[Review] Samsung SmartThings Arrival Sensor v2

Here is my first Product review on the Samsung SmartThings Arrival Sensor.  When I first started getting on board with the SmartThings hub and the entire smart house experience.  This was definitely one of the things I wanted most was proximity sensing.  I wanted to have the lights turn on and my deadbolts unlock and whatever I wanted to add in the future.

After getting all my Lutron Caseta light switches installed, my Yale deadbolts installed and attached to the SmartThings hub.  I was finally able to play around with the Samsung SmartThings Arrival Sensor fob.  I loved the idea that I can just place this product right on my key ring and its so compact and lightweight.

So I set up my SmartThings app, and created a rule automation routine that when I was in the area it would turn my porch lights on and the deadbolts would unlock.  It worked great the first few times but it was never reliable.  It worked probably about 80% of the time and this was killer to me; i just wanted the product to work.  After about 3-4 weeks of using the fob/sensor the battery was already down to about 30%.  When it went below 30% the device just stayed “Away” in the SmartThings app it never came back.  I had to change out the battery, remove it from my SmartThings app and re-add it.

I went to the Community forum, and started posting my findings a lot of people had good work a-rounds but still worked about 80% of the time.  Every time I came home and it didn’t work correctly I was pissed off.  I was ready to just scrap the entire idea of having anything Smart related especially if the products just didn’t work.

That same post topic another user suggested I follow this method using Tasker/SharpTools/AutoLocation.  You need to have the paid version of these apps which will cost you about $5.00  which is nothing since i’m already about $1000.00 invested in SmartHome products.

So basically my review of the SmartThings Arrival sensor is absolute garbage.  I want a product that’s just going to work 100% of the time and changing batteries monthly is another downfall.

Please check back for my post about using your Android or iPhone device as your SmartThings proximity sensor with Tasker/SharpTools/AutoLocation.  I’ve been testing it so far for a week and it’s been 100% all of the time. It’s a long process on getting it installed on your device but it’s definitely worth it.