Alexa compatible smoke detector price & review

Is any good on Alexa compatible smoke detector? Where to find best prices? For an example, First Alert’s Onelink Safe & Sound is a smart smoke and carbon monoxide alarm with Alexa Voice Services enabled. Leveraging your home’s hardwiring and using optimal ceiling placement, Safe & Sound fills any room with immersive, 360 degree high end audio. Ask Safe & Sound to play music or audiobooks, read you the news, control smart home devices, and more. Advanced microphones let Safe & Sound hear your voice commands from any direction—even when music is playing. What is the best Alexa compatible smoke detector to buy in 2021?

Best Alexa compatible smoke detector in 2021

Works with Alexa and HomeKit : Onelink Smart Smoke + Carbon Monoxide (2nd Gen)

Specs

• Detects: Smoke, carbon monoxide
• Works with: Alexa, HomeKi
• tHardwired/battery: Yes/Yes

Pros

+Works with Alexa and HomeKit

+Interconnectable

+Comes in wired and battery powered versions

Cons

-No Google Assistant compatibility

The second-generation Onelink Smart Smoke + Carbon Monoxide alarm comes in battery and hardwired models. Similar to the Nest Protect, the Onelink will not only sound an alarm, but also specify the room affected and the type of alert: smoke or carbon monoxide. Also like the Nest Protect, if you have more than one Onelink alarm, you can interconnect them so that if one goes off, they all will. 

Onelink’s alarm uses photoelectric technology, which is generally better at detecting smoldering fires than are alarms that use ionization technology. However, the latter are better at detecting fast-burning fires.

An LED rings the middle of the alarm and changes color based on the alarm’s status. Green and blue indicate that the alarm is starting up or in pairing mode. Yellow means there’s a malfunction or a low battery, while red means there’s a fire or smoke condition.

The Onelink can be connected to HomeKit and Alexa (but not Google Assistant), so you can ask both Siri and Amazon’s voice assistant for the status of the smoke detector, but not much else. By contrast, if the Nest Protect detects fire or carbon monoxide, you can have it automatically turn on a security camera, open Lutron blinds, turn on Philips Hue lights, turn off your heat and more. 

Setup should theoretically be easy—just scan a HomeKit code in the Onelink app—but it took a few tries to get it to work. The Onelink smoke and carbon monoxide alarm is good on its own, but the Nest Protect does more for the same price. 

OneLink Safe & Sound Smoke and CO Alarm

Specs

• Detects: Smoke, carbon monoxide
• Works with: Alexa, Homekit
• Hardwired/battery: Yes/No

Pros

• Tells you the type and location of emergency in your home or office.
• Features high-quality speakers that can be heard through noise-canceling microphones.
• Comes with an adapter plug so you can easily and quickly set it up without rewiring.
• Built-in Alexa voice services allow you to communicate with Alexa using the alarm.

 Cons

• Some users have complained that the OneLink app has a steep learning curve.
• A little expensive.

Boasting built-in Alexa voice services, the Safe & Sound smoke and alarm detector allows you to play music, audiobooks, and even listen to the news as you enjoy up-to-date fire safety protection in your home or office.

Connectivity

In addition to built-in Alexa compatibility, the alarm is compatible with Apple HomeKit as well. You can download the Onelink home app (Android or iOS) and use it to control and monitor the alarm through your phone as well.

Installation

Featuring a simple hardwiring design, all you have to do is plug the unit in using the adapter provided to get it up and running – no need for complex wiring!

Voice commands

The Alexa-compatible fire detector also uses hands-free commands to allow you to control other smart home devices such as lights, too. 

Speakers

The high-end, omni-directional speakers equipped with crisp vocals and powerful bass can alert you even through noise cancelling headphones. 

You can also use the unit’s Onelink Home companion app to remotely test or silence your alarm, control your entertainment, and even adjust the nightlight color and brightness remotely.

Since you must link your apps and accounts, there is a bit of effort involved in getting this model up and running. And it’s by no means cheap, though we consider all the extra features and functionalities to be well worth the cost. If you’re an Alexa or Apple HomeKit user seeking an all-in-one smart home solution, the Onelink Safe & Sound is our first recommendation.

Nest Protect Split Spectrum – Alexa compatible smoke detector

Specs

Pros

• Two power source options: hardwired or battery-powered.
• Features a clean white finish with a flower-like mesh pattern on the front.
• Built to detect both photoelectric and smoldering fires.
• Easy to install and set up.

 Cons

• The silence button is too small.
• Lacks a digital display.

We placed Google’s Nest protect at the top of our list because of the range of functionality it offers through Alexa, in addition to the highly efficient Split Spectrum sensor. Nest Protect comes in both hardwired and battery-operated versions.

Split Spectrum Sensor

The Google Nest CO and smoke alarm features a Split Spectrum sensor which allows it to detect both rapid-burning and smoldering fires quickly. This sensor features a blend of photoelectric sensor and blue LED light in tandem – helping to lower false alarms that are common in ionization sensor alarms.

Voice Alerts

The Alexa fire alarm is designed with innovative voice control features that calmly notify you when either smoke or carbon monoxide is detected. The voice alerts share the location and the danger level of each fire. 

Alexa Compatibility

You can use Nest’s compatibility with Alexa to enjoy a range of features –  such as remotely switching off the alarm or pre-programing the monitoring locations.

Nightly Promise

The alarm tests itself before you go to bed to ensure you do not get annoying maintenance alarms during the night. LED lights turn green in the dark to let you know everything is fine. Its pathlight feature on the other hand leaves the room you walk in glowing; functioning as a night light.

Alternate of Alexa compatible smoke detector

Ring Smart Smoke Alarm Listener

• Smoke Sensor Type: N/A | 
• Hardwired or Battery Option: Battery
• Easy to set up
• Inexpensive
• Must have existing Ring system to function
• Limited features

To be clear, this doesn’t negate the need for a smoke alarm at all, but it does allow you to add remote monitoring at a much lower cost than pretty much any other option on the market. There are no tools required, so it’s straightforward to set up, making it another good choice if you don’t want to drill any holes in the wall.

If you already have a Ring home security system, instead of having a separate smart smoke alarm, you may want to consider adding the Ring Alarm Smoke and CO Listener.

However, you do need to at least have the Ring Base Station for this to function. Also, given that it is only a smart listener, you won’t have the option to silence the alarms remotely. It’s a great budget option if you already have a Ring system, but it probably isn’t reason enough to go out and buy one in the first place.

Best budget smart smoke alarm – Roost Smart Battery

Pros

• A budget option
• No need to replace existing alarms
• Silence from the app

Cons

• No testing
• No smart home integrations
• Not actually a smoke alarm

The Roost Smart Battery (version 2) is a Wi-Fi packing 9-volt battery that fits inside your dumb smoke detector and makes it smart. If its built-in microphone hears an alarm it fires alerts to your smartphone over Wi-Fi.

We’ve actually been testing the Roost Smart Battery in an old smoke alarm that we bought in about 2003 but the quality of the alerts you get – i.e. whether it alerts for CO as well as smoke – depends on what the smoke alarm you install it into detects, as it’s just reacting to an alarm siren itself

The idea is that, rather than shelling out north of $100 to get a smart smoke alarm you just spend the $34.99 on a smart battery that upgrades your current dumb model.

Like the Google Nest Protect, the app gives you the option to silence the alarm with one tap – if you’ve just burnt the toast again, for example – and installing this clever battery also means no more annoying chirps in the middle of the night when the battery needs changing; you’ll get an alert on your phone long before that happens. On that note, Roost states you’ll get 3–5 years of use from it before you’ll need to replace it and when you do, it’s just $14.99 for a lithium pack that slots in.

Setup is simple using the easy-to-use, if somewhat basic, app – you just need to add your Wi-Fi password and do a little sound test using your phone and you’re away. From within the app you can also set up the Roost Smart Battery to alert friends or family – people selected will get an invite to download the app, but you can also set one phone number as a default emergency contact.

If an alarm does sound, your phone will alert you and from the app you can silence it, snooze it (we’re not sure why there’s a snooze option), ring your emergency contact, and you can also contact your friends and family you’ve set up too. The Roost Smart Battery can’t distinguish a test from an actual alarm – it’s just reacting to a sound – and don’t forget you’ll still need to test the system yourself.

First Alert Z-Wave Smoke & CO Alarm

Pros

• Inexpensive
• Works with Ring Alarm & Z-Wave
• Silence from app
• Low battery alerts in app

Cons

• Needs a hub
• No wired-version
• No voice alerts
• Does not interconnect wirelessly

We tested the device with a SmartThings hub and were able to silence the alarm through the notification the app sent, as well as receive low-battery alerts on our phone, and add it into automations – such as unlock the doors and turn the lights on if the alarm is triggered. A mute button directly on the device is handy if you’re nearby, and the fact it takes AA batteries makes replacement easy.

This may not be the sexiest smoke alarm on the block, but it works with a lot of smart home devices, including SmartThings, Nexia, and Ring Alarm. In theory it should work with most Z-Wave set ups, although it doesn’t work with Wink. This makes it one of the most versatile smart smoke detectors on the market, although there’s no bells and whistles such as a built-in speaker or voice assistant integration.

It also looks just like a standard detector, which it is – just with a Z-Wave chip in it. You can mount it on a wall or ceiling and there’s a smoke-only version on offer too. When paired with Ring Alarm it can notify the monitoring service, if you’ve paid for that $10 a month Ring Protect Plus plan.

Pairing it with the hub was straightforward, but we were disappointed that there is no interconnectivity – if you have a few of these in your home and one goes off, they won’t trigger the others. Also, this is only smart if you pair it with a hub. It doesn’t have its own app, so while it would work as a smoke and CO detector in your home, without a hub there’s no way to get notifications on your phone while you’re away from home.

Editor’s recommendations

• First Alert BRK PRC710 smoke and carbon monoxide alarm review
• How to install a First Alert smoke and carbon monoxide alarm – mounting bracket & battery?
• First Alert Z-Wave smoke and carbon monoxide alarm 3-pack review
• Kidde Nighthawk Carbon Monoxide detector reviews – how to install?
• Nest Protect – Smoke Alarm – Smoke Detector and Carbon Monoxide Detector review