I didn’t trust matter so I went the HomeKit version, agreed that you want to get a remote for each room. Installation was easy, one of our roller shades was damaged and they quickly sent a replacement
A tip for avoiding length issues on the roller shade - order the shade with more fabric than you need. You can set the max up and down points using the remote, so it's better to have extra fabric so you can have some wiggle room.
The raw nature of your reviews is great. Showing folks the trouble and actually sensing the frustration can help folks decide if they are ready for some unscripted troubleshooting or they would prefer to find something pricier but easier to troubleshoot.
I would disagree I think the battery looks very odd on the front of the shade and doesn’t blend in at all. The other thing is I think the motor does sound cheap.
Exactly, and if they claim the battery lasts 5-6 years, why on earth they have placed it front and centre for easy replacement. Makes no sense from the design and engineering stand point. As to motor, yes, I was attracted until I heard the motor haha Thanks for the video Eric!
I have the eve shades. They’re more expensive but have a pull chain for controlling if someone doesn’t what to use it in a “smarthome” way. Major feature for me
I’m very excited to watch more of your videos! I’m starting to do a little automation of my first house and so far it’s mostly been smart lights and outlets, making scenes, and changing things based on time or one button press. Smart shades have been on my desired list but when I ordered non-smart shades when I moved in they all came about 1 inch too big to fit in the windows which was so frustrating so I’m a bit nervous about the shades
I bought one of the Zigbee versions before the matter version was out and mine has been great, 2 minor complaints. The motor sound is a bit loud, doesn't sound stressed or weak, just that its loud. The motor does have a nice acceleration toward the bottom and top which helps make it seem nicer. And my zigbee signal was very inconsistent while other zigbee devices near it were fine. Once I placed a repeater near it, it has worked fine for months. Just charged it for the first time since the initial install and it opens and closes once every day since September (6 months). I loved the price and I would definitely buy more for a future house. You get like 80% of the experience of the Lutron for about 40% the cost.
Hi Eric, good video. I have had my smartwings blinds for over a year now, I love them they look and work like a premium product. I have the roller shaded and I have 17 of them. one tip if one should go off line just hold the little button but the charger and put it in sleep/shipping mode wait a few seconds and wake it back up and you are good to go! that is for the roller shades I do not have the other shaded with the external battery. I do think its a apple thing that causes it
I have 7 of the Shangri-La shades and 1 vinyl shade(for a door blackout). Been operating them for a little over 2 years now, no issues until recently when one went offline. Remote still works for it and i havent tried to fix it yet(lazy). I have an alexa scene that makes them fold open and then another that opens them completely. The fold open is nice because it still obscures what is inside the house but lets more light in and lets me see outside through like a screen view. Sadly the cat hooked a nail on one, so i might replace it. I wish they had a way to swap the fabric part out since the motor is fine. As far as the solar panels go, i bought those for all but one which is on a door. It keeps each one about 50% full. The one on the front of my house and side are blocked by trees, so i have to plug them in once and a while to get them back up to 100% charge. I may have mounted the solar panels too high in the window to capture light correctly as well. You cant see the solar panels though, which is why i mounted them so high. I will say it took me way longer to take down my vertical blinds than it did to mount the smart wings. I made a template for the first one since mine are all inset mounted, so i was able to use that to quickly mount the new ones on each window. The verticals were just soo ridiculously brittle, they just snapped apart and crumbled as i took them down ( lol ). Good review btw! ( mine are zwave and it was quick to link them, took me a minute to figure out open or folded open settings though. )
I just bout two cellular shades with HomeKit over thread. They arrive today so I’m curious to see what their performance is like. They will be mounted high up so I also purchased the solar panels. Hopefully I don’t have the connectivity issues
i'm debating solar panels. I have 3 windows I can't easily reach over a stair case so hoping to only install once and forget it for at least a few years.
Thanks for the review. I'm likely to fill my new house with these things. I just can't decide which motor to get. Matter is the most expensive option, but it seems to be problematic, All I really want is a reliable remote - I assume the Smartwings remote will be reliable, and I also want to be able to have Alexa control them. What's the best motor for that?
Great video Eric! Quick question: If the shades become unresponsive either through the remote or smart home app, is there a manual override that you can use to close the shades?
Yeah….Id definitely just get the HomeKit version, I just don’t trust matter with big purchases like that. A $30 smart plug, sure…. Hundreds of dollars in blinds, absolutely no shot. And if I’m ever converting my home over to Google or Alexa, something will have gone horribly wrong in the world, and at that point…blinds would be irrelevant 😂.
Interesting about your experience of saying "blinds" vs "shades" - it's the opposite for my SwitchBot Blind Tilt. When we say "close the [room] blinds" the HomePod Mini starts asking which room and what we want to do with the lights and other nonsense. So we actually have to make sure that we are saying "shades" and it works fine.
I have 7 swartwings roller shades and two sets of curtains (drapery). 6 months in. All of the shades are matter via thread used with homekit. About once a month, one or two of them will go unresponsive. Annoying. I have 3 apple TV 4K's (hardwired) and one homepod mini. Just have to reset them and they start working again. Battery life is about 6 months which is what I think they advertise. Overall happy with the purchase, but I wish they were a bit more reliable with uptime at this cost.
i will add- when they go unresponsive, I have found that holding the button on the motor until they jog 3 times will put them in to some sort of sleep mode. Wait 10 seconds or so and hold the button until they jog once and let go. This has instantly made them responsive in the Home app again for me.
@@blakelarson93 When you say the go unresponsive, what does that mean? Do they not respond to their own remote, or just Matter via Thread with Homekit?
@@SoCalVipersthey go offline after awhile and you have to reset and redo the whole pairing again which is a pain. Sometimes they come back online out of nowhere but it's very random. The only reliable solution is to have them send you a smartthing hub. Even that was very finicky to set up but once it's on, it's reliable. I use the Matter shades to connect to my Google home, I don't know about homekit.
Matter doesn't work with google. They will randomly go offline and need to be reset each time to reconnect. They know the issue and admitted that Google hasn't been willing to work with them to fix it and basically ignored them.
Too bad u didn’t compare HomeKit vs Matter versions from smartwings. Or discuss the dial remote except in passing. Or discuss other mounting options for the battery. Will those blinds stop at anywhere you say in the home app or only open, closed or maybe just halfway? Most Matter devices in HomeKit aren’t great at this time. For example, SwitchBot matter a device that should have options such as their ceiling light or fan is just an on/off switch in apple home. If it’s not a ‘sponsored’ video, how about more comparisons, there are at least 3 more brands than Lutron and smartwings, vendors w/ either HomeKit or HomeKit/matter options like eve, graywind, ikea [limited width options], zemismart [roller only, so not on my list],etc. Compare and contrast buddy, ur the one w/ the channel and getting most for free.
Small Corrections:
Battery life is 5-6 months not years 🙃
You can alternatively power your shades with solar panels from SmartWings on the windows.
I didn’t trust matter so I went the HomeKit version, agreed that you want to get a remote for each room. Installation was easy, one of our roller shades was damaged and they quickly sent a replacement
A tip for avoiding length issues on the roller shade - order the shade with more fabric than you need. You can set the max up and down points using the remote, so it's better to have extra fabric so you can have some wiggle room.
The raw nature of your reviews is great. Showing folks the trouble and actually sensing the frustration can help folks decide if they are ready for some unscripted troubleshooting or they would prefer to find something pricier but easier to troubleshoot.
Thanks Dr. Cole!
I would disagree I think the battery looks very odd on the front of the shade and doesn’t blend in at all. The other thing is I think the motor does sound cheap.
Exactly, and if they claim the battery lasts 5-6 years, why on earth they have placed it front and centre for easy replacement. Makes no sense from the design and engineering stand point.
As to motor, yes, I was attracted until I heard the motor haha
Thanks for the video Eric!
Get 5 or 6 going at the same time and it will sound super cheap!
I feel like that battery is a joke, is it really supposed to be mounted like that? Feels like a major smartwings oversight.
I have the eve shades. They’re more expensive but have a pull chain for controlling if someone doesn’t what to use it in a “smarthome” way. Major feature for me
I’m very excited to watch more of your videos! I’m starting to do a little automation of my first house and so far it’s mostly been smart lights and outlets, making scenes, and changing things based on time or one button press.
Smart shades have been on my desired list but when I ordered non-smart shades when I moved in they all came about 1 inch too big to fit in the windows which was so frustrating so I’m a bit nervous about the shades
I believe the "share" vs "blind" language may depend on which icon you've chosen for the device in Apple Home.
I bought one of the Zigbee versions before the matter version was out and mine has been great, 2 minor complaints. The motor sound is a bit loud, doesn't sound stressed or weak, just that its loud. The motor does have a nice acceleration toward the bottom and top which helps make it seem nicer. And my zigbee signal was very inconsistent while other zigbee devices near it were fine. Once I placed a repeater near it, it has worked fine for months. Just charged it for the first time since the initial install and it opens and closes once every day since September (6 months). I loved the price and I would definitely buy more for a future house. You get like 80% of the experience of the Lutron for about 40% the cost.
Hi Eric, good video. I have had my smartwings blinds for over a year now, I love them they look and work like a premium product. I have the roller shaded and I have 17 of them. one tip if one should go off line just hold the little button but the charger and put it in sleep/shipping mode wait a few seconds and wake it back up and you are good to go! that is for the roller shades I do not have the other shaded with the external battery. I do think its a apple thing that causes it
I have 7 of the Shangri-La shades and 1 vinyl shade(for a door blackout). Been operating them for a little over 2 years now, no issues until recently when one went offline. Remote still works for it and i havent tried to fix it yet(lazy). I have an alexa scene that makes them fold open and then another that opens them completely. The fold open is nice because it still obscures what is inside the house but lets more light in and lets me see outside through like a screen view. Sadly the cat hooked a nail on one, so i might replace it. I wish they had a way to swap the fabric part out since the motor is fine. As far as the solar panels go, i bought those for all but one which is on a door. It keeps each one about 50% full. The one on the front of my house and side are blocked by trees, so i have to plug them in once and a while to get them back up to 100% charge. I may have mounted the solar panels too high in the window to capture light correctly as well. You cant see the solar panels though, which is why i mounted them so high. I will say it took me way longer to take down my vertical blinds than it did to mount the smart wings. I made a template for the first one since mine are all inset mounted, so i was able to use that to quickly mount the new ones on each window. The verticals were just soo ridiculously brittle, they just snapped apart and crumbled as i took them down ( lol ). Good review btw! ( mine are zwave and it was quick to link them, took me a minute to figure out open or folded open settings though. )
I just bout two cellular shades with HomeKit over thread. They arrive today so I’m curious to see what their performance is like. They will be mounted high up so I also purchased the solar panels. Hopefully I don’t have the connectivity issues
i'm debating solar panels. I have 3 windows I can't easily reach over a stair case so hoping to only install once and forget it for at least a few years.
Thanks for the review. I'm likely to fill my new house with these things. I just can't decide which motor to get. Matter is the most expensive option, but it seems to be problematic, All I really want is a reliable remote - I assume the Smartwings remote will be reliable, and I also want to be able to have Alexa control them. What's the best motor for that?
Great video Eric! Quick question: If the shades become unresponsive either through the remote or smart home app, is there a manual override that you can use to close the shades?
Yes, there is a small physical button on the motor that you can click once to open or close.
Yeah….Id definitely just get the HomeKit version, I just don’t trust matter with big purchases like that. A $30 smart plug, sure…. Hundreds of dollars in blinds, absolutely no shot. And if I’m ever converting my home over to Google or Alexa, something will have gone horribly wrong in the world, and at that point…blinds would be irrelevant 😂.
Hi dear, would you like to review Zemismart matter thread roller shade too?
Interesting about your experience of saying "blinds" vs "shades" - it's the opposite for my SwitchBot Blind Tilt. When we say "close the [room] blinds" the HomePod Mini starts asking which room and what we want to do with the lights and other nonsense. So we actually have to make sure that we are saying "shades" and it works fine.
Forgot to mention you can use a solar pannel
I have 7 swartwings roller shades and two sets of curtains (drapery). 6 months in. All of the shades are matter via thread used with homekit. About once a month, one or two of them will go unresponsive. Annoying. I have 3 apple TV 4K's (hardwired) and one homepod mini. Just have to reset them and they start working again. Battery life is about 6 months which is what I think they advertise. Overall happy with the purchase, but I wish they were a bit more reliable with uptime at this cost.
i will add- when they go unresponsive, I have found that holding the button on the motor until they jog 3 times will put them in to some sort of sleep mode. Wait 10 seconds or so and hold the button until they jog once and let go. This has instantly made them responsive in the Home app again for me.
Looks almost the same as IKEA smart shades
My IKEA ones have been rock solid.
@@blakelarson93 When you say the go unresponsive, what does that mean? Do they not respond to their own remote, or just Matter via Thread with Homekit?
@@SoCalVipersthey go offline after awhile and you have to reset and redo the whole pairing again which is a pain. Sometimes they come back online out of nowhere but it's very random. The only reliable solution is to have them send you a smartthing hub. Even that was very finicky to set up but once it's on, it's reliable. I use the Matter shades to connect to my Google home, I don't know about homekit.
Matter doesn't work with google. They will randomly go offline and need to be reset each time to reconnect. They know the issue and admitted that Google hasn't been willing to work with them to fix it and basically ignored them.
Matter seems to be DOA. Not anything to do with these Smartwings which look like a good option (besides that battery mounting).
Too bad u didn’t compare HomeKit vs Matter versions from smartwings. Or discuss the dial remote except in passing. Or discuss other mounting options for the battery. Will those blinds stop at anywhere you say in the home app or only open, closed or maybe just halfway?
Most Matter devices in HomeKit aren’t great at this time. For example, SwitchBot matter a device that should have options such as their ceiling light or fan is just an on/off switch in apple home.
If it’s not a ‘sponsored’ video, how about more comparisons, there are at least 3 more brands than Lutron and smartwings, vendors w/ either HomeKit or HomeKit/matter options like eve, graywind, ikea [limited width options], zemismart [roller only, so not on my list],etc. Compare and contrast buddy, ur the one w/ the channel and getting most for free.