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A simple yet effective security system that has some smart elements
Nowadays, the general public is always looking to beef up the security of their home, whether that’s with video doorbells or smart alarm systems, the majority of property owners are doing what they can to deter potential intruders.
The usual go-to’s are the named brands like Yale for your standard alarm-based systems and for those that are wanting a smarter setup, potentially Amazon’s Ring branded products. However, there are other brands on the market that are bringing some great alternatives to the more well-known offerings and sometimes in a more budget fashion.
One such company that’s looking to tackle the home security market is X-Sense with not only security systems but also products like smoke and CO2 detectors, enabling you to feel as safe as possible in your place of residence.
This review, however, will be focusing on home security specifically with X-Sense’s Home Security Kit that aims to provide a semi-smart approach to intruder prevention. Below, are our thoughts on the product with details on what you get, how to set it up, and the features you can expect to take advantage of.
The X-Sense Home Security Kit is a eight-piece unit containing various different property protection devices that can be scattered throughout your home for maximum coverage. Before we get into the details,
First off, let’s talk about the hub. This is the ‘brain’ of the system and connects to all of the accompanying components to create a wireless security network that doesn’t drop out. It’s not as large as we expected and can be easily placed on a small table without it looking out of place.
Next up are the sensors. You get two traditional motion sensors and four entry sensors for you to place either on your doors or windows, providing a decent amount of coverage for the average home.
The sensors, we have to say, are unfortunately incredibly large, cumbersome almost, certainly not discreet like other brands’ are. When put next to the hub, they’re pretty much on par height-wise which is rather annoying for those that dont want a security system to particularly intrude on any home decor.
Finally, the remote. This is a nice little added touch that other brands don’t include which allows you to do some of the various security functions by simply pressing a single button. According to X-Sense, it has a signal range of 200m so don’t think you’ll be too far away from the hub while within the four walls of your home.
The main feature and biggest selling point of this home security kit over a traditional alarm system is the app integration. You’re able to sync everything up via your phone and control things from afar rather than having to manually hit buttons on your main panel. You can add, remove, and adjust all of your installed sensors with ease which is handy and removes the pain of older, more clunky systems.
Due to the ‘smartness’ of the kit, it does have Amazon Alexa connectivity which is handy if you’ve got Echos or other related equipment already scattered around your household. This certainly adds an extra layer of functionality to the X-Sense bundle but this does come at an extra cost.
Looking at the hub itself, it has an in-built speaker for when the alarm is sounding which is extremely loud and is certainly enough to alert both you and your neighbors should the time come. Additionally, with the illuminated bar on the hub, it provides you with an easy to see status with different colors signifying whether the alarm is fully operational or if it has been triggered.
The motion sensors, while large, do have good degrees of detection and will be fine for those looking to cover large areas in their rooms. Again, while a little oversized, the entry sensors do exactly what they say on the tin and worked flawlessly in our assessment.
In our tests overall, we didn’t experience any real hiccups. The hub connected to the router and received a WiFi signal throughout so no downsides to report there. The only issue that we did face is that the Bluetooth connectivity between the app and the hub was a little temperamental but after giving the hub a power cycle, we didn’t experience any further problems.
So now you know about what comes in the X Sense Home Security Kit and how it actually works, how is the whole setup process? Well, we’re happy to report that it’s a pretty simplistic one.
The kit itself comes with everything you need to both mount the entry and motion sensors thanks to the sticky pads, wall anchors, and screws which can all be easily be applied to your designated space. There are plenty in the box too, so don’t worry if you either place one incorrectly and need to change it, or if you’d like to switch up your sensors further down the line.
The hub is essentially plug and play. All you have to do is insert the power cable both into the back of the device and into an outlet and you’re pretty much good to go. Once turned on, it will automatically attempt to connect to your router.
At this point, the bundled app is how you get things up and running. Ensure you’ve got it installed on your device and your Bluetooth is turned on as this is how it connects to your hub and basically tells it what to do.
With all the above set up, you should now be at a point where you can simply use the security system at your leisure. Whether you choose to control it via the app or with the easy to use remote control, you should be able to trust that it’ll do its job come the time it needs to.
To sum up, the setup process is relatively pain-free and if there are no wireless connection issues, you should be ready to go within a short period of time.
All in all, the X-Sense Home Security Kit simply does the job for those wanting to add an intruder deterrent to their residence. The generous number of entry sensors allows you to protect various potential easy ways into your home, whether you place them on doors or windows. The motion sensors, while bulky, do what they need to do. They detect forms of movement and during our tests, did so to an accurate enough degree that we would trust it to pick up any intrusion while going on long breaks away.
What we would say though is that this is a very basic kit and there are no real bells and whistles that make us believe that it’s more premium over your standard alarm system. Yes there’s a remote control and yes there’s app integration but the distinct lack of any real ‘smart’ features is a little disappointing. The inclusion of some form of video doorbell for example would have been a fantastic addition and may convince those looking for a new security system to choose X-Sense over something like Ring.
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We would recommend the X-Sense Home Security Kit but only if you’re looking for a basic setup. It does everything it’s meant to do but nothing more. The app integration is nice and certainly brings it more towards the ‘smart’ realm we live in now but it lacks some features that make it a true smart appliance.