Smart blinds often intimidate people due to the imagined difficulty of installation and high price point, but what if you could convert your existing blinds into motorized, HomeKit-compatible ones with a minimum of effort? That’s the question Ryse asked before they launched their SmartShades line. The SmartShades attach to your existing blinds and use a small-but-powerful motor to raise your lower them.
You don’t have to have any electrical know-how to set the SmartShades up, either. Everything is battery powered, and that leads to the most impressive part of this device: a single charge lasts for up to six months. It comes with a USB cable for easy recharging, but you can also purchase an optional quick-release BatteryPack if there’s no outlet nearby. Even once the pack is out of charge, it only takes a few hours to power it back up.
The Ryse SmartShades works with Apple HomeKit, but also integrates with Google Assistant and Alexa through the SmartBridge. The company promises that even more integrations will become available after launch. Many smart blind systems work with smart assistants, but HomeKit is often overlooked. The HomeKit compatibility makes the SmartShades worth consideration, especially by users that prefer Siri over other systems.
You can set schedules and timers to control your blinds. If you’re an early riser, you can set the shades to open at 7 AM, but then close automatically at 6 PM when it gets dark outside. You can also control them at any time by asking your smart assistant to raise or lower your shades. You can control each shade individually or group them together in the app to make it easier to lift entire rooms at once.
Since the Ryse SmartShades are a retrofit solution, you don’t have to do remove your existing blinds. Just install the motor and connect your existing blinds to it. Perhaps the most outstanding part about the Ryse SmartShades is the price point.
At just $149, the Ryse SmartShades are more affordable than much of the competition on the market today. For example, the Tilt Roller Shades retail for $259. Buying brand-new smart blinds will cost you a pretty penny, but retrofitting your existing blinds to work with your smart home doesn’t have to break the bank. The Ryse SmartShades are available for purchase from the HelloRyse website.
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