Thirty-three second-half points swung the contest in Auckland's favour, denying a Waikato side who looked excellent for portions of the game but were let down by poor defence.
Terrific team tries were the feature of the contest; with three superb long-range counter-attacking tries the highlight of a free-flowing running contest as the talent-stacked backlines exchanged blows.
The pacey Damian McKenzie was the first to stamp his authority, showing scintillating speed to open the scoring in the seventh minute.
The man the Waikato No 10 sped around with ease - Michael Fatialofa - made amends 10 metres later, nudging his way over to tie the scores.
If those two opening close-range efforts were the simple, the sublime followed soon after.
Auckland were the first side to showcase a dose of high-quality running rugby, with halfback Kaito Shigeno on the end of a superb 70 metre try. Ben Lam made the initial burst, before Melani Nanai and Charles Piutau linked up to send Shigeno under the posts.
Just when it looked like Auckland may have grasped control of the encounter, Waikato co-captain Brad Weber rapidly swung the contest back in Waikato's favour before halftime.
First, the one-test All Black showed sharp work from a tap and go in front of the posts, taking advantage of offside Auckland defenders to stretch out and plant the ball on the line. That cut the deficit to three, but Weber's work then started a move which is on the early shortlist for try of the season.
Auckland flanker Mitch Karpik's storming run down the sideline was halted metres short by the diminutive Weber, who then managed to get to his feet and force a turnover which led to a masterful counter. Waikato combined five offloads in a flowing 90 metre move, the ball ending up in the hands of Anton Lienert-Brown to make it five first-half tries, and a 21-17 Waikato lead at the break.
The game's turning point came quickly after the break, with Auckland going the length of the field to dot down after Lienert-Brown was called for a double movement.
Bryce Heem quickly took advantage of a disjointed Waikato defence to charge 50 metres through the midfield, before Simon Hickey's stabbed kick through bounced up perfectly for Lam to barge over and hand Auckland back the lead.
Auckland then turned on the after-burners, with replacement loose forward Taleni Seu showing quick feet to go under the posts before Nanai eased over in the corner to make it 38-21 after 60 minutes.
Weber lamented the defensive lapses which saw his side leave with just a four-try bonus point.
"Auckland built a lot of phases and that's how they were able to score most of their tries.
"We showed in patches that we can contend for the title this year but we've got to be able to do it for 80 minutes, we'll be better for this."
Promising 18-year old fullback Shaun Stevenson crossed in corner to give Waikato a sniff, but tries to George Moala and Mitchell Hunt sealed the deal to raise the half-century and send Auckland back up State Highway One in high spirits.
Auckland 50 (M.Fatialofa, K.Shigeno, G.Moala, T.Seu, M.Hunt, B.Lam, M.Nanai tries, S.Hickey 5 con, 1 pen, J.Hickey 1 con)
Waikato 28 (D.McKenzie, S.Stevenson, B.Weber, A. Leinert-Brown tries, D.McKenzie four cons)
