Pros
-Remote control via a
mobile app
-Gesture control
-Clever uses of color notifications
-Sleek design
Cons
-Expensive for a smoke detector
Back in 2011, Nest did the impossible: It made thermostats
sexy. Apple veterans Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers applied their iPod-designing
expertise to the largely utilitarian world of home-climate control, creating
the Learning Thermostat, an appliance aimed squarely at the gadget-obsessed
citizens of the smartphone age. And then, earlier this year, Fadell and Rogers
took on another traditionally banal (but utterly important) aspect of home
life: the smoke detector. The conceit of the Nest Protect was to bring some of
the same aesthetics and smart features that made the company's first product a
success.
The result is a smoke/carbon monoxide detector with mobile
device connectivity and a range of expressions that go far beyond the old
beeping alarms, as well as a unique gesture feature that lets you silence the
device with the wave of a hand. Admittedly bummed at the inability to test the
Learning Thermostat in my prewar New York City apartment building, I happily
jumped at the opportunity to review the Protect. So Nest sent along two
devices, a can of something called a "smoke detector tester" and,
thankfully, thorough instructions on how one goes about testing smoke detectors
without accidentally burning the house down.
Hardware
Given Nest's origins, it's not especially surprising that
the company managed to make even the product's box a thing to behold. The
message is pretty clear: If Apple ever saw fit to produce a smoke detector, it
would look something like this. It's a well-designed bit of packaging that
looks more suited for a Best Buy vending machine than a dusty hardware store
shelf. Inside, you'll find a wall mount, a set of four screws embedded directly
into the cardboard packaging and an awful lot of paperwork -- after all, making
sure the device works properly could be a matter of life or death. As for the
Protect itself, you've got two options, both at the same price point: a
battery-operated model, and a wired version for those who want to tap into
their home circuitry. Seeing as how I won't be using the detector permanently,
I opted for the latter, which comes with six AA Energizer Lithiums
pre-installed.
Like most current smartphones, the Protect comes in either
black or white. Nest sent me two white devices, thankfully --
far better for
blending in on my apartment walls. Perhaps some of you willing to drop $129 on
this sort of product want to make the thing as conspicuous as possible, but
personally, I'd prefer not to have to discuss my smoke detector with everyone
who visits my apartment (that's what record collections, bookshelves and
stuffed grizzlies are for). With that in mind, it's not surprising that the
Protect has a much subtler aesthetic than the company's first device, though
it's still unquestionably a much nicer object than the vast majority of smoke
detectors I've encountered.
The Apple connection is pretty clear here, right out of the
box. With the clean lines and rounded corners, a quick look at the Protect's
profile invites comparisons to a flattened Mac mini or Apple TV. The front of
the device, meanwhile, is almost all grille -- this is, after all, a product
designed to wake you from deep sleep a couple of rooms away. A big, circular
button sporting a Nest logo sits in the middle of the dotted plastic face.
Mobile devices aside, this button will be your primary method for interacting
with the Protect. You'll press it several times during setup, any time you want
to test the detector and when you want to quiet the alarm.
There's a thin circle in the button, with faint, light gray
text so befuddled houseguests know they're looking at a smoke and carbon
monoxide detector. In this spot, you'll also see the light that emanates from
behind the button, forming a glowing ring in the center of the smoke detector.
This is how the Protect manages to communicate without always making noise.
Nest opted not to include a display, likely because you won't find yourself
physically interacting with a smoke detector nearly as often as a thermostat.
The vast majority of the time, there's no light on at all, allowing it to blend
in with its surroundings and conserve battery life.
Still, the light is pretty expressive. During the setup
process and testing, it turns blue, letting you know it's working and
connected. When you turn off the lights at night, it glows green for a moment
to let you know everything is all right with the sensors and batteries (if
there's an issue, it'll turn yellow and tell you what the matter is when you
wave your hand in front of it). And if you so choose during the setup process,
the pathlight will light up when it detects motion in the dark, a sort of
beacon to help you navigate your way through a pitch-black room. The light
turns yellow as an early warning sign of a problem and red when it's time to
sound the alarm.
On the back of the Protect, you'll find detailed
explanations about each of the light colors and the standard warnings that come
with a product like this. There's a micro-USB port in the middle for
"internal use only," according to Nest, and holes for attaching it to
the wall dock, a process that just requires a simple twist. At the bottom are
two screws you'll need to take out to remove the back while changing the
batteries. When you first take the Protect out of the box, you'll also spot a
light blue tag popping out the back -- this ensures that the batteries aren't
in before you're ready for them. You'll need to yank that out to get started.
Setup
Pull out the tab and press the button and the Protect will
say, "Hi." The smoke detector has a soft-spoken, feminine voice, the
sort of strangely calming robotic presence you'd like guiding you in a time of
emergency. The voice follows the greeting by asking you to choose whether you'd
like her to speak in Spanish or English. Next up, you'll be prompted to test
the Protect, to make sure things are all right. "The alarm will
sound," she explains. "The alarm is loud." She ain't lying. It's
grating, ear-piercing and strikingly loud, and you'll hear a total of six beeps
as the Protect checks the smoke and then carbon monoxide sensors. It's annoying
when you're testing the thing, sure, but when it comes to smoke alarms, loud is
good. "The test is finished," she adds, calm as ever. And, if all goes
according to plan, "everything is okay."
Now it's time to download the app. Ahead of Protect's
release, the company issued an app that monitors both its thermostats and smoke
detectors, available for iOS and Android. Create an account through Nest's site
(if you don't already have one); use your handset to scan the QR code on the
Protect's back (or manually enter a key, if you're so inclined); and the app
will take you through a simple process of connecting it to your wireless
network. If you've ever connected anything like a Chromecast to your home WiFi,
this should be a familiar process, though I did have to repeat it a few times
as everything attempted to connect. I spoke to a Nest rep, and the company's
not sure what happened there, but the problem resolved itself before I had to
pull my hair out. When you're done, the voice will tell you that she's
"connected to the internet" and everything's ready to go. If you've
got a second Protect, you'll be prompted to connect that, as well. It's a similar
process, albeit slightly shorter with some redundant steps removed.
Next, it's time to take the old smoke detector off the wall
-- though the company suggested I not actually do that in my testing, as the
review units weren't quite final. This part of the process is naturally a bit
more involved, should you opt for the wired version. According to the included
instructions, the ceiling is the best place your Protect -- or, failing that,
high up on a wall. In either case, it's best to avoid obscuring any edge of the
detector with a tight corner. Once you've found the right spot, screw the
backplate into the wall and snap the Protect in place.
Testing
And now the fun(?) part. If the beeping during setup didn't
set off the neighbors, I assumed the testing would. No one came knocking,
however, which should give you some idea of how much you can count on the
people in your building in case of emergency. Good thing I have four smoke
detectors in my apartment at the moment. Nest equipped me with the Smoke Sabre,
a smoke-detector tester in an aerosol can. With a spritz (or with actual smoke
or carbon monoxide, naturally), the ring of light will turn yellow, alerting
you that something is up. The Protect gives you a window of a few seconds in
yellow, dimming slightly when it spots you, letting you know that you're in the
sweet spot and can reset the alarm with a wave -- just as you might wave away
the smoke when overcooking something on the stove. The idea is to stop false
alarms before they start -- so if you're in the kitchen and something starts
smoking, you don't have to deal with emergency alerts during a non-emergency.
I had a bit of trouble getting the gesture-based override to
work during the trial, in spite of some frantic waving. I contacted Nest about
the issue, and a rep told me that, due to federal regulations, there are two
versions of the alarm. The less serious of the two can be overridden by the
user. The other just goes straight to alarm. Apparently I've been hitting the
old Smoke Sabre a little too hard. The upside, however, is that I got to see
the Nest spring into action (the downside, naturally, is that I got to hear it,
too). This, it turns out, is why you installed that app -- like the smoke
detector itself, it will sit around idly for the majority of the time, a subtle
reminder that everything is copacetic.
When the Protect encounters an issue, however, you'll get a
push notification on your mobile device (an optional, but highly recommended
feature). The normally green ring in the center of the app will turn red, along
with a quick indicator of what's wrong (in this case: "Smoke"). Tap
on that and you'll get a breakdown of your alarms' statuses -- e.g.,
"Smoke" for the dining room and "All Clear" for the
kitchen. Tap through to notes and the app gives you a full breakdown of what
happened -- at 4:47 PM: "There is smoke. The alarm is sounding." I
was eventually able to hush the sound by hitting the button, and the timeline
mentions that as well. At the top of the page is a "What to Do" note,
including the usual stop, drop and roll instructions (which you hopefully don't
need to pick up a smartphone to remember). There's also a big red button at the
bottom for dialing 911.
Wrap up
I'll admit it's been a while since I've been in the market
for a smoke detector. A cursory scan of Amazon, however, indicates an average
price between $10 and $30, with combo smoke/carbon monoxide detectors landing at
the higher end of that spectrum. In either case, it's a range the $129 Protect
misses by a country mile. Of course, this isn't just any smoke detector. Like
the Learning Thermostat before it, it's a bit of home electronics aimed at
gadget nerds, and certainly Nest has managed to do a lot in an otherwise staid
category.
It's a lovely object, so far as these things go, and its
expressive center lighting and voice directions offer a lot more than the
standard series of beeps: alerting you to emergencies, low batteries and even
lighting your way at night. The gesture-based hush can save your eardrums and
the smartphone alerts may well save some lives. For most, however, standard
smoke detectors will likely still do the trick. Even though certain device idiosyncrasies
can be a hassle, $129 still feels like a lot to pay, given the industry
average. And for those living in larger homes, it's a price that'll add up
fast.
Conclusion
The Protect brings plenty of innovation to the staid world
of smoke detectors, but the $129 price will be too steep for most people to
swallow.
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