These smart window shades work sunup to sundown (pictures)
Somfy's Motorized Shades can do lots of tricks, but they'll lighten your wallet.
Somfy's Motorized Shades are about as easy to install as normal shades, but they need with a few extra gadgets to take advantage of their smarts.
Setting up the app is a breeze, since it walks you through the process, step by step.
Once you've got everything set up, you can explore the app and play with your motorized shades.
One of the extra pieces of hardware Somfy's Shades need is the battery tube, which houses eight AA batteries. The installation at the CNET Smart Home took a little ingenuity, since the window's molding was so shallow. Eventually, we used double-sided tape to rig this thing up behind the blinds.
The MyLink hub is what connects your smartphone to the shades. It has five channels, so you can control up to five shades or groups of shades with a single hub.
The app features an intuitive design, so opening and closing your shades is a breeze.
You can also schedule times you want your windows to open or close, so waking up can be a more gradual and pleasant experience than what you'd get with a blaring alarm.
We opted for cellular shades to help with insulation at the Smart Home. There are plenty of alternative fabric types, ranging from the affordable ($25) to the lavish ($300).
The Remote controls the shades directly, and also features five separate channels for different blinds or groups.
The app features a simple setup with three primary functions: "Remote," "Scenes" and "Schedules."
When you send a command from your phone, the MyLink hub translates that signal into a communication protocol the shades can pick up. Then, using an antenna by the battery tube, the shade picks up the command.
Scenes are one of the more complex ways to issue commands to your Somfy shades. These are groups of commands that can be initiated at the single push of a button, or scheduled.
The Somfy myLink ($200) and the Motorized Shades ($300-$400) will set you back quite a bit. To see if its worth the expense, check out the full review.