Key Takeaways
- SwitchBot Curtain 3 works as described, offering effective management by means of the app.
- Cumbersome set up course of and noisy operation.
- Solely price it for area of interest circumstances, similar to bettering accessibility or for tall curtains.
I am as a lot a fan of the internet of things (IoT) as the following tech geek, which, to be clear, is a membership I proudly think about myself a member of, however the web of issues and the race to automate and connect something and every thing (I am taking a look at you, smart toaster) has spawned merchandise whose use instances are extra area of interest than common. The SwitchBot Curtain Opener 3 is one such product, and on this evaluate I will be going over my impressions putting in, testing, and utilizing it, in addition to the area of interest use instances I might see this product addressing.
Helpful however area of interest
SwitchBot Curtain 3
The SwitchBot Curtain 3 is an costly gadget that serves a couple of area of interest eventualities effectively however suffers from cumbersome set up for sure curtain sorts.
- Compatibility
- Rod, U Rail, I Rail
- Energy
- Rechargeable through USB-C
- Battery
- 8 months2 or limitless with Photo voltaic Panel
- Time-consuming to put in
- Cumbersome
- Noisy
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Worth, availability, and specs
The SwitchBot Curtain 3 retails for $90 for one unit, although think about that any center break up curtains that open from the center out would require two items to work correctly. This automated curtain opener will be discovered on Amazon and straight from the SwitchBot web site. The SwitchBot Curtain 3 is principally a small motor on rollers that attaches to your curtain rod. It’s accessible in three kinds that embody your fundamental curtain rod, U-shape curtain rods, and I-shape curtain rods. The system fees through USB-C and as soon as charged SwitchBot says the battery ought to final months relying on frequency of use.
SwitchBot Curtain 3
- Compatibility
- Rod, U Rail, I Rail
- Energy
- Rechargeable through USB-C
- Battery
- 8 months2 or limitless with Photo voltaic Panel
What I preferred concerning the SwitchBot Curtain 3
It features precisely as described
It’d sound like faint reward, however the redeeming high quality that caught out essentially the most to me was that the SwitchBot Curtain 3 labored precisely as described. I used to be a bit skeptical if I am being sincere, as area of interest house automation units just like the Curtain 3 are usually extra gimmick than operate. After connecting the system to the SwitchBot app (extra on this later), the software program walked me by means of the calibration course of, which as soon as accomplished, allowed me to open and shut my curtains from the app.
It’d sound like faint reward, however the redeeming high quality that caught out essentially the most to me was that the SwitchBot Curtain 3 labored precisely as described.
Talking of the app, it permits for a good degree of automation, largely by means of using schedules. I used to be capable of set the curtains to open within the morning after I usually start working after which to shut every night as soon as the solar goes down. The app additionally permits actually effective management of the open and shut course of. I used to be capable of open the curtains as a lot or as little as I needed, measured in % closed inside the app’s UI.
What I did not like concerning the SwitchBot Curtain 3
The juice wasn’t well worth the squeeze
SwitchBot claims that the set up of Curtain 3 ought to take as little as 30 seconds, however the actuality for me was starkly completely different. I like to think about myself a usually succesful particular person, and tech-savvy at that, however putting in this factor took me nearly an hour. I can see how as soon as you’ve got accomplished it earlier than, subsequent installations would take a fraction of the time, however the directions are unclear, the handbook’s photographs barely useful, and the set up unintuitive at finest. As soon as the system is put in on the far finish of your curtain rod, maneuvering the rod itself turns into extraordinarily cumbersome as the burden steadiness is totally tilted to at least one facet.
If this catches you off-guard because it did me, you would possibly find yourself scraping your wall and ceiling as I did, so be careful for this or set up it with some assist. Set up directions fluctuate wildly by model of curtain, and will embody using stand-alone clips, or clips related by beads to operate correctly, all of which is defined in little element with photographs that may be laborious to decipher at first look.
Even when I generously dropped that all the way down to Half-hour, it will take 360 open or shut cycles simply to interrupt even on my set up time, and in my eyes, the purpose of automation is to save lots of me time and vitality, not price me extra.
After a cumbersome set up, I lastly received to begin testing the bot. Because it started opening my curtains for the primary time, I used to be met with a whiny, rickety, and usually noisy operation. Within the promoting supplies for this product, SwitchBot reveals a setup the place you utilize the Curtain 3 to open your curtains within the morning, peacfully waking you up as daylight is step by step let into the room. In actuality, the noise of the operation would wake you up sooner and extra aggressively than the mild morning mild. As well as, the sound instantly conjured issues about whether or not the SwitchBot Curtain 3 would harm a high-end picket curtain rod or whether or not it was going to wreck my window shutters over time by rubbing towards the wooden end when transferring.
In the end, I could not see how, for me personally, this could ever be price it. I measured that it will take me 5 seconds to rise up and open or shut the curtain manually, whereas the set up alone took me about 45 minutes. Even when I generously dropped that all the way down to Half-hour, it will take 360 open or shut cycles simply to interrupt even on my set up time, and in my eyes, the purpose of automation is to save lots of me time and vitality, not price me extra.
Must you purchase the SwitchBot Curtain 3?
Even with my very own expertise being removed from splendid, I can positively see how the SwitchBot Curtain 3 might show helpful in some area of interest circumstances. Firstly, this could be an incredible product for enhancements in accessibility for any customers who’re in any other case unable to simply open and shut their curtains. It additionally could be well worth the set up on extraordinarily tall or lengthy curtains which might be in any other case a slog to open and shut, although keep in mind you have to to rise up there to take the centerpiece of the Curtain 3 down for charging a couple of times a yr, relying on use. Consideration must also be given to how you want your curtains set when open, as a result of for those who safe them with a tie or hook, the SwitchBot Curtain 3 can not try this for you, and handbook interplay along with your curtains will nonetheless be wanted in the long run.
If the curtain state of affairs in your house is pretty common, which means you open and shut them every now and then, and it takes you 5-10 seconds to take action, then I wrestle to see how a $90 expense, 15-Half-hour of set up, plus charging when wanted, all to exchange such a easy job is justifiable. If, nonetheless, you may have a really area of interest state of affairs that could be served by the SwitchBot Curtain 3, then by all means, choose one up, as a result of it actually does what it is designed to do, and I by no means skilled a malfunction.
Helpful however area of interest
SwitchBot Curtain 3
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