Vision ZM1601US-5 Z-Wave Plus Wireless Siren & Strobe Alarm, Battery Type, Gen5

UPDATE AFTER 2.5 YEARS: Finally, got some estimate on battery life. The AA batteries in both of my units lasted 2 years. During that time period there were no actual alarms triggered and I only ran a small number of tests.The unit reported correctly the battery percentages and didn't die unexpectedly. When you get 25% of battery left I would highly recommend changing it since it is not enough juice to power the siren for more than a few seconds. The unit and the strobe would still respond to zwave commands !I can't believe how long it lasted on one set of batteries! I would definitely recommend getting this product.-----Purchased two of these sirens and both are absolutely awesome! I use it with Home Assistant + Aeon Labs USB Z-Stick Gen 5 and it works really well.Here are the main bullet points:* This is a battery-operated strobe/siren. Note that it's "battery-operated" not "battery-backup"! The unit is designed to work solely on batteries for extended periods of time. If your power grid goes down for extended period of time, the unit will still be operational. Uses 4 AA batteries.* This is a Zwave Plus (gen5) device so older controllers may not support it. I think all the negative reviews are because of the older zwave controllers (Wink, 2gig). The good news is if you do have a newer controller, you get all the benefits of gen5: extended battery life, extended range, secure encrypted connection, over-the-air firmware updates etc.* Openzwave supports it so all software that is based on Openzwave (Home Assistant, Domoticz etc) should work fine. Don't forget to check your hardware though.* You can configure it to use only strobe, only siren or both* You can configure the shut-off time for the strobe/siren: 30 sec, 60 sec, 120 sec or "run forever".* The unit is larger than it looked on the picture. The dimensions are: 4 1/2" x 3" x 1 1/2"* The unit is rated for "indoor use only". The good news is: the operating temperature range is 5F ~ 140F (-15C ~ 60C) as per manual so I think as long as I protect it from elements it should work outdoors as well.* It has some kind of a self-protection (anti-tempering) mode where the alarm will sound if someone tries to remove the batteries before they are dead. I haven't figured out how to turn it on yet.* The unit will notify the main controller when the batteries run below 4.8V so the siren shouldn't just die on you without any notice. My batteries still work fine so I will see how it works out.Overall, I am very happy with the purchase! Highly recommend it but please check your zwave controller and software version!

This thing is pretty darn loud for only using 4 x AA batteries (not included, naturally). Word to the wise, REPLACE THE SLIDE COVER BEFORE you attempt to add the device. I'm sure the instructions say this (but I'm a guy so, yeah), but in the case that they don't, know there is a tamper switch that the back slider cover depresses when it is, well, closed. So my suggestion, don't install the cover right away. To ensure a nice link, I recommend "search for new device" on whatever hub/software you use for HA, then depressing the little switch that the cover would otherwise depress. Otherwise, if it takes you a good while to attach this to the mounting/rear slide cover, you may miss the "searching' opportunity, if that makes any sense what-so-ever. Once linked/added, I've yet to have a drop out or issue of it going off on its own (in case that is a "thing"/complaint anywhere). As with most battery operated Zwave/Zwave+ products, don't expect to have this act as a repeater.

Prob one of the loudest sirens. Def louder than Zooz and the Aeon (but this one is sufficient).This alarm is extremely loud and probably overly loud.I returned though as it was slow reacting even with Device Handler for SmartThings.If it was to go off as false alarm for awhile , more than likely give pets heart attack and hearing loss and probably people.Strobe lights nice. Good quality.Be prepared for loudness while setting up and removing cover with tamper switch.Put under a pillow when testing etc!!!!!!!!!!

This would be five stars if there was a way to turn this thing down...? If I'm missing something please let me know. Otherwise it performs as advertised. Connected easily to my v2 Smartthings hub, and works exactly as advertised. It's very loud, and being it's purpose is to alert it does an excellent job of that, I had to tape over the speaker so it doesn't give me a heart attack if it goes off and even the tape over it doesn't help much. A volume setting of some sort would be great. Quality build and packaged well. Fast shipping. Has a safety that if it's removed from the wall plate it automatically goes off after a few seconds. Not really sure what purpose that serves? Other than someone removing it in anticipation of a return? But for your own sake mount this first, then activate it. Or at least change the setting to light flash only until it's set in place.

Unboxing- I was surprised at how small the unit really is. It will fit the palm of your hand. Requires 4 AA batteries (included) which makes me worry it might become a battery hog down the road. Sync was easy and it is a welcome addition to my network. My issue with that unit is that it's not that loud. It's advertised to be 105db at 1 meter. The BEST I was able to get was 84 on my meter. This was duplicated with a few devices. The siren was to 1.) alert us that someone is coming in. The volume will accomplish that. 2.) Draw the attention of the neighbors, I do not believe it will come close to doing this. It sounds like a car alarm going off in the distance. I ended up putting the unit in my garage so at least the echo might make it seem louder. I'm so-so on the results of that. My only other option would be to put it outside, but the unit is only rated to 5F so that might ruin the unit. All in all, I like the simply pairing and options of the unit, but I'm on the fence on if it's going to work for what I would think it should do.