Zooz ZSE50 Siren and Chime Review: 90dB, Custom Sounds, and 24-Hour Battery Backup
The Zooz ZSE50 Siren and Chime is a plug-in 800-series Z-Wave Long Range siren that runs louder than some alarm panel speakers, takes your own MP3 or WAV files, and keeps going on internal battery for up to a day. I put one on the bench to see where it shines and where its quirks might live.
The Setup
The ZSE50 is a wall-wart style 800LR Z-Wave siren and chime: 16 MB of storage, up to 50 tone slots, 90 dB max output, and a 24-hour battery backup. I tested it on Home Assistant via Z-Wave JS, walked the parameters, loaded my own MP3s over USB, and built a few automations.
- Audio: MP3 and WAV, 50 slots, 16 MB internal storage
- Power: AC plug-in with 24-hour battery backup, indoor only
- Hub used: Home Assistant
What Worked
- Clean inclusion in Home Assistant (the “unknown product” label is cosmetic, not functional).
- Parameters expose cleanly: playback mode (single, loop, repeat, until canceled), tone, volume, LED mode, and battery reporting.
- The default tone is what plays on direct association, which makes association-based triggers quick to set up.
- AC mains lost and AC mains restored events fire as entities, so you can automate around power loss or recovery.
- At 90 dB, the ZSE50 is louder than the built-in sounder on a Qolsys IQ Panel 4 or 2GIG Edge (both 85 dB), which makes it credible as a standalone auxiliary siren on its own merits.
What Didn’t (and the Surprise Fix)
- Adding files reshuffles the tone index, so number-referenced automations need a recheck after every upload.*
- On a Mac, hidden
._resource files end up on the USB drive and confuse the device. There is a one-line cleanup that handles it. (Walkthrough in the video.) - You must re-interview the device in your hub after any file change, with the USB cable physically unplugged. Catching the timing here matters.
- Officially not compatible with the Qolsys IQ4. But I have some ideas … a follow-up video is available with a workaround.
*File management has been updated since this video was created. Follow up video and post coming soon!
Verdict
The ZSE50 is a flexible, well-made auxiliary siren and chime that earns a slot in most Z-Wave installs where audible feedback or layered alarm coverage matters. Battery backup plus AC-loss reporting also turn it into a handy power-fail alert device. The file-management quirks are easy to live with once you know they are coming. On Home Assistant or Z-Box, this is a buy.
Watch the full bench test on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ye_kMqWyvg
I’d love to hear from you. What would you do with a 90 dB programmable Z-Wave siren in your install? Custom doorbell tones, intruder alerts, holiday effects? Drop your idea in the comments, and let me know what should hit the bench next.