Swann ActiveResponse Personal Safety Alarm – good safety concept, BUT (safety)
The Swann ActiveResponse Personal Safety Alarm (2nd Generation) will send an emergency distress SMS with your location to your contact and has a personal 120dB alarm. It is a great concept and, at $39.95, a wise investment in improving your safety.
Upfront, we are sorry to have to correct Swann because that 120dB alarm sounds like an enraged cricket and never gets over 75dB, even when sitting on our sound meter. It is about the same volume as a vacuum cleaner and won’t deter a mugger – perhaps draw a passerby’s attention.
The SMS depends on a Bluetooth connection to a smartphone, with the App always running in the background. We don’t expect a device at this price to have comms, but it is useless if you forget your phone. The app and full location services must run in the background and consume power, affecting battery life.
With those two caveats, let’s get to the review.
Australian Review: Swann ActiveResponse Personal Safety Alarm SWIFI-ACTIVEG2
Note that this is the new 2nd generation, and any older reviews are irrelevant.
| Website | Product Page Manual |
| Price | $39.95 in Aqua or Black |
| From | Swann Online, Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi |
| Made in | China |
| Company | Based in Melbourne, Australia, it now has offices in the USA, Canada, UK, Hong Kong and China and a presence in over 40 countries on six continents. It focuses on security cameras. |
| More | CyberShack Swann news and reviews |
We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.
First Impression – small and convenient
It is a 60 (L) x 21 (diameter) x 32g ‘lipstick’ sized cylinder with a red/white button on top. It can attach to a carabiner or necklace (supplied).
The red button has three functions.
- Turn to lock/unlock
- Press to send an SMS with the location to a contact (free one contact, paid more contacts)
- Pull for siren
Battery – not tested
It uses a CR2 3V non-rechargeable Lithium battery, which is used in cameras for longer life. Prices vary, but expect to pay up to $20 each. Savvy shoppers will find them for much less.
Swann does not provide a battery life estimate, but expecting a year, if not far longer, would not be unreasonable.
We could not accurately assess the smartphone battery drain, but the app needs to run in the background and precise location services (GPS, Wi-Fi, Beacons, etc) so smartphone battery life will be reduced. There are privacy implications to location.
Siren – Passable
In our tests with a certified sound meter, it was 75dB at the source and 62dB at 3 metres. This is not the advertised 120dB, but it is enough to alert those nearby of an issue.
App – Passable
The Swann Security App is for security cameras, and that overshadows this with nag screens that relate to them, not this device. It requires basic information and acceptance of privacy terms.
There is supposed to be an ActiveResponse Professional Monitoring Plan, but all it shows are camera plans and no prices. Apparently, it includes active monitoring and up to five emergency contacts. We could not find ActiveResponse pricing, but the camera package costs $5.49/$54.99 per month/year.
In use – Pass
The SMS works well—press the button, and your contact will receive the SMS within a few seconds. However, it lacks a cancellation facility to advise of a false alarm—you have to call the contact.
The lock and unlock button turn is necessary to prevent false notifications, but it may be challenging to remember in a panic.
The siren is difficult to activate. In five out of five tests, different people could not pull the red button up. Once attached to the carabiner loop, that was much easier.
The braided necklace has a breakaway safety clasp that won’t fit the red button ring pull. It needs to be used with the carabiner. In two out of five tests, the safety clasp gave way without activating the alarm.
CyberShack’s view: Swann ActiveResponse Personal Safety Alarm is good, but!
It is a great SMS emergency device. The price is excellent, and it should be part of every child’s backpack kit, for the elderly in case they get lost, joggers, and anyone worried about safety (night workers).
The only downside is that your emergency contact has to monitor their SMS 24/7 and know what action to take. Having professional monitoring at extra cost may be better for those at risk.
The alarm part is regrettably too soft to make much of a difference, but I can see the challenges in fitting a louder alarm to a lipstick-sized device.
My wife has snaffled this to put on her bumbag for her early morning walks. Let’s hope that, like all security devices, she never has to use it.
We won’t rate the Swann ActiveResponse Personal Safety Alarm – as long as you know its strengths and weaknesses, we have done our job.
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