I started down the path to buy electronic shades for the home we are building in LA and the choices are endless. I chose 3 Day Blinds and am thrilled with the choice based on price, options and the salesperson who helped us. This article below will give you every detail you could possibly imagine regarding smart shades. What I learned was that you can get room blackout shades along with heat reduction-see through shades for energy efficiency which mattered to us since we had 4 large panoramic doors. Read on to familiarize yourself with smart shades and to learn about some unexpected inexpensive options as well retrofit offerings.
Photo: Lutron
We’ve added the SwitchBot Blind Tilt and accessories for the Ryse SmartShade to What to look forward to.
February 2023
Smart shades and blinds that extend, retract, or tilt automatically are indeed a luxury, but they’re also just plain useful. (And they can help save energy and boost home security, too.)
Lutron’s Serena Shades are our top pick because they work flawlessly, are the fastest and quietest shades we tested, and are compatible with all the popular smart-home platforms. Also, they look great.
If you prefer blinds over shades, we think Lutron’s Serena Smart Wood Blinds are the best smart blinds because they adapt to the position of the sun throughout the day, ensuring you always have the right amount of light without having to adjust them at all.
Our pick
Responsive, quiet, and of excellent quality, these custom-made shades can be controlled using automated smart-home controls like Schedules, geofencing, and Scenes. They are also the most widely compatible with smart-home platforms.
Buy from Lutron
Compatibility: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit, Samsung SmartThings
Lutron’s Serena Shades are the best self-install smart shades we tested. They’re easy to install yourself, simple to set up, battery-powered, and custom-made to fit your windows. They work with every major smart-home system and all of the voice assistants, when paired with Lutron’s Caséta Wireless Smart Bridge (a small device that plugs into your Wi-Fi router and lets you control your devices remotely; it’s the same one that connects Lutron’s Caséta smart light switches). The Serena Shades are expensive—around three times the price of our budget pick, IKEA’s Fyrtur. But if you want the nicest-looking, smartest window coverings that you can order and install yourself, Lutron Serena Shades are the best choice.
Runner-up
SmarterHome MySmartRollerShades (formerly Tilt)
Slightly more affordable and solar-powered, SmarterHome’s MySmartRollerShades (formerly Tilt) are custom-made to fit your window. And they offer scheduling and built-in routines in a nice app that doesn’t require any additional smart-home devices.
Buy from SmarterHome
Compatibility: Amazon Alexa, Samsung SmartThings
If you don’t mind a more-modest selection of fabrics and styles and don’t need deep smart-home integration, the SmarterHome's MySmartRollerShades (formerly Tilt) are a good option. They are easy to install yourself and to control with the app (if noticeably slower than our top pick), and they come in a decent, albeit limited, selection of colors and styles. The simple ordering process is a refreshing change: Every shade is the same price, no matter the size or style. These shades run on a rechargeable battery that connects to an included solar panel. But there’s no remote control, aside from the app. Also, the hub for smart-home control with Amazon Alexa and Samsung SmartThings costs $109—and it is out of stock until 2022.
Also great
Graber is priced like Lutron, but it offers more style, customization, and compatibility with Z-Wave wireless.
Buy from Graber
Compatibility: Amazon Alexa, Google Home
If you (or someone in your home) has a specific style and design in mind when it comes to window coverings, you’ll want to look at Graber Motorized Shades. The shades use Graber’s new Z-Wave wireless motors and gateway device (which costs up to $200; you could instead pair directly to an existing Z-Wave hub you may have, including SmartThings). We love the online selection process, which guides you through styles and designs to best suit your needs. And the new Graber VirtualCord Motorization app works well for scheduling, creating Scenes, and adding voice control via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant through Google Home (not Siri/HomeKit). There are also multiple options for power, including a rechargeable battery pack that tucks up behind the shade, plus a number of remote-control options (again, with a hefty price tag). Self-installation is an option, but it’s not as straightforward as with our other picks.
Budget pick
These shades come in just one color and in fixed sizes. But they’re a fraction of the cost of our other picks.
$150* from IKEA
*At the time of publishing, the price was $149.
Compatibility: Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Home
If your window openings fit one of the eight available sizes of IKEA’s Fyrtur shades (ours didn’t), and you like the industrial exposed hardware and gray blackout fabric look (we do!), then these inexpensive smart shades are a great, budget-friendly option. The shades can be controlled using Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home, as long as you buy IKEA’s $70 Dirigera internet gateway (a small device that wirelessly connects your shades and is plugged into your router). The Fyrtur shades are well made, and in our testing they worked reliably. And the removable, rechargeable battery lasted six months before needing to be recharged. That said, the included remote is a bit finicky, and installation and setup can be just as frustrating as it is when you’re putting together an IKEA cabinet. But considering the reasonable price for these shades, we think it’s hard to complain. If the installation challenge is daunting, or you’re considering the YouTube videos that show you how to “hack” Fytur shades so they fit your window, we’d say skip the headache—there are better options.
Our pick
Lutron Serena Smart Wood Blinds
These blinds are responsive, quiet, custom-sized to fit your windows, and available in four painted and four stained finishes. And they can be automated to tilt based on the position of the sun (requires a Lutron Bridge).
Buy from Lutron
Compatibility: Amazon Alexa, Google Home
The Lutron Serena Smart Wood Blinds have the best smart-home integrations and most innovative features of any of the smart blinds we considered or tested. But they’re also the most expensive, starting at $599. They are custom-made to order and available in eight color options. And they work with Lutron’s smart-home ecosystem for control with the Lutron app, which also enables integration with Amazon Alexa or Google Home (strangely, there’s no HomeKit or SmartThings compatibility, as there is with Serena Shades). An excellent Natural Light Optimization feature tilts the blinds automatically as the sun moves throughout the day, ensuring your room has balanced light while minimizing glare. Serena blinds can also be set to close and open automatically whenever you leave or arrive home. And they can be configured on a Schedule or included in Scenes (a series of settings changes among one or more devices with other Lutron devices. Although the blinds can be tilted on command, you can’t use a controller to raise or lower them—you have to manually push them up or pull them down, as you would with other modern blinds.
Budget pick
These blinds are a flat $419 and don’t require a smart hub or bridge. However, they come in just two colors (white and walnut). And they have few actual smart features, other than scheduling and the ability to close automatically when it’s hot out.
Buy from SmarterHome
Compatibility: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant (not Google Home)
If you hope to cover a number of large windows with smart blinds, SmarterHome’s MySmartBlinds may make that more approachable budget-wise. They can be set on Schedules—without the need to buy a smart hub—and can be configured to react to temperature changes and adjust accordingly (Lutron Serena Blinds can do this, but only if you buy an additional temperature sensor). To our eyes, MySmartBlinds aren’t as attractive as Lutron’s options (due to an unsightly wand and cord). They’re also much louder and work with fewer smart-home systems. And if you want to use Alexa voice control or be able to remotely adjust them when you aren’t home, you’ll also need to buy SmarterHome’s optional Bridge—which is out of stock until 2022. Google Assistant integration is technically available as well, but in our tests it didn’t work well, and it isn’t compatible with the Google Home app. As with the Lutron Serena Blinds, with MySmartBlinds you can control the tilt of the slats. But the blinds themselves aren’t motorized, so to raise or lower them, you have to manually lift or pull down.
Everything we recommend
Our pick
Lutron Serena Shades
Responsive, quiet, and of excellent quality, these custom-made shades can be controlled using automated smart-home controls like Schedules, geofencing, and Scenes. They are also the most widely compatible with smart-home platforms.
Buying Options
Buy from Lutron
Runner-up
SmarterHome MySmartRollerShades (formerly Tilt)
Slightly more affordable and solar-powered, SmarterHome’s MySmartRollerShades (formerly Tilt) are custom-made to fit your window. And they offer scheduling and built-in routines in a nice app that doesn’t require any additional smart-home devices.
Buying Options
Buy from SmarterHome
Also great
Graber is priced like Lutron, but it offers more style, customization, and compatibility with Z-Wave wireless.
Buying Options
Buy from Graber
Budget pick
These shades come in just one color and in fixed sizes. But they’re a fraction of the cost of our other picks.
Buying Options
$150* from IKEA
*At the time of publishing, the price was $149.
Our pick
Lutron Serena Smart Wood Blinds
These blinds are responsive, quiet, custom-sized to fit your windows, and available in four painted and four stained finishes. And they can be automated to tilt based on the position of the sun (requires a Lutron Bridge).
Buying Options
Buy from Lutron
Budget pick
These blinds are a flat $419 and don’t require a smart hub or bridge. However, they come in just two colors (white and walnut). And they have few actual smart features, other than scheduling and the ability to close automatically when it’s hot out.
Buying Options
Buy from SmarterHome
The Best Smart Home Sensors for Alexa, HomeKit, and SmartThings
How to Save Money and Energy With Smart Home Devices
Read more from Home
I’m a journalist and an editor who specializes in smart-home technology and interior design, so smart shades are right in my wheelhouse. I’ve also lived in a DIY smart home for the better part of a decade. To understand how useful they really are, I spent more than 35 hours researching the category, over 600 hours doing hands-on testing, and about two years living with smart shades. For a professional perspective on automated shades, I interviewed home-technology design consultant David VanWert, of VanWert Technology Design in Los Angeles. His company helps homeowners integrate tech with interior design, and he has more than a decade of experience with a wide range of smart window coverings. (VanWert is not affiliated with any manufacturers and doesn’t sell products.)
Over the past seven years, I’ve spent countless hours testing smart-home devices for Wirecutter, including smart-home sensors, smart garden devices, and smart garage-door controllers. I also contribute to home-design magazine Dwell, and I’m home editor for Charleston Magazine. Plus, I review smart-home technology for U.S. News World & Report, Wired.co.uk, and The Ambient.
Smart shades and blinds are motorized window treatments that can also be controlled with a smartphone app and with voice (using a smart speaker or a smartphone assistant like Siri). They can be set up to run on a customized schedule or automated Scenes, or integrated with home-automation software, including Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Samsung SmartThings, and Google Home.
Like smart lighting, smart window coverings make life more convenient, and they add ambiance by providing the right lighting at the right time of day. Also, they can enhance security by making your home seem active and occupied even when it’s not. Smart shades and blinds can help you save energy by alternately blocking or allowing in light based on the season or time of day, and they are especially useful for people with mobility issues. “A common use for smart shades [or blinds] is the set-it-and-forget-it method,” said David VanWert of VanWert Technology Design in Los Angeles. “You can set it up so that every night at 9 p.m. all your shades lower, and it will do it 365 days a year, automatically adjusting for Daylight Savings. Then, 6:45 a.m., Monday through Friday, they open up—but on weekends they know to stay closed.”
Smart shades and blinds are an expensive upgrade over standard window coverings—all the more so if you plan to install them on several windows, which could be a multi-thousand-dollar project. And though we are big fans of DIY, if you don’t know your fascia from your sash, or you think honeycomb is just something to do with bees, you might need professional help to select the right style for your home (see Pro install options). However, if you know what you like, are comfortable with a tape measure and a drill, and are not installing these in hard-to-reach places, you’ll have no trouble self-installing any of the models we tested.
According to VanWert, the cost for smart shades is around two to three times that of regular, manual options. So, for a full house of around 20 windows, the cost may average $1,500 apiece if you have a few larger windows and have them professionally installed. In our testing, a self-installed motorized honeycomb shade covering a 35-by-52½-inch window on an inside-mount cost about $500; a wood blind was around $100 more. That doesn’t include standard extras, like valances, or the wireless hub/bridge to connect them to your Wi-Fi network (which, depending on the brand, runs from $35 to $250, though that’s a one-time cost, not per shade).
If you’re planning on installing only a couple of devices and already own shades or blinds you particularly like, a retrofit device costing from $100 to $300 per window may be worth considering. But the retrofit shade controllers work only with certain types of shades (those with cords), and in all but very specific situations, you will get a better outcome by purchasing and installing new smart window coverings (see Retrofit solutions). If you are looking to outfit an entire home with all-new shades and blinds, you can save money by mixing and matching smart with non-motorized models.
Photo: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
There are far more models of smart shades than blinds, and shades overall offer more variety in terms of design and decor. There are three styles of shades: roller shades, which pull down from a tube; Roman, which have a decorative folded fabric feature; and honeycomb, which are pleated chambers of fabric and are considered the most energy-efficient because the cells trap air and provide insulation. We tested both roller and honeycomb styles (but not Roman, since there aren’t currently any DIY smart Roman shades).
Overall, the shades we tested provided more smart features than blinds, which also tended to be larger, louder, and (we think) generally less attractive. Smart wood blinds, also known as Venetian blinds, are generally more expensive than shades, yet you can’t mechanically raise and lower them, as you can shades. (That is, you can adjust the angle of the slats using an app or voice command, but you still have to manually open or close them.)
There are three categories of smart shades and blinds:
We tested models in all three categories, but our main picks are from the DIY category only. This is because we found all retrofit devices to be overly difficult to install, generally unattractive, harder to use, and very expensive when compared with the price of DIY new shades. For more on retrofit models, see Retrofit solutions.
Battery life varies by model and how often you use them. But batteries should last several months—even up to several years—before needing to be recharged or replaced.
We tested two pro-install companies to evaluate the potential benefits of going this route versus doing it yourself. Additionally, Lutron Serena offers the option of professional installation of its blinds and shades through Budget Blinds, and Graber sells directly through professional installers (see Pro install options for more on this).
Our goal was to find shades and blinds that offered the best experience, the widest choice of design, and the most useful smart-home integrations, without requiring confusing levels of tech. Smart shades and blinds may be battery-powered (using either standard batteries or rechargeable ones) or hardwired to your home’s electrical system, and a few can be plugged into a nearby available outlet. Battery life varies by model and how often you use them. But batteries should last several months—even up to several years—before needing to be recharged or replaced.
We dismissed any smart shades or blinds that had poor reviews, especially due to customer support. And we also ruled out any models that required a third-party smart hub in order to function, because that can make installation more complex (though most models rely on their own branded wireless bridge or hub; some are included or can be added as an option at purchase).
Our must-have criteria were:
In addition to looking at reviews from sites such as CNET, Tom’s Guide, The Verge, The Ambient, and Digitized House, we also researched window treatments in home-decor magazines, such as Good Housekeeping, Dwell, and Architectural Digest.
We tested one to two window coverings from each company for a minimum of one month, each installed on the same-size (35-by-52½ inches) double-hung, single-paned windows in our test home. For our reviews, we considered the whole buying process, from ordering through installation to everyday use. We self-installed each shade and blind, set up the standard motorization features, and tested any included hardware controls, such as remotes and buttons. We then connected any available smart features using the company’s own hub or bridge, or an Alexa connection.
We evaluated each shade and blind based on the following criteria:
Wirecutter takes security and privacy issues seriously, and to help you understand which data the companies you are bringing into your home may be taking out with them, we’ve compiled this table to answer some of the most common questions people have regarding privacy and security. We reached out to the companies that produce our top picks and asked them to respond to an extensive questionnaire to confirm issues we think should be of primary concern to any potential buyer. Here are the results we think you should consider before making a purchase.
How our picks compare
What user data does your company collect?
Is a user’s identifying data encrypted when stored in the cloud?
Do you share data with third parties, affiliates, and partners? If so, what data, and for what purpose?
Are customers able to opt out of sharing some or all of their data?
Does the device or hub/bridge contain inactive or active but unadvertised hardware?
Does the device/app record and share location data?
Our pick: Serena Shades by Lutron
Photo: Lutron
Responsive, quiet, and of excellent quality, these custom-made shades can be controlled using automated smart-home controls like Schedules, geofencing, and Scenes. They are also the most widely compatible with smart-home platforms.
Buy from Lutron
Compatibility: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit, Samsung SmartThings
Of all the shades we tested, Lutron’s Serena Shades have the smoothest movement, the quietest motor, the easiest control options, and the best, most useful smart-home integrations. Their fully customizable design and lightweight construction made these shades the simplest to install. They run on D-cell batteries, which Lutron says you’ll need to replace about every two to three years (assuming they’re triggered twice a day). We installed them in March 2020 and haven’t had to change the batteries as of July 2021. If you want good-quality window treatments that you can install yourself and control with Schedules and voice, as well as via an app, Lutron’s Serena Shades are by far your best option.
These Lutron shades are some of the most expensive of those we tested, but we believe the extra expense is worth it for their quality, ease of use, and reliability. The price was $498 per opening for our test window (35 inches wide by 52½ inches long), which had two openings and so required two shades, for a total of just under $1,000. This price was for the most basic shade configuration and blackout fabric on offer, and it didn’t include the additional cost of a Lutron Smart Bridge ($80) and a Caséta Pico remote control ($15) (you may have the bridge if you’ve bought another Lutron Caséta item, such as a lighting starter kit). There is also the option of an RF remote that can control all the shades in up to four groups.
Compared with most other DIY products we tested, Lutron’s shades feature better materials and finishes, and they provide the most polished look when installed. Lutron has been around a long time, manufacturing its first motorized shade in 1992; it launched Serena Shades in 2011 and the first DIY smart shades in 2014. This means there’s less worry that Lutron might go out of business in a few months or years—a real concern when you’re spending a lot of money on a smart-home item.
Two important features of smart shades are how you control them and how well they fit into your home, and Lutron Serena Shades excel in both areas. In our tests, the shades responded immediately, whether we used Lutron’s app, the Pico remote (which controls multiple shades in one room out of the box and can also operate any connected Caséta Lutron lighting), or voice control through Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa (all of which require Lutron’s Smart Bridge). Few of the other fully DIY shades we tested responded nearly as fast because most rely on Bluetooth, which can be slow and buggy and has limited range. Lutron devices rely on a proprietary wireless standard called Clear Connect, which has a long range and prevents interference and lag, resulting in much quicker response times.
Lutron Serena Shades were the most expensive, but they were also by far the best DIY model we tested in every respect. Photo: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Controlling the shades with a schedule or other smart-home automations was similarly reliable and quick, although not as easy to set up. You can control them with Lutron’s app or connect them to a smart-home system such as HomeKit, Alexa, Google, SmartThings, and others—far more options than offered by any of the competition. The app provides the option of using geofencing to open and close your shades automatically, by sensing your smartphone when you arrive or leave home. But we found this doesn’t work well in a household with multiple members—you don’t want the shades rolling down on everyone who’s still at home each time you leave.
For more-advanced smart-home automations, we connected Lutron Serena Shades to third-party smart-home systems, which allow you to trigger your shades based on motion, temperature, and light levels. For instance, using HomeKit, we created an Automation that lowered the shades to three-quarters closed if the temperature in the room rose above 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and it worked reliably and precisely.
Additionally, the insulating nature of the honeycomb shades helped keep heat out during our summertime testing. Neither IKEA nor SmarterHome offers honeycomb options. Using an infrared thermometer, we were able to demonstrate that with the Lutron shades closed, at 3 p.m. on a July afternoon on south-facing windows, the temperature was almost 10 degrees cooler than when we had them open. Although any properly installed honeycomb shade would provide identical insulation, smart ones take care of the process of opening and closing without your having to worry about it.
Compared with most of the DIY models we tested, Lutron’s shades offered a wider array of fabric, style, and customization options, with more than 200 fabrics to choose from. So you can find a window covering that fits your decor and lighting needs (from a blackout model in a bedroom to light filtering in a sunroom). All of these customization options add up quickly, however, and making aesthetic choices (such as a fabric-wrapped fascia, which conceals the top of the shade, and different colors) would have increased the price of our test shade by $250 to nearly $750 (and more for a larger model). If you are outfitting an entire home, that gets very expensive very quickly.
Installation and setup took less than 15 minutes, and even though the instruction manual wasn’t great, the steps were so simple that this was the easiest install of all the models we tested. You just drill two small brackets into the window frame (we were installing inside-mounted shades), snap the shades into the brackets, and pop in the six D-cell batteries. Pairing with the remote was simple using a button on the shade, and you repeat that process to pair with the Lutron Bridge.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
There are no on-device controls, so you can’t open and close the shade manually. But the remote will work even during a power outage, so we don’t think this will be a problem—unless you lose the remote, your phone, your voice-enabled speakers, and all of your Schedules suddenly stop working. (But then you’ve got bigger issues to deal with.)
We found the ordering process to be complicated, with multiple customization options that are confusing if you know nothing about shades. It can all be done online, however, which is rare for custom shades. Lutron does offer professional installation through Budget Blinds. But if you really don’t like the idea of a person coming to your home to measure shades or of having to go to a showroom to be guided through the process, you have the online option. If you screw up your measurements, however, you’re responsible for the cost of the shades.
Runner-up: SmarterHome MySmartRollerShades
Photo: SmarterHome
Runner-up
SmarterHome MySmartRollerShades (formerly Tilt)
Slightly more affordable and solar-powered, SmarterHome’s MySmartRollerShades (formerly Tilt) are custom-made to fit your window. And they offer scheduling and built-in routines in a nice app that doesn’t require any additional smart-home devices.
Buy from SmarterHome
Compatibility: Amazon Alexa, Samsung SmartThings
Like Lutron’s Serena Shades, SmarterHome’s MySmartRollerShades are custom-made to fit your windows. They also have a quiet motor and smooth movement, and they’re easy to control with an app or voice. Our favorite feature on these shades is the simple pricing and ordering process. Every shade is $499, no matter the fabric or size (notably, the price has increased $100 since we first tested them in 2020). They work on windows as small as 21 inches wide up to nearly 74 inches. This “one price fits all” is a better option if you’re outfitting a whole home that has large windows and Lutron is outside your budget. But for just a few, smaller windows, you may end up paying more.
Compared with Lutron, SmarterHome (formerly called Tilt) offers fewer options in terms of fabric and design, and these shades aren’t as quiet or as smooth as the Serena Shades. They also don’t have as many options for control—there’s no remote at all—so you need to use Schedules, a smartphone app, or a smart speaker.
The SmarterHome shades are of good quality, with sturdy hardware that (though visible) is not as bulky or obtrusive as that of our budget pick, the IKEA Fyrtur. We also loved the battery solution; it’s a non-removable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery that’s built into the shade. And it’s charged by a small solar panel that tucks up and out of the way behind the shade (it is visible from the outside, however). Assuming you get enough sun, you shouldn’t need to replace or recharge the battery for a long time. We’ve had two SmarterHome shades installed in our test home since June 2020—one on an east-facing window with tree cover, the other on a south-facing window—and neither has needed to be manually charged in that time. SmarterHome does sell a long-charging cable, should you run into solar-power issues.
Photo: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
The MySmartRollerShades have a built-in solar panel that is hidden behind the shade. In a year-plus of testing we have yet to manually charge the batteries.
Installing the shades was simple, thanks to an excellent video tutorial (there were no written instructions in the box). And though setup was more complicated than with the Lutron shades—you need to position two end brackets and fiddle with tension rods—it’s similar to mounting a standard roller shade. SmarterHome’s app is easy to use, and it lets you set up automated Routines and Schedules for your shades (Schedules can be based on time and day or sunset/sunrise), as well as control them without a bridge, as long as you are in Bluetooth range. In the app, a useful “Control All Shades” button makes it easy to open and close multiple shades at once.
Because SmarterHome shades use Bluetooth, they are slower to react to commands than Lutron’s shades, taking about 15 seconds to activate. This wouldn’t be as much of an issue if they had a remote, but they don’t. So you have to use your app, set up Schedules, or use voice and your phone or a smart speaker to control them. There are on-device controls that are useful, if you can reach them, which is not a given since they’re located at the top of the shade.
SmarterHome’s optional $109 Bridge connects the shades to the internet to support Amazon Alexa and Samsung SmartThings. However, the bridge is currently out of stock, and the company tells us it won’t be available until 2022, due to the global chip shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. You don’t need it for the smart features such as scheduling and remote control, but you do need it for voice control or to adjust your shades when you are outside of Bluetooth range. The other feature the bridge enables is the option to set up motion- or temperature-based routines with your shades. We like being able to have the shades close if the room heats up in the afternoon; this can be done by connecting a Routine to any Echo speaker with a temperature sensor in it (Echo 4th Gen or Echo Plus) or through SmartThings by pairing the shade with a temperature or LUX sensor.
Also great: Graber Motorized Shades
Photo: Graber
Also great
Graber is priced like Lutron, but it offers more style, customization, and compatibility with Z-Wave wireless.
Buy from Graber
Compatibility: Samsung SmartThings, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Z-Wave hubs
Though we think the Lutron Serena Shades are the best choice for smart shades, if you can’t find the right fit for your decor needs, or you want Z-Wave–based motors to fit into your home-automation setup, Graber Motorized Shades are a very good alternative.
In our testing, Graber’s roller shades worked reliably when controlled by voice, the included remote, or by Schedules we created in the accompanying app. The material is more substantial and doesn’t bend or crease or have flimsy edges. And the hardware is unobtrusive; plus, an easy-to-mount valance hides it all. The motors are a little louder than on our top pick, but they are just as quick. The shades come pre-paired to a simple remote, and there are on-device controls. A separate, rechargeable battery pack tucks up behind the top of the shade, which can be easily removed for charging. Graber says it will last 12 months. They can also be powered by an outlet, a standard battery pack, or hardwired.
Graber’s smart roller shades use Z-Wave motors that have to be paired either with the Graber VirtualCord Gateway or another Z-Wave hub (such as Samsung SmartThings). When they’re paired with the Graber Gateway, you can also use the companion app to integrate your shades with Amazon Alexa or Google Home. Those allow you to control your shades via voice commands or automate them using Routines. The app is well-laid-out and simple to navigate. But it doesn’t offer any particularly innovative smart features, such as geofencing or temperature control—just basic scheduling using day and time or sunrise/sunset. You can set the shades to open or close to a specific level, and you can also group shades.
The Graber shades are a little more expensive than Lutron’s shades (our test shade costs between $550 and $650), but the related smart hardware is significantly more: $150 to $200 for the plug-in hub and $75 to $250 for the remote controls. (However, you don’t have to purchase the hub if you can connect to an existing Z-Wave setup.) Pricing varies because it is set by the dealer, not by Graber directly.
Although ordering was wonderfully easy, installing and setting up the shades was the most complicated process of any model we tested.
Owned by Spring Window Fashions, Graber has been in the window-covering business since 1939. It has a full line-up of motorized shades in a number of different styles (roller, honeycomb, layered, sheer) and over 500 fabric choices (more than twice that of our top pick). Graber also sells motorized drapes, blinds, and panels (for areas like patio doors), but these don’t use the new Z-Wave motors yet. Graber is the only self-installation option in our guide that offers the top down/bottom up option for honeycomb shades (where you can have the top of the shade lower to let light in, as well as raise it from the bottom).
Though Graber is focused on professional installation and sells through a network of dealers, you are able to view and select your shades online at Graber’s website and then self-install them. But you still have to contact a dealer to do the actual ordering. Fortunately, we found the website to be user-friendly, and it offered the most guidance and clearest explanation of the process than any other shades in our guide. We particularly liked the Window Treatment adviser, an interactive tool that helps you choose the right window covering for your space. Plus, a visualizer tool lets you upload a photo of your room to see how your choices will look.
Although ordering was wonderfully easy, the process for installing and setting up the shades was the most complicated among all the models we tested. This was primarily because the manuals and steps aren’t designed to be user-friendly; they’re designed for an installer who has been trained to do it. After wading through four or five different manuals, we figured it all out. But it took us about an hour to install one shade, and we did mess up the valance slightly. Pairing the remote and hub also took a lot of time, but this was much easier, thanks to clearer instructions. (Pro tip: The remote comes paired with the shade. You have to unpair it and then re-pair it to the hub, and then back again to the shade.) In this guide, Graber is the only company with the option of self-installation that also has a more-advanced remote; it has an LCD display and can control up to 24 shades.
Budget pick: IKEA Fyrtur
Photo: Ikea
Budget pick
These shades come in just one color and in fixed sizes. But they’re a fraction of the cost of our other picks.
$150* from IKEA
*At the time of publishing, the price was $149.
Compatibility: Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Home
If spending more than $500 per window is not in your budget, IKEA’s Fyrtur shades are a very good option, assuming your window openings are the correct size and you like gray blackout fabric. These shades don’t match the quality of the Lutron or SmarterHome (formerly Tilt) shades, in terms of materials and design, but they look nice enough. And they work over Zigbee (a wireless protocol used by several smart-home hubs, as well as many Amazon Echo devices); this makes the IKEA shades more responsive than the SmarterHome shades (though they’re still slightly slower than the Lutron shades). Once they are set up (and let us be clear, this takes some wrangling due to a never-ending wireless pairing process), the Fyrtur shades work reliably and respond quickly. They are very quiet, and we found their sleek, silver-and-gray industrial design to be stylish. The shades come with a remote. And when they’re paired to IKEA’s $70 Dirigera hub, they integrate with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit for app, voice, and smart-home control.
The main reason Fyrtur shades aren’t a top pick is that IKEA doesn’t provide any customization options. Although they’re comparatively cheap, starting at $129 and going up to $179, they come in just one fabric choice, one color, only eight widths, and one length, and they aren’t trimmable (although you can adjust how far the shades open). As such, they are a good choice only for people who have windows that precisely fit those standard sizes.
If these shades will fit, and you like IKEA’s style, then Fyrtur are very good blinds, made smart if you pair them with IKEA’s Dirigera hub (a drawn-out process that involves a lot of back-and-forth pairing). They have a rechargeable battery that lasts a long time; we recharged it after eight months of use. When it’s time to recharge, you’ll have to hop on a ladder and remove the battery to recharge with a USB charger. There are on-device controls, which is good since the remote won’t work if the power goes out (the remote relies on a chunky signal repeater that you need to plug into an outlet).
In the grand tradition of IKEA, purchase, setup, and installation were a giant pain.
Thanks to these shades’ wide compatibility with smart-home systems (more than SmarterHome, fewer than Lutron), you can use Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri for voice control. Or you can set up Schedules and Routines in IKEA’s Home Smart app, Apple’s Home app, or Amazon’s Alexa app. Although the shades use Zigbee wireless, they’re not natively compatible with any of the other smart-home systems that use Zigbee (SmartThings and Wink, for example). IKEA’s own app is not intuitive. And it has very limited controls, allowing you to combine its lighting and shades products into Timers, which are basically Schedules for different uses (such as when you leave the house, when you wake up, and when you want to adjust the light in your home). Using a more-robust smart-home system like HomeKit or Alexa, you can set up Routines or Automations that will close or open the shades based on temperature and motion (if you have compatible sensors), or include them in a Good Night or Good Morning Routine. You will also be able to control the shades from outside the home, which you can’t do if they are just connected to IKEA’s hub that works only locally.
In the grand tradition of IKEA, purchase, setup, and installation were a giant pain. Actually getting our hands on these blinds was difficult; even though they are now sold online, it’s only at select locations (enter your zip code at checkout to find out if yours is one of them). And when we purchased our test blinds, we had to drive four hours to get them, and the size we needed was not in stock (a common issue in our research). We ended up with a smaller size that had to be mounted on the frame of our window, as opposed to entirely over the frame. (IKEA doesn’t have a size that would fit inside our frame, which is the best way to install this style of shades.)
The instruction manuals were next to useless, even though there were five of them. But in practice, figuring out what to do was relatively simple. And the process for mounting the shades was similar to Lutron’s—just drill in two brackets (find your own screws; they’re not included), and snap in the shades. Handily, the remote (which has a magnetic wall mount that you can stick or screw to a flat surface) is pre-paired to the shade. If you connect to the Dirigera bridge, though, you have to unpair and re-pair it, and do the same with the shades.
If you just don’t want to deal with the installation process, IKEA does partner with TaskRabbit in certain locations to install the shades (price varies depending on where you are, but it starts at $30 an hour for our South Carolina locale).
During our long-term testing, the shades lost their connection to the remote and app multiple times, requiring us to go through the pairing process far more times than we cared for. At one point we had to completely reset the hub and app before we could get it up and running again. Thankfully, we could still reach the on-device button, otherwise we would have lost a lot of sleep.
These aren’t top-quality shades, but they do have good home-automation options (when they work). So, if style and quality are less important to you than price and utility, and you don’t mind troubleshooting every few months, these will be a useful addition to your home.
Our pick: Lutron Serena Wood Blinds
Photo: Lutron
Our pick
Lutron Serena Smart Wood Blinds
These blinds are responsive, quiet, custom-sized to fit your windows, and available in four painted and four stained finishes. And they can be automated to tilt based on the position of the sun (requires a Lutron Bridge).
Buy from Lutron
Compatibility: Amazon Alexa, Google Home
The Lutron Serena Smart Wood Blinds are smarter and better looking than any of the other smart blinds we considered or tested. Starting at $599 each (plus the cost of the Lutron bridge, $80, and Pico remote control, $25), Serena Smart Wood Blinds are some of the most expensive window coverings we’ve tested, but that’s largely due to the fact that they are custom-made to fit your windows and come in four painted colors or four stains.
Serena Smart Wood Blinds work with Lutron’s reliable smart-home ecosystem. Once they’re paired with the Lutron bridge, you can use the Lutron app to control the blinds remotely, put them on a schedule, and integrate them with Amazon Alexa or Google Home for voice control (currently there’s no Apple HomeKit support). This also enables a “Natural Light Optimization” feature, which adapts the blinds intelligently to the sunlight, based on your location, so the slats of your blinds are always tilted in the best direction for optimal light with minimal glare and solar gain. In our testing we found this to be very useful—always keeping the room naturally well lit without too much glare and without our needing to constantly fiddle with the blinds (manually or through an app). Also, this takes virtually no setup on your part, other than just toggling a switch in the app and giving it access to your location (so it can determine which way your window is facing).
The Natural Light feature helps keep all your blinds looking uniform. Aesthetics are important when it comes to blinds; even though you can get wooden blinds from any home-improvement store, they could end up looking like a mess of strings and wonky slats if you don’t look after them properly. The Lutron blinds dispense with unnecessary cords—you just push them up and pull them down. And they don’t have a plastic wand dangling down; though this means you can’t tilt them manually, for $25 you can pair a Pico remote, which works without the bridge. The blinds automatically move with the sun throughout the day, and if you have multiple blinds, they all look uniform without your ever having to touch them. It’s pretty smart.
The Lutron Serena Smart Wood Blinds are the quietest smart blinds we tested, and they work easily with Amazon Alexa and Google Home for both voice control and to add to Routines. The Lutron app lets you set the blinds on a schedule (in addition to the Natural Light feature) to open, close, or partially tilt based on a time of day or sunrise and sunset. You can add the blinds to Lutron Scenes to control in sync with your Lutron lighting, and set them to close or open based on your location. When paired with a temperature sensor through Amazon Alexa, they can also be set to close when the temperature rises in the room.
The blinds we tested are powered by four D-cell batteries (very small shades may use AA batteries), and there is no rechargeable option, but you can also order models that can be plugged in or hardwired. Installing the Lutron blinds was slightly trickier than it was for our budget pick, MySmartBlinds, since it required drilling. But it was straightforward, and the included instructions were clear. The process was very similar to that of the Lutron smart shades, as was the ordering process, which can be done entirely online.
Budget pick: SmarterHome MySmartBlinds
Photo: SmarterHome
Budget pick
These blinds are a flat $419 and don’t require a smart hub or bridge. However, they come in just two colors (white and walnut). And they have few actual smart features, other than scheduling and the ability to close automatically when it’s hot out.
Buy from SmarterHome
Compatibility: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant
SmarterHome’s MySmartBlinds (formerly Tilt) are well-designed corded blinds with an innovative mounting system (when using the inside mount) that doesn’t require any drilling, making these blinds a good choice for renters or people who move a lot. In our testing they worked reliably when put on schedules, and they can be controlled by voice via Amazon Alexa (with the purchase of a separate bridge for $109). They also have a built-in temperature sensor, which can be used to automatically close and open the blinds based on the temperature at the window. However, in operation they are very loud, close to 15 dB louder than the Serena blinds, so they aren’t a good choice for a bedroom.
Following the same “flat rate” pricing structure as for the SmarterHome MySmartShades, these cost $419 per shade, no matter the size of the opening; this is a savings compared with the Lutron price, if you have windows that are more than 32 inches wide. The blinds work on windows from 21 inches to 73 7/8 inches wide and come in white or walnut. However, if you have only small windows to cover, we recommend going with Lutron.
The MySmartBlinds include a traditional cord to raise and lower the blinds, rather than the more modern, cordless push-and-pull method of the Lutron blinds. And the MySmartBlinds have a wand for manually controlling the tilt of the blinds (which the Lutron blinds don’t have). All of these extra controls do make for a less clean aesthetic, though. And there is no remote-control option, as there is with Lutron. Unlike with the Lutron blinds, with the MySmartBlinds you don’t need a bridge to connect to the app (which oddly is a different app from the one used for the company’s shades). As long as you are in Bluetooth range, you can set schedules, open and close the blinds, and program the energy-savings feature (which adjusts the blinds if your room is getting too hot). Though this is a nice feature, in practice we found it to be less precise than setting up a temperature sensor in the room (this is because it’s measuring the temperature at your window, which will be hotter than the ambient feel of your room). But we did like the option to automatically return the blinds to their original position when the room cools down, and this worked well in testing.
We also really like SmarterHome’s hardware and installation process. It’s very simple, and the instructions are well-laid-out and brief. And there are videos to walk you through it if you need more help. The included solar panel is easy to install, and in our testing, it provided ample power even on shaded windows. We were able to set them up in under 10 minutes with no drilling needed, thanks to the SmartLock mounting technology, which uses a lever mechanism to snap the blinds in place.
Unfortunately, MySmartBlinds’s smart integrations are very limited and hard to use, and all you get is voice control, with no ability to add to Routines or automations. And to set up they require the purchase of a bridge, which is a completely different, $109 device from the one that works with the MySmartShades—and which is also currently out of stock until 2022. So if you want voice control or the ability to adjust your blinds from outside Bluetooth range, we do not recommend purchasing these at this point.
The good news is that SmarterHome is merging its blinds and shades products into one app and one bridge (see What to look forward to). This change, slated for early 2022, will bring more and better smart-home integrations to the blinds. When it happens, we will update this review.
Photo: SmarterHome
The idea of adding a small motor to your existing shades to make them smart seems like a good one. And yet it’s really not. Expensive, clunky, and requiring a power source, most retrofit devices are simply not worth the hassle. “In most cases, trying to smarten up a dumb shade is like trying to put a small Band-Aid on a big wound,” said VanWert. “There are just too many variables for existing shades that I think make it tough.”
For blinds, the process is a bit simpler, since all the device has to do is tilt the wood slats, not raise and lower an entire shade. There are a couple of interesting options here (see What to look forward to). But for shades, the only reason to consider a retrofit option is if you have some really nice, existing window coverings that you don’t want to swap out. In that case, SmarterHome’s Roller Shades Automation Kit is the only solution worth considering.
Essentially the same device as our runner-up pick, the automation kit is just the roller with the motor built in and no fabric. It now costs $299 per shade (it was $199 when we first reviewed it), which is a very steep price, and it requires a much more involved installation. The process is well-thought-out, though, and the kit comes with everything you need in a variety of sizes, plus a detailed instructional video. But it’s very time-consuming, and the end result is not as good as that of SmarterHome’s new shades (they’re noisier and slower). All other aspects are the same, and you can control the shades in the same way, using the same app, and connect them with Alexa if you add a SmarterHome bridge (you need only one bridge per house for up to eight devices). Handily, if your existing roller shades have cords or chains, you can remove them and discard them once you add this motor.
The other retrofit devices that met our criteria, the Axis Gear and Soma Smart Shades 2, work only with shades that have a chain or cord to raise and lower them. If you don’t already have those types of shades, there’s no point in buying either of those to emulate smart shades, since you will spend close to the same amount (if not more) than you would on one of our picks. If you do already have corded shades, be prepared to spend $150 to $250 per window to improve them with what is, at best, an inelegant solution (a large, chunky white box on your window frame and wires everywhere). This might be an option if you have just one or two large shades you want to automate. But beyond that, we don’t think these devices are worth considering.
Photo: Hunter Douglas
Although you may be enticed to go DIY due to the cost savings, it is really easy to mess up measuring and installation for custom window coverings from our picks, potentially wiping out those savings and then some. If you aren’t comfortable with that risk, we recommend that you get your shades and blinds professionally installed. With a pro, not only are you mostly guaranteed a risk-free installation, but your options also get a lot wider. Crestron, Savant, Hunter Douglas, J Geiger, and Screen Innovations are all companies VanWert recommends for smart shades, along with our pick, Lutron Serena Shades. One of the main reasons he recommends this route is that you can have your shades hardwired instead of having to rely on batteries. “Anytime you can wire, your reliability is going to increase, and you don’t have any batteries or recharging to fuss with,” VanWert said. He points out that although wiring is easier in new construction, it is usually feasible to retrofit.
By Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
Updated February 10, 2023
Compass
16268 Los Gatos Blvd.
Los Gatos, CA 95032
CA DRE# 01955771
Susan Ward
