SUPER Impressed!
BACKGROUND: When purchasing furnishings for my home, I tend to purchase high-end items because they typically are of a higher quality and last longer. At the same time, I am very cost-conscious and don't like to just throw away money unnecessarily when purchasing such items. As such, I did a lot of research on options for a motorized blackout cellular shade for a 49"x49" window. In the past, I've owned a Hunter Douglas PowerRise motorized cellular shade, but it eventually stopped working after the batteries enclosure became quite corroded. And I've also experienced Lutron motorized shades . They are super quiet, but they're also super pricey, relatively speaking.During my research, I stumbled on SmartWings. I was not familiar with this brand. After reading through numerous reviews of the SmartWings motorized shades, I decided to take my chances and purchase their motorized blackout cellular shade (with a Zigbee motor). In particular, I wanted the ability to control the shades using voice commands and timed settings via Alexa. I've never owned an Alexa device, but purchased one specifically so that I could control these shades. I went with an Echo 4th generation, since apparently that particular Alexa device has a Zigbee hub built in and didn't require me to purchase a separate hub.EXCELLENT QUALITY PRODUCT: The shade arrived very well-packaged. I was blown away when I opened the package and observed all the great things that SmartWings had included with the shade. The first thing that blew my mind (which I was SUPER impressed by) was their inclusion of white gloves. You may ask, why is that such a big deal? Well, if you're very particular and a perfectionist like me, you certainly wouldn't want your brand new, pristine white shade to get dirty during the installation process, right? Normally, I'd wash my hands really well before handling something like a white fabric shade. The fact that SmartWings included white gloves tells me that they actually care about a quality product, and they realize that by providing these gloves, it'll help the customer avoid getting any grime or dirt on the blinds during installation. Love it! On top of that, they also included a pencil for marking the drill holes for the mounting bracket. And they also included a level! I literally said to myself "Wow, this is impressive" after observing these included items!QUIET OPERATION: The noise level of the shade's motor is quieter than I thought it'd be. While not as quiet as a Lutron shade, it is quieter than the Hunter Douglas PowerRise shade I used to own (which had a high-pitched sound) years ago. The noise pitch of the motor during operation is actually pleasing to the ears, in my opinion.INSTALLATION: The installation of the shade was a breeze using the included mounting brackets.ALEXA INTEGRATION: The included instructions mention that the upper and lower limits (for closing/opening) have already been set. And that seemed to be the case when I used the remote control to open/close the shade. However, upon setting up the shades in Alexa as a "new device", I discovered in the Alexa app that the blinds device was "unsupported". So I contacted SmartWings customer support. The lady I spoke to was very friendly and immediately knew how to resolve the issue I was having. She asked me if I had programmed the upper/lower limits yet. I said no because the instructions indicated they were already set. She said those limits have to first be set before you can control the shades via Alexa. So she walked me through on how to program the upper/lower limits to see if that would resolve the issue. (That information is also included in the instructions.) After I did that, I was able to successfully see the shades showing up as a supported device (called Blinds) in the Alexa app. I was subsequently able to use voice commands to say stuff like "Alexa, open the blinds to 50%", and the blinds responded accordingly. So if you plan to control your shades with Alexa, make sure you first perform the setup of the upper/lower limits following the included instructions (even though the instructions indicate the shade comes shipped with the limits already set).HANDHELD REMOTE CONTROL: I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that the handheld remote control is RF (radio frequency) and not an IR (infra-red) remote. That was great news because it meant I didn't have to point the remote directly at the shade, and that I could operate the blinds from any room in the house! In fact, I did a test by going downstairs to a room that's located about 50 feet away from the upstairs room where the shades are mounted. The remote was able to control the blinds with no problem.OVERALL: If you're on the fence in trying to decide on going with this brand, I would highly recommend them. In my opinion, it's a great product for the money. There are much pricier motorized shades out there, but why pay more than you need to. As mentioned above, I am super impressed with the quality of the product, along with the included installation items in the packaging, and more importantly the excellent customer service that was provided to me. I don't normally write reviews, but I felt compelled to share my thoughts about this product with others because I've been so impressed with it.