It’s been a busy few weeks over at Aqara HQ with an absolute barrage of new devices flying out of the doors, including the intriguing Wall Outlet H2 and the much anticipated Aqara Hub M3, and the latest device off the seemingly never ending conveyer belt is the Aqara Smart Lock U50.
A little sibling to the U100, which went live around this time last year, the U50 forgoes the fingerprint reader but still packs in Apple Home Key skills.
At $149.99 that could well make it the cheapest ticket to Apple’s smart lock system that, in case you didn’t know, allows you to use your Apple Wallet to store your key and unlock your door with either your iPhone or Apple Watch.
With Apple’s Power Reserve feature, you can even open your door up to five hours after your phone or watch has run out of battery.
Like the U100, the U50 doesn’t actually need an Aqara smart home system hub to operate as it can sync with Apple Home or the Aqara app straight out of the box over Bluetooth.
However, add an Aqara hub to the mix and you can make use of its Zigbee radio and sync up with the likes of Google Home, SmartThings and Amazon Alexa.
If you want to add Matter to the mix, then you’ll need to pair it with either the Hub M2, as Matter rolled out on that last year, or the aforementioned Hub M3.
Other Aqara hubs – like the Hub M1S, Hub E1, Camera Hub G3, and Camera Hub G2H Pro – will apparently be receiving the Matter update over “the coming months”.
Back to the Smart Lock U50 and it features auto-lock and door status sensing via a built-in gyroscope and a rekeyable option to match your existing 5-pin key.
It’s IPX5 weather-resistant and offers up to six months of battery life on a single set of four AA batteries.
Costing $149.99, Aqara is currently offering, until the end of May, a 20% discount for the new lock at over on Amazon, using the promo code USCAU50P.
