Honeywell 5800MINI vs Honeywell 5817CB

The Honeywell 5800 MINI and the Honeywell 5817CB are both wireless surface-mount door and window contacts. The 5817CB can also be used as a wireless transmitter for hardwired devices, but the 5800MINI cannot. The 5800MINI comes with a magnet, but one must be bought separately for the 5817CB.

The 5800MINI is strictly used as a door and window sensor. It includes an LED light that indicates the sensor's current status. The device measures at just 2.2"H x 1"W x 0.25"D, making it one of the smallest door and window contacts on the market today. The 5800MINI also comes included with a magnet so that the device can be used right away with no add-on needed. The 5800MINI cannot function as a wireless transmitter for any hardwired sensors.

Most users who purchase a 5817CB do so for the wireless transmitter function. This allows both normally closed and normally open hardwired devices to wirelessly communicate with an alarm system. However, 2-wire smokes cannot be used with the 5817CB. Because it uses an end of line resistor to supervise the wire connections, this device is normally used as a transmitter for non-powered fire devices, such as heat detectors or pull-stations. The 5817CB is also larger than the 5800MINI. The 5817CB measures in at 3.5"H x 1.5625"W x 1.1875"D.

Most users who are looking for a device to use strictly as a door or window contact would purchase a sensor like a 5800MINI or a 5816 instead. The 5817CB does not come included with a magnet. Instead, a Honeywell 5899 Magnet must be purchased separately for the device to function as a door and window contact.

That said, if the user is looking for a door and window contact to double as a wireless transmitter for normally closed devices, then the 5817CB is an excellent option. Some other useful notes about the 5817CB are that the device does not have any LED status lights and that the the sensor is considerably larger than the 5800MINI.

There are some similarities between the 5800MINI and the 5817CB. They are both from the Honeywell 5800 Series, and the both communicate at a wireless frequency of 345MHz. This means that they can be used with the same security systems. Also both sensors are surface-mounted, and they can be installed with screws or with doubled-sided foam tape.