Smart home automation primarily focuses on enhancing convenience and security. Personally, I find that integrating motorized shades into my home is an upgrade that greatly enhances daily life. Rather than manually adjusting them at the start and end of each day, automation allows for the perfect amount of natural light without any effort. Recently, SmartWings introduced a new line of Matter-compatible shades that support Power over Ethernet (PoE), which removes the need for constant recharging. While PoE is an option, it’s not mandatory, positioning these as some of the top smart home motorized shades currently available.
HomeKit Weekly is a series dedicated to exploring smart home gadgets, automation advice and tricks, as well as all things related to Apple’s smart home ecosystem.
My Experience with Them
Over the past few years, I have used several versions of SmartWings shades, and honestly, they are my wife’s favorite smart home product out of everything we have. They pass the aesthetic test by not appearing overly “techy,” and their automation feature works seamlessly. We recently replaced the manual shades in our bedroom with SmartWings after two years of manual operation, and while it may sound trivial, the experience is significantly improved. We previously had to manually raise them every morning and lower them every evening—though it only took a few minutes, it felt like one more chore. Now, we automate their operation via HomeKit during the weekdays as we wake up at the same time each day. On weekends, we control them using a remote.
PoE and Matter-over-Ethernet Support
One of the major drawbacks of battery-operated shades is their batteries. They require recharging sooner or later, often at the most inconvenient times. If you have a PoE-enabled networking setup, this concern is eliminated, as it provides both power and data through a single Ethernet cable. You won’t need wall adapters or worry about battery life—just a reliable wired connection. Additionally, if PoE switches aren’t in place, you can use a PoE injector, allowing the motor to always remain charged. The Ethernet switch’s placement makes it fairly easy to conceal behind curtains, too.
As with other SmartWings shades, the new models are fully compatible with Matter, meaning they integrate well with HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, SmartThings, and Home Assistant. In a HomeKit ecosystem, you can add them to scenes and automations, control them using Siri, and monitor their position from within the Home app.
Thanks to the Ethernet capability, these shades can communicate directly through a hardwired connection. This results in quicker response times, enhanced automation reliability, and independence from a strong Wi-Fi signal. Reducing reliance on Wi-Fi is particularly advantageous in busy Wi-Fi settings (like apartments). The PoE feature allows the shades to stay connected to your network without competing for radio frequency bandwidth, ensuring optimal performance even in RF-dense environments.
Installation Process
I’m not particularly handy, yet I found the installation of the shades to be manageable. It begins with using a tape measure to mark where to place the brackets on the top of your windows. After pre-drilling holes, you can screw in the brackets. I recommend starting with one hole for each bracket to ensure accurate positioning before adding the second hole. Thankfully, the shades allow for a bit of adjustment, so perfect alignment isn’t crucial.
Once installed and secured, you can connect the Ethernet cable and scan the Matter code for HomeKit integration. There’s one code located on the top of the shades and another attached to the motor. They then appear in the Home app, allowing you to raise and lower them using a slider and include them in automation. Since the shades can be lowered to different percentages, you can program them to descend to 50% at dusk and fully lower at bedtime.
Conclusion
As I mentioned earlier, I genuinely appreciate these shades. They operate quietly, support HomeKit, and come with a remote that can manage all shades in my bedroom. If I had to choose only one smart home device to keep at home, it would undoubtedly be the SmartWings shades.
You can purchase the new PoE shades directly from SmartWings.
