Yale Sync Smart Home Alarm kit review: a good, basic alarm but lacking smarts
Priced at £269.99, this six-piece kit is one of Yale's smaller home alarm systems. Others include more than a dozen components, but perform in the same basic way, and it's easy to purchase additional accessories to increase your system at a later date.
Unlike many other home alarm systems, such as those from Ring, Simplisafe and Eufy, this Yale kit comes with an outdoor siren. Battery powered and fully wireless, the 104-decibel siren means your neighbours and passers-by are more likely to notice your alarm, although you'll likely need a stepladder and a drill to mount it properly.
That said, this is a DIY system, with the door/window sensor and motion detectors giving the option of wall-mounting with screws or adhesive strips, all of which are included in the box. The keypad is wireless and can be wall-mounted if you prefer, and the mains-powered smart hub connects to your internet router with an included Ethernet cable. I'd prefer to use Wi-Fi, since I've run out of power sockets next to my router, but I appreciate the extra stability of a wired connection.
The components all look good and feel well made, although I wish the keypad had a display to show the status of the alarm. Even just a set of LED lights would help indicate whether the alarm is armed, part-armed or disabled. Instead, you have to listen out for any beeps coming from the hub to understand what's happening. The keypad, along with the door/window sensors and motion detectors, are powered by replaceable batteries.
A hardware detail I like is how both the door/window contact sensor and the siren have tamper alarms. These use a spring on the rear which pushes against whatever surface the product is mounted to, so when it is removed, and the spring uncoils, you are alerted via the app and an automated email.
Yale says up to 40 accessories can be connected to a single hub, and they operate at a range of up to 200 metres. This will vary depending on the layout of your home, but should give plenty of headroom for even the largest of installations.
Installing the kit took about 30 minutes, excluding the outdoor siren. It's a relatively simple process, but the instructions aren't as clear as systems from rivals like Ring and Simplisafe. Products belonging to Yale's Smart system, including its latest cameras and video doorbell, as well as the Smart Alarm, use a different app and a more streamlined process. The older Sync Alarm kit tested here uses the clunkier Yale Alarm app – more on which in the next section.
Yale offers a professional installation service for £280 – more than the cost of the kit itself – but most buyers won't need this. Even the outdoor siren is simple enough to fit, as long as you have a drill and a ladder.
Yale Sync Smart Home Alarm software
It is important to understand that this system works with the older Yale Smart Living Alarm app, and not the newer Yale Home app.
Having previously used, and enjoyed, Yale's latest Smart products and app, the older Yale Alarm app was a a little underwhelming. The app is stable and the interface is uncluttered, but whereas Yale's newer app impresses with its use of simple, clear language and zero jargon, the Alarm app falls short.
The app assigns default names like PIR 1 and PIR 2 to the motion detectors, KP1 to the keypad and BX1 to the siren – all of which are best changed to something more logical.
Unclear and overly technical language is a common problem across the app. I saw several notifications stating 'Locked Out of Front door' when the app meant the door sensor's tamper sensor had been triggered. There was also an inbox containing seven-year-old messages about system updates, but with no way to delete them. Since even the newest messages date from 2019, anyone buying this kit today, in 2025, is going to feel like Yale forgot about this app long ago.
In better news, the app allows for FaceID to add an extra layer of security, and the large icons of the dashboard make it very easy to arm or disarm the alarm.
There's also the option to 'part arm' the system, but configuring this isn't the work of a moment. Yale has drawn up a chart and a key to help explain the four states – burglar, home omit, home access and entry zone – and how a sensor responds in each state. It's all logical enough, but is screaming out for a slicker solution and, ideally, a new copywriter. I also spotted a few typing errors in the app, and in some cases the app's explanation for what a function does was hard to understand. I couldn't find any explanation of what a feature called Supervision is, apart from a sentence where Yale suggests you leave it disabled.
A useful feature is geo-notifications, where the app uses your smartphone location to remind you to set the alarm if you leave without doing so.
Yale Sync Smart Home Alarm smart home features
This system works with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. I tried it with the former and, with the right Alexa skill installed, it's possible to arm and disarm the alarm with a voice command to a nearby Amazon Echo smart speaker. In the interests of security, you need to state your four-digit passcode when disarming the system. Some users won't find this useful, but if you ever return home carrying shopping and/or children it's handy to turn the alarm off with your voice instead of via the keypad or app.
I'd hoped to connect the alarm to my Philips Hue smart lighting system too. But, despite this being advertised as a feature of the Yale Sync alarm, I repeatedly encountered a 'Connection Error' message from Yale's website, stating there had been a 'bad response from Yale Smart Living Alarm server.'
I'm not the only one having problems with this app. It has a score of just 2.1 stars from over 400 ratings on the iOS App Store. It's a shame, because the hardware is good and with its newer Home app Yale has proved it can produce good software. Clearly, bringing the older app up to scratch isn't a priority.
Yale subscription plans and monitoring explained
There are no subscription fees with this system, so it's simply a case of buying it, setting it all up, and that's that. You'll have full functionality for life.
However ,Yale does offer a range of subscription plans, including one with live professional monitoring provided by Securitas, with its other products, including the Smart Alarm kit.
The verdict: Yale Sync Smart Home Alarm
The Yale Sync works well as a simple home alarm system. It is quick to set up, the hardware feels premium, and the inclusion of an external siren and two motion detectors makes it feel like good value compared to alternatives from rivals like Ring and Eufy.
However, it's too easy to get confused by Yale's many apps, products and ecosystems. This kit is good enough when reviewed in isolation, despite the app's shortcomings, but it doesn't integrate with Yale's latest 'Smart' products, like the video doorbell I recently reviewed. The Sync kit also doesn't work with the newer Yale Home app. Those looking for a Yale alarm with more functionality, and better compatibility with its latest security cameras and app, should look at the pricier Yale Smart Alarm Starter Kit instead.
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