Automating your blinds isn't easy, here's everything you need to know
Smart blinds hark back to the days of luxury home automation, but there are now stylish and simple options that don’t cost the earth.
There are now a host of different options open to those looking to control blinds and shades remotely – and as you’d expect, compatibility with the latest smart speakers and voice assistants including Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri via Apple HomeKit is the hot topic.
However – choosing, and then installing, the best smart blinds isn’t always easy task.
If you’re doing it properly, you’ll need to speak to some of the brands below and really get a bespoke option – and we’re not just talking about colour and size, and whether it fits inside your window frame, or over the top.
A lot of the big players are still pretty old school in terms of the tech – so bear with us while we try to unpack that. Also, in many cases prices depend on so many factors, you’ll need to dive in and explore.
Smart blinds: What are your options?
You can go out and order made-to-measure electric blinds and roller shades – but that’s the expensive option from the likes of Lutron and Somfy. There are always boutique options out there for home automation, but increasingly, older, analogue, motorized, blinds can be reverse engineered into being smart.
Taking advantage of these generally means having a roller blind with a chain mechanism. There a handful of motors on the market which can be used to automate the process – which you can then start integrating with your smart home tech.
Ikea has also entered the market recently, albeit with a slow roll out of its Trådfri connected electronic blinds.
Finally, you can do this yourself from scratch. With a motor, a couple of sensors and a controller you can effectively make your own smart blinds as a weekend project.
More on that later. In the meantime, here’s your smart blind picks.
SmartWings Roller Shades
Buy now: smartwingshome.com | From $154.99
SmartWings has one of the most comprehensive smart blind solutions going, not only letting you choose the exact size, color and style of blind you want but also the smart home ecosystem you want it to live within.
When you choose the style, color and size of the blinds you want (and what you side you want your motor on) you also select how you want your connected shades to sync with your smart home.
Whatever your preference SmartWings has you covered. Its blinds work with all three major ecosystems: Alexa, Google Home and HomeKit, plus there are also Zigbee models for SmartThings users and Matter compatibility is coming as standard too, as well.
Add to that Thread, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and its own sub-1GHz standard (which the remote in the box operates with) and you’re looking at an option where nobody should be left out.
Installation, whether you opt for inside or outside mount, is a breeze and we’ve been massively impressed with the effectiveness of the black-out finish we’ve had on test.
The built-in whisper-quiet motor that operates at just 35dB and there’s a 2200mAh Lin-Ion rechargeable battery on board that offers around 4 to 6 months of battery life, so there’s no need for ugly wires.
Obviously with the array of voice assistants available you can have these smart blinds operating within routines, trigger automations and the like; and there’s also the option to keep things simple with a remote or the SmartWings app.
A truly top pick, with no extra hub needed if you’ve already got a smart home system setup in your house.
Eve MotionBlinds
Buy now: motionblinds.com/eve| Price varies depending on size and style
When Eve MotionBlinds were first announced back in 2022, they were the first smart blinds and shades to support Thread and we were told that they would also be Matter smart home compliant once the smart home standard went live.
We’re still waiting for that Matter compatibility in late 2023, although we’re assured it’s coming soon, but in the meantime the range of styles, types, finishes and colors has grown dramatically; as has the amount of places where they are now available.
The original Eve MotionBlinds, which work with Apple HomeKit, were a result of a partnership with window coverings specialist Coulisse and there’s now a growing network of resellers that offer the range, globally.
In early 2023 the Eve MotionBlinds Upgrade Kit for Roller Blinds also went live, featuring mounting brackets, covers and a set of adapters that are able to help users fit the all-important motor into their existing roller blind tube; effectively making their dumb blinds smart.
Read our full Eve MotionBlinds review to find out more.
Soma Smart Shades 2
Buy now: somasmarthome.com | $149 / £129
If you’re looking for a retrofit option, Soma is the avenue to explore.
Now out with a second edition, the Smart Shades 2 are visually unchanged, but address our main complaints with the original.
These little units attach to your wall, and chow down on your blind’s link chain, essentially replacing your hands in the equation. There’s no need to buy new roller shades or get a bespoke fitting, as long as your blinds have link chain it should be plug and play.
We’ve been testing them and they’re so easy to fit – and once the unit is charged up, it took next to no time to hook it on and use the sticky pads to mount to the wall. There are also holes to screw in the unit too for a more sturdy fit.
Once Soma is fitted you can control the blinds from your smartphone – but there’s no button control on the unit itself, which is a shame.
The first generation was noisy and really really slow – comically so. We’re pleased that the Smart Shades 2 are 4x faster than the original, and a little quieter as well.
It’s far better to set up schedules and triggers in the app, rather than do it manually – as one small blind took around 5 minutes to fully open or close. You can trigger around sunrise and sunset, which is pretty neat.
Soma has the complete suite of smart integrations, with Alexa, Google Assistant and HomeKit in the line-up. This requires the Soma Connect $99 module to be plugged into your router, which is in turn connected to your chosen Assistant.
While the Soma set up was seamless for the main, Soma Connect was more fiddly. We got Alexa to use the “Alexa, ask Soma to open/close blinds“, but blinds don’t appear as a device in Alexa’s list, so it can’t be implemented as a Routine.
Somfy smart blinds
Buy now: Powered Blinds | Price varies depending on size and style
Somfy is a giant name in smart blinds on both sides of the pond – the French company is actually a motorized motor specialist. This means you it will sort the mechanics and you can choose from hundreds of designs, sizes and materials from a large range of suppliers Somfy has partnered with.
We’ve tested the Somfy Roll Up Wirefree; a battery powered quiet drive motor, along with an all-in-one grey roller blind. The motor is part of Somfy’s RTS range and doesn’t have to be smart at all. There are a range of Somfy RTS controllers that can be used to move the blinds up and down, and you will also find an up/down remote control boxed with the blinds. Somfy also has a huge array of of sensors that can be paired up to move the blinds – movement, sunlight and more.
Things get interesting when you start controlling the blinds with connected apps and voice assistants – especially as the Tahoma skill has recently been updated so as Somfy blinds are recognised as devices within Amazon’s ecosystem. Google Assistant, which has only recently been added, is also straightforward when it comes to smart speaker control.
Simple open/close command work a treat, and it’s easier than ever to include opening or closing within automated routines. I’ve got it so that when I say, “Alexa, I’m going to work” to the Echo speaker in my kitchen, my office blinds open alongside Alexa firing up my computer, speakers and the like at the same time.
IFTTT recipes can also be found to combine to open and close the blinds depending on geolocation, sunrise/sunset, motion detection and more.
Ikea Fyrtur, Tredansen, Praktylsing and Kadrilj smart blinds
Buy now: ikea.com | From $129 / £90
Ikea’s motorized smart blind pair are essentially battery-powered blinds that interact with the Ikea Home smart app and the Trådfri gateway; that also means they can sync up with Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit.
All of the range look fairly similar to your regular blinds – not a shock, obviously – with the differentiator coming in the form of a small compartment for the battery. Fyrtur and Tredansen are also block-out blinds; so are more suited for bedrooms. All of the range come in an array of different sizes.
For example, the Fyrtur blackout smart blinds come in eight different sizes; ranging from 23 to 48 inches in width. They all have a maximum drop of around 77 inches.
Like the rest of Ikea’s smart home range, you have the choice to control them using a paired remote control or making them genuinely smart by syncing them with the Trådfri Gateway. If you do the latter, you open up the likes of Google Assistant, Alexa and HomeKit voice controls, routines and the like.
The smart blinds themselves operate using Zigbee so, in theory, you could also add them directly to a smart home hub – although you might find the process a touch fiddly; on SmartThings, for example, you’ll have to make use of a custom handler, you won’t be able to simply add it as a device as you would a Zigbee smart bulb or plug.
The Ikea blinds are now available from furniture giant’s online store in the US – previously you had to go to a store to get them.
Aside from the smarts, you can operate the blinds with the included remote control and one remote can also operate multiple blinds.
Lutron Serena
Buy now: serenashades.com | Price varies depending on size and style
Controllable via Amazon Alexa, HomeKit and Google Assistant, Lutron offers smart blinds off the shelf. Its website has a tool that enables you to design your blinds, window by window. It’s surprisingly easy and you can select any size of window, colour and roll-type – there’s both honeycomb and roller available – before getting to the all-important tech choice.
You can choose the company’s own remote control, the smart home option which requires the purchase of the Lutron Smart Bridge, or both. The Smart Bridge works with Nest, SmartThings, Wink, Logitech Harmony and Sonos – so you can really get your home working together. Want your blinds to go down at sunset? It’s all possible.
Aqara Roller Shade Driver E1
Buy now: Amazon | $TBC/ £59.99
An excellent, budget retro-fit option, Aqara’s easy-to-install (it took me 10 minutes) smart blind driver has just gone on sale in Europe (US availability still to be confirmed).
You need to pair the Roller Shade Driver to a Aqara smart home hub (there are a a few available) but, once you have, they are compatible with HomeKit, Alexa and Google Home; so it’s easy enough to create routines and automations for opening and shutting, as well as using voice commands.
You can also pair it, via the Hub, to Aqara’s vast range of smart home sensors. The companion app and remote switches can also control the Shade Driver manually.
There’s a 2-month battery life per charge, but you can also opt to give it constant power supply using 5V USB-C.
It works with plastic and metal beads between 3-6 millimetres, which makes it compatible with the majority of existing shades.
Sunsa Wand
Buy now: sunsahomes.com | From £65
The Sunsa Wand, which originally launched on Indiegogo for pre-orders in 2020, is a battery-powered device that simply replaces your wand/tilt mechanism on your existing blinds.
Dubbed, “the world’s simplest smart blind”, the Sunsa Wand can be installed in less than 2 minutes, with no special tools needed. You simply have to remove your existing tilt mechanism and pop the Wand into place.
The Sunsa Wand is able to work with horizontal, vertical and mini blinds, and you are able to control and adjust the opening and closing settings, set schedules and the like all through a connected smartphone app.
With Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility, the possibilities to sync up your Sunsa Wand smart blinds with the rest of your connected devices are pretty limitless.
Those Indiegogo pre-orders are now starting to ship, so we await an update on wider availability.
Velux Active with Netatmo
Buy now: Home Depot (US) / Velux Blinds Direct (UK) | $315 / £220
If you’re looking for something incredibly fancy and smart, this new partnership with Velux and Netatmo is where you should set your gaze. However, be warned that it could be very expensive.
That’s because you first have to purchase and install Velux Integra roof windows, blinds or shutters. This itself varies on the style of window you want, the type of blinds, the color, the motor options and the rest.
Once you do all that, you can get the Velux Active starter pack – which is now available in the US. It monitors humidity, temperature, and CO2 via sensors and takes care of ventilation all by itself. So if it needs to air out your home, it’ll open the windows. The Active also makes all of this compatible with HomeKit, so you can get Siri in on the action too.
Luxaflex
Buy now: luxaflex.com.au | Price varies depending on size and style
If you’re down in Australia, Luxaflex is your best option. Not only does Luxaflex offer a whole host of shutter and blind options to choose from, making it easy to find a style that best fits your decor, but they can integrate a host of third party services and brands to make it happen.
There are a number of motorisation options, for instance, from PowerView to QMotion to another option on this list, Somfy. There are even motorised blinds that are solar powered by the sun. Most of Luxaflex’s options work with Google Assistant, Zigbee systems and IFTTT, so there are plenty of smart control options too.
Smart Blinds: Do It Yourself
Approx £550
No, that’s not the name of a cool SF startup, we literally mean DIY. Earlier on we mentioned the option of making your own smart blinds and we weren’t lying. We’re going to get our spanners out and give this a go for a proper how-to in the coming weeks.
All you’ll need is a power adapter, some blinds, some tape, an RF device, a motor and an ‘Android Box’ and you’re away. Good luck.
