SmartWings Matter Blinds

Introduction

Rather than being a traditional blind company that also has some smart options, SmartWings is a fully-fledged smart-first company that sells a wide range of indoor and outdoor blinds. Its recent set of options includes Matter-compatible blinds that I have on review here.

Working without a hub, and compatible with a wide range of smart home systems, the blinds are great value, have worked reliably for me, and come in a huge range of colours.

Design and Installation

• Wide range of options
• Have to order in inches
• Works with Matter

Browse the SmartWings website and you’ll see the wide range of blinds that the company offers. They’re all smart, and include indoor and outdoor models, of all different sizes and colours. For this review, I fitted a single wide roller blind to the inside of the office doors.

As with many blinds-online companies, SmartWings requires you to measure the space you have, taking into account whether you want the blinds to fit inside the recess or outside it, and the drop. There’s a handy how-to-measure section on the site.

Annoyingly, prices are all in dollars, and measurements are all in inches and fractions of inches. The metric system is so much better and easier to get right, so if you’re not used to inches, check and double-check what you’ve done to get the right size.

All blinds come with a choice of valance and bottom bar. I went with the fabric-wrapped bottom bar, as it looks nicer.

There’s then a choice of motor, with a choice of standard motor (remote control only), Zigbee (the cheapest option, but you need a nearby hub, such as an Echo Show 15), Z-Wave (again, needs a nearby hub), Alexa, HomeKit over Thread (needs an Apple Thread-compatible device) or Matter over Thread.

While the latter is the most expensive option, it’s the one that I recommend. With this, you can use practically any smart home system, provided you have a Thread border router. And, you’re not limited to a specific smart home system, so you can change controller in the future and still use your smart blinds.

If you choose to buy a solar panel for charging, SmartWIngs recommends that you go for the right-hand motor option, as this hides the USB-C charging port; I went with the left-hand motor, as I need the solar panel to go on a side window, as I have external shades that prevent my office from overheating, but would also stop a solar panel from working.

USB-C charging is a real bonus, as it’s easy to get cables for it. When I reviewed the BlindsbyPost Somfy Motorised Blinds, the fiddly proprietary charger was quite annoying and, if the tiny connector were to get damaged, I’d need to buy a new one. Plus, the Somfy blinds required a separate hub for smart home control.

Physical installation was easy, although my 2.4m wide blinds required four wall mounts that the blinds clip into. Before putting the blind into place, it’s worth adding it to the Matter system of choice because the Matter code is printed on the reverse side of the motor.

A quick scan of this code and the blinds added themselves to Apple Home, connecting through the HomePod Mini.

I then clipped the blind into place and followed the instructions to fine-tune the top, bottom and favourite positions using the remote control.

SmartWings provides a handy wall mount for the remote, so you can keep it where it’s most convenient.

Features and Performance

• Easy smart home control
• Powerful, smooth motor
• Responsive

The simplest way to use the blinds is with the remote control. Tap the down button and the blind swings into action, rolling down until the lower limit is hit or the stop button is pressed. It’s the same in reverse to open the blinds.

There’s also a programmable middle button that runs the shades to a defined mid-way point. I find this useful in my office for putting the shade down just over halfway, which stops the sun shining in but lets some light into my office.

I’ve not had the blinds fail to respond to a command and, even though my blind is very wide, the motor can deal with it. I’m impressed with the sensor on the blind. I’ve got an Ultion Nuki smart lock on my door, and very occasionally, the bottom of the blind will catch on it; with my old Blindsbypost blinds, the motor would struggle and keep winding until the blind pinged free.

Here, the blind spots that it’s caught and stops the motor. That’s by far the safer option and prevents damage.

One of the benefits of having a smart blind is using it in automations or in different ways. I connected mine to Apple Home, and the blind opens when my smart lock unlocks, and closes automatically when it locks again. It has worked every single time that I’ve used the automation: that’s the benefit of Matter and direct control over Thread.

I found it easy to connect the blinds to Alexa as well, so I could use the blinds in that ecosystem and with voice control.

Matter also gives me more options. I had a spare SwitchBot Remote, so I connected that via Matter to Apple Home. I made the down button partially close the blinds, blocking out direct sunlight during the middle of the day, but leaving space at the bottom for natural light; the up button opens the blinds.

Although Matter control is slightly slower than using the remote, there’s only a very short delay between hitting the button and the SmartWing blind responding.

Battery life is rated at between four and six months. After some heavy use over a six week period, the blinds were still going and running at the same speed. With the solar panel connected, I’ve not had to worry about battery life at all.

Should you buy it?