SmartWings for SmartThings – Zigbee Roller Shades
Recently I reviewed a fantastic roller blind made by Zemismart. Today I’ll be reviewing blind selections which are offered by SmartWings. SmartWings blinds and shades are powered by a Zigbee motor. These blinds have a distinct advantage over other smart blinds. Read on to learn more...
Today I’m reviewing the SmartWings line of window treatments. These motorized window blinds and shades are custom made to your specifications. By following the SmartWings measurement guide, you can easily determine the proper width and length for either an inside or outside window application.
SmartWings offers fashionable shades which provide a reduction of noise as well as a measure of thermal insulation. These shades are suitable for the living room, bedroom, study or a business or home office.
The blinds are offered in various light filtering levels to include 50, 70 and 100% light filtering. The 100% blackout blinds are ideal for daytime sleepers and they also work great in media room applications.
The blinds are equipped with a lithium battery, which provides a cordless design that is safer for children and pets.
The rechargeable lithium-ion battery will supply power to the blind for 4-6 months of daily operation. The motor is quiet, operating at less than 35 decibels.
As mentioned previously, this particular Zigbee roller blind has one distinct advantage over many other smart blinds as it relates to the SmartThings Hub. That benefit is that SmartWings blinds are listed in the SmartThings device list as a compatible blind. In other words, these blinds work out of the box with SmartThings without the need of a custom device handler.
SmartWings blinds also work with other Zigbee capable devices including the Echo Plus 2nd Generation, Echo Show 2nd Generation, Echo Studio, the Echo Show 10 and the Echo 4th Generation devices. SmartWings also offers a HomeKit Smart Motor which is compatible with Apple TV, HomePod, iPad and iPhone. They even have a blind motor that can be controlled solely by the provided remote.
SmartWings offers a wide selection of window treatments. You can choose from Woven Wood Shades, Zebra Shades and Roller Shades. Each shade and blind is offered in a variety of colors and textures.
SmartWings sent me is the 100% Blackout Safari Roller blind. The Fabric color is Midnight. The blind is coated with a rubberized backing that blocks 100% of the exterior light. The blind is powered with a SmartThings compatible Zigbee Smart Motor. It was nicely packaged and was shipped with installation and instruction manuals, a wireless remote, mounting brackets and fasteners.
SmartWings also sent me two sets of fabric samples. One set contains the rubberized blackout blind samples and the second set included a wide selection of light filtering shades. You may order these sample sets via my Amazon Store. These samples will help you match available shade textures and colors with your home decor. There is large variety of textures and colors, as you can see.
SmartWings provides clear installation instructions which made it easy for me to mount my blind. The blind mounting brackets are equipped with channel clips that fasten in to a track on the rear of the roller shade housing. Once you mount the brackets on the wall, the blind is easily snapped in place.
Once the shade is mounted, you must then wake the motor to exit sleep mode. To wake the motor, hold the programming button on the motor head until the motor jogs once. Using the provided remote, you can now test the pre-programmed upper and lower limits. If adjustments are required, just follow the provided instructions for adjusting the shades limits.
SmartWings gets high marks for product installation and programming guides. The blinds are provided with four pamphlets to include a “Quick Start Guide”, a “Hardware Installation Guide”, a “Remote Programming Guide” and an Amazon Alexa Programming Guide”. The remote programming guide is fairly extensive providing detailed instructions for Adjusting Limits, Remote and Motor Pairing, Mirroring Remotes, Group Control of multiple shades, Adjusting Motor Speed, and more.
Although instructions specific to SmartThings are somewhat sparse, pairing the shade to the ST App was fairly straightforward once I discovered the proper paring selection within the SmartThings device list. To begin paring on the roller blind, just press the motor head programming button for 6 seconds until the motor jogs twice, then release the button. The red light indicates that you have entered paring mode. The motor led light will flash green 3 times to verify that paring with SmartThings is complete.
So, do I recommend this blind? Absolutely! It is attractive, reliable and operates quietly during opening or closing. It can be controlled by a ST Routine, with Echo voice commands or with the provided remote control.
You might be curious about how the blind compares to the Zemismart blind which I reviewed previously. The blinds are very similar. They are attractive, well constructed and very quiet in operation. However, if you are looking for an out-of-the-box, plug-and-play solution, then the SmartWings blinds are the better choice. The Zemismart blinds require knowledge for installing a custom device handler. This makes Zemismart blinds unsuitable for a novice smart home enthusiast.
SmartWings are SmartThings friendly and they offer a wide variety of blinds and shades that are sure to complement your home. If you are looking to add smart blinds to your smart home, then these blinds are definitely worth considering.
To view and purchase these attractive blinds, checkout my Bud’s Smart Home website or Amazon Store. To find my sites, just follow the links that are included with this video. Hey, thanks for joining me today. Until next time, keep automating and God Bless!
