Personal alarm for older people: watches and pendants with a SIM, compared
An SOS button without a monitoring centre is a watch or pendant with a SIM card: when pressed, it calls or messages the relatives you set up, with the location. There is no care centre behind it. It is cheaper than telecare and it also does less.
SOS button or telecare: the difference
- SOS button: alerts the family. If nobody answers, nothing else happens.
- Telecare: alerts a centre that answers 24 hours a day and arranges help.
- Both need mobile signal where the button is pressed.
If the person lives alone and the family is far away, read the telecare guide first: in the Valencian Community it can be free.
Three examples with a price
| Device | What it includes | Price |
|---|---|---|
| SaveFamily Senior | 4G, fall detection | 99 € plus subscription |
| Tracmi B6 | SOS watch with location | 99 € plus 12 € a month |
| Abubu | SOS watch | 114.99 € |
Prices taken from a June 2026 comparison by El Independiente. Always check two things before buying: whether the monthly fee is required for the button to work, and which operator the SIM uses.
The real limit: signal
These devices carry a SIM and talk over the mobile network, like a phone. If the phone has no signal in the bathroom or the bedroom, neither does the button. Emergency services explain that 112 can be dialled from any mobile even when your own operator has no coverage, using another network; but if no network at all reaches inside the house, no call is possible. That is why it is worth testing: press the test button in every room and check that the call goes through.
We never promise that a device guarantees an emergency call. What we can do is measure the signal in each room and tell you whether there is a coverage problem.
Where the figures come from
Prices checked in September 2026. They change: take them as an order of magnitude and always ask for the final price in writing.
Questions about this
Does it detect falls?
Does a UK phone or a foreign SIM work?
Tell us about your home, we will reply
If you want to check the signal room by room before buying the device, tell us where the house is.
Your message reaches HolaSignal, us, and nobody else. We do not work with partner installers and we do not pass your details to any company without asking you first. We reply ourselves, in writing.