I have tried many smart locks, but this is the one I have on my door.

ZDNET’s key findings

• He Aqara U100 smart lock Normally available for $190, it’s currently discounted to $150.
• This smart lock is the most versatile one I’ve tested. It offers a variety of unlocking options, an easy-to-use app, and simple integration with Apple Home.
• The Aqara U100 drains battery quickly and the app does not always alert users, resulting in reduced performance after four months of use.

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The launch of Aqara’s first Apple Home Key smart lock in the US came after Aqara sold a number of Home Key-compatible smart locks outside of the country. Was it worth the wait? I’ve had the Aqara U100 for over a year now, and the short answer is: absolutely.

Also: iPhone users, this smart lock was literally made for you

Installing the Aqara U100 on my front door was fairly straightforward, even though the unit I tested didn’t come with instructions. It took me a few minutes to figure out which piece goes on before the other, but a deadbolt is a fairly simple mechanism, so it was easy. The whole process took less than 15 minutes.

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Once the U100 smart lock was on the door, I set it up with the Aqara app on my iPhone and used a Aqara M2 Center to connect to it.

While you don’t need an Aqara Hub to use the smart lock’s basic features, you do need one to perform remote locking and unlocking actions, view the current status of the lock, configure password settings from your phone, and create automations with other Aqara devices.

Without a hub, the U100 smart lock can only connect to your phone via Bluetooth and be controlled as long as it is within Bluetooth range.

The Aqara U100 smart lock is unique in the US as it is the only one on the market that offers the following unlocking options in one:

• Unlock Password: The U100 lock features a keypad for entering 6- to 10-digit passcodes to open. You can add one-time passcodes or codes that only work during a preset period, such as for a babysitter every weekday from 3 to 6 p.m. You can set up to 75 passwords in the app.
• Fingerprint Unlock: After setting up my U100 to open with my fingerprint, I never had any issues with it not recognizing or responding to my fingerprint. You can add up to 50 fingerprints in the app, and Aqara says its fingerprint reader has a 98.6% recognition rate.
• Apple Home Key: I set up the U100 lock to unlock with my iPhone using the NFC-enabled Apple Home Key. This adds a virtual key to your iPhone wallet and you can open your smart lock just by bringing your iPhone or Apple Watch close to it.
• NFC Tags: You can also program NFC tags to unlock the Aqara U100, which is perfect for anyone who isn’t an Apple user, or to use as key cards for guests at home.
• Mechanical keys: The U100 smart lock comes with two physical keys and the lock is hidden behind a sliding panel on the face of the wave.

While I didn’t find the Aqara mobile app to be very intuitive, I loved the features available for the U100 lock. You can add other users and give each one a unique unlocking method. For example, I’ve always given myself a passcode and fingerprint to track who got in and how by checking the lock’s event history.

The app also allows you to customize alert settings and choose the volume and language of voice alerts during the closing operation. Thanks to a built-in gyroscope for motion detection, you can set the device to automatically lock when the door is closed (no additional modules required).

That said, it wasn’t all roses and self-locking doors. I did have issues with the app’s beta features at times, especially when it came time to have the U100 lock behind me or when I swiped it with my card. At one point, I had to go back inside to find the mechanical key because it wasn’t working for me. I later realized that this happens when the lock’s battery life runs out after three or four months.

While my experience was mostly positive, I found the app to be very slow and unreliable at telling me the lock status, even when my phone was within Bluetooth range. Sometimes it would simply tell me the wrong status, saying the door was locked when I could clearly see that it wasn’t.

ZDNET’s buying advice

Why I still love the Aqara U100: The pros outweigh the cons, and firmware updates keep improving its performance.

Considering how elaborate smart locks can get, I started this review with a bias towards the simplicity of the Level+ Lock and the elegant design of the Yale Assure SL Lock. Additional unlocking features that make the Aqara U100 The only thing that changed my life.

Being able to consistently (and flexibly) unlock my door with either my fingerprint or my Apple Watch, rather than one or the other, has added exactly the amount of convenience to my life that I look for in all smart home devices.