Acetone, as one of the volatile organic compounds, is harmful to human health. Thus, fast detection at an early stage plays a vital role. ZnSnO 3 shows the merit for a wide range responsivity to VOCs, but the pure ZnSnO 3 has slow response-recovery speeds. Herein, the sensors based on urchin-like ZnSnO 3 /α-Fe 2 O 3 hierarchical hollow microspheres were synthesized by a simple two-step liquid-phase reaction. Porous α-Fe 2 O 3 nanowires with lengths of about 30 nm and diameters of around 2.5 nm were densely anchored on the surface of ZnSnO 3 microspheres, forming "urchin-like" geometries, which increased the specific surface area and supplied more active sites for the fast adsorption-desorption of gas molecules. An excellent gas sensing response value (14.24) and ultra-fast response-recovery times (3/8 s) have been recorded in as-obtained urchin-like ZnSnO 3 /α-Fe 2 O 3 composite sensors at 200 °C. Compared with the pure ZnSnO 3 and α-Fe 2 O 3 sensors, the ZnSnO 3 /α-Fe 2 O 3 sensor displayed an obvious enhancement in gas sensing properties for acetone, which can be put down to high surface area, porous nanostructure, and the synergistic effect of ZnSnO 3 and α-Fe 2 O 3 .