SmartWings Review 2026: Smart Shades, Prices and Policies

SmartWings is a US-facing brand that sells custom-made motorized shades, blinds and drapery, and this SmartWings review covers that window-treatment company only. A Czech airline uses a very similar name, so if you landed here looking for flight reviews, this is the wrong page. For the shades, we read the test-based reviews from PCMag, GearBrain and New Atlas, checked the brand's own shipping and refund pages, and compared what each source says about price, setup and day-to-day use.

Our verdict in brief

SmartWings makes a sensible pick for people who already run Alexa, Google Home, HomeKit, SmartThings or a Matter setup and want quiet, made-to-measure shades without paying designer-brand prices. It suits a patient buyer who is comfortable measuring carefully and pairing a remote. If you want a single polished app, easy returns or plug-and-play setup, look elsewhere.

What SmartWings sells

The catalog is wider than the name suggests. The SmartWings official website lists roller shades as a core line and says the shades connect to ten platforms, from Alexa, Google Home and Apple HomeKit to Home Assistant and Hubitat, plus pro systems such as Crestron Home, Control4, ELAN and RTI. Its shipping policy page names further collections: cellular, zebra, woven wood, outdoor, dual and hardwired shades, plus drapery and fabric swatches.

Everything is built to your window measurements. That is the appeal and the catch: you get a shade sized to the frame, but the order cannot be undone casually once production begins (more on that in the policies section).

The brand also sells Roman shades. Its Daphne line is the one product with a current price on the brand site, covered in the pricing section below.

Design and customization

Choice is the first thing every reviewer mentions. In the PCMag review, a contributing editor writing in May 2025 counted 13 fabric styles for the roller shades alone, with blackout levels running from sheer sunscreen weaves to total blackout, and fabric samples from $6.99 so you can check a color before committing.

GearBrain's reviewer describes the hardware as heavy and solid, from roller tube to brackets, and notes cellular, zebra, woven wood, solar-screen, light-filtering and blackout options in the GearBrain review. The look is plain and modern, which means it fits most rooms without drawing attention.

thegoodfinds also praises the range, especially cellular shades for insulation. Read that page with care: it carries a discount banner and reads more like a brand overview than a test, so we treat it as background rather than evidence.

The trade-off of so many options is that ordering mistakes are easy. New Atlas's reviewer notes in the New Atlas review that the configurator has a long list of motor, valance, power and color choices, and he picked the wrong thing on part of his order.

Motors and smart-home compatibility

The motor decides how the shade joins your home. PCMag lists the upgrades at the time of review: $79.99 more for a HomeKit-over-Thread motor, $94.99 for Matter over Thread, Z-Wave Plus at $59.90, Zigbee at $29.99 and an Alexa-only motor at $29.99, with a plain non-smart motor at no extra charge. There is no Wi-Fi motor; a Smart Link hub at $49.90 bridges the shades to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi.

What this means in practice: if you own a recent HomePod, Echo or Nest Hub that acts as a Thread border router, the Matter or HomeKit motor is the cleanest path. Without one, a Zigbee motor and a compatible hub, or the Smart Link bridge, is the route.

GearBrain confirms the shades worked with Apple HomeKit, Google Home, SmartThings and Alexa across its months of use, and calls the motor choice the single most important decision in the order, per the GearBrain review.

No dedicated SmartWings app

This is the complaint that shows up in every serious review. SmartWings does not publish its own control app. You control the shades through whichever platform the motor talks to, such as Apple Home or the Alexa app. PCMag lists it as a con, and GearBrain says the approach keeps your setup tidy for experienced users but can confuse a beginner who expects a branded app to walk them through pairing.

Installation and setup

Physical mounting is the easy part. New Atlas's reviewer, who lives in a rental, timed his zebra shades in the New Atlas review: about 10 or 11 minutes for the first, roughly seven for the second and around three for the third once he had the routine down. PCMag also lists easy installation as a pro.

Pairing is where patience comes in. Every shade needs at least one remote, which PCMag priced at $15.99 for the basic remote that handles five shades; you pair it using a small button inside the battery compartment plus a button on the motor, then set the upper and lower stop points. GearBrain flags remote pairing, grouping and calibration as trial-and-error work.

Measuring deserves the most care. GearBrain found the online measuring guide accurate for its two windows, but New Atlas's reviewer measured only the door opening for his drapes and came up 10 inches short, a mistake he owns in the New Atlas review. Because orders are made to measure, an error like that is on you.

Performance and daily use

Noise is low. GearBrain calls the motor nearly inaudible and suited to bedrooms and home offices. New Atlas's reviewer describes a soft whirring rather than silence, which he did not mind.

Speed is modest. In the New Atlas review, raising a shade of about 58 inches took around 15 seconds, perhaps 20, by the reviewer's rough count. Nobody will call that fast, but it is normal for battery motors.

Light blocking earns praise from both test sources. PCMag says the blackout fabric did an excellent job, and New Atlas found the full-blackout zebra shades made the room genuinely dark.

Power is the other daily detail. Most shades run on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that PCMag says is rated for up to six months per charge, recharged over USB, with an optional window solar panel at $49.99 and a hardwired kit on some models. New Atlas's reviewer used the solar panel and stopped thinking about charging altogether.

Pricing and value

Prices depend on window size, fabric, motor and add-ons, so a single sticker price does not tell you much. The one current price we can confirm: the SmartWings Motorized Daphne Linen Roman Shades product page listed $219 when we checked.

Review-era figures give a sense of the spread. In May 2025, PCMag listed the roller shades as starting at $209.99, with sunscreen fabric at $169.99 and blackout linen at $179.99, and its own configured 52-by-40-inch shade came to $420.86. PCMag adds that dropping the smart motor saves roughly $100 per shade.

GearBrain quoted entry roller shades from about $169.99 at the time of its review and suggested budgeting $170 to $250 per window for a typical smart setup.

Whole-room jobs add up fast. New Atlas's reviewer saw his zebra shades climb from a $209.99 starting price to as much as $429.95 per shade, and his three shades plus drapes cost a little over US$1,800, according to the New Atlas review. He estimated that covering eight more windows would run past six grand.

Is it good value? Against other motorized shades, yes. PCMag notes that Eve Custom Smart Blinds start much higher, and GearBrain frames SmartWings as cheaper than legacy premium brands. Against plain curtains, no: you are paying for convenience.

Shipping, returns and cancellations

Shipping is free to the US and worldwide, and the SmartWings shipping policy lists production at 1-10 business days, then 3 to 18 business days in transit. Roller and zebra shades are among the quicker lines, with production of 1-5 business days; cellular, woven wood and outdoor shades take longer. The same page says taxes and duties are included in the price.

Returns are the big caveat. The SmartWings refund policy allows changes or cancellations only within 24 hours of ordering, because production usually starts the next morning. You can contact the company within 30 days of shipping if unhappy, but custom-made products cannot be returned or exchanged unless they arrive defective.

Standard, non-custom items must be unopened and shipped back within 15 days of approval, and opened accessories may carry a 15% restocking fee, per the refund policy.

We found no warranty terms in the sources we reviewed, so check the current terms with SmartWings before ordering.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Quiet motors that suit bedrooms and offices, per GearBrain and New Atlas
• Huge choice of fabrics, opacity levels and styles
• Matter, Thread, Zigbee, Z-Wave and Alexa motor options
• Works with Alexa, Google Home, HomeKit and SmartThings
• Mounting is quick once the brackets are marked
• Rechargeable batteries with optional solar charging

Cons

• No dedicated SmartWings app
• Remote pairing and calibration take trial and error
• Custom orders cannot be returned unless defective
• Easy to mis-order with so many options
• Wi-Fi control needs a separate hub
• Shades raise slowly

SmartWings vs alternatives

Eve is the main named rival in the sources; PCMag's comparison is that Eve has its own app while SmartWings relies on your smart-home platform. The GearBrain review also recalls older approaches built on smart switches such as Lutron Caseta or pro-installed Crestron and Control4 systems, which typically meant an installer.

Who should buy, and who should skip

Buy SmartWings if you already run a smart-home hub, want shades that respond to schedules and voice, and are happy to measure twice. It also makes sense for hard-to-reach windows where pulling a cord is a chore.

Skip it if you want a branded app, expect to change your mind after ordering, or have a tight budget for many windows. Ordinary blackout curtains do most of the job for far less.

If you are furnishing a room on a project-by-project basis, our TheHues review of custom curtains covers a made-to-measure fabric option without motors. For wall decor, see our Mapiful review on custom map posters and the ArtZMiami review of the decor store. And if you enjoy making things for the home yourself, our Clawlab tufting kit review covers a DIY rug-making kit.

Our ratings

Overall: 4/5, because the shades earned strong marks for build, quiet motors and broad platform support in the PCMag review and the GearBrain review, while the missing app, fiddly pairing and strict custom-order return rules hold it back from a higher score.

SmartWings Motorized Roller Shades

We give the roller shades 4/5. PCMag praised easy installation, the variable speed motor and voice control, and GearBrain found them well built and quiet over several months, per the GearBrain review. The lack of a dedicated app and the separate hub needed for Wi-Fi keep the score from going higher.

SmartWings Motorized Zebra Shades

We give the zebra shades 4/5. The New Atlas review found them quick to mount, dark when closed and pleasant to live with, but slow to raise. The reviewer's ordering slip shows how unforgiving the configurator can be, and his shades were supplied by the brand.

FAQ

What is SmartWings?

SmartWings is a brand of custom-sized motorized shades, blinds and drapery for the home. It sells roller, zebra, cellular, woven wood, Roman, outdoor and dual shades, controlled by remote, voice or a smart-home app. It is unrelated to the Czech airline with a similar name.

Is SmartWings worth it?

For smart-home users, generally yes. PCMag and GearBrain both found the shades well made and quiet, and they cost less than premium rivals such as Eve. If you only want darkness and privacy, regular curtains are far cheaper.

Does SmartWings have its own app?

No. You control the shades through the app of the platform you connect them to, such as Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home or SmartThings. Reviewers list this as the main drawback, especially for beginners.

Does SmartWings work with Matter, HomeKit and Alexa?

Yes, depending on the motor you pick. PCMag lists HomeKit over Thread, Matter over Thread, Zigbee, Z-Wave Plus and Alexa-only motors, plus a non-smart option. Matter and Thread motors need a compatible controller and border router, such as a recent HomePod, Echo or Nest Hub.

Can you return SmartWings shades?

Only in narrow cases. Custom-made shades cannot be returned or exchanged unless they arrive defective, and changes or cancellations are possible only within a short window after ordering. Standard, non-custom items can be returned unopened under the refund policy.

Are SmartWings shades hard to install?

Mounting is simple: New Atlas's reviewer got faster with each shade, and PCMag lists installation as a pro. The harder parts are measuring correctly and pairing the remote and motor, which GearBrain says takes some trial and error.

Where does SmartWings ship from, and is shipping free?

SmartWings offers free shipping to the US and other countries by UPS, FedEx and DHL Express, with fabric samples and some accessories sent from a US warehouse. Total delivery time is production time plus transit, and both vary by product line.