Life security producer First Alert launched a brand new line of good smoke and carbon monoxide alarms this week that can work with Google Home. Following Google’s choice to discontinue its Nest Protect good smoke alarm, the corporate has introduced it’s partnering with First Alert on the First Alert Smart Smoke & Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarm.
The new alarms will work with the First Alert and Google Home apps however not with some other good dwelling platforms. They may also be appropriate with current Nest Protect alarms.
Ryan Park, senior product director at Resideo, which owns First Alert, informed The Verge that they interconnect over Nest’s Weave communication protocol (which makes use of Thread) to sound all appropriate alarms when one is triggered. The notification system may also embody any non-connected First Alert alarms you may need put in.
The new First Alert Smart Smoke & CO Alarms will value $129.99 and will probably be obtainable in hardwired or battery-powered choices later this 12 months within the US and Canada. They’re obtainable now for preorder at FirstAlert.com.
Nest Protect alarms work for 10 years from the date of manufacture. They first launched in 2013, so many owners (myself included) might want to exchange theirs quickly. Park says they had been designed for simple {hardware} alternative in order that Nest Protect customers “can seamlessly exchange their gadgets.”
The new First Alert alarms have a number of of the identical options discovered on the Nest Protect. These embody computerized security checkups, a “Heads-up Early Warning” that sends voice and app alerts earlier than an alarm triggers, alerts when an alarm is triggered, and the power to silence alarms from each the First Alert and Google Home apps.
The lineup includes a 10-year battery (a requirement in lots of states) and a hardwired possibility, each with backup batteries. The app will ship you low battery warnings, so that you shouldn’t get these 2AM low battery chirps.
Unlike the Protect, the First Alert alarms received’t work as a presence sensor for Google Home’s Home & Away perform or characteristic the Protect’s neat nightlight characteristic. And whereas they resemble the Nest Protect, they sadly don’t have the identical trendy design. However, Google says they’ll set off a stay feed out of your Nest safety cameras within the Home app when an alarm sounds.
The new alarms use First Alert’s Precision Detection — a sophisticated sensing know-how that makes use of photoelectric sensing. They work over Wi-Fi to connect with the Google Home and First Alert apps. Existing Nest Protects will quickly seem within the Google Home app.
The new Google Home-compatible alarm comes sizzling on the heels of competitor Kidde’s launch of a wise smoke alarm that works with Ring at CES this 12 months. The Kidde Smart Smoke Alarm with Ring ($54.97) and the Kidde Smart Smoke and CO Alarm with Ring ($74.97) are hardwired alarms with battery backup and can launch this April at The Home Depot. These join solely to the Ring app through Wi-Fi.
First Alert has an current line of Onelink smoke and CO alarms with Wi-Fi connectivity. However, it phased out its fashions that labored with Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home some time in the past.
Park says the present Onelink product line will probably be discontinued over time in favor of the brand new fashions. The firm additionally manufactures a Z-Wave smoke and CO alarm that works with Ring Alarm and different platforms, which can proceed to be bought.
It’s nice to see extra good smoke alarm choices; it’s an area that basically hasn’t seen a viable competitor to the Nest Protect within the US market. However, this proprietary strategy is irritating, particularly now that Matter is right here, which is designed to make it simpler for producers to combine with a number of good dwelling platforms.
Smoke alarms are a part of the Matter spec, however not one of the not too long ago introduced fashions are appropriate with the brand new good dwelling customary. Resideo, proprietor of First Alert, is a part of the Connectivity Standards Alliance that oversees Matter. The firm not too long ago launched a wise thermostat that works with Matter. I’ve requested if there’s a plan to make the brand new smoke alarm appropriate.
