device myself so I haven’t tested this firsthand, but here is my understanding of why this happens. While basic lock/unlock controls work across ecosystems via Matter-over-Thread, digital keys in Samsung Wallet rely on the Aliro standard, which requires the lock to be commissioned directly into Samsung SmartThings. Because the lock communicates over Thread rather than Wi-Fi, SmartThings needs its own local Matter Controller and Thread Border Router tied to your account to provision and sync those credentials to your Galaxy S26 Ultra.

To get this working, you do not need an manufacturer-specific hub, but you do need a SmartThings-compatible Thread hub. The cheapest route is checking whether you already own a recent Samsung Smart TV, Smart Monitor, or soundbar with an embedded SmartThings hub; otherwise, a standalone SmartThings Station is typically the most budget-friendly option. Once that hub is in place, you can simply use Matter Multi-Admin mode in Home Assistant to share the lock to SmartThings, which should prompt you to add the digital key to Samsung Wallet for both NFC tap and UWB hands-free unlocking.

2 Likes
3

Bte. given you mentioned Home Assistant, you might be interested in following this goal Leverage a more consistent credential management approach · Issue #17 · OpenHomeFoundation/goals · GitHub

2 Likes