Honeywell 5800COMBO vs Honeywell SiXSMOKE

The Honeywell 5800COMBO and the Honeywell SiXSMOKE are both fire-safety devices that will alert building occupants to the presence of a fire. However, the 5800COMBO also offers CO detection, while the SiXSMOKE does not. Also, the SiXSMOKE is encrypted, but the 5800COMBO is unencrypted.

Both the 5800COMBO and the SiXSMOKE will properly alert any people inside the building to the presence of a fire. Both devices offer smoke detection and fixed heat detection. If either of these devices detects a temperature of 135°F or higher, its heat sensor will activate. But, only the SiXSMOKE features a heat sensor with rate of rise detection. In this case, the device will trigger if it detects an increase of 15°F or greater within a single minute. The heat detector on the 5800COMBO does not offer any rate of rise detection quite like this.

But the 5800COMBO is still a considerably more versatile sensor than the SiXSMOKE. This is because the 5800COMBO can also be be used as a carbon monoxide detector and as a low-temperature sensor. This makes it a truly all-in-one life-safety device that can eliminate the need for the user to purchase separate CO detectors. But the SiXSMOKE is designed strictly for use as a smoke and heat detector.

Another difference between these two sensors is their system compatibility. The Honeywell 5800COMBO will function with any Lyric Controller, LYNX Touch, VISTA Panel (with a wireless receiver), 2GIG GC2 and 2GIG GC3. But the SiXSMOKE will only function with the Lyric Controller. This makes the 5800COMBO the clear winner in terms of panel compatibility.

The SiXSMOKE is backed by 128-bit AES encryption, in which the sensor must receive a return response from the system before any command will go through. But the 5800COMBO does not offer any sort of encryption. Finally, the 5800COMBO is noticeably larger in size than the more compact SiXSMOKE. Many users are surprised at the sheer size of the 5800COMBO, which was designed this way in order to accommodate for its multiple functions.