And I can't imagine them faring well with heavy curtains after seeing them struggle to fully open my small bedroom set. They also tend to leave a gap between the curtains when they close. For example, SwitchBots don’t always open the curtains as wide as I would by hand. Still, even the new batch is far from perfect. I contacted the company and received new models to test, and I'm pleased to say they work much better. Alas, after much fiddling around, I still had no luck. I have lightweight ring-top curtains with a uniform rod, so there’s no reason the SwitchBot should have trouble. (You can also get SwitchBots that work with U Rail and I Rail curtains.) There's a kind of ratcheting arm that goes over the curtain rod, with little wheels on the inside, and you clamp it on the rod between the first and second curtain rings. I placed one on the right curtain and one on the left. You can remotely open and close them from your phone using the SwitchBot app, or schedule them to open and close at set times.īut as you might surmise from my first attempt, the SwitchBot has quite a few flaws that might make you want to rip your curtains out completely.Īfter the pathetic first attempt at opening my curtains, I tried refitting the SwitchBot. Costing $99, or $189 for two (and you will need two for most curtains), it makes your tired old curtains smart. It can be easily fitted to most curtain types in minutes. That's the premise of this charming little gadget. Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up with sunlight touching your face instead of an alarm (or, in our house, a cat crying for breakfast)? “Need” is a bit strong, but the temptation of the SwitchBot is automation. Why would you need a robot that automatically opens your curtains anyway, they asked. A few seconds later, the right curtain tried to join in but moved less than an inch and made a very unpleasant, high-pitched whine that lasted about 30 seconds. After an agonizing 10-second delay, the left curtain jerked open in spurts. With all eyes on the curtains, I tapped a command on my phone. My wife and kids were perplexed by my excitement as I gathered them by the window to unveil a mysterious new gadget.
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