Nest Protect Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Review

The safety of your family and home should benefit from all the latest improvements technology has to offer.

Advanced ways of life sometimes call for a more advanced detection of dangers like fire and carbon monoxide gas. Nest Protect has made a product now that guarantees to offer that next-level safeguard for a next-level smart home.

The Nest Protect Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm makes controlling vital aspects of safety as easy as an app.

But does it live up to the hype?

Here we break down the good and the bad, so you can decide if it’s the right choice for you.

Nest Protect Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm: The Details

Specs

• Product Dimensions (in inches): 3” x 1.5” x 5.3”.
• Product Weight (in pounds): 1 lb.
• Product Type: Smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector.
• Compatible with Amazon Alexa? No, but Nest Protect has an app for the device that connects well to the detectors and lets you manage different features from your phone or tablet.
• Warranty: 2-year limited warranty from the manufacturer.

How Does it Work

Nest Protect’s Smoke Alarm and Carbon Monoxide Detector has the basic functions of those two devices combined and amplified for the future.

A typical single device creates an indistinct chirping, making it hard to know what it wants (is there a problem or does it just need batteries?), where it is (can’t tell if it’s coming from the hall, bathroom, or even one of those three bedrooms down there), or even how to get up to it to turn the noise off (check your garage and hope the ladder is accessible). Not the case here.

The app that runs with Nest Protect’s Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm makes all of those issues much easier to deal with.

If there’s ever a problem with the way it’s running, it will alert you on your phone with clear descriptions and instructions.

You will get alerts if the batteries run low. If there is an actual problem detected with smoke or carbon monoxide in any area of the house, it will let you know which sensor found the problem and where it’s located.

If the alarm does go off and you need to stop the noise, simply getting close to it with the app open and deactivating  will shut it off, back to peace and quiet.

Sensitive to temperature changes and differences of chemical compounds in the air, Nest Protect’s Smoke and Carbon Monoxide alarm becomes a web of interconnected devices once you set them up in your home.

For the sake of security and per many states’ code standards, it’s a good idea to have more than one of these smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in your house.

When you do, they connect and communicate to each other over Wi-Fi to do a cohesive job in protecting your house. But that’s not to say that your house would be unprotected if there was ever an issue in your home’s W-Fi network.

When hooked up with other Nest Protects in the house, the devices create their own kind of wireless ad-hoc network so they’re always in communication with each other. Your own home wireless isn’t needed.

And even in the event of the Nest Protect’s own established ad-hoc wireless going down for whatever reason, the systems don’t need to be connected to one another for each to detect dangerous smoke or carbon monoxide levels in their area.

So regardless, as long as each unit is up to date with its six AA batteries, they’ll be equipped to work and keep you alert of your home’s safety for 10 years.

Nest: The Brand

Nest is a company that’s all about improving basic functions in your home.

They make devices like this one, fire and carbon monoxide alarms, security systems and cameras, and even thermostats to help control a home’s heating and cooling systems.

Their technology improves the way a house is run and is committed to turning homes into smooth, well-oiled machines.

With a reputation of effective customer service, Nest is a company that does well in arming a home with the latest technologies to keep it up to date with the rest of the world.

Nest Protect Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Review

The Pros

Phone Connected Features

The most standout function of the Nest Protect Smoke and Carbon Monoxide alarm is its step into current technology with its ability to connect to your phone or tablet.

Many of the products pros can be traced back to this connectivity ability because it does make a huge difference in the functionality of a necessary system.

Most of our everyday alerts are already displayed on our smartphone or smart devices, so you’re most likely to see your Nest alerts right away.

This is also great for if your alarms happen to go off when you’re not in or around your home.

Sensitivity to Issues It Detects

No pro on this list would really matter if the device didn’t actually do its job.

Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and alarms are not the kind of machines where drastic issues can be slid aside and ignored.

Safety of your family and home can depend on these things, making it more comforting to know that Nest Protect’s units have high sensitivity to the chemicals in the air they’re meant to detect.

This makes the Nest system actually useful and not just an unnecessary gimmick.

Easy to Understand

Smoke alarms in the past have always been notoriously tricky to understand whenever they got to beeping for seemingly indiscernible reasons.

The technology involved in making the Nest Protect is what makes it a better system. It’s connectivity to phones and smart devices allow it to become the easiest smoke detector to understand.

Not only that, but It takes all the guesswork out of any beeps or alarms that may sound.

Gives a Heads Up 

The Nest Protect gives you an alert ahead of time if it picks up on a smokey kitchen or an outed evening in front of the fireplace.

Nest knows just because there’s smoke, it’s not always fire.

Instead of sounding the alarms, the Nest Protect Smoke and Monoxide Detector will give you a small alert that it has detected something that could potentially escalate.

Basically, it’ll let you know that you’re burning your dinner before you’ve burnt down your house.

Quick Setup and Install

No need to skip out on this handy device if you’re somewhat of a technophobe. Nest makes it easy to upgrade your home, not matter your level of knowledge on smart devices.

The backplate on the Nest Protect device is easy to attach to either a ceiling or wall for easy installation.

Whether you’ve opted for batteries or wires, your Nest Protect installation should only take a matter of minutes to get up and running.

Once it’s attached and connected to Wi-Fi through the app, it automatically finds its fellow units in the home and connects to them into a literal safety net.

Here’s a video on the set-up of the Nest Protect (2nd gen) as well as a fire demo.

Aesthetic

Though not a particularly important pro when it comes to function of the device, it’s worth mentioning that the unit sports a pretty sleek design.

Warranty

With all that said, your Nest Protect device won’t be any help to you if its defected. Fortunately, Nest knows that too.

Nest includes a 2-year limited warranty to ease your troubled mind (because that’s basically what this device is supposed to do).

If you notice any manufacturing defects, simply contact Nest and they will replace or repair your device at no extra cost or hassle.

We should also note that Nest really wants you to be happy with your purchase. In the event that you’re just not sold during 30 days after purchase, contact Nest for a full return and refund.

The Cons

Bit Pricy

This con is pretty relative. As far as what it’s capable of, it’s a great price for the system and its features.

But for the amount of units needed in different rooms to protect a complete house, the cost can add up.

If you’re looking for a more budget friendly and basic kind of detector and alarm system in your home, then this might exceed expectations and limitations.

That being said, with the thought that they last ten years and are a vast improvement over their much more basic predecessors, this detector might be worth the investment.

if it’s something you feel you can afford to invest in, then this con can be easily overlooked for the pros.

Too Sensitive

While being too sensitive could be a good thing when detecting carbon monoxide, it can also be a deterrent if the alarm is always going off – for everything.

While the Nest Protect won’t get too annoying, we should note that it’s picked up on simple things like blow-drying and smoking from an cigarette.

It’s not a deal-breaker but this is definitely where the quick silencing methods come in handy.

Overall Verdict

Nest Protect’s Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm is a high-tech way of accomplishing a very necessary task.

Smoke detectors are a must for every home – carbon monoxide monitors are important for safety as well.

This product, while more expensive than the basic models, brings with it a sense of ease of use that hasn’t really existed before now.

If you’re on a budget and don’t find the extra features worth the price, then it might not be for you.

Otherwise, this second generation of Nest’s Smoke Detector and Carbon Monoxide Alarm is a very useful tool in making the safety of your home easier to access.

Where to Buy the Nest Protect Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm

As mentioned, Nest is dedicated to upgrading homes with convenient smart technology and connectivity.

The Nest Protect Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm is just one of the many devices and products this popular company has to offer.

Thanks to this, the Nest Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm can be easily found in-store or online.

To start, check out the following online retailers.

• Best Buy (from $119)
• Verizon Wireless (from $119)
• B&H Photo Video (from $119)

And of course, it’s also available on Amazon.

That’s all for our Nest Protect Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm review. Tempted to give it a try?