Leeo listens for your smoke alarm, sends you an alert when it goes off

By Drew Prindle Published November 10, 2014

Dig the idea of having an intelligent, network-connected smoke alarm in your house, but don’t want to shell out big bucks to replace your oldschool alarms with those of the “smart” (and expensive) variety? Well good news: there’s a new gizmo on the market that doesn’t require you to replace your old hardware to get smart alarm functionality.

Rather than taking over for your existing smoke/carbon monoxide alarms, Leeo works with the gear you’ve already got, and uses a clever technique to connect it to the Web without any wires. Instead, the device plugs into your wall and simply listens for the frequency and patterns of your smoke/carbon monoxide alarms. If Leeo’s microphone ever hears that specific sound, it then uses your home’s Internet connection to send an alert to your phone — no matter where you might be in the world.

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Because it relies on sound to determine if your smoke alarm has been activated, Leeo doesn’t require any sort of complicated install process. You don’t even need to take your existing smoke alarms down from their perches — you just plug it in, connect it to your network, and forget about it. Once configured, the device stands as a sentinel; always on, always listening, and always ready to let you know when your house might be in danger.

And that’s not all. As you’d expect from any card-carrying smart device, Leeo also has a slew of other sensors under the hood that give it additional capabilities. In addition to alerts, the device can also function as a smart night light. Using the accompanying app, users can set Leeo’s embedded LEDs to switch on or off on a schedule, or even act as a visual alarm in the event of an emergency. It’s also equipped with temperature and humidity sensors, so you can configure it to send alerts for climate changes as well.

And the best part? It’s actually available. No crowdfunding campaign to wait through, no worrying about manufacturing delays — this thing is already built and ready to ship. You can get your hands on one for $99 on Leeo’s website.

Topics

Internet of Things (IoT)

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital…

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