First Alert Onelink Wi-Fi Smoke and CO Alarm
A competent, if not better pure smoke detector than the Nest Protect, the First Alert Onelink Wi-Fi Smoke and CO Alarm has a lot of potential as a smart device. It has the pedigree of First Alert for the basics, and integrates with Apple's HomeKitfor Siri control. Except, none of those smarts actually proved useful.
Both the push notifications and in-app silencing of false alarms were too slow to be helpful. The HomeKit functionality is bare-bones -- you can really only use Siri for a status check and you can't integrate this smoke alarm with other HomeKit devices in any meaningful way. At $120 (£80, AU$165) for the hardwire version and $110 (£75, AU$150) for the battery powered, this First Alert smart device isn't worth it.
Halo Smart Labs Halo Smoke Alarm
Right now, if you want a smart smoke alarm, the Nest Protect is our clear cut recommendation since the First Alert alarm is such a bust. But strong competition for Nest could be on the way. The upcoming Halo Smart Labs Halo Smoke Alarm not only has Nest-like smarts -- push notifications, in-app silencing, voice alerts -- it'll also monitor and alert you to extreme weather situations.
We're looking forward to testing Halo when it hits the market in the next couple of months, to see how useful that weather-monitoring feature actually is. The Halo Alarm also works with Lowe's Iris smart home system, so it could tie into your larger smart home seamlessly. The Halo+ (with weather monitoring) will cost $130 (£90 and AU$170). You'll also be able to buy a smart Halo alarm without weather monitoring for $100 (£70 and AU$130).
Kidde RemoteLync Monitor
If you have a big home and don't want to spend the money replacing all of your smoke detectors with smart ones, a device that listens for smoke alarms, like the Kidde RemoteLync Monitor, would help you cover your home with smart smoke safety more efficiently. Plug the Kidde Monitor into a wall, and it'll listen for the specific frequency of smoke and CO detectors and send you an alert when it hears them.
You won't get the extra convenience of being able to silence false alarms with an app, but a single Kidde Monitor, in a central hallway, can hear every alarm on a floor, making whole home smoke smarts much more obtainable. The competent US-only Kidde RemoteLync Monitor costs $100 (£70 and AU$130). We'd whole-heartedly recommend it if it had the range to effectively cover a whole home. As it stands, it does a great job at hearing one floor.
Leeo Smart Alert
As with the Kidde Monitor, you plug the Leeo Smart Alert into a hallway outlet and it listens for the frequency of smoke and CO detectors. Like the Kidde, it has enough range to competently cover one floor and it'll send you a push notification if it hears something. The Leeo Smart Alert also doubles as a fun color changing nightlight.
Leeo's app even records sound once it hears an alarm, but we didn't find those audio clips useful when we tested Leeo. All I could ever hear was beeping, not what was actually going on. Still, Leeo listens well enough to be worth your consideration; it works with online rule maker IFTTT; and though it initially cost $100, the company recently cut the price of the US-only Leeo to $50 (£35 and AU$65).
Mydlink Smart Alarm Detector
Both Kidde and Leeo are competent at what they do, but we've yet to have a smoke alarm listener wow us. Hopefully, the upcoming Mydlink Smart Alarm Detector will be able to do just that. It's the same basic concept as the Leeo Alert and the Kidde Monitor. It costs $60 (£40 and AU$75) and connects with other D-Link connected devices as well as online rule maker IFTTT.
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