Smart Lock:Nuki announces first Aliro keypad for March – questions about HomeKey
After the adoption of Aliro 1.0, Nuki, a well-known European manufacturer, emerges from hiding. However, many questions remain.
Nuki Keypad 2 NFC: Aliro is finally here.
(Image: Nuki)
Anyone in Europe wanting to open their smart door lock with Apple's HomeKey (“digital key”) using an iPhone or Apple Watch has had limited choices so far. The Aqara U200 is one example. Its successor, the U400, even supports Ultra-Wideband on approach instead of just NFC but is not yet available in a European version. With the unified Smart Lock standard Aliro, everything is supposed to get better: more devices, more compatibility. Now that version 1.0 has been officially adopted just this week (the consortium also includes Apple, Google, and Samsung), Austrian smart lock producer Nuki has announced its first hardware.
Date March 24, prices and further details missing
This is a new version of the keypad already available on the market, which can be purchased as an add-on for the manufacturer's smart locks. The Nuki Keypad 2 becomes the Nuki Keypad 2 NFC. On the website and in an email to customers, March 24 is announced as the sales start date. The company is also already collecting email addresses from interested parties – to whom they want to offer an “early bird discount.” Prices have not yet been announced, but the current Keypad 2 costs a hefty 159 euros if purchased directly from Nuki. It's quite possible that the NFC version will be pricier.
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The information Nuki provides about the Keypad 2 NFC is also not very detailed. For example, there is no information on whether HomeKey will be added to the manufacturer's locks with Aliro compatibility. It could, at least theoretically, take a while before Apple makes a presumably necessary update to unite HomeKey with Aliro. On the Android side, i.e., Google and Samsung with their respective NFC wallets, there is also no information yet. If Aliro isn't even running by March 24, the Nuki keypad could initially only be used for standard opening via code or fingerprint, as is already possible now.
Only information: “It's coming soon”
Nuki only writes about compatibility: “It's coming soon. Open your door with Tap to Unlock.” They claim users can experience “a new dimension of smart home access with NFC and Aliro,” which the Austrians describe as an “innovative, standardized communication protocol” that has just been introduced by the Aliro certification body, Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA). Inquiries about compatibility initially went unanswered; we will update the report as soon as feedback from Nuki is available.
It is already clear that the Keypad 2 NFC also lags behind the competition from Aqara: the mentioned U400, whose European version is expected to be released in the foreseeable future, already supports the even more convenient UWB. With UWB, you approach the front door, and it opens. Such automations are currently only possible via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), but they are significantly less precise and therefore ultimately less secure. That Nuki apparently isn't integrating UWB right away is disappointing. However, it is good that the Keypad 2 NFC will likely offer broad compatibility, assuming it aligns with the non-NFC variant; this can be used with all generations and variants of the Nuki Smart Lock from the 2nd generation onwards. Thus, one could upgrade an existing Nuki lock to HomeKey. Corresponding digital keys will also be available from Google and Samsung.
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