#as long as my phone is charged and has a data connection i'm good

[10yearsofdnp]

February 19, 2015: As someone who's directionally challenged, I relate to this deeply. You're not alone, Dan. There are dozens of us! Dozens! 😣🚇🇬🇧

[dipulb3]

Ikea Fyrtur smart shade review: I'm keeping this thing

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/ikea-fyrtur-smart-shade-review-im-keeping-this-thing-3/

Ikea Fyrtur smart shade review: I'm keeping this thing

The window on my home’s front door has no curtain or blind, which is something I’ve long wanted to fix since it looks straight out onto the street. There are plenty of basic options that will get the job done, but I’ve been holding out for something a little fancier — and preferably something that I can automate, or control with my voice. I mean, come on. Who doesn’t want to live like a Bond villain?

Like

Incredible value compared to competitors like Lutron, Somfy and Tilt.

Easy-to-use app covers all of the bases for smart control, grouping and scheduling.

Simple, easy to use voice controls vie Siri, Alexa or the Google Assistant.

Removable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

Magnetic wireless remote comes included.

Don’t Like

Totally non-customizable design, available only in gray.

Slightly ugly metal housing.

Gateway device for app and voice controls sold separately.

Mounting screws not included.

No way to manually raise or lower the shades when the battery is dead.

Enter the budget-friendly home furnishings of Ikea. After initially getting its feet wet with the Tradfri smart lighting system, the Swedish retailer announced in 2018 that it was working on app- and voice-enabled roller blinds to go with it. Initially pitched for release in April of 2019, the blinds hit a number of delays during development before quietly starting to hit stores toward the end of the year under the Fyrtur name.

That was welcome news for me, because Ikea’s smart shades support voice controls via Siri, Alexa or the Google Assistant and start at just $129. Most everything else in the smart shade category costs quite a bit more than that.

How much more? Well, motorized roller shades of all sizes cost a flat $399 apiece from Tilt, and you have to pay extra for the hub that smartens them up and syncs them with your voice assistant of choice (“Free shipping on orders over $2,000,” the website reads). A single motorized smart blackout shade from Lutron’s Serena collection similar to the ones we tested at the CNET Smart Home a few years back added up to about $660 when I customized it to fit my door’s window on the Serena website and added in a Lutron Bridge for app and voice control — and you’ll play in the same high-priced ballpark if you’re shopping for Lutron’s new smart wood blinds, too. What about a smart shade from Somfy? You’ll have to connect with a third-party dealer and pay who knows what.

All of that gives Ikea’s Fyrtur shades the look of a game-changer for the category. And the value is indeed pretty strong here, especially for folks like me who have long felt priced out of the category altogether. It isn’t the prettiest-looking piece of window dressing — and you can’t customize the design at all, which is a drag — but if you just want the Bond villain satisfaction of telling your voice assistant of choice to lower the shades without needing to spend one meeeeellion dollars on them, then these are the roller blinds you’ve been waiting for.

Ry Crist/CNET

The Fyrtur is now

Available now, Ikea’s Fyrtur smart shades come in eight different sizes. Each one is 76 inches long when the shade is fully extended, but the width varies from 23 inches ($129) up to 48 inches ($179). There’s very little markup from size to size, and just $50 separating the smallest Fyrtur from the largest, so good on Ikea for not bilking people here. For my front door’s window, I went with the 27-inch version, which costs $139.

No matter what size you need, your shade will come with heather gray blackout fabric and a metal, industrial-looking overhang. I wouldn’t call it ugly, but it definitely isn’t eye-catching. You can’t customize the way they look at all, either — no special-cut sizes, no fancy colors or materials, no nothin’. That’s the key trade-off here — competitors like Lutron and Somfy will let you customize your shades in all sorts of ways, but they cost substantially more than what Ikea’s asking.

Ikea Fyrtur Smart Shade sizes

Width (inches) 23 27 30 32 34 36 38 48 Price $129 $139 $149 $154 $159 $164 $169 $179

Each Fyrtur shade comes with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery to power it, a wireless remote to control it at a touch, and mounting brackets that you’ll need to screw it into place. They don’t come with screws, though. Since your mounting needs will vary, Ikea makes you pick out your own screws, which feels like a bit of a cop-out since it could have included two or three sets of the most commonly used varieties, along with instructions on what to get if you need something else.

Okay, made a quick run to the hardware store this morning for some lath screws — now, I’ve got those brackets in place above the door window and the Ikea Fyrtur smart blind hanging neatly in place. Time to finish setup and start testing it out. pic.twitter.com/BWIm7xc5by

— Ry Crist (@rycrist) June 3, 2020

Still, after a quick trip to the hardware store to grab a fresh pack of self-drilling no. 8 lath screws, I was all set to drill the thing into place at the top of my door. Doing so was relatively painless — just measure to determine where the brackets should go, mark the spots with a pencil, and screw them in. Once you’ve done that, the entire Fyrtur blind clips into place beneath them. It’s somewhat heavy, but the brackets do a good job at keeping everything secure

Trip to the hardware store aside, I was able to install one myself in about 20 minutes (and I was tweeting each step of the way, too — here’s the link to that thread in case you want to see the play-by-play).

Each Fyrtur blind comes with a magnetic wireless remote.

Ry Crist/CNET

Smart controls

Once the blind is installed, you’ll use the included Micro-USB cable to give the battery a quick charge, and then pop it into place in the housing. At that point, you’ll be able to push a pair of inconspicuous buttons on the overhang to move the blind up and down. Plug in an odd-looking, two-piece signal repeater that comes with each blind, and you’ll be able to pair the wireless remote with your blinds, too. Just unscrew the back, insert the coin battery, and then hold a pairing button down while holding it up close to the blind. It’s magnetic, too, which is a nice touch if you just want to keep the thing on the fridge.

You’ll need Ikea’s Tradfri Gateway plugged into your router in order to control the blinds from the app or with a voice command. It sells separately for $35.

Ry Crist/CNET

For app and voice controls, you’ll need Ikea’s Tradfri Gateway plugged into your router. It sells separately for a reasonable $35, and works just like a Philips Hue Bridge, translating the Zigbee signals sent by your Tradfri lights and Fyrtur blinds into something your home network can understand. The Tradfri app also includes controls for Ikea’s line of smart speakers, though I didn’t have one on hand to test out how well those integrate into the system.

With the Gateway up and running and everything properly paired up, you’ll be able to raise and lower the blinds from your Android or iOS device. You can also program your blinds to open and close on an automated schedule. And, importantly, the app tells you how to specify a maximum extension length for each blind, which keeps it from spooling out onto your floor when you tell it to lower to 100%. 

In my case, I only needed a little more than half of the full 76 inches of fabric in order to cover the window on my door — so, I extended the blind to that point and then held down some buttons for a few seconds in order to lock that length in. Once I did, the blind wouldn’t go any lower than that when I tried to close it. Perfect.

One other quick note about the app: It includes a well-organized privacy policy that makes clear what info Ikea collects about you as you use your smart shades. And, as you might expect from a company based in Europe, where privacy laws are a lot stronger than they are in the US, those details are sensible and sound. Namely, the app collects IP addresses and access tokens used to connect with Amazon, Apple and Google. Ikea lists all of the ways it uses and protects that data, and says that it doesn’t share that data with anyone other than authorized IT service providers.

Ikea’s Tradfri app lets you control or automate your blinds from your phone, and it’ll tell you how to connect with a voice assistant, too.

Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET

The app also offers instructions on how to pair with Siri, Alexa or the Google Assistant. I mainly use Alexa in my home, so I started there, and had the connection up and running in about a minute. Everything worked great. When I told Alexa to lower the shade, the shade would drop down to my preset maximum length. When I told Alexa to raise the shade, it neatly wound itself back up. When I told Alexa to set the shade to 50%, the shade raised to cover the top half of the window. Those same basic controls worked well with Siri and the Google Assistant, too.

You can also control those blinds using the automated controls offered by each of those three voice platforms. For instance, I have an Alexa routine that turns off lights and sets the thermostat whenever I go to bed. Now, that routine makes sure the shade is closed, too.

If you’re an Apple HomeKit user, you’ll be able to see what percentage the blind’s rechargeable battery is at in the Home app.

Ry Crist/CNET

Controls like those are more or less the same on each platform, with some slight differences (one nice extra on the Apple HomeKit front: the Home app will tell you what percentage the blind’s battery is at). Between that, the voice controls, and the app scheduling, Ikea’s shades offer everything I want as far as smarts are concerned.

Still, these blinds don’t get everything right. Though the heather gray looks fine to me, the most obvious issue is the lack of any color choices for the fabric, and there aren’t any Ikea alternatives for folks looking for smart slatted-style blinds, or cellular blinds, either. 

Another issue: While you get those two little buttons on the blind housing as a form of physical control, you can’t manually roll the blinds by hand when they aren’t powered. The rechargeable battery packs are a pretty nice touch here, and more convenient than the D-cell batteries needed to power Lutron’s luxurious Serena shades, but that still seems like an oversight to me.

Ry Crist/CNET

I’m keeping it

As a badly needed value pick in an intriguing smart home category, Ikea’s Fyrtur smart shades check all of the boxes. The design is admittedly basic, especially the clunky-looking metal housing, but that doesn’t bother me too much at this price. More important is that the Fyrtur shade was easy to install, easy to program and connect with whatever voice assistant you like, and easy to use. It brings some new utility to my smart home that I couldn’t previously afford. I’ll take it.

I mean that literally, by the way. I paid for this thing and I like it enough to keep it right where it is at my front door. Along with making my living room feel a bit more private and high tech, it’ll give me a good, first-hand sense of how long the battery lasts on a charge (hopefully at least a few months with light usage). I’ll report back once I have that info, but for now, I’m more than comfortable recommending Ikea’s Fyrtur blinds to just about anyone interested in adding smart shades to their smart home setup without breaking the bank.

[dancekickboxcardio]

I don’t know about you guys. But when you are on your technology 📱 💻 , do you guys notice that it doesn’t do exactly what you want or you operate it like usual to no go or something is just not right. I am a computer 💻 graduate student right. Also, I had a desktop when I was a kid. I never read the instructions on how to use them or studied 🤓 how Microsoft Office works. I learned as I go. When I was working as a caregiver, I actually had a MICU contract with the Clinic a semester before graduation among all things, my client’s husband was interested in the area and picked my mind on the topic. He was amazed at my troubleshooting skills when his printer 🖨 would not work. It is really trial and error based on knowledge. My German radio 📻 won’t play. All systems are in place. I disconnect the Bluetooth and played the app. The audio was coming out of my phone 📱. I also had changed Internet connections 🔗 from DSL. Our family plan has unlimited data 🌐. Well, I am enjoying 😊 it as I want it. I had a piece of cake 🍰. I didn’t ask for heavy whipping cream. I should learn to getting by. That’s how most people live. There is something powerful in keeping yourself in check. It spills out in many areas of life. I slept 🛏 in and without guilt. I don’t have an oversleeping 💤 headache 🤕. I am happy 😃 even if I am not anywhere but the gym 🏃🏼‍♀️ 💪🏾. I wanted to take a picture 📸 of the new TRX like training area. There are boxing 🥊 bags. How exciting 😆 . I was like a new kid on the playground. Soaking in every details of this novel machinery. I was like, “What are those big disk for, how about those handles?” It was thrilling. You forgot that it’s suppose to intimidate you and many people were already enjoying it. I didn’t want to take their privacy by putting them on my tumblr. I saw Mark Consuelo training with the team. They looked 👀 so good 😊 like they have bonds. He looks angry 😤 tough. I always see him like he is a puppy 🐶. When I went around to check the new stuff, I was trying to have a feel of how everything is. Usually being in a room full of boys does not bother me. But since being in the hot 🥵 sauna 🧖🏼‍♀️ night time 🌃full of only older men, I seemed to be aware of my womanly 👩🏼 presence. It was like that stepping into the big boy training machines. The place seemed packed with stuff in all areas. That says a lot about membership. I didn’t want to be the petulant courageous in the room. There are many forms of tough but it doesn’t need to insist and push everybody around. I had no choice but to cut through the people working out. I said hi 👋🏾 to heart ❤️ attack but really I am not there. I am not up. I am slowed in reaction. I am not feeling bubbly. I didn’t want to disrupt his weightlifting. I caught him in the middle of. He is so cute in baby blue shirt 👕. He doesn’t go for cute it seems to me. I guess fatherhood does things to him. He seemed happy 😃. He’s less serious on uncharted territory. Yeah, he’s like oozing with confidence. He doesn’t look 👀 it, but I feel that he is changing. I was being strict. I need my colorful 🎒 backpack. I am also changing my lip 👄 color. Fall 🍃🍂🍁 Someone suggested to keep my summer colors. Ok, para tú. I had plans on going to the health club today even if I am skipping yoga 🧘🏼‍♀️ for full back muscle healing ⛑. When my alarm ⏰ rang, I decided without guilt that I can take #namasteinbedallday . That’s what I am doing. I slowed myself to sleep 😴 last night. I was reading 📖 a book.

I didn’t shut off right away. My mind continued to process. It’s just how it is. I can take like supplements or teas 🍵. Nyquill. I even woke up several times during the night. I am not in a bad mood 😒. I usually am because sleep 😴 is important part of functioning healthy and I know that and I am on it. I am doing what I can to do exactly the best way to increase my day’s productivity 📊📈. Today, the question ❓❔❓ begs if I should allow things to happen to me instead of me reacting and doing things to counter it. My answer right now which is different from my first solution is a balance. A push and pull. But what I had in mind is to let go. Maybe I am being too hard on being too hard. Does that make sense. It’s like you want this result so you are sticking to your approach but there are other factors that are acting upon the situation. Instead of charging at the same spot, allow it to unfold and attack. Capish 👌🏾.

I am almost done ✅ with the Lady Cop 👮🏻‍♀️ book 📚 and I can’t wait 😊 to return it. I wondered 💭 what the librarian said about the stolen book in my purse 👜. My audio dropped 🔽 and another elements presented itself, the server retrieval. The problem must be somewhere in Germany 🇩🇪. If you are schooled 🏫 in the infrastructure of the World Wide Web, you’d be amaze at the speed at which we receive information ℹ️ and the many hops it actually takes to get to us. Let me pull the class that I found invaluable from Dr. Chuck of Michigan University. It is a free course unless you want a certificate.

I lost my train of thought ✍🏾 🤔. I maybe a zombie 🧟‍♀️ slow to react and didn’t want to be bothered 😕 but I had stuff going through my mind 🧠. I find myself smiling 😃 and on further stimulus I tried to keep a straight face. I was noticing how there were many guys and they were so excitable. They keep on touching their hair, adjusting their glasses, stretching 🙆‍♂️. I suppose they want to be at their toes or they just had a full day already . Sometimes I am like that. But this day I was more, shucks I don’t want to slip from the belt on soft knees. I kept taking breaks and that’s ok. I found that I needed distraction even if it’s something I generated for myself . I remem what was on my mind. I want to know if my package 📦 shall be delivered. I think my Mom is here. I smell beef 🥩 cooking 🥘 on the stove. What an olfactory sense 👃🏾. I already drank my fit Americano ☕️. There was cold espresso on the fridge. I took many breaks oft times to relieve myself or grab a towel or check out what’s new. I have a song 🎶.

“What's new Buenos Aires?

I'm new--I want to say I'm just a little stuck on you

You'll be on me too!

I get out here Buenos Aires

Stand back--you ought to know what'cha gonna get in me

Just a little touch of star quality! “

Boy, I am up.

I just called the library , they said to bring the police 🚔 report. Thank God, I was thinking and included it on the list of items lost. I didn’t even list the cost of the Bagley Mischka wallet which would increase the value 💲💲💲💲 of the theft. My lipsticks 💄. My Tahari sunglasses 🕶 which is a little over a hundred bucks. Of course, I didn’t pay 💰 full price. What did I say? Cheapies for those without jobbies 😂. I know why Dad is a little worried 😟. He is sleepy 💤. He pulled long hours 🕡 for overtime opportunities that’s why I had to cancel 📞 my Derm 🥼 appointment. He’s bro is sick 🤒 with an infection. He’s the eldest. Is there going to be a death 💀? I maybe impervious not because I don’t have a heart ♥️ but the devastation has already been anticipated. I cannot do anything about it and I must know how to deal. Did you guys know that McCain’s son went back to his duty for like if I got it right 8 months 📅 and just returned to grieve? That’s the reality for those who serve in the armed forces even if your Dad was like a Presidential Candidate. You have to keep yourself together, honor him in the best way, and do what is your duty. That could be emotionally packed and loaded.

The day was plain really. I keep on bumping into Katie. She’s so dedicated at her job. I like her. Stacey left. She’ll be missed and I’ll always look 👀 to see if she came back. I didn’t see the newbies. I haven’t seen Jocelyn. I suppose she’s doing good for herself. She tells me she doesn’t earn a lot. I told her how I started selling books 👓 . You are starting. It get’s better. Adulting, you stick to it, you keep on, focus on what must be done ✅ and plan on a better future. There were no classes 💃🏼 afternoon. I didn’t make it to the sauna 🧖🏼‍♀️. I had to cut my time by 15 minutes ⏱ in second cardio ❤️ . I am happy 😃 that I already put in my work earlier. I stayed 30 minutes over early afternoon treadmill. So if you put it in a overall sense, I bested goal 🥅 by 15 minutes over. I saw Ahmed. I was so happy 😀 to see him. We know each other in the studio when I feel like being in the left corner. He said he has back issues too and I recommended Gina’s easier yoga 🧘‍♂️ classes. I remember Root. There was another one. I should check it out if anyone asks. Before taking my break I saw Lorene and stopped 🛑 to say hi 👋🏾. She noticed my water 💦 with lemon 🍋 and I had mention my nausea 🤢, headache 🤕, faintness 🌀. I met Jean a pediatric ICU nurse. She had a life changing medical 🏥 event. But without hesitation she recommended the Epley maneuver. Promising. It must be done ✅ by a medical practitioner and I keep on asking if a chiropractor 👨🏻‍⚕️does it. It sounds drastic. I told dance 🕺🏽buddy, we are human and we all have problems. We deal with it the best that we can. We have to determine for ourselves what’s the best action. Like if I know that folding down makes me sick 🤒, then, don’t do it. I just thought that if the prob persists for longer than 6 mons. shall I go to the ear 👂🏾 doctor? Also, aromatherapy and perhaps peppermint oil. Essential oil infused mat cleaner 🧼.

[dipulb3]

Ikea Fyrtur smart shade review: I'm keeping this thing

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/ikea-fyrtur-smart-shade-review-im-keeping-this-thing-4/

Ikea Fyrtur smart shade review: I'm keeping this thing

The window on my home’s front door has no curtain or blind, which is something I’ve long wanted to fix since it looks straight out onto the street. There are plenty of basic options that will get the job done, but I’ve been holding out for something a little fancier — and preferably something that I can automate, or control with my voice. I mean, come on. Who doesn’t want to live like a Bond villain?

Like

Incredible value compared to competitors like Lutron, Somfy and Tilt.

Easy-to-use app covers all of the bases for smart control, grouping and scheduling.

Simple, easy to use voice controls vie Siri, Alexa or the Google Assistant.

Removable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

Magnetic wireless remote comes included.

Don’t Like

Totally non-customizable design, available only in gray.

Slightly ugly metal housing.

Gateway device for app and voice controls sold separately.

Mounting screws not included.

No way to manually raise or lower the shades when the battery is dead.

Enter the budget-friendly home furnishings of Ikea. After initially getting its feet wet with the Tradfri smart lighting system, the Swedish retailer announced in 2018 that it was working on app- and voice-enabled roller blinds to go with it. Initially pitched for release in April of 2019, the blinds hit a number of delays during development before quietly starting to hit stores toward the end of the year under the Fyrtur name.

That was welcome news for me, because Ikea’s smart shades support voice controls via Siri, Alexa or the Google Assistant and start at just $129. Most everything else in the smart shade category costs quite a bit more than that.

How much more? Well, motorized roller shades of all sizes cost a flat $399 apiece from Tilt, and you have to pay extra for the hub that smartens them up and syncs them with your voice assistant of choice (“Free shipping on orders over $2,000,” the website reads). A single motorized smart blackout shade from Lutron’s Serena collection similar to the ones we tested at the CNET Smart Home a few years back added up to about $660 when I customized it to fit my door’s window on the Serena website and added in a Lutron Bridge for app and voice control — and you’ll play in the same high-priced ballpark if you’re shopping for Lutron’s new smart wood blinds, too. What about a smart shade from Somfy? You’ll have to connect with a third-party dealer and pay who knows what.

All of that gives Ikea’s Fyrtur shades the look of a game-changer for the category. And the value is indeed pretty strong here, especially for folks like me who have long felt priced out of the category altogether. It isn’t the prettiest-looking piece of window dressing — and you can’t customize the design at all, which is a drag — but if you just want the Bond villain satisfaction of telling your voice assistant of choice to lower the shades without needing to spend one meeeeellion dollars on them, then these are the roller blinds you’ve been waiting for.

Ry Crist/CNET

The Fyrtur is now

Available now, Ikea’s Fyrtur smart shades come in eight different sizes. Each one is 76 inches long when the shade is fully extended, but the width varies from 23 inches ($129) up to 48 inches ($179). There’s very little markup from size to size, and just $50 separating the smallest Fyrtur from the largest, so good on Ikea for not bilking people here. For my front door’s window, I went with the 27-inch version, which costs $139.

No matter what size you need, your shade will come with heather gray blackout fabric and a metal, industrial-looking overhang. I wouldn’t call it ugly, but it definitely isn’t eye-catching. You can’t customize the way they look at all, either — no special-cut sizes, no fancy colors or materials, no nothin’. That’s the key trade-off here — competitors like Lutron and Somfy will let you customize your shades in all sorts of ways, but they cost substantially more than what Ikea’s asking.

Ikea Fyrtur Smart Shade sizes

Width (inches) 23 27 30 32 34 36 38 48 Price $129 $139 $149 $154 $159 $164 $169 $179

Each Fyrtur shade comes with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery to power it, a wireless remote to control it at a touch, and mounting brackets that you’ll need to screw it into place. They don’t come with screws, though. Since your mounting needs will vary, Ikea makes you pick out your own screws, which feels like a bit of a cop-out since it could have included two or three sets of the most commonly used varieties, along with instructions on what to get if you need something else.

Okay, made a quick run to the hardware store this morning for some lath screws — now, I’ve got those brackets in place above the door window and the Ikea Fyrtur smart blind hanging neatly in place. Time to finish setup and start testing it out. pic.twitter.com/BWIm7xc5by

— Ry Crist (@rycrist) June 3, 2020

Still, after a quick trip to the hardware store to grab a fresh pack of self-drilling no. 8 lath screws, I was all set to drill the thing into place at the top of my door. Doing so was relatively painless — just measure to determine where the brackets should go, mark the spots with a pencil, and screw them in. Once you’ve done that, the entire Fyrtur blind clips into place beneath them. It’s somewhat heavy, but the brackets do a good job at keeping everything secure

Trip to the hardware store aside, I was able to install one myself in about 20 minutes (and I was tweeting each step of the way, too — here’s the link to that thread in case you want to see the play-by-play).

Each Fyrtur blind comes with a magnetic wireless remote.

Ry Crist/CNET

Smart controls

Once the blind is installed, you’ll use the included Micro-USB cable to give the battery a quick charge, and then pop it into place in the housing. At that point, you’ll be able to push a pair of inconspicuous buttons on the overhang to move the blind up and down. Plug in an odd-looking, two-piece signal repeater that comes with each blind, and you’ll be able to pair the wireless remote with your blinds, too. Just unscrew the back, insert the coin battery, and then hold a pairing button down while holding it up close to the blind. It’s magnetic, too, which is a nice touch if you just want to keep the thing on the fridge.

You’ll need Ikea’s Tradfri Gateway plugged into your router in order to control the blinds from the app or with a voice command. It sells separately for $35.

Ry Crist/CNET

For app and voice controls, you’ll need Ikea’s Tradfri Gateway plugged into your router. It sells separately for a reasonable $35, and works just like a Philips Hue Bridge, translating the Zigbee signals sent by your Tradfri lights and Fyrtur blinds into something your home network can understand. The Tradfri app also includes controls for Ikea’s line of smart speakers, though I didn’t have one on hand to test out how well those integrate into the system.

With the Gateway up and running and everything properly paired up, you’ll be able to raise and lower the blinds from your Android or iOS device. You can also program your blinds to open and close on an automated schedule. And, importantly, the app tells you how to specify a maximum extension length for each blind, which keeps it from spooling out onto your floor when you tell it to lower to 100%. 

In my case, I only needed a little more than half of the full 76 inches of fabric in order to cover the window on my door — so, I extended the blind to that point and then held down some buttons for a few seconds in order to lock that length in. Once I did, the blind wouldn’t go any lower than that when I tried to close it. Perfect.

One other quick note about the app: It includes a well-organized privacy policy that makes clear what info Ikea collects about you as you use your smart shades. And, as you might expect from a company based in Europe, where privacy laws are a lot stronger than they are in the US, those details are sensible and sound. Namely, the app collects IP addresses and access tokens used to connect with Amazon, Apple and Google. Ikea lists all of the ways it uses and protects that data, and says that it doesn’t share that data with anyone other than authorized IT service providers.

Ikea’s Tradfri app lets you control or automate your blinds from your phone, and it’ll tell you how to connect with a voice assistant, too.

Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET

The app also offers instructions on how to pair with Siri, Alexa or the Google Assistant. I mainly use Alexa in my home, so I started there, and had the connection up and running in about a minute. Everything worked great. When I told Alexa to lower the shade, the shade would drop down to my preset maximum length. When I told Alexa to raise the shade, it neatly wound itself back up. When I told Alexa to set the shade to 50%, the shade raised to cover the top half of the window. Those same basic controls worked well with Siri and the Google Assistant, too.

You can also control those blinds using the automated controls offered by each of those three voice platforms. For instance, I have an Alexa routine that turns off lights and sets the thermostat whenever I go to bed. Now, that routine makes sure the shade is closed, too.

If you’re an Apple HomeKit user, you’ll be able to see what percentage the blind’s rechargeable battery is at in the Home app.

Ry Crist/CNET

Controls like those are more or less the same on each platform, with some slight differences (one nice extra on the Apple HomeKit front: the Home app will tell you what percentage the blind’s battery is at). Between that, the voice controls, and the app scheduling, Ikea’s shades offer everything I want as far as smarts are concerned.

Still, these blinds don’t get everything right. Though the heather gray looks fine to me, the most obvious issue is the lack of any color choices for the fabric, and there aren’t any Ikea alternatives for folks looking for smart slatted-style blinds, or cellular blinds, either. 

Another issue: While you get those two little buttons on the blind housing as a form of physical control, you can’t manually roll the blinds by hand when they aren’t powered. The rechargeable battery packs are a pretty nice touch here, and more convenient than the D-cell batteries needed to power Lutron’s luxurious Serena shades, but that still seems like an oversight to me.

Ry Crist/CNET

I’m keeping it

As a badly needed value pick in an intriguing smart home category, Ikea’s Fyrtur smart shades check all of the boxes. The design is admittedly basic, especially the clunky-looking metal housing, but that doesn’t bother me too much at this price. More important is that the Fyrtur shade was easy to install, easy to program and connect with whatever voice assistant you like, and easy to use. It brings some new utility to my smart home that I couldn’t previously afford. I’ll take it.

I mean that literally, by the way. I paid for this thing and I like it enough to keep it right where it is at my front door. Along with making my living room feel a bit more private and high tech, it’ll give me a good, first-hand sense of how long the battery lasts on a charge (hopefully at least a few months with light usage). I’ll report back once I have that info, but for now, I’m more than comfortable recommending Ikea’s Fyrtur blinds to just about anyone interested in adding smart shades to their smart home setup without breaking the bank.

[dipulb3]

Ikea Fyrtur smart shade review: I'm keeping this thing

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Ikea Fyrtur smart shade review: I'm keeping this thing

The window on my home’s front door has no curtain or blind, which is something I’ve long wanted to fix since it looks straight out onto the street. There are plenty of basic options that will get the job done, but I’ve been holding out for something a little fancier — and preferably something that I can automate, or control with my voice. I mean, come on. Who doesn’t want to live like a Bond villain?

Like

Incredible value compared to competitors like Lutron, Somfy and Tilt.

Easy-to-use app covers all of the bases for smart control, grouping and scheduling.

Simple, easy to use voice controls vie Siri, Alexa or the Google Assistant.

Removable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

Magnetic wireless remote comes included.

Don’t Like

Totally non-customizable design, available only in gray.

Slightly ugly metal housing.

Gateway device for app and voice controls sold separately.

Mounting screws not included.

No way to manually raise or lower the shades when the battery is dead.

Enter the budget-friendly home furnishings of Ikea. After initially getting its feet wet with the Tradfri smart lighting system, the Swedish retailer announced in 2018 that it was working on app- and voice-enabled roller blinds to go with it. Initially pitched for release in April of 2019, the blinds hit a number of delays during development before quietly starting to hit stores toward the end of the year under the Fyrtur name.

That was welcome news for me, because Ikea’s smart shades support voice controls via Siri, Alexa or the Google Assistant and start at just $129. Most everything else in the smart shade category costs quite a bit more than that.

How much more? Well, motorized roller shades of all sizes cost a flat $399 apiece from Tilt, and you have to pay extra for the hub that smartens them up and syncs them with your voice assistant of choice (“Free shipping on orders over $2,000,” the website reads). A single motorized smart blackout shade from Lutron’s Serena collection similar to the ones we tested at the CNET Smart Home a few years back added up to about $660 when I customized it to fit my door’s window on the Serena website and added in a Lutron Bridge for app and voice control — and you’ll play in the same high-priced ballpark if you’re shopping for Lutron’s new smart wood blinds, too. What about a smart shade from Somfy? You’ll have to connect with a third-party dealer and pay who knows what.

All of that gives Ikea’s Fyrtur shades the look of a game-changer for the category. And the value is indeed pretty strong here, especially for folks like me who have long felt priced out of the category altogether. It isn’t the prettiest-looking piece of window dressing — and you can’t customize the design at all, which is a drag — but if you just want the Bond villain satisfaction of telling your voice assistant of choice to lower the shades without needing to spend one meeeeellion dollars on them, then these are the roller blinds you’ve been waiting for.

Ry Crist/CNET

The Fyrtur is now

Available now, Ikea’s Fyrtur smart shades come in eight different sizes. Each one is 76 inches long when the shade is fully extended, but the width varies from 23 inches ($129) up to 48 inches ($179). There’s very little markup from size to size, and just $50 separating the smallest Fyrtur from the largest, so good on Ikea for not bilking people here. For my front door’s window, I went with the 27-inch version, which costs $139.

No matter what size you need, your shade will come with heather gray blackout fabric and a metal, industrial-looking overhang. I wouldn’t call it ugly, but it definitely isn’t eye-catching. You can’t customize the way they look at all, either — no special-cut sizes, no fancy colors or materials, no nothin’. That’s the key trade-off here — competitors like Lutron and Somfy will let you customize your shades in all sorts of ways, but they cost substantially more than what Ikea’s asking.

Ikea Fyrtur Smart Shade sizes

Width (inches) 23 27 30 32 34 36 38 48 Price $129 $139 $149 $154 $159 $164 $169 $179

Each Fyrtur shade comes with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery to power it, a wireless remote to control it at a touch, and mounting brackets that you’ll need to screw it into place. They don’t come with screws, though. Since your mounting needs will vary, Ikea makes you pick out your own screws, which feels like a bit of a cop-out since it could have included two or three sets of the most commonly used varieties, along with instructions on what to get if you need something else.

Okay, made a quick run to the hardware store this morning for some lath screws — now, I’ve got those brackets in place above the door window and the Ikea Fyrtur smart blind hanging neatly in place. Time to finish setup and start testing it out. pic.twitter.com/BWIm7xc5by

— Ry Crist (@rycrist) June 3, 2020

Still, after a quick trip to the hardware store to grab a fresh pack of self-drilling no. 8 lath screws, I was all set to drill the thing into place at the top of my door. Doing so was relatively painless — just measure to determine where the brackets should go, mark the spots with a pencil, and screw them in. Once you’ve done that, the entire Fyrtur blind clips into place beneath them. It’s somewhat heavy, but the brackets do a good job at keeping everything secure

Trip to the hardware store aside, I was able to install one myself in about 20 minutes (and I was tweeting each step of the way, too — here’s the link to that thread in case you want to see the play-by-play).

Each Fyrtur blind comes with a magnetic wireless remote.

Ry Crist/CNET

Smart controls

Once the blind is installed, you’ll use the included Micro-USB cable to give the battery a quick charge, and then pop it into place in the housing. At that point, you’ll be able to push a pair of inconspicuous buttons on the overhang to move the blind up and down. Plug in an odd-looking, two-piece signal repeater that comes with each blind, and you’ll be able to pair the wireless remote with your blinds, too. Just unscrew the back, insert the coin battery, and then hold a pairing button down while holding it up close to the blind. It’s magnetic, too, which is a nice touch if you just want to keep the thing on the fridge.

You’ll need Ikea’s Tradfri Gateway plugged into your router in order to control the blinds from the app or with a voice command. It sells separately for $35.

Ry Crist/CNET

For app and voice controls, you’ll need Ikea’s Tradfri Gateway plugged into your router. It sells separately for a reasonable $35, and works just like a Philips Hue Bridge, translating the Zigbee signals sent by your Tradfri lights and Fyrtur blinds into something your home network can understand. The Tradfri app also includes controls for Ikea’s line of smart speakers, though I didn’t have one on hand to test out how well those integrate into the system.

With the Gateway up and running and everything properly paired up, you’ll be able to raise and lower the blinds from your Android or iOS device. You can also program your blinds to open and close on an automated schedule. And, importantly, the app tells you how to specify a maximum extension length for each blind, which keeps it from spooling out onto your floor when you tell it to lower to 100%. 

In my case, I only needed a little more than half of the full 76 inches of fabric in order to cover the window on my door — so, I extended the blind to that point and then held down some buttons for a few seconds in order to lock that length in. Once I did, the blind wouldn’t go any lower than that when I tried to close it. Perfect.

One other quick note about the app: It includes a well-organized privacy policy that makes clear what info Ikea collects about you as you use your smart shades. And, as you might expect from a company based in Europe, where privacy laws are a lot stronger than they are in the US, those details are sensible and sound. Namely, the app collects IP addresses and access tokens used to connect with Amazon, Apple and Google. Ikea lists all of the ways it uses and protects that data, and says that it doesn’t share that data with anyone other than authorized IT service providers.

Ikea’s Tradfri app lets you control or automate your blinds from your phone, and it’ll tell you how to connect with a voice assistant, too.

Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET

The app also offers instructions on how to pair with Siri, Alexa or the Google Assistant. I mainly use Alexa in my home, so I started there, and had the connection up and running in about a minute. Everything worked great. When I told Alexa to lower the shade, the shade would drop down to my preset maximum length. When I told Alexa to raise the shade, it neatly wound itself back up. When I told Alexa to set the shade to 50%, the shade raised to cover the top half of the window. Those same basic controls worked well with Siri and the Google Assistant, too.

You can also control those blinds using the automated controls offered by each of those three voice platforms. For instance, I have an Alexa routine that turns off lights and sets the thermostat whenever I go to bed. Now, that routine makes sure the shade is closed, too.

If you’re an Apple HomeKit user, you’ll be able to see what percentage the blind’s rechargeable battery is at in the Home app.

Ry Crist/CNET

Controls like those are more or less the same on each platform, with some slight differences (one nice extra on the Apple HomeKit front: the Home app will tell you what percentage the blind’s battery is at). Between that, the voice controls, and the app scheduling, Ikea’s shades offer everything I want as far as smarts are concerned.

Still, these blinds don’t get everything right. Though the heather gray looks fine to me, the most obvious issue is the lack of any color choices for the fabric, and there aren’t any Ikea alternatives for folks looking for smart slatted-style blinds, or cellular blinds, either. 

Another issue: While you get those two little buttons on the blind housing as a form of physical control, you can’t manually roll the blinds by hand when they aren’t powered. The rechargeable battery packs are a pretty nice touch here, and more convenient than the D-cell batteries needed to power Lutron’s luxurious Serena shades, but that still seems like an oversight to me.

Ry Crist/CNET

I’m keeping it

As a badly needed value pick in an intriguing smart home category, Ikea’s Fyrtur smart shades check all of the boxes. The design is admittedly basic, especially the clunky-looking metal housing, but that doesn’t bother me too much at this price. More important is that the Fyrtur shade was easy to install, easy to program and connect with whatever voice assistant you like, and easy to use. It brings some new utility to my smart home that I couldn’t previously afford. I’ll take it.

I mean that literally, by the way. I paid for this thing and I like it enough to keep it right where it is at my front door. Along with making my living room feel a bit more private and high tech, it’ll give me a good, first-hand sense of how long the battery lasts on a charge (hopefully at least a few months with light usage). I’ll report back once I have that info, but for now, I’m more than comfortable recommending Ikea’s Fyrtur blinds to just about anyone interested in adding smart shades to their smart home setup without breaking the bank.