"Alexa, lower shade 50%." Our lounge badly needed something to block the light and give us privacy, and in summer 2025 SmartWings' email arrived at exactly the right moment. They sent me a motorised Zigbee shade to review, and I'm amazed.
The battery I forgot about
We haven't finished furnishing the lounge. We're waiting for the kids to grow a bit before changing everything, but we needed shades in the meantime. When the package arrived, I started wondering where to find an electrician to bring power up to the window. I had completely missed that it has a built-in rechargeable battery with USB-C charging. That's a total game changer: installation is extremely easy. I hooked three pins on the bottom of the main case and it came down by itself.
I charged it for a couple of hours the first time, and after a month of daily use I still hadn't had a low-battery notification. There's also an optional solar panel you can mount on the back so you never charge it again. I didn't order it (my mistake), but I'd like to.
Alexa, routines and the kids
It works with home assistants like Alexa and Google. One thing to know: it uses a Zigbee motor, so not every Alexa device works with it. You need an Alexa with a built-in Zigbee hub, or a separate hub. I had several Echos around the house but bought a compatible one, which was easier for me. Creating routines is simple. I first set it to open at 8 a.m., but sometimes I don't want to wake up so early, and the kids said it was nicer having breakfast in softer light, so now I use voice commands. They love talking to it. It's also really quiet, as you can hear in the video. You can add a remote control too, handy in case of connection problems.
Made to measure
What I love is the huge choice of fabrics, textures and options, including blackout or light-filtering. Ordering was easy: I measured the window, entered the sizes (in centimetres or inches) and chose the fabric. I kept it simple, with a plain beige that will suit whatever colours we choose later. Our window is big: about 2.5 m tall and 2.14 m wide. For comparison, a couple of local tailors quoted me between 1,000 and 2,000 for ordinary curtains. The price rises as you add options, but SmartWings came in at a fraction of that. I'm going to buy another couple for our other lounge window.