review

X-Sense XS01-WT Review Small Wifi Smoke Alarm

Monday, August 15, 2022

 
Smoke alarm detectors give you precious advanced warning of a fire, which is a godsend when you are surrounded by walls! Fires start when least expected so, you need a smoke alarm to quickly alert you to a fire and potentially save your life!


The smoke alarm seen pictured is the X-Sense XS01-WT - a cupcake style smoke alarm with a very small footprint (one of the smallest smoke alarms in the market). The X-Sense XS01-WT smoke alarm is made of fire retardant plastic and features a rubber button with status led built-in and metal mesh cutouts for ventilation. 
 
The X-Sense XS01-WT smoke alarm is easy to install. It comes with dish plastic plate to mount the smoke detector onto a wall or ceiling. On the rear side, there is the battery compartment lid and useful information such as the date the smoke alarm must be replaced.


 The X-Sense XS01-WT smoke alarm works alongside the Tuya Smart app and Smart Life app which can be downloaded to your phone. The app works well and has an easy to navigate user interface, showing at a glance if any fires are currently being detected. You can disable/enable notifications for low battery, alarm notification, fault warning and many others. 
 
When the smoke alarm gets triggered, it sends an alarm notification to your phone in under 10 seconds. The alarm notification shows on the phone screen very prominently in bold red so, you cannot miss it. As well as the visual alarm notification on the screen, the phone itself sounds alarm, which is great.
 
From the Tuya app, you can also view a log (time and date) of each time the alarm triggered an event such as smoke alarm, low battery or fault warning. You can add and control as many X-Sense XS01-WT smoke alarms to the app but, you cannot interlink them to each other, which is a useful feature because if one alarm sounds it will also sound all alarms.
 
The X-Sense XS01-WT Wifi smoke alarm comes pre-installed with a CR123A lithium battery and plastic pull tab to prevent draining the battery. Simply pull the plastic tab out and the status led starts flashing blue to indicate the smoke alarm has entered connection/pairing mode.


The depth of the X-Sense XS01-WT Wifi smoke alarm is 4.5cm high (including bracket). The bottom diameter is 7.5cm and top diameter of the smoke alarm is 6.5cm - similar in size to the XH02 heat alarm. The weight is 103 grams. The photoelectric sensor has been designed to sense different types of fire such as wood fire, glowing smouldering fire, flaming plastics and flaming liquids.


Potential deal breakers
  • Does not support 5Ghz Wifi, which means if your router is set to dual band (2.4Ghz and 5Ghz) you will need to go to your router settings and select 2.4Ghz radio only. 
  • The Tuya Smart Life app is a third party app, which works but it is not owned/designed by X-Sense; hence no firmware update support.
  • Like most smoke alarms, it requires a drilling machine to drill two holes. That said, if you are installing the alarm on plaster board you maybe able to drive the screw into the plasterboard manually by hand without a drill. 
  • Short battery life (up to 12 months), depending on conditions. With some smoke alarm units such as the X-Sense SC07-W, they come with a 10-year battery life.
  • No indicator marking on the alarm to indicate it is a photoelectric type smoke alarm.
  • Short coverage area up to 40m2 (square meters) = 3 meter radius. Bigger ones tend to have a coverage of over 100m2 (7 meter radius)
  • The Tuya app requires an account registration
  • No interconnect/interlink feature
  • Requires both Wifi and bluetooth to work

Selling points


     
  • Miniature style form factor
  • Comprehensive user guide with troubleshooter and pictures showing how to setup the X-Sense alarm with the Tuya app. 
  • Smoke alarm test function works without the need of real smoke; hence you can test the unit works by simply holding the button. No need to use the mobile app. 
  • Uses a screw mounted bracket which is more secure than adhesive backing.
  • Replaceable battery and cheaper to replace than 9V
  • Easy to access battery compartment. With some smoke alarm units such as the X-Sense SC07-W, the battery is built-in and non-replaceable.

     
  • 10 year working lifespan
  • Loud: 85dB
  • Silence mode turns off automatically after 9 minutes.
  • Can be used in high temperatures (up to 37C) and above freezing temperature (4C)
  • Works in high humidity (up to 85% RH)
  • Portable and battery powered
  • Real time smoke alerts sent to your phone
  • Meets the EN14604 Standard for wireless smoke detector, which means the X-Sense XS01-WT smoke alarm has gone through 3rd party testing. 
  • Better than the old fashioned ionization smoke alarm. Fewer false triggers and more accurate.

Accessories included are a mounting bracket, hardware (screws/wall plugs), pin tool and double sided adhesive. You can buy the X-Sense XS01-WT smoke alarm from amazon as a 3 pack or 1 and get 20% off with promo code: CHTG0120 when buying from X-Sense website. (20% off includes all X-Sense products)


Similar Gadget Explained Reviews

0 comments

Connect With Gadget Explained