Nest Protect smoke & carbon monoxide detector coming to the UK
Nest, the company behind the smart thermostat designed by the man that brought us the iPod, has expanded into the UK with its Protect smart smoke detector
Nest, the company fronted by “father of the iPod” Tony Fadell, has revealed Nest Protect, a smart smoke and carbon monoxide detector designed to compliment the Nest smart thermostat.
Like the thermostat before it, Nest Protect is beautifully designed to stand out from the competition. It’s square, with rounded corners and a dimpled pattern that surrounds the glowing activity ring and internal speaker.
Unlike traditional smoke detectors, which are renowned for their irritating chirping noises to indicate a dying battery and accidental alarms when burning the toast, Nest Protect is designed to make home safety less of an annoyance.
Smoke detected, but no alarm yet – with Nest Protect you have time to react to burning toast without waking the house
With built-in photoelectric sensors to detect smoke, Nest Protect will change its glowing activity ring from blue to orange when it detects a problem. An audible warning (in a female English voice, as research has proven this is more likely to wake you than an alarm tone) gives you a heads up but lets you deactivate a full-scale emergency if it’s a false alarm.
When you switch the lights off at night, the same activity ring will briefly glow green to let you know there’s plenty of juice left in the battery. Get up in the night and the ring turns white, letting you see the way to the bathroom without having to turn on the lights.
Red signifies an emergency, with a full alarm and notifications sent to your smartphone
Each Nest Protect connects to the others in your house wirelessly. They know which room the other units are in and report to your smartphone or tablet through a dedicated app, which pairs up with a Nest thermostat should you own one. Notifications are pushed to your handset if the battery is running low on a particular detector, and you can check up on your house remotely when on the move.
The Nest Protect will launch in the UK in November, with Amazon and John Lewis among the confirmed retail partners. Expect to pay around £110 per detector, whether you opt for a battery-powered or mains version.