I recently tested a Zigbee smoke detector as part of my smart home setup. After a installing it, here are my thoughts. Image: Zigbee smoke detector used in this review. Pros Integrates easily with Zigbee2MQTT and shows status and battery info. Compact and can be placed almost anywhere. Comes with two-sided tape and screws for mounting. Cons Frequent false positives — triggered the alarm multiple times with no visible smoke or fire. Dangerous false negatives — failed to trigger when actual smoke (from burning paper) was present. Overall Rating ★☆☆☆☆ 1 out of 5 stars — not reliable for critical safety use. ...
Solar Powered Zigbee Siren - Neo NAS-AB06B2 Review
I recently tested a wireless Zigbee siren to use with my home automation setup. Below are my impressions after a few months of real-world usage. Image: Zigbee siren used in this review. Pros If reception is good - at least 100 LQI, it works well - quite loud, although an industrial/AC powered siren is usually louder. Have a tamper button which will fire the alarm if removed without disarming it first (for instance in Zigbee2MQTT). Cons If Zigbee connection brakes, the siren will not reconnect, it requires re-pairing. This is cumbersome especially if the siren is mounted in a high place. To click the pairing button need to unscrew the screws in the back, the screw are small and their threading will not last long. Occasionally, during paring, the alarm may trigger without any apparent reason (even when the tamper alarm is off). No battery level indication, at least not in Zigbee2MQTT. Water isolation looks decent so far, it survived the end of the winter and a few heavy rain showers. Overall Rating ★★☆☆☆ 2 out of 5 stars — functional, but unreliable for long-term unattended use. ...