I Tested More Than a Dozen Smart Shades, and These Are My Favorites

Other Smart Shades to Consider

We have tested a few other smart shades and retrofit devices. Here are a few that narrowly missed out on a place above.

Ryse SmartCurtain for $150: Another retrofit device for your window coverings, the Ryse SmartCurtain is super easy to fit. It works fine with rod rail curtains and is reasonably quiet at around 36 decibels, but you will need two if you have a pair of curtains, and it’s relatively expensive. Consider also that you need the Ryse SmartBridge ($50) hub to schedule, connect smart home devices for voice control, or even control multiple devices. Without the hub, you can only connect via Bluetooth to one curtain at a time. The two rechargeable 18,650 Li-Po batteries are supposed to last up to eight months. There’s no charger in the box, though you can apparently request one for free. While it’s a decent product, it’s also more expensive, less versatile, and generally inferior to the SwitchBot Curtain 3.

Aqara Curtain Driver E1 for $90: With separate models for rod or track curtains, this is very much like the SwitchBot Curtain 3 above, but not quite as good. It is bigger, which leaves more room for a larger battery, so you can expect up to a year of battery life. Unfortunately, it is also louder (over 50 decibels), more expensive, and requires an Aqara hub to unlock voice commands and smart home automation.

Ikea Tredansen from $160: The Tredansen is very similar to the discontinued Fyrtur motorized shade we used to recommend, except that it is a cellular blackout blind that only comes in white. It comes with all the fittings, a removable battery, and there are eight sizes. Connect to a Dirigera hub ($70) and you can use the Ikea Home app to control, schedule, and group your blinds. You get a pre-paired remote, but annoyingly, you have to plug in the included signal repeater for wireless functions (this may depend on how far your devices are from your hub, as some folks have had success without the repeater). They don’t look as nice or feel as durable as the Fyrtur, and I had some issues with patchy connectivity.

Don’t Bother

Photograph: Amazon

Ryse SmartShade for $200: This is a retrofit gadget to convert any roller shade with a beaded chain into a smart shade. It’s easy to fit, but you will need a roller shade with an uninterrupted chain because a plastic spacer joining the two ends of a chain can cause problems (my chain came apart), and it’s noisy in operation. The removable battery pack is a smart idea, but if you want to remote control the shade from your phone, you must be in Bluetooth range. To get scheduling and voice controls, you need to buy the Ryse SmartBridge ($50), and I had issues with connectivity dropping in and out. After testing a couple of these retrofit designs for the beaded chain roller blinds (I also tested the Aqara E1) and having problems both times, I can’t recommend them. This one is also way too expensive.

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