Review: Ajax FireProtect 2 RB (Heat/Smoke/CO)

Producer Ajax has a mission. They stand against evil. This mission statement is evident on the website in large type. It’s part of the story that the company is based in Ukraine.

The slogan does makes sense for a company whose products protect against burglary, water ingress and, in FireProtect’s case, smoke, heat and carbon monoxide.

Ajax dealers are predominantly professional installers whose services include installing FireProtect in customers’ homes. Possibly as part of a comprehensive alarm system.

However, we borrowed the test sample directly from the manufacturer and managed to install the alarm and hub ourselves, but it’s clear that this is not the type of product that anyone can easily install with their left hand and a QR code.

Requires a hub

FireProtect 2 works as a smoke alarm without a hub, but all its smart features require a hub, so the manufacturer has lent us the Hub 2 Plus, which at 16 x 16 cm is the largest hub we’ve seen in a long time. However, it can also connect 200 different products to it.

The hub and smoke alarm communicate via Ajax’s own radio communication system, Jeweller. This works by sending a signal between the connected products every 12 seconds, so that if there is a problem somewhere, it is quickly detected.

Advanced system

This test is not about the hub or the radio system, but about the smoke alarm, which, by the way, is not one of the smallest. It is not a smoke alarm that hangs discreetly on the wall without making a fuss. Instead, it is, in short, a massive beast. Despite its size, FireProtect is quite elegant, and unusually, you can choose between a white and a black version. Which makes you wonder why other manufacturers don’t offer their alarms in anything other than white plastic.

Regardless of the colour, there is a patented smoke chamber behind the casing that dust and insects can’t get through. The alarm doesn’t react to vapour, but recognises smoke by particle size using an advanced optical sensor. It also monitors both temperature and the amount of carbon monoxide in the air.

The app

Ajax’s own app offers a wealth of information about the current status of the smoke detector. “We can see exactly what the temperature is around the alarm, and when we place it in front of the stove, it reacts very quickly. So we consider FireProtect to be a reliable thermometer.

It tells us the signal strength to the hub, the battery status and of course if there has been smoke development.

Alarm

Ajax FireProtect 2 is designed to react not only to smoke, but also to a sharp rise in temperature. And it does. Ajax FireProtect 2 is the alarm we’ve tested that reacts when we open the door to the stove and hold the alarm as close to the fire as we can. Within seconds, the alarm beeps and two notifications with a siren sound appear on our mobile phone.

And when we remove it from the heat, it sends a notification that the temperature is back to normal. Both events also appear in the history in the app.

Conclusion

This is not a smoke alarm you buy to test if you like it. You buy it because you want the ultimate protection for your home and probably because you plan to add more security products from the same manufacturer. In this context, the FireProtect 2 is a top-class smoke alarm. But we’d like to see it in a slightly smaller and more discreet version.