The concept might sound strange at first, but trust me, it's a great idea well executed in the First Alert Onelink Safe & Sound. Think about it: You have a smoke detector in every room, and each one contains a loudspeaker, optimally mounted on the ceiling or high up on the wall. Add a mic, a Wi-Fi connection, and a digital assistant, and instead of behaving like a lifeless barnacle unless smoke or carbon monoxide is present in the room, that device can play music and games, retrieve news and information, control your smart home, and do all the other great things an Alexa-powered smart speaker can do. As an Alexa device, the Onelink Safe & Sound works well. Its speaker is loud and clear, and its microphone is sensitive and accurate.

First Alert invented residential smoke detectors decades ago, so imagine my surprise when I walked into First Alert's booth at CES and saw a router bearing the company's name. And it's not just any router: The Onelink Connect is a tri-band 802.11ac model that comes with two mesh access points in addition to the one inside the router. What's more, the system boasts a dedicated wireless backhaul channel, a feature The inclusion of parental controls--an increasingly common feature in consumer routers these days--will empower mom and dad to control the kids' access to and time spent on the internet using tools such as internet filters, internet pausing, and time limits. The router will protect Internet of Things devices such as cameras and thermostats by scanning outbound traffic to detect malicious activity and infected network clients. We'll dive deeper into these features when we get a review unit.