Alarmingly easy!
House alarms – when you hear your neighbour’s go off, do you
immediately rush round and call the police? No. Because house alarms tend to go
off all the time and are actually pretty useless. Fortunately, modern
technology has come to the rescue again, creating a house alarm that will
inform you that there is an intruder
in your home – wherever you are in the world. We test the W100 Play & Play
Alarm System from Smanos.
In a nutshell, this is a home security system that doesn’t
require any drilling, rewiring, or any monthly contacts. With the exception of
the base station – the part to which all the sensors link – everything is
battery powered and attaches to walls, doors, and windows with adhesive strips.
Once set up and armed, if the system detects an intruder it will activate a
loud alarm, send you a push notification to your smartphone, and also call a
pre-programmed phone number.
In the box you get the curious yet oddly beautiful looking
base unit, complete with touchscreen control panel. There is a PIR motion
sensor, a window/door contact sensor, and two remote control units used to arm
and disarm the system. Set up is remarkably easy as all you have to do is use one
included cable to connect the control panel to your phone line, and then use
the other cable to connect up your phone.
Using the Smanos app (available for both iOS and Android)
you then set up the wireless elements of the system, finding your home WiFi and
connecting to it. This part lets the W100 first send you a push notification to
the app in the event of an alarm, which it will do by default. Once this part
was set up we then had the option to add an actual telephone number.
But obviously there will be no alarms if there are no sensors
in place. Preparing both the motion sensor and the window contact was a simple
case pulling out a plastic strip to activate the batteries, then pairing with
the base unit by way of a button. Mounting was super easy as both units have
sticky backs to affix in place, and the instructions on where best to place
them were very helpful. We opted for the motion sensor to go in the living room
(you know, near to expensive TVs and game consoles and that) and the window
contact on the rear patio doors. Both performed well and obviously
communication between both and the base unit was fast.
The inclusion of two remotes is pretty inspired. These allow
you to arm the system remotely, without having to physically touch the control
panel and set a delay timer. You can attach them to your keychain and easily set
or disarm your alarm as you leave or approach your house, and there is even a
panic button to instantly set the alarm off, siren and all!
Perfect for those without a current alarm system, and even
students living in temporary accommodation, the Smanos W100 is quick and easy
to get working, and in terms of reliability; so far, so good. We love the look
of the base unit, especially how the arming buttons and info shine through the
gloss black panel, and think the remotes are a genius idea. Check this out if
you can.
£159.95