New smart lock is designed for HomeKit but also works with Google Assistant
Aqara has jumped into the smart lock market with the launch of the Aqara Smart Door Lock A100 Zigbee.
Not the most catchy name we’ve come across but the spec-sheet is pretty impressive. For starters it features Apple’s new home key feature, which means that you can use Apple Wallet to ‘store’ your key and unlock your door with either your iPhone or Apple Watch.
You Apple devices don’t need to be unlocked to work, and with Apple’s Power Reserve feature (supported on iPhone XS or later and Apple Watch Series 4 running watchOS 8 or later) you can even open your door up to five hours after your phone or watch has run out of battery.
Read this: The best smart locks
Aside from the HomeKit smarts, the A100 also supports a number of other unlocking options including fingerprint, password, app, Siri, Google Assistant, NFC and a mechanical key.
You are also able, through the Aqara Home app, to create one-time and periodic passwords to give access to guests for short term, long term, or specific time frames.
The mortise smart lock is powered by eight AA batteries and Aqara tells us this equates to 18 months of life. You’ll get a low battery power warning at 20% and if you do let the juice run dry you can use a physical key or charge it via a USB-C port.
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You’ll need an Aqara Zigbee 3.0 hub to work with the Smart Door Lock A100; Aqara has a bunch on offer from the the $30 Aqara Hub E1 to the smart home hub / smart security camera hybrid, the $110 Aqara Camera Hub G3.
Here’s the kicker though, there’s no word yet as to when we might be seeing the Aqara Smart Lock in the western world.
It’s rolling out in Malaysia and Singapore, and availability will expand to other countries in Southeast Asia and Middle East in the following months.
We’ve asked our Aqara contact for an update as to when we might see it in the US in the UK, where the brand already sells through both Amazon and the Apple Store
Aqara is a great option for people looking for inexpensive, reliable ways to expand their Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant powered smart homes.
A couple of years back we published our comprehensive Aqara smart home review; so make sure you take a read of that for more information and details of exactly what’s on offer.
