UWB and Aliro Get a Boost from New ULTRALOQ Product Launches

In September 2026, ULTRALOQ, a manufacturer of smart home access solutions, announced the launch of three new smart lock products that leverage Ultra-Wideband (UWB) and Aliro standards to support seamless home entry experiences.

The first new product, ULTRALOQ Bolt Mission, supports precise UWB auto-unlock, with support for other access methods such as Near-Field Communication (NFC), app control (bridge required), and physical key. The use of UWB technology supports a truly hands-free experience by being able to sense and recognize the real arrival of end users. Additionally, with built-in high-precision radar sensing capabilities, the smart lock is also able to monitor and detect unusual activity near the door.

The other two models released, namely ULTRALOQ Bolt Pro and ULTRALOQ Latch 5 Pro, support the Aliro standard, thereby allowing end users to unlock their doors by utilizing digital keys stored on their Apple or Samsung wallets on their smartphones. This simplifies access control by enabling a single digital key to be used across different Aliro-compatible access scenarios.

Additionally, these smart locks are Matter over Thread-certified and can be integrated into broader smart home ecosystems to support advanced home automation use cases. Some examples of automation include turning on/off lights, adjusting thermostat settings, and opening/closing blinds when door unlock is detected. Unlocking these automation features requires a Thread Border Router.

While smart connected locks have been in the market for some time, recent developments have made these products more relevant for the smart home. In the past, smart locks were primarily focused on enabling connectivity, either via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth® Low Energy (LE), Zigbee, or Z-Wave, to support remote connectivity. Smart locks were also looking to new features, such as NFC key fobs, fingerprint/palm reading, and even facial scanning to digitalize the physical key. However, while these were great features, they could not provide a truly hands-free entry experience, as end users still needed to perform some form of manual action to unlock the door. Additionally, there was fragmentation in the market as smart lock solutions from one vendor could not interoperate with solutions from another vendor.

To address these issues, secure ranging technologies, such as UWB and Bluetooth® Channel Sounding, are gaining prominence. UWB is based on IEEE standards (IEEE 802.15.4 and its enhancements (802.15.4z/4ab)) and support high-precision, secure, low-power wireless communication and ranging technology. UWB’s advantage lies in its ability to utilize wide frequency bandwidths (500 Megahertz (MHz) or more) to enable key features, such as: 1) centimeter-level precision; 2) multipath immunity; 3) and low interference.

Alternatively, there is also Bluetooth® Channel Sounding, a Bluetooth® feature that supports high-accuracy proximity sensing and is emerging as an alternative to UWB. While not as precise as UWB, Bluetooth® Channel Sounding provides other benefits such as reduced power consumption and lower cost of implementation due to the existing wider adoption of the technology in smartphones and various Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Additionally, the release of Aliro 1.0 in February 2026 standardizes the implementation of digital keys across different vendor ecosystems, enabling a single digital key (e.g., Apple Home Key, Google Wallet) to work with all Aliro-enabled smart door locks. This concept is very much like the Matter communication protocol, which aims to resolve fragmentation in the smart home industry.

While the maturity of secure ranging and standardization of access technologies are beneficial for the industry, ABI Research believes that more can be done to enhance the smart home experience. Some of these recommendations include:

• Collaboration with Other Smart Home Vendors: The next evolution for smart auto-unlock will be auto-opening. While auto-unlock already brings many benefits, some level of manual effort is still required on the part of the end user in opening the door. This is where collaborations with other smart home vendors, such as doors and sensors, can help existing smart lock vendors craft a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) in the market and further enhance the hands-free home access experience for customers.
• Enhanced Integration with Smart Home Ecosystems: While Matter certification ensures that devices will be able to integrate with various smart home ecosystems, relying solely on Matter will only enable basic connectivity and automation use cases. As evidenced by how ULTRALOQ’s Bolt Mission can also double-up as an additional security layer in detecting unusual activity, there is opportunity for smart lock vendors to work closer with smart home ecosystems and/or system integrators to integrate smart lock operations with other security devices, such as surveillance cameras and sensors, to provide a comprehensive security solution.
• Contributing to the Artificial Intelligent (AI) Home: As an extension to the above point, there is also opportunity for smart lock vendors to work with and provide additional important data points for AI home platforms. For example, end-user behavior (i.e., time of leaving and returning home) could be fed into home-based AI systems for pattern recognition. As a result, any unusual activity (e.g., door opening at odd hours) can be detected with notifications being sent to the homeowner. Alternatively, end-user behavior can also be analyzed to support advanced home automation applications, such as climate control and other power-saving features.

ABI Research envisions the future smart home to be one that is highly intelligent, autonomous, and secure (in terms of both physical and data protection). Smart home vendors that can meet the above requirements will be in a strong position to succeed in this highly competitive market.