SmartWings Smart Blinds Review & Installation, Matter Over Thread, HomeKit, Alexa and Home Assistant

In this video, I take a detailed, real world look at SmartWings motorised smart blinds, covering how to order, what comes in the box, installation, solar panels, Matter setup, Home Assistant, Apple Home, Aqara, Alexa, and my final thoughts after installing them. The blinds shown include the SmartWings Harmony Duo Plus dual shade and a SmartWings blackout roller shade, both using Matter over Thread motors. This allows them to work across multiple smart home ecosystems at the same time, including Apple Home, Alexa, Aqara, and Home Assistant. SmartWings create custom motorised window treatments, including roller shades, dual shades, cellular shades, zebra shades, woven wood shades, outdoor shades, curtains, and more. These can be controlled via remote, app, or voice assistants, depending on the motor and ecosystem you choose. In this review, I show the full process from start to finish, including: Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:42 How To Order 06:27 What’s In The Boxes 11:08 Fitting The Brackets 14:43 Checks Before Fitting To The Brackets 15:44 Securing The Blind 16:27 Waking The Blinds Up 17:28 Testing They Work 18:07 Re-Programming Because I Measured Wrong 20:30 Adding The Solar Panels 22:05 Adding To Home Assistant 24:04 Adding To Apple Home 26:29 Adding To The Aqara App 28:40 Adding To Alexa 29:57 Adding The Second Shade At 10X Speed 30:40 Installing The Bedroom Blind 33:56 Checking It All Works 38:42 Final Thoughts 44:13 Outro One of the main reasons I chose Matter over Thread is flexibility. These blinds can run locally without relying on the cloud while supporting platforms like Apple Home, Alexa, SmartThings, and Home Assistant. For me, this means they work across multiple ecosystems at the same time. In the video, I show them working in Home Assistant, Apple Home, Aqara, and Alexa with fast, responsive control. I also compare the two styles installed. The dual shade gives you a daytime sunshade layer and a blackout layer, ideal for balancing natural light and privacy. The blackout roller shade is perfect for bedrooms, especially when paired with side light blockers. Another standout feature is the solar panel option. Once installed, the blinds stay charged without trailing cables, making them ideal for battery powered setups in bright rooms. I also explain why the pricing makes sense when compared to custom blinds. These are made to your exact measurements, with your chosen fabric, motor, finish, and ecosystem, rather than generic cut-to-fit blinds. SmartWings sent these blinds for review, but this is not a paid promotion. They had no control over the content, and all opinions are my own. If you are looking for custom motorised smart blinds that work with Matter, Apple Home, Alexa, Aqara, and Home Assistant, this video should help you decide if they are right for your setup. ⸻ Product link SmartWings smart blinds and shades https://www.smartwingshome.com?ref=479 This is an affiliate link, which means I may earn a small commission if you buy through it, at no extra cost to you. It helps support the channel. ⸻ Other creators I recommend • Shane Whatley @ShaneCreates • Stuart @StusReviewsUK • Simon @homekitnews • Eric Welander @EricWelander • John @AppleHomeAuthority • Paul Hibbert @paulhibbert • Craig @CraigsTechTalk ⸻ If you found this video helpful, please like and subscribe. It really helps the channel grow. If you have any questions about SmartWings blinds, Matter, Home Assistant, Apple Home, Aqara, Alexa, or installation, leave a comment below and I’ll help where I can. You can also email me at Andy@andysreviews.co.uk for more detailed questions.