Key Takeaways
- SwitchBot Curtain 3 works as described, offering superb management via the app.
- Cumbersome set up course of and noisy operation.
- Solely price it for area of interest circumstances, akin to enhancing 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 you, smart toaster) has spawned merchandise whose use circumstances 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 circumstances I may 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 situations effectively however suffers from cumbersome set up for sure curtain varieties.
- 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 cut up curtains that open from the center out would require two items to work correctly. This automated curtain opener could be discovered on Amazon and instantly from the SwitchBot web site. The SwitchBot Curtain 3 is mainly a small motor on rollers that attaches to your curtain rod. It’s obtainable in three types that embody your fundamental curtain rod, U-shape curtain rods, and I-shape curtain rods. The system costs 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 appreciated 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 residence 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 via 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 via using schedules. I used to be in a position to set the curtains to open within the morning once I sometimes start working after which to shut every night as soon as the solar goes down. The app additionally permits actually superb management of the open and shut course of. I used to be in a position to 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 individual, and tech-savvy at that, however putting in this factor took me nearly an hour. I can see how as soon as you have achieved it earlier than, subsequent installations would take a fraction of the time, however the directions are unclear, the guide’s photos 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 load stability is totally tilted to 1 aspect.
If this catches you off-guard because it did me, you may 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 fashion of curtain, and will embody using stand-alone clips, or clips linked by beads to operate correctly, all of which is defined in little element with photos that may be laborious to decipher at first look.
Even when I generously dropped that all the way down to Half-hour, it could 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 bought to start out testing the bot. Because it started opening my curtains for the primary time, I used to be met with a whiny, rickety, and customarily noisy operation. Within the promoting supplies for this product, SwitchBot exhibits a setup the place you employ 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 light morning gentle. As well as, the sound instantly conjured issues about whether or not the SwitchBot Curtain 3 would injury 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.
Finally, I could not see how, for me personally, this might ever be price it. I measured that it could take me 5 seconds to stand 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 could 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.
Do you have to purchase the SwitchBot Curtain 3?
Even with my very own expertise being removed from supreme, I can undoubtedly see how the SwitchBot Curtain 3 may show helpful in some area of interest circumstances. Firstly, this might 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 are in any other case a slog to open and shut, although keep in mind you will want to stand up there to take the centerpiece of the Curtain 3 down for charging a couple of times a 12 months, relying on use. Consideration must also be given to how you want your curtains set when open, as a result of when you safe them with a tie or hook, the SwitchBot Curtain 3 can not do this for you, and guide interplay along with your curtains will nonetheless be wanted in the long run.
If the curtain scenario in your house is pretty common, that means you open and shut them every so often, and it takes you 5-10 seconds to take action, then I battle to see how a $90 expense, 15-Half-hour of set up, plus charging when wanted, all to exchange such a easy process is justifiable. If, nevertheless, you will have a really area of interest scenario 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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