I saw the first smart lock to support UWB at CES 2025 - and it knows if you're inside or out

The Ultraloq Bolt Mission is this year's most groundbreaking smart lock at CES. It is the first to market that supports ultra-wideband and unlocks hands-free. This means that whenever an approved device, like your phone in your pocket, approaches within 10 feet of the smart lock, it will unlock.

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The lock is smart enough to know when a user is on the indoor or exterior side of the door. In addition to UWB, the Ultraloq Bolt Mission also supports NFC-enabled devices to unlock it. This allows you to unlock your door with a single tap of your compatible phone or smartwatch. It is initially compatible with Android phones, but U-Tec, the company behind Ultraloq, plans to support Apple Home Key.

Doesn't require a separate hub

Since the lock connects to Wi-Fi, it doesn't require a separate hub but supports Matter over Thread. The lock can connect and conserve battery over a low-power connection if you already have a Matter gateway with Thread support at home. The Matter over Thread connection can extend the battery life to a year. With Wi-Fi only, the eight AA batteries inside the lock can offer about six months of use.

In addition to the UWB and NFC unlocking methods, the Ultraloq Bolt Mission has a keypad for entering a keycode and a slot for a physical key. 

Also: I tested a smart lock with facial recognition

This lock's UWB support makes it highly accurate, thanks to the technology's precision tracking. This protocol's real-time location precision makes it more accurate than Bluetooth and other forms of geofencing, and it's secure -- thanks to its wide bandwidth.

Availability

The Ultraloq Bolt Mission UWB + NFC smart lock is available beginning this quarter for $400.