David S.
This is a review after only 6 weeks with these blinds.
For a new home under construction, I wanted to have full automation over most of the window blinds. After researching different companies and the options from each, I settled on SmartWings blinds for a few reasons, chief among them:
* Wired power as an option (instead of battery),
* Matter protocol integration with Home Assistant,
* And a variety of style, material, color, and variations from room darkening to blackout.
After careful measurements, and triple-checking those measurements, I placed an order for 11 blinds, which included a large 8 ft wide window, a few 6 ft wide, and a variety of others.
Before placing the order, I was looking at how to power them - and I didn't want to plug in a USB-C adapter each time one needed a charge (and some of the blinds would be hard to reach). Adding solar panels would block part of the window and be visible unless I set the top limit lower than I wanted.
And as this was a new construction, I could bury the power wires into the wall and it would be completely hidden.
I had settled on the DC powered blinds but didn't really like the cost of the central power supply (even though I understand how it is necessarily protecting each individual circuit). Literally a couple of weeks before placing the order, SmartWings came out with their Power over Ethernet (PoE) option, and I was sold on that.
For this new home I had planned to run power to each of the windows, so this was just a swap from a twisted pair to running a CAT6 cable - both versions would be 'home run' from each window back to the single power source. I ran network cable to dozens of locations during construction, so this wasn't difficult to add 11 more runs.
I had a few problems, and the blame gets spread around, and split between my fault and SmartWings.
Out of the Box Installation:
* 11 of the 11 blinds worked out of the box and were already configured for the direction, raise, and lower limits for each specific window based on our original order.
* 1 of those stopped responding within a couple of weeks (same unit I had additional problems with as described below).
Adding Home Automation with Home Assistant and Matter Integration and PoE power:
* The first hurdle was a miscommunication by SmartWings. I asked if the blinds get both power and data over Ethernet, and the response was easy to interpret as a 'yes', but they only get power from the cable.
* After I learned that, I needed to quickly research and buy a Matter bridge to let the blinds communicate with Home Assistant on my server. That was an unexpected expense and a few more days of delay.
* 8 of the 11 units paired very easily through the matter bridge. I think I had to retry the pairing once or twice for a few of them, but no big deal.
* As the remaining 3 were not pairing, I reached out to tech support. Tech support asked me to check the Ethernet wiring. Here's where I knew too much about electronics, including how typical PoE works and is wired.
* I plugged in two devices to check the wiring. First, a laptop, and second, a PoE powered Weather display. Both worked, but the blinds wouldn't pair, so I thought it was the blinds and went back to SmartWings support.
* They recommended more tests.
* I plugged in the laptop again, and more carefully tested - determining that I had only 100 Mb and not the expected 1 Gb link. The way Ethernet typically works is a 1 Gb link requires 4-pair of wires to be connected correctly, and it will 'degrade' to 100 Mb if the right 2-pair of wires are correct. And PoE can be connected in different ways and can deliver power with as few as 2 wires.
* With careful inspection of the connectors on each end I figured out that one pair of wires was swapped on two of the three. That got me up to 10 of the 11 working - and only by the persistence of SmartWings support (thank you Ivy!) did I get this far.
* The 11th unit had initially worked with the remote control, then it stopped working, and I never got it to work on Ethernet. One of the key indicators is soon after you plug a blind into the PoE connection, it will blink a green LED about 9 times. This unit never did that.
* After more troubleshooting and exchanging notes with tech support, they shipped me a replacement motor.
That replacement arrived today, and if you can operate a screwdriver, like when you installed the blinds to the window, you can swap the motor. Three screws come out the end-cap. With that out of the way, the motor can be easily pulled out of the tube and the replacement motor installed. Line things up and put the three screws back in.
* I plugged it in to the 11th window and saw the welcome green blinks. I mounted it in the window. It paired easily with the remote and it paired easily with the Matter bridge and Home Assistant, and all 11 are working great!
The brief video is a quick time-lapse of my final SmartWings blind in operation. Take note that not a wire is in sight, as they come out of the wall above the blind in the window frame. Because the wire would be run long before the blinds would arrive, I asked for some details about the wiring possibilities. What really helped me out was that I asked for a 3D Model of the Window blind, in a common model form (Step), and SmartWings delivered!
Admittedly, it has only been a bit over a month since I put the first one in place, but they have been trouble-free, and SmartWings support stayed with me to get the few problems solved. We regularly use both the handheld remote and now some automation with Home Assistant via the Matter bridge.
Sunil A.
Great blinds, smooth and quiet motor, easy install. Def recommend
David K.
Blinds were easy to install, and easily hooked to our phones and scheduling via the Alexa App.
Matthew C.
Easy install of the blind itself. I had to build out the casing so the blind would clear the door handle. The blind and side rails do in easy.
Sunil A.
Amazing shades, high quality feel and look, smooth motor with z-wave connectivity. Easy to install.. Highly recommend
Nadine N.
Came across your website online, read your reviews. Did some research on your company. Thought we would give it a try by ordering window covering for one window to see if we liked them. Turns out the quality is excellent, the install very easy, the mechanism and remote control works perfectly with the solar panel. We will buy more
Keith K.
Easy to install. Looks and works great. Ordering more soon.
Khaled D.
Beautiful and functional
Joe B.
Very happy with the quality of this product. It was easy to install and easy to program with Alexa.
Karla E.
Easy installation, they look great.
Abhinav J.
Easy installation
Scott c.
Easy install and great packaging
Kim P.
Excellent product and buying/installation experience!
Kim P.
Excellent product and buying/installation experience!
Jay S.
Couldn’t be happier with our shade! Our stairwell has a window that faces direct afternoon sun, and it heats up the entire upstairs during the summer.
After researching different brands for a few weeks, we settled on SmartWings. Their price, selection, and features won us over from the competition.
Installation of the blind was easy — what wasn’t so easy was being perched on a ladder 15ft in the air! My wife’s decision to push for the solar panel accessory was a life-saver, now she doesn’t have to worry about me falling when attempting to charge the shade’s motor every few months.
The impact to our power bill, and our comfort level upstairs, has been immediate. I’ve already recommended this company to our neighbors.
Most important was their high quality customer service. During the shipping phase, we had questions about the product shipment updates, and my wife got a super helpful rep on the phone that answered all her questions.
Very happy customers!
Matt M.
"Alexa, watch a movie" is all I need to say to get that pesky glare off of my TV during the day, which was my goal. I also have them open up at sunrise daily using an Alexa routine. This is a great product at a great price. The blinds are well made, with quality materials and function as promised. The blackouts work great and I opted without the angle brackets leaving only a very minimal line that isn't noticeable on my TV.
Linda W.
We LOVE our blinds! It was so easy to measure/order/customize and install. We are so grateful for all the options you have us. We worked with the zigbee option - for us, it was perfect.
Thank you for making this product available to us DIYers!
Douglas H.
Installation was very easy. Programming timing was a little trial and error finding location for setup
Kelly S.
I was worried about measuring these myself but they fit perfectly. They were super easy to install as well. The only downside is that the bottom is not very weighted and my ceiling fan causes the bottom to blow up. I have decorative curtains on each side that keeps it down though.
Eileen & Mike H.
Love the roller shade. Very private and quiet!
Blake D.
Perfectly fits, and is honestly so much better than expected. We are immediately ordering 5 more. Love it!
LEE N.
Very easy to install and work great! Exceptional value for the money.
Max L.
Definitely as good as advertised. Make sure you get your measurements correct. The installation was fairly straightforward. Blinds look and work great. We will probably buy another one.
Sami H.
Customer service A+! I was very nervous part of my order was missing and they responded within 24 hrs with a tracking number to the second part of my shipment.
The blinds were easy to install and I appreciate being able to fit up to 15 blinds on the upgraded remote.
Looking forward to getting the next room in my house done with SmartWings!
Craig R.
Easy install and really love them.
Anna K.
Perfect fit! Super easy to install! Love em!!
Robert T.
I installed 10 SmartWings white linen shades, some 100% blackout and some 70%. All the shades were beautifully packaged and accurately sized. There were no defects of any kind. The largest shade was 88" wide by 78" high, and even that size it works fine.
I'm using the Zigbee protocol motors. Pairing them with Zigbee2mqtt in Home Assistant was very easy. There is even a setting within Z2M to reverse closed and open which I ended up needing.
I really like the appearance. Customer service was helpful, and delivery was surprisingly quick. I know this sounds like a shill review, but I'm just a regular customer who is quite satisfied with the product.
Diane B.
We were able to install and charge the blinds.. we are really enjoying the blinds.
Nick T.
Exceeded our expectations for quality, ease of installation and accuracy. Will use for all our windows!
Andrew W.
These have been fantastic for the last couple of months!
Nicholas B.
Love these roller shades!
Francis B.
It took less than an hour for me to install this shade when it arrived. The shade dimensions were perfect. It works with Amazon Alexa or the remote control. We have a neighbor that leaves a light on most of the night and the blackout material is doing it job and I'm sleeping better. Love it.
Brent E.
Install was super smooth. The included hardware was excellent. Operation is reliable. The Z-Wave pairing code location made it easy to scan after the physical install. It paired to Home Assistant smoothly. I created a good morning and good night automation. The factory paired remote control works great too. I work with commercial roller shades at my job. I could not be happier with this product. I am recommending SmartWings for other residential buyers now.
Emilio P.
Great quality, very easy installation
Arnaud S.
Great product!
I bought just a couple to try and order the rest for my windows. Install very simple, Zwave motors pair perfectly.
I would recommend this product.
Scott S.
It was fast and works great with Google home. Looks very nice on our sliding glass doors in our bedroom. We order from Another blind from Lowes and returned it. Didn't work with Google home and wasn't blackout and 3 times the price, very happy with smartwing,
Bradley E.
Awesome smart shade! Directions could be a little clearer on how to enable Siri (the qr is actually ON THE SHADE), but once I found it, I was good to go!
Michael G.
These blinds look great, work extremely well, and are very simple to install. My electrician had a simple question and the support team at Smart Wings made themselves available to answer their questions.
Judith D.
Perfect. As previous purchase was easy to install. The shade is exactly as ordered. This is our 5th shade ordered from SmartWings.
Rudy V.
The install was made more difficult because of having to mount the brackets to tile. But otherwise, it was pretty easy to set up and operate.
Tina C.
This was my first and I love it. Works beautifully!!!!! Will be definitely ordering more.
Roger O.
Smart wings exceeded my expectations..received them in 8 days…easy to install…remote was preprogrammed…we just love them!
Dean O.
My order arrived quickly, and the installation was extremely easy.
Joseph W.
This is our third purchase of Smart Wings shades. We now have 15 new shades. The reasons we are impressed with your products:
1. The American based customer service answered all questions.
2. The web ordering process is clear and easy to use.
3. The shades arrived quickly and in perfect condition. Excellent packing.
4. The travel limits on the shades were preset as delivered.
5. Lots of choices in style.
6. Very fair price for the quality of product.
7. Best company I've ever worked with!!!
Cowley P.
The order process was simple.
When the blind arrived, I had it installed and working in 30 minutes.
Chris F.
I’m really pleased with my shades. Installation was easy, connecting the Matter motors to HomeKit and Alexa was smooth. The only issue I had was in setting limits, and a phone call got me the support I needed.
Suzanne J.
Very Happy with our First Order with Smartwings. The shipping time to Alaska was very reasonable, the items were packaged with care & detail, installation was so simple and programming the motors & remotes were as easy as 1-2-3. I ordered motorized Black Out Roller Shades with the Light Blockers with 1 remote for all 4 windows and purchased an extra remote for backup. The motors are very quiet and the shades completely block out the sunlight. I Highly Recommend them for customized window treatments!
Cassie M.
This is our second purchase from Smartwings. We’ve been really impressed with the quality and the design. The solar panels are genius. Eventually we’ll get all the window coverings replaced with Smartwings.
Christopher N.
Installed easily work fabulous
Edvard P.
Great price and quality. Fast sure shipping (10days). Thank you
Cory D.
Turned out exactly as advertised.
Gregory P.
After spending a 5x the money on another brand, I found SmartWings, and have been a convert ever since.I’ve since bought 12 blinds, including with light blockers and guide rails, inside and outside install, and have had a great experience with them all.
Tina D.
Excellent customer service and excellent shades. I am so happy with my purchase.
David K.
Great blinds. Easy order process. Easy to install and Marina was lovely and very responsive to my emails about altering my order.
Ann B.
Absolutely love our new roller shades, very easy to install and exactly what we needed. Shipping was very prompt, and packaging was amazing, no damage to any of the products.
Mark G.
We love the HomeKit compatibility!
Daniel P.
Great product and quality!
Debra S.
They were easy to install and they're beautiful match my home and my shares in front of them!
Mallory L.
Easy to install! Took a little bit to figure out pairing with Alexa, but now works great!
Darrin C.
Only had them for a month but the wife and I absolutely love them, not sure how we survived without them before.
Avi C.
Easy to install. Great fabric material. Compatible with wide ranges of devices in my smart home.
Doug B.
They were very easy to install and work great. Just push the button and all 5 lower and raise. Very nice thanks
Mike M.
Easy install and easy integration with Home Assistant.
Allen L.
So far we really love the new blind. Also I really should have ordered the blinds a quarter inch smaller. I ordered at the exact measurements rather than giving any extra space.
Getting the remote, zigbee and home assistant setup took me longer than I would have wanted, but now I understand the process. So far my biggest feedback was that the instructions were a little too sparse and could use some extra details.
I only ordered one blind as a test, but now I am confident to order the remaining windows.
Roger C.
I now have two shades and one remote. They fit perfectly and respond very well. However, the remote is flaky. It sometimes works both shades together and sometimes I need to switch between shades to get them to work. Very inconsistent so evidently I haven’t programmed them correctly. Otherwise I recommend these shades.
Scott S.
These blinds are great, easy to install, instructions are clear, Z-wave easy to setup and configure. I ordered 4 shades to test out, and I will be ordering the rest of the house as I am so impressed (as budget allows).
Make sure you think about which side you want the motor on before ordering if you are using the solar charging option. I ordered one for a back deck sliding glass door, and the motor is on the right side. The door slides to the left, so I had to buy a 6ft USB extension cable to run the solar panel to the other side of the sliding door. Live and learn.
Dan D.
I was a bit nervous because on the website all dimensions are in inches and I needed them in centimeters. I found an inch to cm converter and in the end everything was ok.
I am very satisfied with the product. I will order more in the future.
I was also nervous about how the package would look but was pleasantly surprised to find that it was very well packaged considering the large size of the package.
Sheryl T.
We purchased 2 smaller blinds for 6 ft long windows that are just what we needed.
Steve G.
Easy install and programming
Jeff T.
Gorgeous, functional and EZ install!
Eric M.
Easy installation and connection to Apple HomeKit was seamless.
Matthew J.
Was easy to install and it look great. Paired quickly and easily with my home assistant and it functions as expected. Very happy with them.
John P.
Great product works well, looks good
Kevin S.
Absolutely the best blinds I’ve ever purchased. The sola power option is amazing. The motor is smooth and quiet. The blinds fit perfectly and are 100% black out blinds. Love the remote control. Will definitely be ordering more
Renaldo P.
They look great, work well and are just as advertised! The motor isn't loud but you can hear it working. My windows I installed these on are about 12 feet from the ground so the solar panel is such a time saver. Now I don't have to worry about climbing a ladder to charge them. Overall a great product!
Gregory D.
Great product, even better than I expected! Integrated with my Home Assistant setup, the blinds lower and raise automatically based on the position of the sun and amount of cloud cover.
Will be ordering in the future and recommending to others.
Dr T M.
Easy Install! Great product!
Scott B.
Great product for a fair price.
April W.
This is the 3rd order (9 total shades) made with SmartWings. Essentially 2 different shades, Linen Blackout roller blinds and Woven Wood Shades 50% Blackout See-through Orithyia, just different sizes. I love the look and quality of the woven wood shades. I would prefer the inside mount blackouts be wider. Ordering a 30" wide inside mount yielded 28 3/8th blind. I realize the restrictions due to the header and motor, its does appear the blinds could be 1/2' wider and accomplish the same goal. Side bars to block light need to be 1 1/4" wide to minimally block the light. The reason I picked SmartWings was for pricing and Matter-Thread smart control. Matter-Thread setup hasn't been as smooth as expected. Occasionally they drop out and it's necessary to reboot and sometimes reinstall the shades. Overall, Ive been pleased with the look and price.
Jeff T.
We’ve ordered 8 motorized shades so far after total satisfaction after the first—-utterly satisfied and should have bought earlier!
Michael H.
Dear Smartwings;
We installed 9 motorized roll down shades. All went great EXCEPT the one where we sent in the wrong dimensions. That one came EXACTLY as it was ordered. 2” Too wide. I hate when that happens!
Once we reordered, the SmartWings team, (without being asked), expedited the single unit. We had it in about 2 weeks.
That’s amazing. Apparently the customer service team recognized our panic with this self induced debacle. Our take was that we only got one wrong out of 9. ….still a solid “B” grade.
Lastly, the Smartwings folks assisted with a sympathy discount as well.
We loved the experience!
M&C
Parrish FL
Scott L.
My wife and I have been shopping for replacement blinds for some time. It took some convincing on my part to get her to consider an automated blind. She preferred the zero-effort blinds. Fortunately the cost of the non-automated blinds were much more expensive. This opened the door to trying SmartWings.
We originally purchased the sample swatches to select a style and color. We were impressed with the size and variety of the samples. We made our choice and placed an order.
The blind came quicker than I expected. Installation was very straight forward, however I would suggest larger washers for the mounting arms.
I have to say, we were impressed with the build quality and look of the blind -- we purchased a longer single blind to cover two windows rather than two separate blinds we were replacing. We also got the valance with matching fabric cover and the fabric covered bottom bar.
I love how quiet the blinds are, you can barely hear them when they're operating. I purchased the motor that is "Alexa" aware, so we could program a routine to open and close the blinds automatically. I also purchased the solar panel so I won't have to worry about recharging the battery.
We got the blackout material which works out great for our dining room. From the outside you can't see anything in the house.
Finally, I think I got the best compliment from my wife a few days after we had the blind up and running. She looked at me and said "I really like this blind." Gotta love 100% spouse approval.
We'll be ordering from SmartWings for our next set of blinds.
Robert M.
Bought this one shade as a test to see how it would work with one sliding glass door. The shade fit perfectly, is very effective in keeping light out. (I ordered black out blinds). I have already ordered four more blondes. Highly recommend.
Masood V.
I love these blinds. They are very easy to install, look absolutely great and cost a fraction of what we were quoted by 2 other blind manufacturers.
The after sales service is amazing. I had an issue with my first order (selected the wrong fabric) and they sent me a replacement free of charge with my second order.
John B.
Everything worked great on the guest room so I ordered 6 more for the Living Room and Master Bedroom. Very easy to install and technical support was great.
Bonnie W.
Had some trouble with the set-up, BUT the customer service was great and very professional. It turned out to be a Google issue ( their customer service could learn some skills from smart wings!!!) shipping was faster than we expected, the product was well packaged. We are in a rural area so the operation of the shade has been quite a attraction for the neighbors!!!!!
Thanks for a incredible experience smartwings!!!!!!!!!!!
Spencer M.
The best investment anyone can make. Our house is 100 years old most blinds and curtains don’t match it or aren’t able to fit into our weird shaped windows. We finally had enough and decided to do some research and found smart wings since installing. We have recommended to everybody very easy to install very easy to use 10 out of 10 would recommend.
Kelly L.
Selection and assistance with purchasing was great. Blinds arrived in a timely manner and they were easy to install. We opted for the blinds with Matter and they easily integrated into our Apple HomeKit ecosystem.
William K.
Blinds are good quality and look great. The Matter automation is working really well. Overall very pleased!
Naresh B.
The item was packaged really well. Though the external packaging had some damage, the internal packaging held up well. Installation was straightforward. I have a pretty wide window at ~86” so I was a little wary if a single motor will be able to drive the shade symmetrically. As it turns out, it can. I’ve had the shade for several weeks with daily use and haven’t noticed any issues. Matter integration was also easy and I haven’t noticed any dropouts or connection issues. All in all, very happy with the product.
Art B.
The blinds were super easy to install and setting up automation with the remotes was easy as well. I hope to connect them with Alexa soon for a truly hands off experience!
They also look great. I very happy with my purchase!
RAUL R.
Product is as promised i.e size, quality, easy installation.
Customer Service A+. Called me to clarify my order, which I had mistakenly checked incorrect box.
Looking forward to add to more windows.
Harvey N.
Shipped fast. Easy install and programming. Great product and experience.
Jonathan W.
Our SmartWings Roller Shade arrived today via DHL, professionally packaged and damage free. The installation process was smooth and the top-inside-mount process was easy with a very good clip system. I was able to integrate the shade with Apple Home easily and they work smoothly and quietly.
I am pleased.
Doug M.
The matter QR code was scratched and my Apple home couldn’t add it by taking a photo. I had to type the code in to get it to pair.
Otherwise worked great
