Soma SMart shades 2 review - HomeKit enabled smart blind controller with improved speed!

Soma is back with a new version of its smart shades product, which they claim has a 4x faster motor and with a lower price point. Which could address the biggest issues I had with the original version when I reviewed them? So watchto find out how these perform in this Soma smart shades 2 review.

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#HomeKit #Smartblinds #Smarthome

[ShaneCreates]

Great review Jon. I've used the Soma Tilt for my tilt-style blinds for a while and they have worked great with HomeKit the whole time. It has truly been "set it and forget it" with the solar panel and utilizing homekit automations based on sunrise, sunset, arriving, and leaving.

[ModernDayTech]

Good stuff Jon. Glad they are listening to their customers. It did sound a bit loud but not too bad.

[Dcrainmaker]

Looking for blind controllers...and find myself here. Very nice, thanks!

[Zod_JB]

Soma really should add Open/Close buttons to the face of the device. Maybe even a physical switch to disengage the motor from the chain drive to allow for manual use if something goes wrong and it isn’t functional for whatever reason. I’m a firm believer that if automation prevents manual operation, then it’s bad automation.
Maybe in a Version 3 🤞🏻

[adamfry]

Got the soma 2 and connect last month and love them. Work great with HomeKit.

[oliverwhittington]

I just got my soma shades 2 the other day, such a great product my brother went ahead an ordered another 3 motors for the other blinds in my home. I just placed an order for the soma connect which will arrive soon, they are quite noisy but for the ease of installation and battery capacity Its a pretty good trade off, I set my blinds to automatically open in the morning when my alarm goes off and I barely notice the noise, some others may not put up with the noise as well as me but I think its a great product. One step closer to having a full HomeKit home, loving it so far.

[njpryan]

Wow! Was delighted to see a new version of this product BUT totally disappointed by the noise. Unfortunately a no go for me as I have 5 blinds in one room and if I was watching tv and had a movie scene or anything like that the noise would surely be deafening. Great review and thank you for this.

[hometechreviews]

I’m thinking about picking this up!! Great video Jon!!

[michaelthompson]

I think on the controller which you attach to the wall, there should be buttons. One to act as a remote so you don’t have to use your phone (if you don’t want to) and to control the blind in case something dies or stops working like you said. If you have to send feedback I might mention this.

[alonsomendoza]

any options for a corded tilt on wooden blinds??? not looking for lift seeing as how my large 10 ft long window wood blinds make the blinds too heavy

[damoab]

Regarding loudness could you do a dB test?

[omarkaki]

Hey Jon great channel. I noticed it said on the box 2 X 2.5 blinds, my windows are bugger than that, would it work then? My understanding is that the motor keeps rotating until you set it to a specific point. Also, do you have any recommendations for similar products that work with homekit? This seems just a bit too loud. Thanks

[katopeters]

Your reviews are costing me a fortune. I've got two Rio Arcs on their way and I've just ordered two of these, plus the connect. Can you review something for homekit a bit cheaper? ;)

[anne-sophielaurentliltorp]

Hello there, my husband was thoroughly watching your review which he clearly enjoyed. I, on the other hand, really liked your wooden wall furniture 🤣 the one that shows behind you, on your left. Would you mind telling me where it’s from? Thank you 🙏🏻

[PCFixer]

Can you unscrew the round 'gear' in the Soma Shades device to put a bead-chain in and then screw the gear back in with the chain on? Looked like a small Philips head screw so might be possible...

[etiennebrunet]

You forgot to talk about battery longevity with or without the solar panel. Thx

[junyulu]

Hi late comment here. What if my blind has two strings to control instead of a round one?

[gerardolourdes]

Hello Jon! Are there any smart blinds that support heavier blinds? Great content btw!

[Hedrakk]

Hi! I’ve just got another smart blind controller and I’m having a small controlling issue inside Home app. You see, the motor I got is controllable through TuyaSmart and I’m using a HOOBS hub to being able to control it in Home.

Here’s the issue: in TuyaSmart App, I can set the blinds opening at any percentage, but in Home, I can only fully open or close de blinds. Is it a limitation of Home? I saw you in your video controlling your blinds in Home, but you did not stop it midway let’s say. Is it because you simply can’t in the Home app?

Thanks.

[renfred]

Thanks for the video. Did you happen to test the maximum proximity between the connect module and the blinds controller? I am seriously considering getting a bunch of them (5 or 6) but unsure if I’m going to need to get 1 or 2 connect modules due to its bluetooth range. i’ve got 3 adjacent rooms with windows all on the same side (so there will be walls between these windows), distance from on end of the windows to the other is about 10 metres. It would be really helpful if you could comment on this. Or even better, test it out. Thanks in advance!