That cheap wireless contact sensor I swore off? Now I install 5 a week.

I used to think those no-name wireless sensors from Amazon were garbage after one failed on a test bench back in 2022. But a customer in Denver wanted a quick setup for his rental property and I needed something fast. Ran a batch of 12 of those $8 sensors and not a single one has dropped signal in 6 months. Has anyone else had luck with the cheaper options holding up longer than expected?

3 comments

3 Comments

nelson.nancy24d ago

oh man, the adhesive thing is such a pain. i mean, i've literally had those little pads fail on a sensor that was stuck to a perfectly clean window frame. it just fell off one day. total joke. i started carrying my own 3M double sided tape and just swapping it out on installs. makes a world of difference. and yeah, the battery life on those cheap ones is wild good. i've got a few that have been going for over a year now without needing a change. it's funny how the sensor itself is solid but they penny pinch on the tape. i guess if the whole thing was $8 and perfect, they'd have no reason to ever sell the expensive ones.

milaprice24d ago

That $8 price point is honestly hard to beat when they actually WORK. I've got 30 of them scattered across a couple of client properties now and the only failures I've had were from people straight up crushing them with furniture. The battery life has been way better than I expected too, these little things still show 80% after 10 months. My only complaint is the adhesive pad they ship with is basically useless in any kind of humidity.

parker_park824d ago

It's funny how the cheap stuff often has the worst accessories, isn't it? You spend the effort to get a deal on the thing itself, and then the included mounting tape or adhesive pad lets the whole project down (and usually at the worst possible time). That's been my experience with everything from smart home sensors to those little key finders - the device is great, but the freebie tape is a trap. For a few extra cents they could include a proper 3M pad, but instead they just pass the frustration on to you.