SwitchBot Curtain
MSRP $99.00
“SwitchBot Curtain delivers mixed results for a questionable utility.”
Pros
- Smooth app
- Inexpensive
- Wealthy accessory ecosystem
- Easy installation
- Has HomeKit compatibility
Cons
- Noisy
- Unreliable performance
We’ve spent loads of time smart blinds, and SwitchBot is a reputation that routinely comes up. This company made a reputation for itself with a cute little robot that flips switches for you and has since expanded into nearly every corner of home automation. They now make smart plugs, smart locks, and the SwitchBot Curtain. Is pulling a drawstring in your curtains a lot work that we’d like yet one more connected home doohickey to do it for us? Let’s discover!
Setup
Simon Sage / Digital Trends
The SwitchBot Curtain is on the market in 4 different varieties, depending on what type of curtains you’ve gotten. This technique doesn’t work with vertical blinds, unfortunately, but SwitchBot provides detailed measurements to make sure your curtains are compatible before ordering. In addition they include some hardware to accommodate the bump in telescoping curtain rods.
Latching the SwitchBot Curtain onto your curtain rods is fairly straightforward. The hooks are removable and spring-loaded, so you may pull one hook as much as catch the rod before snapping the second side onto the important body. It also has a straightforward LED and single button to show you how to through the Bluetooth pairing process. The mobile app it links to is usually straightforward, with helpful setup instructions. The room management portion is just a little awkward; you may’t create rooms while adding devices. You possibly can create rooms once the SwitchBot is about up, though. The app takes you thru a straightforward calibration process that identifies the closed and open positions of your curtains. After that, it rolls to those positions with a single tap or allows for granular moving with a slider.
I ended up doing the majority of my testing on a shower curtain.
My first run at establishing the SwitchBot Curtain didn’t go well. The curtains I worked with were well below the 17 kilos SwitchBot claims their units can push, and the rod was throughout the set diameter. Even after using the included clips and a string of clear beads to attach the length of the curtain to the SwitchBot, there still wasn’t enough traction to totally open them. If there was, that string would have still been an eyesore. I ended up doing the majority of my testing on a shower curtain.
Features
Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa compatibility are fairly high priorities. Alexa connected superb. Siri shortcuts work, though there was no love for wider Home support on Apple devices. Google Assistant wasn’t capable of connect, despite using Google to create my SwitchBot account in the primary place. If you wish to get extra fancy together with your automations, IFTTT is supported. When voice fails, NFC tags are supported as tap-and-go toggles. Android home screen widgets provide access a faucet or two earlier, though iOS widgets are lacking the range to incorporate SwitchBot Curtain.
Simon Sage / Digital Trends
The SwitchBot Curtain enjoys a growing ecosystem of supporting devices that may add a wide range of conveniences. For instance, SwitchBot sells a straightforward little button that may remotely activate the curtains as for those who were doing it through the app. Though you usually hook up with these curtains directly over Bluetooth, a separate hub can hop onto your Wi-Fi network and allow you to open and shut them from the opposite side of the world for those who wanted to try this (for some reason). That hub also can blast IR signals to other nearby devices like your TV, and make dumb appliances reply to voice commands. Probably the most useful accessory for the SwitchBot Curtain is the solar panel, which may keep it charged without having to undergo the work of unhooking it and plugging it in over USB-C. The battery is otherwise rated to last eight months between charges.
SwitchBot Curtain’s most useful feature out of the box is touch-and-go. You possibly can tug the curtain, SwitchBot senses the shift, then it finishes the job of opening or closing. It is a very natural use case and provides full utility without having to fiddle with a mobile app.
SwitchBot Curtain’s most useful feature out of the box is touch-and-go.
The noise from the SwitchBot Curtain is an actual issue. Say you come home and feel just a little like Tony Stark. You casually say, “Alexa, open the lounge curtains.” Before you’ve gotten a probability to feel like we’re well and truly living in the longer term, your curtains screech with the high-pitched, belabored squeal. There are light sensing and scheduling options available, but I couldn’t imagine using them to open up my bedroom windows every morning and waking as much as that racket. There’s a quiet mode tucked within the advanced settings, but toggling it doesn’t appear to make any difference. This noise problem undercuts a number of the novelty value, even when the blinds do find yourself opening and shutting hands-free.
Our take
Simon Sage / Digital Trends
SwitchBot Curtain delivers mixed results for a questionable utility. Sure, curtains can block the sun from heating up your home on a hot day, but physically pulling those curtains myself has never been an enormous barrier. Ultimately, having fully automated curtains is a luxury, nevertheless it’s really hard to feel luxurious with such a loud motor. In case you’re going to hassle, it’s well worth the investment in a correct retrofit made by professionals to put in a system that works consistently and is quiet. Products like SwitchBot Curtain catch the attention because they’re inexpensive and simple to put in in comparison with full-blown window renovation.
How long should it last?
SwitchBot Curtain has a number of moving parts which might be subject to routine physical stress. I don’t think that bodes well for its long-term functionality, nevertheless it does ship with a one-year warranty.
Is there a greater alternative?
The true alternative to SwitchBot Curtain is to get a professionally-installed motorized blind. There are other snap-on DIY options, but they’re just as prone to encounter similar noise and performance issues.
Do you have to buy it?
In case you’re keen on having automated blinds, there’s some promise in SwitchBot. You may have the ability to stomach the noise, and your particular curtain rods may fit easily with SwitchBot Curtain. The one thing that justifies the roll of the dice is the 30-day return window. In case you’re capable of, buy one among these, check it out in your curtains for per week or two, then determine if it meets your needs. From there, you may go all-in with a second unit and further accessories without worry. Yes, that’s a number of trial and error to ask of a recent user. In case you are serious about automated curtains, you’re higher off trying proven options first.
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