Smart Home company Meross have added a new key product to their lineup of HomeKit enabled devices, with a new Smoke alarm/sensor. The alarm is capable of a maximum of 85dB of sound, with the speaker also used for low battery alerts, amongst other things. Whereas most smoke alarms come with a non-replaceable battery that typically lasts around 10 years, by which time you’re recommended to replace the alarm anyway, the Meross includes 2 xAA batteries, that can be replaced. The battery life is expected to be around 12 months. The Smoke alarm can not only detect smoke but also overheating (between 54 ~ 70ºC).
Whilst the new device works with HomeKt, unlike much of the company’s lineup, this device isn’t compatible with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa, with only Samsung SmartThings being the other compatible platform. As this is a ‘smart’ smoke alarm, you’ll also get notifications pushed to your phone, which is of particular use if something happens, and you’re away from home, so this has one up on regular smoke alarms, which the meross can still function as (i.e. as an audible alarm), even if connectivity is down.
Speaking of connections, the new device comes as part of a kit that includes one smoke alarm and a hub (yes, I know…). The reason for the hub is quite simple; the sensors themselves don’t connect to your smart home via WiFi, like most of the Meross product line, instead, use the RF433MHz wireless range to connect to said hub, which in turn connects to your network using 2.4GHz WiFi. If you’re only in the market for one smoke alarm, this might seem like overkill, but considering a few smoke alarms would generally be advisable, up to 16 smoke alarms can connect to the one hub, which not only takes the load off your network if you had 16 smoke alarms all using WiFi, the hub allows the smoke alarms to connect to each other, so that when one sensor detects smoke, the other alarms with alert you too. This hub can also be used to connect the company’s own temperature and humidity sensor, so if you already have one of these hubs, the smoke alarm will be able to use it, without the need for an additional hub.
At 4.72in/120mm in diameter, with a depth of 1.44in/36.7mm, the smoke alarm is small enough to blend into your home, with it coming in a standard white colour. The hub connects to power using a standard USB to Micro USB cable that connects to a USB power supply. It’s also worth noting that whilst this new device doesn’t seem to be available to purchase, as it stands, there’s only certification for the EU, not the US. Something to bear in mind when it comes to insurance issues.
You can read more on this product via the company’s website.