The Aqara Curler Shade Driver E1 curler shutter motor might be retrofitted in a matter of minutes, making present curler shutters with pull chains an entire lot smarter. We reviewed the gadget, which prices round €60. Do take observe that it isn’t accessible formally within the US.
NEXTPITTV
Good
- Simple set up course of
- Many potentialities in relation to organising routines and automatic conduct
- IFTTT, Homekit, Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant assist
- Strong workmanship and reasonably priced worth
Unhealthy
- Buttons ought to react quicker
- Motor runs slightly slowly
The Aqara Curler Shade Driver E1 in a nutshell
It would not get any simpler than this: Pay attention to the thread within the rigidity chain of your curler blind, mark its place, glue or screw on the field, scan the QR code, and also you’re good to go. In a matter of simply ten minutes, you’ve gotten made your curler blind good with the Aqara Curler Shade Driver E1. The app additionally presents quite a few configuration choices and the producer presents a variety of suitable good residence merchandise.
Contemplating the comparatively low cost worth of round €60, ths is a slightly stable construct that doesn’t want a everlasting energy connection due to the built-in battery. If solely the motor may run a bit quicker and the buttons on the case may react a wee bit quicker, that’s all that we ask for. Nevertheless, this shouldn’t be an issue for individuals who need the curler blinds to be totally automated within the first place.
The Aqara Curler Shade Driver E1 is at the moment accessible for round €60 in varied on-line shops similar to Amazon. To make use of the system, additionally, you will want a hub, for instance the Aqara Hub E1, which might be discovered for simply shy of $30.
Setup and design
At first look, the Aqara Curler Shade Driver E1 resembles a Wiimote from Nintendo.
As an alternative of flying across the room whereas enjoying Wii Sports activities Tennis, the Curler Shade Driver prefers a extra muted persence, hanging in an unspectacular method on the wall as you progress your curler blind up and down. What’s an particularly good contact: Due to the built-in battery, you do not have to put yet one more unpleasant cable across the residence.
To put in the Curler Shade Driver E1, you’ll first must take away the plastic cap on the high finish. Beneath is the shaft of the electrical motor, on which there’s already a receptacle for the frequent curler blind bead chains. In case your curler blind makes use of a distinct sort of chain, you will see that three extra adapters within the field.
Now all it’s a must to do is hook the Curler Shade Driver E1 into the chain of your curler blind on the lowest attainable level, holding it towards the wall and marking the underside finish of the housing with a horizontal line. Comply with that by separating the wall bracket from the housing and attaching it with the decrease finish on the marked peak. This may be completed both utilizing the included adhesive pad or with two dowels and screws which might be additionally included.
Following that, merely slide the curler shutter motor again onto the wall bracket and the set up is full. With the 2 up and down buttons on the housing, now you can already remotely transfer the shutter up and down. Nevertheless, do watch out: The motor nonetheless doesn’t know the tip factors can can run in each instructions infinitely.
By the way in which, it was no drawback within the check that the axis of our curler blind and the axis of the motor are offset by 90 levels. Simply ensure that the chain is just not too tight throughout set up – the chain ought to solely have a slight rigidity, not be taut like a guitar string.
Setup through software program
The second a part of the setup takes place within the app. To make use of the Curler Shade Driver E1, you’ll first want a Zigbee hub. An affordable resolution is the Aqara Hub E1, which prices $29.99. Nevertheless, Aqara additionally has a number of good residence merchandise in its portfolio with built-in hub, for instance the G3 Digital camera Hub, which then additionally empowers you with a couple of extra good methods. Extra on that later.
To arrange the Curler Shade Driver E1, all it’s a must to do is scan the QR code on the again within the app and comply with the directions on the smartphone show to set the tip factors of the motor for the highest and backside positions. It took lower than two minutes to arrange the curler shutter motor within the assessment.
Now comes probably the most thrilling half:
You’ll be able to arrange totally different scenes and automatic conduct for the Aqara Curler Shade Driver E1.
With automated behaviour, as an example, you’ll be able to have the curler shutter motor transfer to sure positions at chosen instances, similar to at 6 o’clock within the morning from utterly closed to 90 p.c, to 60 p.c within the afternoon, and again to zero p.c or utterly closed within the night.
It’s also possible to hyperlink different sensors to the Curler Shade Driver E1. For the reason that G3 Digital camera Hub presents gesture recognition, you’ll be able to shut the curler blind with a high-five gesture. This really labored flawlessly within the assessment. Other than that, you will see that quite a lot of buttons and rocker switches, movement sensors, vibration sensors, door and window sensors and extra within the Aqara portfolio. Simply have a gander and see whether or not something fits your fancy.
It’s also possible to arrange chosen scenes with a number of elements, similar to for “Film”. Right here, the room can be robotically darkened and even perhaps have the lights within the room dimmed. These scenes can then even be managed through a voice assistant like Siri. Talking of which, the Curler Shade Driver E1 additionally helps the Apple Homekit and might thus be built-in into your Apple ecosystem. Moreover, there’s assist for IFTTT in addition to Alexa Talent and Google Assistant.
Aqara Curler Shade Driver E1 efficiency
When it comes to efficiency, there’s little or no to complain in regards to the Curler Shade Driver E1.
The motor additionally manages the slightly stiff NextPit editorial curler blind with none issues. Nevertheless, the motor runs comparatively slowly. It took a very good 33 seconds for our 2.20-meter-long curler blind to journey from the very backside proper to the very high. The pace might be configured in three phases within the app, however the quickest possibility was already chosen right here.
The buttons on the Curler Shade Driver may additionally react a bit quicker for my part. Every time the button is pressed, it takes a second for the motor to start out. If the curler blind runs virtually autonomously through scenes and automations, then this isn’t noticeable in any respect. Nevertheless, if you wish to exit to the balcony proper now, it needs to be a bit quicker.
As talked about at the start, the Curler Shade Driver E1 runs on battery energy. In line with the producer, the battery lasts for 2 months for those who open and shut a 1.80 m lengthy curler blind as soon as a day. Sadly, we can not confirm this data because of the lack of time to carry out an endurance check. Nevertheless, seeing how the battery degree dropped from 51 to 49 p.c after three days of use, the form of battery life efficiency shared by the producer does sound believable.
The battery is recharged through USB Sort-C. This implies you’ll be able to plug in a powerbank or hook it as much as an AC adapter each two months to recharge the battery utterly. You probably have an influence outlet close by, you’ll be able to in fact additionally join the Curler Shade Driver to an influence adapter completely.
Closing verdict
It took simply 10 minutes from set up to testing it out – and the Aqara Curler Shade Driver E1 labored flawlessly as promised by the producer. The one downside is the considerably gradual response. Each the keys and the motor itself ought to react and run a bit quicker in our opinion. In view of the low buy worth, nevertheless, that is simply forgiven, particularly because the curler blind isn’t operated manually.
