When the manual roller shades in my outdoor kitchen started hanging up due to age—they were more than 20 years old—I wanted to replace them with one of the many motorized options available online. After doing some research, I quickly turned to SmartWings Motorized Outdoor Shades. I liked these shades due to the abundance of color choices and control options, and they seemed to have a handle on both the technology and aesthetics I was seeking.
SmartWings Motorized Outdoor Shades Features
SmartWings Motorized shades are available in a variety of materials and opacities. They also offer smart home integration that works with everything from simple Bluetooth remote control to Z-Wave, Google Home, Apple HomeKit, Alexa, and Matter.
For my home, I went with the Outdoor Shades in Brown with 5% openness (they let 5% of light through). We chose the outside mount to fit the needs of our lanai, but you can also do an inside mount. Our space is large, so each roller blind is nearly 100 inches wide and 90 inches tall. For the motor, I chose the Matter model, which works with nearly every Smarthome system known to man.
The dense fabric is definitely outdoor-ready. Seeing it up close, I could tell it would hold up well to both our Florida heat and rain.
Key Features:
- 1/3/5% openness options for UV protection
- 11 color options depending on fabric choice
- Matter, Zigbee, Z-Wave motor options
- Intelligent control: remote, app, voice commands, and scene automation
- Child safety and quiet motor design
Where These Shades Work Best
Ideally, you’d install the SmartWings outdoor roller shades on a patio or porch that might be susceptible to rain and wind intrusion. The shades are IPX4 rated which means they can withstand splashing water without shielding for around 10 minutes. An IPX5 rating would be much better as those can withstand water jets, but I’ve had the blinds operation for two months—including during a Category 2 hurricane—and they seem to be doing just fine!
If you’re looking for something durable and that can give you some privacy in addition to coverage from the sun, these blinds make a lot of sense. SmartWings also offers enough options to ensure you can match just about any any home decor needs.
Optional Accessories
In addition to the options provided for color and UV protection, SmartWings gives you a whole host of accessories to choose from to make your use of their shades and blinds even better. That includes solar panel(s) for charging the brushless motors without an outlet, network accessories, and various remote controls. We got the dial remote, handheld remote, and even a Smart Link Pro to get the shades up and running on our network for Smart Home control. You can even get a TapTech Remote Wall Switch if you want to control the blinds from within your home.
Installing SmartWings Motorized Outdoor Shades in a Lanai
Installation of the SmartWings Motorized Outdoor Shades was a breeze. The provided brackets mount quickly and easily, and they attach anywhere along the width of the valance. That means you don’t have to be precise except for the mounting height.
Our blinds mounted side-by-side, almost butted up against each other. That gave us perfect coverage of our large West-facing opening. It often permits a blinding sun when grilling out in the late afternoon and evening hours.
Once installed, I connected the blinds to the solar panel chargers. That kept me from having to plug them into a wall outlet. I was able to snake a cable through the edge of the screen for one blind and through the roof bracket of the lanai for the other. From there, it was simply a matter of using the provided extension cables. This ensured everything was properly routed to the input power jack of each shade.
Cross winds can make your shades push and pull and flap around uncontrollably. To combat this, SmartWings includes a guide wire kit to lock in the shades as they travel up and down. I installed these and it keeps the shades from flying around when those afternoon Florida winds pick up!
Final Thoughts & Pricing
Given the incredibly customizable options, excellent build quality, and ease of installation I experienced with the SmartWings Motorized Outdoor Shades, I can easily recommend them to anyone needing a reliable solution to block out the morning or afternoon sun on a porch or lanai.
In addition to outdoor motorized shades, SmartWings also sells blinds, wood shades, zebra shades, cellular shades, and more. Just about any color, style, or option seems to be available on the site.
Pricing for these shades starts at $199 and goes up depending on the size, material, motor, and accessories you choose. Our 99-inch wide review blinds cost around $798 each with the Matter motor, solar panel, and other accessories. Get these directly from SmartWings, and utilize their online chat system to get any questions you may have answered.
