The Best Smart Smoke / CO Detectors and Monitors of 2026

Written by
Camryn Rabideau, writer and product tester with over 8 years of experience. Her work has also appeared in Forbes Vetted, People Tested and Buy Side from WSJ.
Rachel Murphy, smart home wizard, DIY home renovator, and mom to four.

Updated March 9, 2026

Smoke alarms generally have one purpose and that's to alert you of a fire. But did you know that you can make your humble abode even safer thanks to smart smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms? Not only do they send notifications to your phone, but most of them are pretty easy to install, too. Whether it's smart water leak detectors or smart thermostats, turning your living space into a smart home is both safe and convenient.

We put the best smoke detectors and monitors on the market through their paces to find which one you should buy. Google's Nest Protect had been a longtime winner in this guide for best smoke detector and CO monitor, but now that is has been discontinued, we feel that its successor, the First Alert SC5 Smart Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm (available at Amazon) delivers in its place as top choice. Between the easy installation and intuitive app, there's a lot to love.

Other Smart Smoke Carbon Monoxide Detectors And Monitors We Tested

Kidde Smart Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm

• Sensor type: Electrochemical
• Connectivity: Amazon Echo and Google Home, plus interconnection capability, allow you to connect up to 24 Kidde alarms
• Power: Hardwired
• Certifications: UL Listed

Second to the Nest Protect, the Kidde Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detector is one of the smartest we’ve tested. The device, available exclusively at Home Depot, offers a full range of smart home functionality with Amazon Echo and Google Home, is simple to set up and use, and is expected to last a decade before needing replacement.

Installation requires existing wiring (120V AC). As long as you don’t encounter any issues with your wires, the physical installation process is straightforward and takes approximately five minutes (don’t forget to switch off the breaker before you begin). A built-in lithium backup battery (with an estimated lifespan of 10 years) keeps the monitor on during a power outage.

Like the Nest Protect, the Kidde detector uses voice warnings to alert you of fire or carbon monoxide instead of a traditional alarm tone. The alerts aren't as detailed as those available on the Nest Protect, which indicate exactly which room or area of the home the problem is in. However, the Kidde alerts are loud, easy to understand, and more calming than the blaring sounds produced by most other detectors. The device can also be interconnected with other Kidde smoke and carbon monoxide detectors for whole-home coverage.

Alerts are sent quickly in a variety of ways (push, SMS, and email). Voice assistants Alexa and Google Assistant can also alert you to smoke or carbon monoxide-related issues through Amazon Echo and Google Nest smart speakers and displays. You can also use either smart assistant to check the status of your detector. One thing that’s a bit unusual about the smart assistant setup is that you have to enable permissions between the detector and Alexa and/or Google Assistant in the Kidde app (in addition to adding the device to your smart home ecosystem).

The Kidde Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detector may not be as feature-filled as the Nest Protect. Still, the device gets closer to achieving Google's helpful emergency smarts than most, and offers more versatility should you switch to Alexa. Kidde is also the more affordable of the two detectors, making it a mighty fine choice for anyone who doesn't want to pay a premium price for Nest.

Pros

• Helpful voice alerts

• Works with Amazon Echo and Google Home

• Sends alerts right away

Cons

• Large size

Buy now at Amazon

Things to Consider About Smart Smoke Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Photoelectric vs. Ionization Smoke Detectors

There are three types of smoke detectors available for purchase: photoelectric, ionization, and dual-sensor. These terms refer to the technology used to sense smoke.

Photoelectric smoke detectors have a light source aimed into a sensing chamber; when smoke particles enter the chamber, they reflect light onto the sensor, triggering the alarm. This type of smoke detector is more efficient at detecting fires that begin with a long smoldering period, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.

On the other hand, ionization smoke detectors have a small amount of radioactive material between two electrically charged plates. This ionizes the air (hence their name) and creates a current that flows between the plates. If smoke particles enter the chamber, it will disrupt the current and activate the alarm. This type of smoke detector typically detects flaming fires more quickly.

There are also dual-sensor smoke detectors that use both photoelectric and ionization technologies. For comprehensive protection in your home, the U.S. Fire Administration actually recommends dual-sensor detectors, which efficiently monitor for both types of fires.

Privacy

There’s always a potential privacy risk involved when you use internet-connected devices at home. To help safeguard your smart home, take these steps. First, look for devices that offer two-factor authentication, which sends a code to your mobile device to verify it’s really you. That way, if someone tries to hack into your account, you will receive an alert and can quickly take care of the problem. Many devices also let you enable email or other push notifications in settings to alert you if someone has logged in.

Additionally, make sure to use a unique, strong password that includes multiple characters, letters, and numbers for each of your smart home accounts. Data breaches feel like the norm these days, making it all the more important to use unique passwords across multiple websites and apps.

When using any devices with smart assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri, you can further protect your privacy by regularly deleting your voice recordings and muting the speaker’s mic when it’s not in use.

Looking for more privacy tips? Please read our guide to securing your smart home.

Why You Should Trust Us

To test these smoke detectors, we first installed and synced each device with its app. After the initial setup, we ran a “self-test” on each model and navigated around both the iOS and Android versions of the apps to assess usability.

Finally, we used aerosol-sprayed smoke and tapered candles to trigger each alarm. We did this multiple times for every model—once while the phone was connected to Wi-Fi and once when it was not—to see if there was a difference in how quickly notifications were delivered. During these tests, we also evaluated the smart home integration, the quality/volume of the alarm, the quality of smartphone notifications, and the ease of silencing each detector. Other factors we considered were interconnectivity, app connectivity, and perceived reliability.

FAQs: Smart Smoke Carbon Monoxide Detectors and Monitors

What is a Smart Smoke Alarm?

Like most smart home devices, smart smoke and carbon monoxide detectors connect to your home’s Wi-Fi and, subsequently, your smartphone. In other words, they go a step further than your traditional smoke alarm. This is the main appeal of smart smoke detectors. Still, some high-end models include additional “smart” features such as voice control via Alexa, weather updates, voice alerts, customizable night lights, and more.

What is a Monitor?

Monitors essentially “listen” for your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and if they detect an alarm going off, they send a smartphone notification to let you know. They're typically installed in proximity to your existing smoke detectors—some plug into an electrical outlet while others are battery-operated—and they’re connected to your home Wi-Fi network. However, they don’t let you silence your smoke alarms, and they won’t save you from 2 a.m. low-battery chirps.

Why Does it Make Sense for Smoke Alarms Be "Smart"?

Smoke detectors are a perfect example of a device that benefits from smart functionality. Why? Standard detectors have a few major shortcomings, mainly that they’re not all that useful when you’re not home. If your detectors aren’t connected to the local fire department (which most aren't), and a fire starts when no one is home, the alarms beep to no avail. Plus, that’s not to mention the dreaded 3 a.m. low-battery chirps—we could all live without those.

Smart smoke detectors solve both these issues, as they send you smartphone notifications when the alarm goes off and give you a heads up when the battery is low. The "smart" functionality can not only give you peace of mind while you're away from home, but it can also save you time and energy when it comes to replacing those pesky smoke alarm batteries. Plus, if you ever burn popcorn and accidentally set off your smart alarm, you can quickly silence the detector from its app, saving you from having to grab a chair and climb up there to silence it manually.

Read More About Protecting Your Home on Reviewed

• The Best Smart Water Leak Detectors: A comprehensive guide to leak-detection systems from Moen, Govee, Ring, Eve, and Phyn, covering alert speed, smart-assistant integration, and installation tips.
• Monitor your home's indoor air quality for these evil gases: Focuses on air-quality monitors that detect VOCs, CO (and radon), and offers advice on where CO monitoring fits within overall home safety.
• Tech to protect your home from natural disasters: Highlights multi-function safety devices, including a Kidde alarm that combines smoke, CO, and indoor air-quality sensing—all in one unit.