Best smart blinds: convenient and stylish automated shades for your home

The best smart blinds do more than simply block out the light. Not only can the latest smart blinds add style to your interior, but the high-tech features of the latest automated shades can help control your room's temperature, lighting, and overall home security - all at the touch of a button. 

With the right setup, you can also control your smart blinds using your voice and enjoy the benefits of an automated home.

When it comes to adding automated blinds to your home - be it the main open-plan living area or a tucked-away home office - ensuring you have the control that works for you is just as important as the aesthetics. The good news is that there are multiple companies offering automated blinds in every style, color, and finish, which are made to suit bi-fold doors, large windows, conservatories, and more. 

Keen to upgrade your window treatments? Take a closer look at our pick of the best smart blinds options or, for more ways to automate your home, jump on over to our guide to the best smart plugs.

The best smart blinds for 2022

Lutron is best known for its intuitive smart lighting system, and its smart blind offering is just as clever. From a single wall plate or smart device app, you can set your Lutron system to control multiple lights and Lutron blinds. The technology can also be linked to other smart home devices for use with voice assistants. This means you can simply say ‘Alexa, blinds down’ to operate your smart blinds. The Lutron roller, wood and honeycomb shades all have the option to either be battery-operated or hardwired.

Included in its wide smart blind offering is the Lutron Palladiom Shading System (pictured above). You can choose from a range of fabric options from the Lutron collection – with eight smart shade styles and over 1,500 materials and fabrics to choose from. The roller shades alone come in over 200 fabric options.

With its Intelligent Hembar Alignment (IHA) a range of automated Lutron shades in a single room or across your home can move in synchrony. The technology also allows you to schedule blinds to open and close at specific times throughout the day so you can make it look like you’re home when you’re not. Or you can sync the system so the blinds open and close at sunrise and sunset.

What’s particularly easy to set up on the Lutron system is the ‘scenes’ that combine your blinds with your lighting control so you can create specific moods. A ‘cooking’ scene could make the room bright with the lights on and blinds open, for example, while a ‘relax’ scene could take everything down a notch and make the room darker.

Somfy offers a range of custom-made motorized blinds including roller, tie-up, Venetian, cellular, Roman, and more – all with various light-filtering options to suit your preference. You can opt for blackout, dimout, and sheer materials and there is around 1,000 color, finish, and texture options to choose from.

When it comes to control, you can tailor the approach to suit your design - its motorized Venetian blinds come with a remote control for adjusting the level of light within the slats, for example. You can choose from wired in or wireless motors, depending on your preference. You can control the blinds with a wall switch, remote control, or opt for a smart option with the TaHoma app and hub. 

We like the way you can tailor the functionality of these blinds to suit your requirements. As well as protecting your privacy when needed you can keep the room at the optimum temperature. The blinds include a sensor onboard and if the temperature exceeds 25°C the blinds will automatically lower to keep the room cool and protect your plants, carpets, and furniture. Meanwhile, you can tailor the blinds to automatically rise in winter to let the light in.

Ikea offers two types of smart roller blinds that are designed to be easy for you to self-install. These include the Kadrilj roller blind, which comes in a sheer fabric and a number of sizes to suit your windows. There’s also the Fyrtur which is a block-out blind that gives you that bit more privacy and works particularly well in spaces such as a media room that requires low-level lighting.

You’ll need to make sure you’ve chosen the correct size as the roller blind cannot be cut. The blinds are wireless with a Braunit battery pack to power them that lasts up to six months. You can control the blinds using the remote as soon as they are fitted, but should you wish to control them using your smartphone you’ll need to download the Ikea Home Smart app. You can then also make use of timers so the blinds open and close at specific times throughout the day. You can then also link up to your voice assistant to make use of voice control too.

AppealHome Shading has a wide range of ULTRA Smart window blinds to choose from in a range of colors and materials. Choose from classic roller, pleated and Venetian designs to simply streamlined Original French Pinoleum blinds. Pictured above is the ULTRA Smart Honeycomb thermal blind in Rioja Blackout in a zesty lime finish.

The blinds come with a rechargeable battery pack and optional light and temperature sensors that can automatically raise and lower your blinds when necessary. This can protect carpets and furniture from harmful UV rays when the sun is bright and help control the temperature within your home.  

These blinds are compatible with Appeal Blind’s ULTRA PLUS system, which means you can control the blind via an app on your smartphone or tablet wherever you are. The app lets you set up clever customized scenes and timers for your blinds. It also means you link up for voice activation with Amazon Alexa or Google Nest.

247 Blinds sells a range of motorized smart blinds that are battery-powered using long-life rechargeable batteries. The blinds are powered by Somfy and can be controlled by remote or app or work as part of your Somfy smart home system with voice control. On the 247 site, you can choose from a wide range of soft neutrals such as Anthology Moonstone to punchy pop colors such as Roma Hot Pink.

You can use the app to schedule your blinds to rise with the sun and gently close as dusk falls. Not only will this work well for security, but it will help to keep your energy bills in check. The blinds are made to be easy to fit and easy to program. Simply choose your blind, enter the width and height of the shade you need, choose whether it's recess or exact measurements, and place your order.

5 expert tips for choosing smart blinds 

Keen to buy smart blinds for your home? Angus Murray, project director at smart home specialists NewWave AV, tells us what to consider when choosing smart blinds: 

1. Think about what you want the blind to do?

Is it for light control, privacy, blackout or just to dress the window? A fabric with a high openness factor may control the light and heat but will not offer full privacy. To achieve full dim-out in a room you need a black-out fabric with side channels and a brush bar.  A Roman or Venetian Wood Blind may be more suitable for traditionally styled rooms. 

2.  How do you want to control your blinds?  

Whilst an app may seem convenient have a think about how guests will be able to control the blinds.  A dedicated controller or, even better, a button on a lighting keypad may be easier.  Voice control can be a great secondary method of control, but you don’t want to have to rely on an internet connection to control your blinds.

3. Check the measurements 

If you are ordering online then measure, check and measure again!  If the blind is being installed within the window reveal then make sure you measure the width at the top, middle and bottom as not all windows are completely straight. Make sure you allow for any handles or skirting that could clash with the blind when dropping.

4. Consider wireless

Wireless blinds may be a useful solution if you don’t have the ability to cable, the options are improving all the time and most batteries will last 3-5 years (based on 2 movements a day). There are some blinds that are battery for both power and control, which can be really useful. Other non-battery blinds are wired.

5. Choose a quality design 

Not all smart blinds are created equally and the prices will reflect this. Whilst certain brands may seem more expensive, this may be due to quieter motors, improved reliability, and customization options. You want to keep these blinds for a number of years, so fully research what the different brands offer.

Why are smart blinds so popular? 

Angus Murray has seen an increase in demand for smart blinds first hand with architectural design driving the popularity. 'Smart blinds are being used more and more in homes with large sections of glazing across the back - such as kitchen and family spaces,' he says. 'Smart blinds work particularly well as part of a wider home automation system as they can be triggered from existing smart lighting keypads as well as from an app on your phone or tablet. 

'Schedules can also be used to ensure blinds drop automatically either for privacy or to protect furniture and flooring from bleaching by the sun. They can also be scheduled to rise as you wake up naturally with the sun. Smart Blinds can also be part of a properties ‘mockupancy’ settings to make a property look occupied when you're actually away on holiday.'

How can smart blinds control the room temperature? 

Smart blinds are an excellent way to enhance the control of your home's temperature suggests Helen O’Connor, Product Manager at 247 Blinds. 'No one likes returning to a stuffy home on a summer’s day, nor do they enjoy a chilly living room on a winter’s night, but with the help of smart blinds, you can control the temperature even when you aren’t home,' she says. 

'Using your smartphone, you can set your blinds to close when the sun is at its brightest in the summer months - preventing your home from getting too warm. Similarly, in the winter, set your blinds to close earlier in the afternoon, to help keep the warmth in. Not only does this save on energy bills, it also reduces your carbon footprint.'  

What are the benefits of smart blinds? 

‘Smart blinds are simply blinds that have built-in motors that can open and close on demand,' says Anne Haimes, Design Director and Founder of Annie Haimes Interiors.  'You can control them with an app or remote control, by voice using a virtual assistant like Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa, or with a pre-programmed schedule.' 

In some cases, smart blinds have built-in light sensors that adjust based on the exterior lighting conditions. ‘Beyond the benefit of giving you control over natural light and privacy from anywhere in the house, smart blinds can save you energy and money, too. By setting schedules or using built-in light sensors, you can take advantage of all available natural light during the day and avoid turning on internal lights for as long as possible. It is also possible to integrate smart blind control with your smart lightbulbs. Doing this means your lights will automatically adjust based on the sunlight coming into the room.’