X-Sense SC07-MR Review

About the X-Sense SC07-MR smart smoke and carbon monoxide alarm

• Operating temperature: 40°F to 100°F (4.4°C to 37.8°C)
• Alarm volume: 100dB (base station), 85dB (alarm)
• Service life: 10 years (alarm)
• Power supply: 1 x 3 V DC CR123A lithium battery (included, alarm), 5.0V V-1.0A (base station)
• Sensor type: Photoelectric (smoke), electromechanical (CO)

The X-Sense SC07-MR smart smoke and carbon monoxide alarm can be used on its own or interconnected with other alarms. For access to the best smart features, you'll need to use it with the SBS50 base station, which bridges the gap between the alarms and the internet, allowing things like notifications and app control.

The SC07-MR alarm is battery-powered and has a replaceable battery (not a sealed one). It only comes in one color and costs $45.99 for a single alarm. We, however, tested a kit composed of five alarms and the base station, which costs $199.99.

Is X-Sense a good brand?

Yes, generally X-Sense is considered a good brand of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. The company has been around for a while, and also makes non-connected models of detectors that you may have in your home without even knowing it.

Are the X-Sense SC07-MR smoke detectors UL certified?

No. The SC07-MR is not UL certified. X-Sense states that the units "conform with UL 217 & UL 2034 standards"; however, this doesn't imply certification, merely that the company claims they meet the standards for accreditation. In other words, you'll have to take X-Sense's word (or not).

How we tested

We tested the X-Sense SC07-MR. I set up the alarms in my home and let them coexist with my existing ones.

On top of that, I intentionally triggered the alarms to test whether they can detect what X-Sense claims they can, and also to test the notifications and the ability to control the alarm from my phone.

What we like

The system features interconnectivity that you can rely on

Unlike many smart devices, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms can't stop working just because the Wi-Fi goes down or there's a power outage. Thankfully, the X-Sense smart alarm is designed to continue working if the Wi-Fi is down, the power is out, or both.

That includes interconnectivity. The idea is that if one of your multiple units detects something, they'll all sound. There are other smart smoke and CO detectors on the market that do the same, like the Nest Protect system, now First Alert SC5, which other Reviewed testers have used.

The X-Sense SC07-MR alarms themselves are battery-powered, so they're not affected if the power goes out, but the base station is not battery-powered, so it won't work without power. Interconnectivity still works—the alarms communicate with each other through their wireless network—so even if the base station is powered down or offline, all of your alarms will sound if smoke or CO is detected.

Of course, some features won't work without both power and Wi-Fi, but that's to be expected. Without the base station, you won't get app alerts, though you will get an alert that the base station has disconnected in the first place. A battery backup for the base station would be nice, but, of course, if your power goes down, your Wi-Fi does, too. To truly be helpful in a power outage, the base station would need both a battery backup and cellular connectivity.

It is designed to give users information at a glance

On the front of the X-Sense SC07-MR alarm, a small LED display gives you quick, useful info at a glance. It shows the battery level, plus real-time CO or CO2 levels in parts per million. There’s also a status light, usually off, but it’ll glow yellow if there’s a fault, or red if the alarm is triggered.

The rest of the design sticks pretty close to what you’d expect from a premium version of a traditional alarm. It’s circular, with a test button on the front, and it blends in well enough that you won’t mind having it on your ceiling.

The smoke and CO detector with app control is easy to use

The X-Sense app is relatively well-designed and makes it easy to keep tabs on your devices. The home screen lists each alarm and your base station, and you can jump into any one to see CO and CO2 levels in real time. From there, you can tweak settings, run tests, change the base station’s alarm sound, and more.

There are also a ton of notification options, plus, we wanted to know if you can silence X-Sense smoke alarms from your phone.

Beyond the obvious alerts for smoke or CO detection, you can get pings when a device is silenced, malfunctions, or goes offline. It's worth looking at the notification options when you first set the devices up. Just keep in mind that you'll need to set notifications individually for each alarm.

Another significant advantage of the app is its ability to silence an alarm, which can be particularly useful when multiple alarms are interconnected. If they all start going off, how are you to know which one was first triggered? With the ability to turn them off in the app, you’d have to, though thankfully, the app does let you know which alarm was triggered, so you can better understand where in the house the danger might be.

The only real annoyance in the app is the occasional nudge to sign up for X-Sense’s Protect+ subscription, but it’s not too over the top.

What we don't like

Some notifications can be very slow

You may have lots of options for notifications (like devices being silenced, tested, and going offline), but unfortunately, they're not necessarily all that quick. In fact, at times, they're downright slow.

I tested the offline notifications by unplugging the base station, and it took over two hours for a notification to arrive. An alarm going offline isn't necessarily a massive safety issue, but it should still alert you promptly. Thankfully, it didn't always take this long. When I plugged the base station back in, I got a notification quickly. But timing on non-critical notifications was inconsistent at best.

The good news is that alarm triggers are a different kind of alert. Just like you need to give the app notification permissions, you'll also need to provide it with “Critical Alerts” permissions. When an alarm was triggered, I got immediate critical alerts.

Some features require an X-Sense Protect+ subscription

You can’t take advantage of some features unless you have a subscription. For this, you have two options: X-Sense Protect+ Basic and Protect+ Premium.

Basic ($2.99 per month, $29.99 per year) gets you professional monitoring and fire dispatch. X-Sense says you'll be sent a notification when an alarm is triggered. If you either verify that there is an emergency or don't respond to the notification, emergency services will be sent. There's also a manual dispatch feature, and if you're charged a fee for false alarms (by local law enforcement, for example), X-Sense says it will help you waive “some or all of the fine.”

Premium ($4.99 per month, $49.99 per year) dispatches emergency services quickly by eliminating the notification stage. So, when an alarm is triggered, the monitoring center will call you right away, and if you either tell them there is an emergency or don't pick up, fire services will be dispatched. Premium also gets you a home insurance discount of up to 20%, through a monitoring certificate that can be given to your home insurance provider.

X-Sense SC07-MR doesn't meet legal requirements everywhere

You may not be legally allowed to use the X-Sense SC07-MR. I live in California, and like many other states, California requires smoke alarms to have non-removable batteries or be hard-wired.

The SC07-MR has a replaceable battery and is not hard-wired. Obviously, during testing, due to local laws, I didn't replace my existing smoke alarms, but instead used them both at the same time.

Unfortunately, X-Sense does not offer combination alarms that are Wi-Fi-connected and that have non-replaceable batteries. It does have an SC07-W model that offers interconnectivity and a 10-year sealed battery; however, the SC07-W model does not work with the base station.

Limited smart home support, and no Matter

If you're looking for a smart alarm that integrates with your existing smart home, you won't get it here. The device doesn't work with major smart home ecosystems. It also doesn’t support Matter, and while there are only a few smoke or CO alarms that do support Matter, it’s still something we expect most smart home device companies to adopt, and an easy way to guarantee broad smart home support without needing individual certification for each ecosystem.

For most, this won't be a huge issue, but you won't be able to create automations, like, for example, controlling lights when an alarm is triggered.

Warranty

X-Sense offers a 60-day money-back guarantee and a 5-year worry-free warranty. What this means is that the company will refund you for any products that haven't been activated within 60 days of purchase.

Unfortunately, activated products cannot be returned, and returns for non-defective reasons are subject to a 30% restocking fee. To me, this seems counterintuitive—how can you determine if a product is defective without trying to activate it?

Thankfully, that's where the 5-year worry-free warranty kicks in. After 60 days or upon product activation, refunds are no longer available; however, replacements can be obtained for defective products.

Should you buy the X-Sense SC07-MR?

Yes, if it's legal in your area

The X-Sense SC07-MR (available at X-Sense) isn't perfect. Notifications can be slow or non-existent for non-critical alerts, and the device isn't cheap. But if you live in an area where these interconnected smoke detectors are legal, and you don't mind paying a little extra for the smart features, this is worth the cash, especially if you subscribe to the Protect+ service for extra peace of mind. But, even if you don't, app access can make tasks like turning off alarms much easier.

If you like the general idea of this interconnected smart smoke and CO detector alarm system, but you’re not sold on it, check out the First Alert SC5 Smart Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm. It is a new product in collaboration with Google, and has replaced the now-discontinued Nest Protect system. It currently tops our list of the best smart smoke and carbon monoxide detectors on the market, offering similar features and functionality. However, at $129.99 per unit, it is much more expensive than the X-Sense SC07-MR system.

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