You can make a smart home with smart lights, smart speakers, and smart security cameras, but the smart door is often more elusive. With a new door lock, it could be within reach.
Thanks to the roll out of smart devices, our homes are changing.
Want to hear the weather and news simply by asking for it? Grab a smart speaker. Keen to have an updating display of photos in your house? Grab a smart display or smart photo frame.
Need to change the lights, make them playful for times of the year, or just have something adapt to the changing light of the day through to night? Smart lights.
And if you’re looking to protect the home with eyes-on the happenings, smart security cameras and smart doorbells are where you want to be.
The latter of these is particularly interesting because smart security doesn’t have to be just a camera or doorbell. It can also be the door, with smart locks providing a way to secure the mechanism using web-connected and app-controlled smarts.
Smart locks aren’t technically new, but in Australia, they’ve struggled to gain adoption typically because of cost. Often found well above the $500 mark, they’re an install more focused on home-owners rather than renters, and those who don’t mind the initial hefty price.
That could be changing, though, with a new model turning up on Australia’s shores bringing a smart lock for under $400.
Smart home gadget maker Aqara is responsible for this one, offering the $349 Smart Lock U50, a lock with support for both a keypad and phone support, allowing you to unlock the door using a phone or PIN code.
The U50 supports physical keys, too, as well as a Type C USB port to quickly recharge the system, both handy in case the batteries run down which can happen, thanks in part to being typically powered by four AA batteries in the back that last up to six months of usage.
Otherwise, unlocking the door will typically rely on phone and watch, with Apple devices supporting home keys, while the company also sells a Near-Field Communication card key to use with the lock, much like you might see at a hotel. Android devices don’t appear to have a house key solution Aqara supports immediately, but compatibility for the U50 extends across most smart home devices and technologies, thanks in part to support for Zigbee and Matter, as well as Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and Google Home.
Aqara has also aimed at making the U50 easy to install, matching some other competing deadbolt cylinders, the company told Pickr, but you may need to check compatibility all the same.
One thing you won’t get is an automated door unlocking as you approach. A spokesperson for Aqara told Pickr that Auto Unlock is not supported by the U50 and “will only be considered for the upcoming door locks”. That’s something to look out for, it seems.
For now, Australians keen to see this upgrade first hand can find the Aqara Smart Lock U50 at Officeworks, Bing Lee, and Aqara’s own online presence, retailing for $349 locally.
