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

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. As smart as our homes have become, most of us still have to get up to close (or open) our curtains, since motorised rails are expensive and can be difficult to fit. However, the SwitchBot Curtain provides a simple upgrade that turns your dumb curtains into smart ones in a matter of minutes. 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. To house the batteries and a motor powerful enough to move a set of curtains, SwitchBot Curtain is rather large (116 x 65 x 51mm). Its clip slides up and then you squeeze the top to ratchet the motor into place. It’s important that you only clip the SwitchBot Curtain into place to the point it feels secure; squeeze it too hard and it won’t move.

Still, even the new batch is far from perfect. For example, SwitchBots don’t always open the curtains as wide as I would by hand. They also tend to leave a gap between the curtains when they close. And I can't imagine them faring well with heavy curtains after seeing them struggle to fully open my small bedroom set. SwitchBot claims these will outlive the other components, noting that the rubber roller will need to be replaced after 10 years. This is such a long period to even think about, let alone worry about the curtain roller. Installation 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.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 I’ve written about SwitchBot products a couple of times in the past, disassembling and thoroughly testing each device they sent me. Build quality is better than most in their respective categories and even though I’m heavily against using cloud-based ecosystems, SwitchBot has one of the best apps and user interfaces when it comes to proprietary Smart Home controllers.

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. 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. Connectivity was not an issue for me, but It’s important to note I work diligently to eliminate interference between Bluetooth, Zigbee and Wi-Fi. I use Bluetooth proxies with cheap ESP32 boards to create a better connection and integrate Bluetooth devices in Home Assistant. But let’s pretend for a minute that you actually have a use-case for QuietDrift – if you are also using Home Assistant and Matter, then you won’t be able to make use of QuietDrift that way. You can use the SwitchBot automations if you like, but if you prefer to use Home Assistant automations then you’ll need to use the SwitchBot API.

The QuietDrift mode is extremely quiet at the price of battery life and speed. It’s hard to actually put a noise level to it, you basically hear nothing! The drape rings moving and creating noise is what you will hear, not the SwitchBot Curtain 3. This mode is great for opening the curtains in the morning when you are asleep. 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. 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! Most smart curtains require to you replace the curtain rail with a new one, but the SwitchBot Curtain is different. Here, you get a robot that clips onto your existing curtain rail, moving side-to-side to open or close your curtains automatically. If you have grommet-style curtains, that is the type with holes punched into it like I have, then you need the special “plastic clips on a bead chain” that comes with it. The clips attach over the top of the curtain through the grommets, and if you set the bead spacing just right it keeps each grommet at the correct angle to prevent the curtain from jamming as it is pulled along. It’s really quite a clever bit of engineering. 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.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 cable of the panel goes through a plastic tube which swivels on three places for flexibility. This prevents the cable from damage while hanging from the curtain bot. You can skip the solar panel if you want too, the battery should last about 8 months on a single charge (open and close once a day) but I highly suggest you get it too because it’s relatively inexpensive.