Customer Ratings & Reviews

The Swann Personal Safety Alarm Keychain is small enough to carry in your pocket easily. I wasn’t sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised to see that text notification to a designated emergency contact does not require a subscription. However, other things I’m not as impressed with. What’s in the Box: • Alarm • CR2 3Volt Lithium battery • Lanyard • Locking Carabiner • Quick Start Guide • Add for a subscription plan Set up was relatively easy. Unscrew the top of the little alarm and insert the battery. You hear 2 beeps signifying that it is powered on. You do need to install the app before you can pair the alarm to your phone. The QR code on the bottom of the alarm is just a code that talks to the app. I followed the instructions in the app to pair and set up the device. Then I entered my SO’s contact info in the app. I twisted the top of the alarm from the locked to unlocked position and pressed the button. Pressing the button is a sort of silent alarm that triggers a text message, sent from your paired and connected phone, to your designated emergency contact. My SO got the text and a notice showed on my phone. So far so good. Next, I tried to set off the audio alarm. I could not pull the little ring hard enough to pull the button out. I finally put the included carabiner in the ring and could then get enough leverage to set off the audible alarm. The alarm was not very loud at all. My car alarm is much louder. The alarm measured around 80 dB from six inches away, when I checked it. About the same as my robot vacuum cleaner. A quick price check on the replaceable (not rechargeable) battery shows it’s not cheap. It’s too soon to tell how long it lasts. Which brings to mind, how will I know when I need to replace the battery? Nothing like being in a situation where I need the alarm and the battery is dead. With a subscription, Swann offers up to 5 designated contacts, professional monitoring and response, and a find your keys function. I passed on the subscription. In summary, I have mixed feelings about this personal safety alarm. I can easily press the button to send a text message to my SO. But the siren isn’t really much good. It’s so hard to activate the siren that it likely doesn’t matter anyway. The battery is another issue. So, I will carry the device in my pocket and hope I never need it.

I like the size, form factor, and function of this personal alarm. It was easy to pair to our phone and add to our existing Swann app and account. Usage is also simple. After ensuring the top is unlocked, it can either send a distress signal, an audible alarm, or both. I’ll start with the audible alarm, which to me is the weakest of the two features. It was practically impossible to pull the switch up to sound the alarm using the pre-attached key ring. It is much easier to pull and activate with the carabiner is attached. The alarm tone isn’t really loud nor distinct enough to stand out and command attention outdoors unless it’s extremely quiet or isolated. The distress text is by far the more useful of the safety features. It is triggered by depressing the top button which sends an SMS distress text to a pre-specified contact or contacts through the Swann app. I tested it with my wife at home and immediately after she pushed the button, I received an SMS text beginning with “EMERGENCY ALERT!” The alert is sent from an unfamiliar number, but the heading is certain to catch my attention. The rest of the message shares that a personal alarm was triggered and suggests to follow a pre-agreed emergency plan or call police. The alert also includes a Google map link to the last precise coordinates of the device when the distress text was sent and shares the device battery strength. We were both quite impressed, so much in fact, that I immediately ordered a second device for my daughter. The following day I asked my wife to test again, this time while away from home. I wanted to see how the device functioned with her phone off wifi. She pushed the button, heard the beep, but no alert was sent. We tried again, same thing. I asked her to open, and then minimize the Swann app on her phone. She did and tried again. This time it sent me an alert. I told her to make sure background app refresh was enabled on her phone and to try again with the app closed. She did so and tried again, no signal. I can’t confirm for certain but suspect the Swann app must be open for the device to send an alert. If it is indeed true and not some sort of glitch, that’s a huge downside. If she forgets to launch and minimize the app, will she be left with no protection? It seems odd, because the Swann Security app sends me camera alerts regardless of whether the app is open or not. She kept the app open and minimized the rest of the day. A few hours later, she called to advise she tried it again and asked if I got an alert. I replied that I had gotten no alerts. Not good. We also noticed that the battery report was wildly inaccurate. The alerts kept saying her phone battery was above 90% at the time of alert, when in reality, both times it was in the low 20%. Lastly, the audible alarm has gone off spontaneously on several occasions, even with the top locked and not pulled. It started chirping once while at work and again during an event later that evening. I applied a firmware update thinking it would fix it, but it occurred again. For now, we’ve decided to wait and see if things improve. I like the alarm and the security it provides, but I am also concerned about consistency and the random audible disruptions. Hopefully, future firmware updates will address these concerns.

I decided to pick one of these up for my mother since she tends to go off on her own around town a lot. She is aging, and there is a bunch of Riff Raffle in town now a days, so I thought this would be an excellent personal safety / alarm for her to carry around with her at all times. I remember she used to carry a similar device ( without the smart features) when I was a kid, she said it made her feel a little safer knowing she could trigger it and alert people around her. I am sure many of you are familiar with those type of personal safety alarms, Swann has taken it to the next level with this device. I am honestly quite impressed with the tech they have packed into this little device. It has bluetooth, and will text your emergency contact to alert them that the alarm has been triggered. If you subscribe to the service, I believe Swann will contact you and emergency services for you. I could be wrong but it seems that Swann will text a message to your personal contacts even without a subscription. The device is small, fits easily in the palm of my hand. It includes a battery, lanyard and a carabiner style link for it. It has a lock so it isn't accidentally triggered, but honestly you gotta give it a nice strong tug to activate it, so I think you'd be safe leaving it unlocked and ready at all times. The red button can be pulled to trigger the siren and alert your contact, or you can just press a button and it will alert your contact and not trigger the siren. I can see that coming quite handy if you are ever in a dangerous situation and need to remain stealthy.My one and only complaint about it, is that it advertises to be 110 decibels and it definitely does not get that loud.I actually tested it with my brothers Apple Watch, and it measured it at about 80 decibels. Still loud, but not what's advertised. Don't know if it's a glitch, defect or just my device, but it should be a little louder. Would I recommend this product? YES! They are very inexpensive and provide peace of mind for your loved ones.

I got this device for my daughter, who goes to college during the day and comes home very late at night. Setting up the personal alarm is quick and easy with the app. First, download the Swann Security app and sign in (or sign up).  Then the app asks you to “Pair Device” and follow the on-screen instructions. Scan the QR code on the bottom of the device (keychain). After pairing, designate an emergency contact. Without the mobile subscription, you can only add one (1) emergency contact. With the subscription, you can include up to five (5) emergency contacts. There are two methods to use the alarm: (1) activate Siren and Emergency Help, and (2) activate Emergency Help Only. For the siren and help, you pull up the help/red ring to activate. For emergency help (without the siren), you press the help/red button. For both methods, the designated contact will receive an emergency text with the current location. With the Swan subscription to their ActiveResponse plan, you unlock the 24-hour/7-day professional monitoring and response, alert up to five (5) emergency contacts, and use the app to find your keys. To avoid unintentionally (or accidentally) pressing or pulling the help button, the alarm can be locked by twisting the ring (red button) to the lock position. The alarm requires one (1) CR2 3V battery. The device isn’t bulky, has a very decent size, and is lightweight. So far, the device works properly, and fortunately, we have not had an actual emergency. Overall, I am satisfied with this product.

This is a decent little personal alarm, but I was surprised to find out that the tone to let you know that the new battery was installed was actually louder than the alarm itself! Definitely seems odd to me. In the box, you get the alarm, a battery (make sure that you remove the plastic protection on the battery otherwise it won't work), a carabiner and a tether strap. The alarm has a push/pull button on the top that provides the functionality. It has a locked and unlocked state. Lock it when not needed, just twist the anchor on the top to the LOCK position. When you go out for a walk, unlock the device by twisting to the UNLK position. In that state, you can press the button to have an emergency SMS sent to a trusted contact, silently and discretely. If you pull on the button, then an audible alarm will sound. As I mentioned at the beginning, the alarm, while annoying, wasn't as loud as the audible noise letting me know that the batteries were installed. To get the benefit out of this, download the Swann Security app, you can then set up an account and register the device. This is how you can trigger SMS messages (for free) using the most basic of features. It sends a location of the device and an SMS that the button has been triggered. The delivery of the message was very timely, about 3 seconds after pressing the button. If you so choose, you can pay to use the app and that will unlock more features for you such as increasing the number of notified contacts (with the free version you get one), you can get professional 24/7 monitoring and also be able to use it to find your keys, if they are attached to it. Overall this is going to be a useful addition for my wife when she is out walking in the early morning for that extra piece of mind. As for the alarm, I don't know if it will scare anyone away, but it may buy a few more moments of time to make a get away.

The Swann active response personal alarm came to me nicely packaged. Inside the box you will find the swann personal alarm along with a rope , a welcome packet, and a carabiner to attach to another object for ease of use. You must set this up via an app for your smartphone. It is simple and QR codes are in the instruction manual along with the bottom of the device. The actual device works in two ways. If you pull the tab you are greeted with a 110 decibel siren which isn’t that loud but loud enough to startle an unexpected attacker and loud enough to hopefully get into the ears of those nearby. The other way it works is you can push down the trigger to alert up to five contacts. It has the ability to send GPS coordinates to whom you chose and there is a monitoring service you may subscribe to for further support. Sending the text to your five contacts is avail without subscribing to the Swann plan. This alarm would be useful to most people and is very clever. You can attach it to your kids backpack, or give one to your loved one during runs or walks. I would recommend to anyone and think this is a great alarm.

This Swann personal alarm is a powerful little gem. Discreet, easy to use, and works great. The device has a Q-Code on the bottom side for easy set up when you download the app for set up. I had an issue at first getting the device to recognize I had followed one of the steps to connect to the App which May have been a connectivity issue with the wifi. Packs a powerful loud alarm so it’s not a toy and should be used for its intended purposes for safety measures for protection, to alert others around to a danger you’re experiencing. There’s a lock so the alarm or the message alert doesn’t easily get set off. Just turn the top keychain ring clockwise and counterclockwise wise to lock/unlock the button from being inadvertently pushed or the alarm from sounding off. To send a discreet alert to a person of your choice, you need to set up their name and number when pairing up the device using the App. Once your contact person is set up you can go to test mode using the App. Pushing the button will send a text message to the contact person listed on the App and will prompt them to click on a map link which will show where the person is using the Swann alarm from. Please see pics. You’ll get the coordinates and approximate location picture of street view. I love that it fits in the palm of the hand although smaller would make it even more discreet. There’s a feature on the App that allows you to find the personal alarm should you misplace it and your keys should u have the alarm attached to your keychain. The point of having the alarm is to have it in an easy to reach place for quick access. Fumbling can waste time during a true emergency. There’s an option to pay for features, such as allowing for 5 different contacts and Police to be notified. Police will know your approximate location based on the permissions you’ve allowed on your device. Please ensure you’ve asked the persons you wish to place on the emergency contact list for permission to have their phone numbers/name to be utilized. Great gadget which can just about help many in different emergency situations. It also comes with a string attachment for wearing around your neck should you not have pockets or bag to attach to and don’t want to hold in hand. I would highly recommend this powerful little gem as a gift or for oneself.

There are a lot of positive attributes to this item and a few drawbacks. I'll start with the few drawbacks-Before setting up the app, the unit kept randomly beeping. I guess it was telling me to connect it to the app but it was very loud and very annoying. It would just beep at random times (not even on a pattern). I had to take the battery out while I figured it out! Second drawback- I thought it would emit a loud siren when pressed. It does not- it sends a silent "SOS" to whomever you select as your person. If they are sleeping or not near their phone- I guess you don't get help right away! You can pay for professional monitoring if you prefer the peace of mind that would provide. Third drawback- The carabiner clip keeps coming lose. I have tightened the screw as tight as I can but it will work its way free. I almost lost it once. There are some really great features though. It is easy to set up in the app. The app will give you the battery level so you don't have to worry about running out. It works! I tested the unit and it sent my daughter the alert and told her it was a test so she didn't panic! If you pay for monitoring, you can have the security of knowing someone will always respond to your panic button. The lack of a siren (listed above as a draw back) can be a positive if you need to push the button for help and don't want to alert anyone to the fact that you have done it (or if you are hiding, etc) There are time a siren might be useful though! The top button does lock so you don't press it accidentally. They also recommend disconnecting from the app when not needed so you save the battery. I keep it disconnected most of the time. If I will be somewhere alone (particularly at night), I will connect it and have it ready. As a single parent, my daughter feels better knowing I can press the button for emergencies if needed.

The Swann personal alarm is great for added protection and safety. The small device comes with a carbineer and a cord to choose from to attach to your choice of personal items. I like the carbineer for the ability to quick connect to a key chain or backpack. Setting up was easy, just install battery, download app and input some info and you are done. I decided to just keep things easy and did not sign up for the subscription which gives you some added benefits such as auto dial 911, key finder. The standalone is fine for me. After installing the app I picked 5 contacts and input there info. Attached the Swann to my keys, and made sure to pair the unit with the app. Note if the unit loses connectivity you will get a 20 second beep. To turn the unit off you only have to long press the button for 20 seconds and it will beep letting you know it is off and saving battery life. To negate an accidental alert, you just turn the head to lock but it will still work if you pull up the button emitting a high frequency alarm (110 Decibels) So When I go out in for the day I unlock the unit for pressing (notifies 5 people via text location) and I can pull hard on the upper ring to activate the notifications and the loud alarm. I would highly recommend this to family and friends for an added sense of safety. Great for kids, mine is going to my Daughter who is away at college.

Not loud at all. The “out of range” beep is much louder than the actual alarm. Interesting text an emergency contact feature but since it constantly pings your phone, battery life is not great. Good concept and purchased for my kid but pretty useless from a deterrent perspective. Spend 1/4 the amount for a louder alarm from another company

A really really great idea and at first loved it….. found it annoying that it beeped when too far from phone then it started disconnecting with no notification… so in the end in an emergency its kinda useless…. Plus the siren wasnt exactly gonna make anyone run away… maybe laugh at you

Purchased few months ago as a gift and waited for the price to drop and so ordered. Best gift idea.

Not a good product. The alarm is not loud at all and it doesn’t even sound every time then button is pressed. Returned it.

Bought for my sister and she feels much more comfortable having this with her when out alone.

Disappointing and Ineffective to deter much with such a low sounding alarm. It would hardly call much needed attention in a bad situation. Only upside is that in a bad scenario, a text goes to a designated person with your location. It’s also very difficult to pull the emergency clip out.

satisfied with the great Best Buy service, but not this product. I'll do more research before I purchase an item I'm unfamiliar with next time.

The Swann Personal Safety Alarm is a compact alarm that can be triggered as a silent alarm, or with a audible sound. It was super easy to setup and get going. The Swann app seems a lot like it is made for home security systems. There was a bunch of functionality in it that didn't apply to my device. I was able to pair the alarm to my phone, and then use the app to notify an emergency contact of my exact GPS coordinates via SMS text when i trigger the alarms. The siren promised it was a loud 110db sound. I was underwhelmed at best. Even my dogs didn't run from it. I've no idea why it's so quiet. The sound is pretty similar to that of a factory car alarm where it honks your horn, but not quite as loud as that. Again, I expected it to be loud enough that my dogs would run away mad...It didn't even phase them. I also think that the tone being similar to that of a car alarm means it's easier to ignore. We've all gotten used to hearing that kind of alarm going off and just ignoring it. That being said, I do think in many situations it will at least garner some awareness of what's going on with the holder. And at least dissuade a would be attacker from proceeding with their venture. The alert sent via text to an emergency contact is pretty cool. It at least gives a very accurate gps location. This makes it pretty easy to find someone. And the device is compact enough that it could be hidden and triggered silently. Lastly, the small ring on the red button is really difficult to pull without something attached to it. The ring simply isn't big enough for an teen+adult fingers to grab hold off. Once we hooked up a carbineer or keyring it was much easier to pull. The last thing you want in an emergency situation is to be fumbling around trying to pull a tiny metal ring. I would recommend it to a friend for a cost effective personal safety device. It's non-lethal and doesn't pose any harm to it's user.

An unfortunate fact of modern living is that the need for a personal safety alarm is becoming increasingly common. As this is still a relatively new market, there’s a lot of variety in what’s being offered and just which approach is going to be the most helpful. Ultimately the goal is to offer a tangible degree of protection which, in turn, will offer some peace of mind to those using these devices. The Swann - ActiveResponse Personal Safety Alarm Keychain with 110dB Emergency Siren is one of these offerings. Overall, I have mixed feelings about this product. The size is right in the sweet spot between being too large or too small. It was easy to pair it with my smartphone via bluetooth. It has 2-3 key features: 1) Being able to silently trigger an alert sent via SMS text to the emergency contact(s) of your choice (along with an approximate location based on the last trackable hit), 2) The ability to set off a sonic alarm to frighten perps and alert others nearby, and 3) for a $5 monthly subscription, you can also have 911 services notified. The combination of these features represent an excellent solution - in theory. Unfortunately, the Swann - ActiveResponse Personal Safety Alarm Keychain with 110dB Emergency Siren needs some improvements before it’s truly ready for prime time. The silent text alert is its strongest feature. My contact received an alert immediately, along with indication of my last known location. This feature alone might make it worth the purchase. However, the Swann also emphasizes the protective effects of the local emergency siren triggered by pulling the ring on top of the unit. This is where the implementation falls short in two ways: 1) It is way too hard to pull the ring and set off the siren. I had 2 other people try it (my adult daughter and adult son). They both found it almost impossible to do unless the key ring was attached, and even then, found it hard to pull. 2) The emergency siren does not seem loud enough (or ’shrill’ enough?) to have full confidence in it’s effect on a perp, or that it would be heard by those nearby over other sounds - especially if in a noisy crowd. I like the concept of the Swann - ActiveResponse Personal Safety Alarm Keychain with 110dB Emergency Siren and, as mentioned, the text-alert feature is well implemented (and may be worth the price alone). However, in order to recommend it, I would want to see the 2 issues with the emergency siren addressed. Hopefully, Swann will correct these soon. If they do, they’ll have a great product that will be just what many are looking for.

I got this for my wife to carry with her as there have been some unsettling things occurring in our area. Right out of the box, it's small enough to fit pretty much anywhere so that is a plus. I had no issues with the setup. Took the cap off, placed the battery in and then you here the device beep twice. After that you download and set up the app. That's where my issues started. It's described as a personal security alarm and for the most part it is that. If you twist the ring and push the button it sends a text to your designated contact person letting them know that you have an issue. There is no audible alarm with this. To set off the audible alarm, you have to pull the cap hard enough to detach it (no it doesn't break it), but I was disappointed in the volume of the audible alarm. It's not loud enough in my opinion. My battery when placed in the device, registered at only 75% according the the app. Not a huge deal but the batteries are around $8-10 for one battery. The app works but it has limitations. I had to entirely delete our profile because I assigned it to myself...you can't change edit it. You have to delete and start over. The app and their site is entirely devoted to their security camera which is understand is their business but it feels like device was integrated into the app, but the app built specifically for this. You need to make sure that you have background refresh on for your apps, or the app may not send the alert text when the button is pushed. You might even need to have the app open, but not 100% sure as of the time of writing this my wife isn't here to test. The alert text give the Google maps location so that is very cool feature...you don't need the Google Maps app to use it either. Biggest complaint is that you need to purchase a service plan to get all the benefits that the product offers. Overall - Overall it's a great idea and it does function, but I would love to see the audible volume increased for the alarm and ensure that the text notification can be send regardless of application status. This review is from Swann - https://www.bestbuy.com/site/swann-activeresponse-personal-safety-alarm-keychain-with-110db-emergency-siren-black/6561646.p?skuId=6561646

This is a good safety device for hikers, runners, or school kids. With the push of a button, It sends an SMS SOS alert with exact GPS location to your designated emergency contact by means of the Swann app on your phone. And for a monthly fee of $4.99, it sends the alert to Swann's professional monitoring service (who can contact police if needed). and 4 additional personal contacts. I've tested it and the alert gets to your contact within seconds. I haven't tried their professional service. It also has a siren that can be activated (and send the alert). The device has a lock and unlock feature to prevent false alerts. Push the red button with the device unlocked to send a silent alert, which was very easy. Pull the ring to activate the siren and send the silent alert. That is not so easy, I could not activate the siren by pulling on the ring with my fingers. I had to attach the lanyard that's included and get a good grip on the lanyard to activate the siren. Also, the siren is not as loud as advertised. Swann claims it's 110 decibels (jackhammer or rock band level) but it didn't seem that loud to me when activating it outdoors or indoors. I confirmed that by checking it with 2 different sound meter apps on my smartphone. They both showed that the siren peaks at 60 decibels. The device comes with the lanyard, keyring, a CR2 battery (not rechargeable), and instruction manual. It connects to your phone via Bluetooth. I'd say it's worth the $39.99 to buy some protection for yourself or a loved one, regardless that the siren is not very loud.