Graywind Motorized Blinds with Remote, Smart Zebra Shades for Windows, Roller Blinds Compatible with Apple Homekit, Alexa, Google Home, Custom Size, Classic - White

I started out with one test shade before committing (like many others, I was scared about the risk and return difficulty if it hadn’t worked out). I loved the quality and Graywind’s integrity so much, I ended up buying 15 more Zigbee (ZF) light filtering and blackout shades in white, and the 16-channel remote. Both types of these zebra shades look great and work wonderfully. Highly recommend!! Long version:FABRIC / MATERIALGet the swatches!! It’ll help you very much. Before finding Graywind, I had ordered fabric swatches from the major brands at our home improvement stores and from a couple online vendors. Those “fabrics” all felt like rigid paper, they were fraying at the edges, and didn’t seem like they would last with everyday up/downs and direct sunlight over the years. Graywind’s fabric samples, however, were impressive. The materials are flexible, don’t crease easily, and didn’t show signs of easy fraying. The solid bands feel smooth and thin (but durable) for the light filtering, and smooth and thick for the blackout. The sheer parts feel a bit more rigid than your typical soft sheer curtains, so they may crease if someone/thing keeps folding it repeatedly. After 6 months, I haven't had any issues with the fabric fraying on the shades that completely open/close or partially open.ALIGNMENT OF BANDSFor the most part, Graywind did a great job at band alignment between windows (this was a concern I had about buying zebra-style shades). The only caveat was that they would align the bands for only same-length shades. So if you have different sized windows side-by-side in the same room, be aware there may be a misaligned outlier (maybe try asking if they could make them all match).Alignment in the sense that you can superimpose the darkening bands over each other, was also pretty spot-on—with the exception of 2 (out of 16) being about 10 degrees crooked. One thing that was kind of a bummer is that the blocking bands on light filtering shades are much smaller than the blocking bands on the blackouts (e.g. 3” vs 4.5”). So if the difference will bother you, keep that in mind.LIGHTINGFor some rooms, I got the blackout shades in the rooms to block out light or to avoid our shadows from being seen if someone were standing outside at night. For the rest, I got the light filtering shades because I didn’t want to lose brightness but wanted privacy from the creepy neighbor (fyi if you see your shadow on these shades at night, people outside will also be able to see it if that’s a concern for you). I used a light meter to test the lighting changes with direct sunlight in both shade types while standing 6ft from the front of the shade. With the light filtering shades the lux readings were 199 closed (60% bright), 247 bands aligned (75% bright), 331 fully open (100% bright). With the blackout shades (different room/sun entry) the lux readings were 43 closed (0.3% bright), 5037 bands aligned (39% bright), and 12949 fully open (100% bright).BATTERY / MOTOR / SOUNDI’ve had my shades for about 6 months and so far only 1 needed a battery charge at the 4 month mark. The others that fully open/close every day will also be due for a charge soon, so it’s definitely within the 3-6 months window they mention. In their manual, they list the life of the motor to last about 14,000 runs (1 run = fully up and down once), putting it around 38yrs (pretty good if true). As for the sound of the motor, I tested with the sound meter 2ft and 6ft away. The readings were 44dB and 40dB respectively, which is kind of like the hum of a portable heater/fan. It’s not too bad, but as a light sleeper, they do wake me up if I sleep up to their programed opening times.INSTALLATION & 16-CH RemoteThe installation is pretty straight-forward, and love the mounting brackets that come with this kit! It’s a push and lock mechanism and they hide very well. The valence/shade could be easily taken down, and shifted left or right to center it. My shades are outside mount on the window casing so there is about a 1" gap from the side. However, the increased width of the shades still maintains privacy.The remote control is a sexy sleek push-button type, which I am VERY happy with. (I saw in another review that someone had a touch-remote. Touch remotes, in my experience, are terrible for operating motors because they are either too sensitive or not sensitive enough—making it impossible to fine-tune your settings.) So YAY Graywind for sticking with push-button remotes!SMARTTHINGS (AEOTEC HUB)I can also confirm that the ZF motors can be controlled via SmartThings. Thank you so much to the reviewer on Feb 27 2021—If it wasn’t for their confirmation, I probably wouldn’t have gone with these shades because I was looking specifically for shades/motors that were compatible with my Hub. I’d also recommend the Yoolax custom Device Handler (Google it if this is new to you), as the basic device handler has the up/down setting reversed and doesn’t report the battery levels (for me at least). With the app, you can schedule the times they open or close, and the percentage of openness (between 0-100%).PACKAGINGThe shades were always packaged very well with flex foam and plastic to protect from the elements and delivery-person abuse. The delivery folks in my area are rough with packages, so I was very grateful for the extra care Graywind puts in each shipment.COMPANY / CUSTOMER SERVICEGraywind is one of those rare companies with integrity, and has shown to care about their customer’s satisfaction and loyalty. Their response times to inquiries has always been under 24hrs. At one point, I had an issue with 3 of my motors not functioning properly, and they were quick to help me resolve the issue, and then check up on me about it. They sometimes send short videos to help show what you need to do, or will walk you through the troubleshoot. Overall, Graywind has great customer service, makes great zebra shades and I would highly recommend!

tldr; Great F-White Shades, 100% privacy at night when closed, had motor issues but support sent me a brand new one to install and all works great now.I was a little nervous ordering motorized blinds on Amazon, especially from a brand I'd never heard of until my search began, but I'm glad I did as customer service has been great.I started looking at roller blinds first because they are less expensive and what seemed to be more simple, however, once I learned about the privacy issue at night I started looking at other options.I chose the F-White which is a nice matte white fabric, which goes well with our alabaster walls and denver taupe curtains. You essentially get 3 options with these zebra shades:Full Open - Self ExplanatoryFull Close - Provides complete privacy while still letting filtered light through during the dayPartially Open - Provides more light than full close and gives privacy during the day depending on how far open your shades are.Everything comes preprogrammed when it arrives which makes it pretty easy to get started once the shades are installed, however, they do provide manuals if you need to change anything. If you reset the shades motor, just be warned that it will disconnect the motor from your remote, remove your top/bottom limits and possibly change motor directions.I had an issue with one of my shades not responding well to commands, it usually took a few extra commands for the shade to respond. After resetting the motor and giving it a full charge, I ended up contacting support who gave me a few other tips to try. When that didn't fix the issue they ended up sending me a new motor with instructions on how to replace it. Once the motor arrives and you replace the old, you will have to reprogram the motor and pair it to the remote, but just follow the instructions in the remotes manual.I bought the Bond hub so I could automate these to close automatically at sunset, pairing to the hub was super simple. Now with 2 reliable motors both shades close at the same time every night. Bond hub integrates with Alexa, Google and Smartthings.

I’ve have this shade for a little over a year and have been happy with it. One afternoon the motor just stopped working without warning, but after reaching out to Graywind they offered to send a replacement motor which arrived within a week. The motor (and new remote) are actually an upgrade from what I originally had (seems to be a new generation). Overall very happy with the shade (with a now upgraded motor), and their customer support.

I have it installed in my living room window and is a great product. Highly recommended.

LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THESE BLINDS! Super easy to install