LogicMark Freedom Alert 35911 Review

Last Updated on February 27, 2023

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, Medical Alert Systems HQ earn from qualifying purchases. (details).The best-selling LogicMark Freedom Alert 35911 product is a powerful no monthly fee medical alert system. Instead of routing an alarm call through a call monitoring center, the system works by automatically dialing up to 4 custom emergency contacts directly, followed by 911. This saves people money while still offering peace of mind to elderly users and their loved ones. The Freedom Alert system is an economical solution that allows seniors to live independently in their own homes.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, Medical Alert Systems HQ earn from qualifying purchases. We earn referral commissions for qualified purchases (details).

Pros

No Monthly Fees – There are no continuing monthly fees to operate the system – a big relief to many who do not want to be tied to a traditional “life alert” system. The product has a suggested price of around $270 retail (check discount availability through eBay.com listings).

Two-way Speakerphone Pendant Unit – The medical alert pendant comes with a built-in speakerphone to facilitate easy two-way communications with one of the elderly user’s emergency contacts or a 911 operator.

Directly Speak With Personal Emergency Contact – This system connects the senior user with a custom emergency contact if they are available. Some senior users prefer the experience of speaking directly with their child or neighbor, rather than a monitoring representative or 911 operator if they can help it.

Call Custom Contacts Only OR 911 Only – There are also options to call up to 4 emergency contact numbers and optionally, 911 at the end. Users also have the flexibility to set it up to be a direct to 911 medical alert dialer.

Cons

Splash-proof, Not Waterproof Pendant – The pendant is splash-proof but not waterproof. Users can’t wear the pendant when showering or when sitting in a bath. This can be a drawback as a lot of falls occur during these activities. Users, however, can place their pendants nearby as they will continue to operate in the middle of minor water spraying/splashing.

More Involved User Set-up & Maintenance Process – Plugging the base unit into the power source and phone jack is easy. However, users would still need to program in their emergency contacts and recharge their batteries periodically.

Disclosure: We earn referral commissions for qualified purchases (details).

LogicMark Freedom Alert 35911 Detailed Review

Background

LogicMark pride themselves on providing some of the very best in personal emergency response systems, including pendants which feature two-way communication for the highest possible levels of personal safety. Founded in 2006, this company is constantly innovating, developing products that provide support for those older members of society who want to keep their independence.

LogicMark’s product line includes both non-monitored no-monthly fee medical alert systems, as well as monitored systems. However, they have a longer history of success in providing non-monitored systems.

Currently, their LogicMark Freedom Alert and Guardian Alert 911 units are best-selling non-monitored system in the US and Canada. Freedom Alert 35911 is a more versatile system that can call both custom contacts and 911, or set to call just custom contacts or 911 only. Guardian Alert 911 is a straight to 911 dialer (see review).

How It Works

The LogicMark Freedom Alert 35911 medical alert system consists primarily of a base station unit and a two-way communicator pendant. For the system to work, the base station unit needs to be connected to a phone line and a power supply. The medical alert pendant can be worn using a lanyard, strapped to the wrist (like a bracelet), belt or wheelchair. On the medical alert pendant, users can find a blue panic button on the front. Should an emergency occur, the elderly user can click on the button and this initiates an alarm call.

Once an alarm call is initiated, it triggers a series of automated dialing actions to establish contact between the elderly user and either one of his/her emergency contacts or a 911 dispatcher. The base station unit can be set to call up to 4 phone numbers and then 911. If none of the emergency contacts are available, then the Freedom Alert system will automatically dial 911 and put the user in touch with an emergency operator.

When an emergency contact picks up the LogicMark Freedom Alert initiated emergency call, they will be prompted to dial 5 on their keypad to indicate that they are a live person answering the phone. So if a call is picked up by an answering machine, the system will not receive the keypad number 5 confirmation signal and move on to dial the next contact.

Call Custom Contacts Only OR 911 Only – There are also options to call up to 4 emergency contact numbers only, without trying 911 or 911 only, without calling any emergency contact.

The Freedom Alert 35911 emergency call system can be legally used in all 50 US states and Canada, according to its product description.

Cost

The vast majority of home medical alarm systems cost anywhere from $25 to $40 each month. What most users like best about the LogicMark Freedom Alert is that they can get the entire package for one upfront cost of around $200. By using an automated dialing mechanism instead of live monitoring help, there are no additional monthly fees needed for the running this personal emergency response system.

eBay.com has numerous vendors selling this LogicMark 35911 no monthly fee emergency alert system. Their deals are probably better than you would find at other retail or even online shops. You should read the product descriptions and check the images to make sure that the eBay.com seller is listing a brand new box with the communicator unit, pendant and accessories. When in doubt, you can always submit a question for the seller through eBay’s messaging system. Don’t leave your questions below this page as we are not selling the product.

What’s Included

In terms of what you get “in the box,” the Freedom Alert 35911 comes with everything the elderly user would need, including: a pendant, the base station, a belt clip, a wrist/wheelchair strap, a lanyard, a phone cord, an AC power adapter and batteries for both the pendant and the base station. All you’ll need to do is open the box, fit it all together, plug it into an AC power outlet to get started.

Equipment Overview

The two main pieces of equipment are the medical alert base unit and pendant. Peripheral items and accessories like the batteries and lanyard support the use of these 2 main equipment pieces.

 

Freedom Alert Base Unit

The LogicMark Freedom Alert 35911 base station unit is what connects the signals from the medical alert pendant to the phone line, to establish a phone connection between the users and their emergency contacts of 911 operator. The base unit is about the size of an answering machine.

Like modern cordless phone units, it uses DECT technology to communicate with the outside world. This simply means that it relies on a digital signal, instead of an old analogue one, so there’s less chance of anything going wrong in terms of interference from external sources.

It can be connected to any standard phone line, and is also compatible with the vast majority of well-known VOIP phone systems. The base station can communicate with up to 4 separate pendants and has an emergency back-up battery system which provides up to 24-hours of emergency power.

The base unit also meets UL 1637 quality standards, which is an industry standard for medical alert base units. This is a positive point for the Freedom Alert system, as it shows that they adhere to high quality standards.

Medical Alert Pendant/ Bracelet

The Freedom Alert medical alert pendant is a lightweight 2-way communicator unit with an embedded speakerphone. At 1.4 oz, it is light enough to wear around the neck with a lanyard, around the wrist with a strap (like a bracelet), or on the belt using a belt clip. All of these accessories are included in the package. The pendant dimensions are roughly 3 inches tall and 1 1/4 inches wide. It’s about 3/4 of an inch thick.

Splash-Proof, Not Waterproof

Although the pendant looks hardy, it is not fully waterproof and should not be worn while showering or submerged in a bath. It does have an IPX4 rating, which means it is splash proof. It can be safely brought into the bathroom and hung next to the shower or bath. As a lot of elderly falls occur in the bathroom, it’s a good idea to keep the pendant close by.

Tale Of Two Li-Ion Batteries

The package includes 2 of these LogicMark specially designed rechargeable lithium ion (Li-Ion) batteries. The pendant is run on one battery, sized close to AAA. The 2 batteries are to be interchanged over time. When one battery is charging, the other is being used to power the pendant. Each full charge will last about 4 to 6 months on standby. Over time, the performance of these batteries will deteriorate and a new set should be ordered from LogicMark for around $15.

Periodic Battery Status Testing

Ensuring the pendant battery is working as expected is central to the system. If the pendant battery is not holding enough of a charge to communicate with the base unit, no alarm signals will be sent through in the case of emergencies. Fortunately, a battery status check can be easily done through a grey button on the back of the pendant. Logic Mark recommends doing a check on this twice a month. We believe that’s an important piece of advice to heed.

Additional Pendant For Spouses

Each base station unit will work with up to 4 pendants and communicator units combined. If desired, additional pendants can be purchased for around $100 spouses and room-mates and linked to the same base station unit.

Optional Accessories (Extra Cost)

Wall Communicators

Wall communicator units are satellite 2-way emergency alert communicator units that can be placed around the home. Elderly users or their children can purchase up to 4 emergency wall communicators to work in conjunction with the LogicMark Freedom Alert base unit. These communicator units will work with 4 AAA batteries (included in box). They do not need to be connected to a phone jack, unlike the base station unit, or other medical alert wall communicator models in the market. They can be mounted with screws or tough double-sided tape.

These wall communicators can be placed in parts of your home where you feel most at risk (bathroom, basement, etc) and provide a perfect way for you to call for help, even if the senior user is not wearing his/her pendant. The LogicMark emergency wall communicators are ideal for families who want to make sure the elderly person they’re providing care for has access to immediate help wherever and whenever they might need it.

When installing a Wall Communicator unit, make sure that it is at a good height. If it is too high, the senior users may not be able to reach out and hit the red HELP button to activate an alarm.

 

Key Lock-Box

The key lockbox can be placed outside your home to provide emergency workers with easier access to your home. The lockbox contains keys to the user’s home. Once the senior user or emergency contact (eg. son, daughter, neighbor) provides emergency workers with the combination, emergency workers can quickly get into the home to help the senior. It also prevents any damage to your home in the process.

Breaking down the door can be both costly as well as delay the emergency technicians from helping the system user during an emergency. For this reason, a key lockbox makes for an inexpensive yet really worthwhile purchase.

Warranty

The LogicMark Freedom Alert 35911 emergency alert system comes with a 1-year limited warranty. Their customer support appears responsive when dealing with customer issues. For customers, Freedom Alert technical support is available at 703-934-7934.

Phone Line Options

This LogicMark medical alert system is compatible with all standard phone lines with regular touch tone dialing, and most well-known VOIP-based phone systems. A standard home phone line is usually the most reliable choice for an emergency response system like this, but you do have the choice between using a regular phone line or VOIP if you wish.

The system is not recommended to work with digital phone services like Magic Jack or Ooma. Users are best advised to stay clear of these choices as they cannot offer the measure of reliability required for running a medical alert system.

This alert system does not use cellular technology. It cannot be connected to a cell phone to make emergency calls for you.

Installation

Setting up and installing the LogicMark Freedom Alert is a very straightforward process. The basic steps involve connecting the base station to a phone line and an AC wall outlet. There is another phone jack at the back of the base station that users can use to plug in their home phone.

Users or their loved ones helping them with the installation would need to put the included batteries in the pendant and the base station. The emergency phone numbers to call can be programmed through a simple process outlined in the operations manual. There are lots of good tips and explanations given in the easy-to-read manual. We highly recommend all users or their loved ones helping them to devote some time to reading it thoroughly.

Range

The pendant and base station can communicate with each other over a range of approximately 600-feet on a clear line of sight without obstacles. That’s the same distance as roughly 2 football fields. According to LogicMark, users can depend on coverage in a home of 5,000-square feet, and that range extends to the exterior of your home too, even including the yard.

On a practical level, the actual range covered would depend on the layout of the home, obstacles and construction materials. Most users have no problems as far as range is concerned, even users living in larger multi-storey homes.

Everyone’s home layout and signal interference situation is different, so we recommend that users or their loved ones help them to test the system from various parts of the, such as from the far edges, patio areas, garden, or areas where the elderly user frequent, such as the bathroom or kitchen. There is a gray button on the pendant for testing purposes. It’s well thought-out.

We also like the inclusion of a speaker and microphone right on the pendant itself. Most home-based medical alert systems employ button pendants have no speaker and microphones built into them – they will only remotely activate the base unit’s speakers. This limits the voice range.

With the Freedom Alert system, the voice range performance becomes expanded. The system user may be out in the patio or yard, and they will still be able to speak through the pendant.

Backup Battery

The battery system in the Freedom Alert base unit provides for up to 24-hours of standby power in the event of a power outage in your area. Their backup power is provided through 4 rechargeable AA NiMH batteries that are included with the initial package. The company recommends changing out the set of batteries every 2 years. These batteries are not specially designed, so they can be bought from regular stores or online.

To ensure that the backup battery system is really working, users or their loved ones helping them can run periodic checks on it. This is done by unplugging the power supply from the base unit and listening to prompts that announce the base unit as “Running on battery power.”

Freedom Alert Complaints

The main complaints about the Freedom Alert 35911 centers around the battery recharging system. One critical element of any medical alert system is for the pendant to always be powered up to run. As explained above, the system comes with a pair of Lithium Ion batteries with a modified design, specific to the Freedom Alert system. One battery stays in the charger of the base unit, while the second battery is inserted into the medical alert pendant to power it.

Problems Recharging Batteries

A few users have complained about how their batteries stopped working after roughly a few months. Sometimes, it’s due to the batteries failing. Another reason is what some users call a “flawed” design of the charging system. It is such that it is can be difficult to make contact between the battery and the charger. So even perfectly working Freedom Alert specific batteries can become a challenge to charge.

When the batteries appear not to be working, users are left scratching their heads wondering why the batteries are failing so quickly – is it the battery, or a lack of adeptness in fitting the battery correctly into a charging position? It can be difficult to test.

Difficult To Test/Troubleshoot

One user found out that batteries he thought was bad was actually working when he tried it on a generic Lithium Ion battery charger. However, this test is not something that can be easily duplicated as it requires a certain level of technical adeptness to carry out (as Freedom Alert batteries are modified in design). This user flat out states he recommends this only for more technically adept seniors.

Special Battery Design Adds To Trouble

What compounds the issue is that their system is designed to accept only specially designed Lithium Ion batteries that needs to be purchased through Logic Mark. A few users said that when they to tried to order these special batteries, they are out of stock and there is a wait to get them. This is not a good thing, as users purchasing a medical alert system need it to work predictably well all the time.

Helpful Support

To their credit, Logic Mark seems very helpful to users if they call and ask for assistance on the issue. For sure, if it takes a lot to correctly position and get the batteries charged, it makes the product difficult to use. However, a lot of users do seem to find their way around the product, or they were able to get the help they needed by calling the company

Summary

The Freedom Alert 35911 is a system that can connect senior users with either their contacts or 911. They do what regular monitored medical alert systems can do but without the repeated monthly fees. The product is well-thought out but does have a few complaints as described. Overall, many buy it and like it because they feel that the value provided outweigh the cons. For users who are somewhat technically adept, this can be an excellent and reliable personal emergency response system that free them from annoying monthly fees.

Disclosure: We earn referral commissions for qualified purchases (details).

 
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While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this review, the information is supplied without warranties of any kind. We advise all readers to do careful due diligence before purchasing.