SwitchBot Curtain Smart Electric Motor - Wireless App or Automate Timer Control, Use SwitchBot Hub Mini to be Compatible with Alexa, Google Home, HomePod, IFTTT (U-Rail, Black)

Product Information

If you have tabbed curtains then there are adapters you’ll need to fit for those, and if you have an extendable pole then you’ll need to fit the included adapter to your pole too so as the robot can make it over the step. If you own the SwitchBot Matter Hub 2, you can also add the Curtain 3 in Home Assistant by exposing the device in the app. This adds more connections points and produces more issues than it solves, considering everything is in Beta right now. I suggest you use the method above or wait for official support, which will be coming in one of the next Home Assistant updates. Summary

Opening up the plastic enclosure was a bit of a challenge, I was afraid of messing up the layout but curiosity got the better of me. There are a total of 6 gears which the DC motor turns, with two plastic spur gears in the middle. They are all oiled up to reduce friction/noise and increase their lifespan. It wouldn’t be a true SmartHomeScene review if the device isn’t dismantled, no matter what kind it is. The SwitchBot Curtain Rod 3 ships in a branded box containing the main unit, a pair of hooks, beads chain, some clips, USB-C cable, magnet attachment for positioning and a user manual. What appealed to me most was the idea of waking up to natural sunlight. Unfortunately, the bots emit a fairly loud whine, which is the last thing anyone wants to wake up to. The new SwitchBot Curtain 3 is much quieter than the Curtain 2 model, as it has a QuietDrift mode to keep the noise level at only 25 dB. This mode is slower, but it makes for a quiet, less distracting experience.If you want remote control, you need to install the SwitchBot Hub Mini, which can also act as an IR transmitter if you want to control practically any device, from a TV to air-con. With the Hub installed, your SwitchBot Curtain will automatically communicate with this device (provided it’s within Bluetooth range). That gives you remote control over your curtains, including scheduling. I like the convenience of automatic closing curtains. It's handy! I set it to close the curtains at dusk; it helps keep in the heat and saves me a chore, something I've often forgotten before bed. But it's hard to look past the aforementioned issues. The above images show an example for installing the bot on ring top curtains. The method is similar for any kind of curtains, the side hooks are spring loaded so all you have to do is pull them down and clip them onto the rod. My curtain rod is fairly thin (around 18mm), but the Curtain 3 was able to grip it firmly. I’m going to be fitting the SwitchBot Curtain 3 to a wooden curtain pole that’s about an inch and a half in diameter. The curtains are the grommet type with hole punched into them for the pole to go through. I was a bit concerned at first that I might need to change the pole because if I pull on the curtains then they don’t move freely and easily along it. They just kind of get jammed. But… SwitchBot have thought of this problem and I’ll discuss their solution in a bit. The app provides fine control over your curtains, with a slider enabling you to set the percentage open, if you just want partial closure. For dual curtains, the default mode is to control both sides with the slider, but you can have individual control if you prefer.

Using the SwitchBot Remote was the preferred method of interaction. Thanks to the direct Bluetooth connection between the Remote and SwitchBot Curtain, I never encountered any issues with the system failing to respond. If you don’t want to use SwitchBot’s kit, then there’s also an IFTTT channel, so you can achieve some of the same functionality using a different source, such as a smart thermostat. You don’t get quite the same level of control, plus you can’t restrict IFTTT rules to run between specific times unless you upgrade to a Pro account. Even then, it’s more fiddly to programme IFTTT Pro than it is to use SwitchBot’s app. App control was slightly less reliable through the Hub Mini, however. Quite a few times, I’d have the app saying that it couldn’t communicate with the SwitchBot Curtain and would have to retry; it would always work at the second attempt, though. Conclusion However, this may not be that useful. After all, walking into a room, pulling out your phone, opening the app and then closing or opening your curtains is actually more difficult and time-consuming than simply walking over to them and opening/closing them manually.There are some interesting settings in the app for configuring the SwitchBot Curtain 3. For example, the device can operate in two operation modes producing different noise levels and consuming battery: Bluetooth connectivity is handled through the BM-8762CMF Bluetooth 5.0 BLE Module [ Datasheet] manufactured by CC&C Technologies in China, which is based on the Realtek RTL8762C [ Datasheet] Bluetooth low-energy SoC.

The SwitchBot Curtain 3 is the quietest curtain motor out there, without a doubt. The trademarked QuietDrift mode produces virtually no noise at the expense of battery life and speed. Depending on your windows, you can simply get the solar panel combo and not worry about battery ever again. Like other SwitchBot products I’ve tested, the Curtain 3 is built really well and feels like a premium device. It’s certainly a significant improvement over the Curtain 2, but if you already own the previous generation of SwitchBot curtain motors I do not feel it’s necessary to upgrade. What is it with teenagers and curtains? They either don’t bother closing them when it gets dark, or they never open them during the day. SwitchBot have very kindly offered to help me with this little problem. They’ve sent me a pair of the new SwitchBot Curtain 3 robots which are designed to turn almost any type of curtain into a smart curtain.This is their latest hub and it supports Matter which means you can easily link your curtains to something like Home Assistant. Matter really is the easiest way to connect SwitchBot devices to Home Assistant. If you install the Matter add-on and integration, pair your SwitchBot Hub with Home Assistant, then in your SwitchBot app under your Hub settings select your supported devices as Secondary Devices for Matter. Then they just appear in Home Assistant to control. These modules are capable of creating a BLE mesh within the SwitchBot ecosystem and are found across their range of smart devices such as the Blind Tilt and Meter Plus. I use all SwitchBot devices with Home Assistant, if you are interested in digging deep into their ecosystem and HA Integration, here are a few of my articles: I have various types of blinds and curtains in my home, the most common being beaded chain roller curtains (controlled with Aqara E1). Now I’m thinking I should switch to drapes and use the SwitchBot Curtain 3 everywhere instead. It’s so quiet! The rubber roller which actually moves along the rod has a claimed lifespan of 10 years according to SwitchBot, moving approximately 22.000 meters in total (6 meters daily). It’s rotated by the last gear in the chain, which slots perfectly inside the rubber roller plastic cap.