Review: Aqara's Curtain Driver E1 Provides an Easy Way to Retrofit Curtains With HomeKit

[MacRumors]

Aqara this week launched the Curtain Driver E1, providing a solution to retrofit traditional curtains with automated motors and HomeKit functionality.

The Curtain Driver E1 hooks onto curtain rods and uses a motor to push curtains open or pull them closed, also offering Zigbee 3.0 and a 6,000mAh battery that can deliver 12-month battery life. Like Apple's Home app, the Curtain Driver E1 will be updated to support Matter in the future, according to Aqara.

There are two variants of the device, including a rod version for curtain poles and a track version for U-rails and I-rails, and you will need to ensure that you select the correct variant at the point of purchase. The driver can support heavy curtains up to 12kg, but it is worth checking exactly what sort of curtains and rod or track you have against Aqara's exact compatibility requirements. For example, curtain rods must be between 0.98-inches (25mm) and 1.26-inches (32mm) in diameter and cannot be telescopic. It is also important to note two separate curtain drivers are required for pairs of curtains.

Setup

Installing the Curtain Driver E1 is relatively easy. You simply mount the rod hanger over the curtain rod between the last two curtain grommets, extend the driver's hooks by double-pressing the button, hook the motor onto the hanger, and retract the hooks by double-pressing the button again. This ensures that the motor applies the correct amount of pressure to the rod depending on its size.

The driver also comes with set of eight curtain clips and a rubber strip. The instruction manual suggests using the clips and strip along the top of a curtain, presumably to help the motor pull it along uniformly, but I found this fiddly and unsightly, with the clips scraping along my ceiling, so I left them off and this didn't seem to affect the motor's ability to pull the curtain at all.

To connect the driver to the network, open the Aqara app, select the E1 from the list of accessories, and follow the on-screen instructions to set the open and closed positions. If you have two Curtain Driver E1 units, you can bind them together in the app so they operate in sync.

To add the curtains to the Home app, simply select the option in the Aqara app and scan the HomeKit code printed on the curtain driver's base. The Home app then correctly displays the curtains with relevant controls, so it is virtually no longer necessary to use the Aqara app.

Camera Hub G3

The Curtain Driver E1 requires the use of an Aqara home hub. In this case, I used the Camera Hub G3, which doubles as a feature-rich HomeKit-enabled camera, avoiding the need for a dedicated hub to be connected to the router.

At its core, it is a Zigbee 3.0 hub with support for up to 128 sub-devices and both 2GHz and 5GHz networks, but it also offers a 2K camera, 20 FPS playback, support for two-way conversations, an infrared blaster, 360° rotation with pan and tilt, AI gesture and facial recognition, a built-in privacy mode, local storage, a 1/4-inch tripod mount, a USB-C port, and more.

The camera seems to handle bright, natural sunlight well and nighttime performance is good thanks to its high-resolution. Two-way conversations are possible thanks to a built-in microphone and speaker. It features a privacy mode that rotates the camera inside the body, shows two closed eyes on the front, and provides access to a micro-SD card slot for local storage. If you're not a fan of the camera's look, you can easily push off the silicone hood to remove the "ears."

The camera can locally detect individual faces and can be set to follow people and pets, or be triggered by abnormal sounds, with plenty of conferable settings in the Aqara app. When manually looking around a room or automatically following a person, motor operation is smooth and effectively silent.

Pan and tilt features are not supported natively in the Home app, but if you configure it in the Aqara app, it is displayed perfectly in Apple's Home app. The camera seemed a little reluctant to tilt upwards when necessary and I noticed that it seems to get quite warm, but otherwise it works extremely well, especially in iOS 16's redesigned Home app camera views. The hub functionality of the G3 will support Matter later this year, as Matter will not support cameras in its initial release.

Daily Use

I found that the Curtain Driver E1 opened my curtains quickly and fairly reliably. The driver is heavy owing to its large internal battery and it has a bulky design, but it is very good in terms of build quality, and this is all hidden behind the curtain. It is also easy enough to unhook the driver from the rod hanger and charge it via USB-C.

For granular controls, you need to use Aqara's app. There, you can mitigate motor noise by slowing it down. There are also options to have curtains open very slowly over the course of a period of time to simulate a natural sunrise. Nevertheless, the Home app can be used for basic functions like opening and closing, checking battery level, or if there are any obstructions to the motor's movement.

The Curtain Driver E1 can be controlled physically by pressing the buttons or by simply tugging the curtain gently in the direction that you want it to travel. The motor detects this and completes the procedure.

However, I would caution users who seek to use the Curtain Driver E1 with longer curtains. In this instance, the top end of the curtains close seamlessly, but the bottom half can be dragged along the floor and not close fully, so the drivers probably work best with curtains that do not reach the floor. I would also warn people that have curtain rods with a support in the middle that there could be some gap left between curtains, and it is not possible to ensure that pairs of curtains overlap to block out light.

Automations

Below its status LED and button, the Curtain Driver E1 features a built-in ambient light sensor. Unfortunately, the sensor is not exposed to HomeKit and does not provide an exact reading of lux it detects, but it allows curtains to be opened or closed around the thresholds of "weak ambient light" or "strong ambient light" in automations in the Aqara app.

For more accurate and specific light automations, you can always use another sensor and set up an automation in the Home app. There are possibilities to control curtains with pre-set schedules such as sunset and sunrise, local weather, and geofencing, or connect with other accessories and scenes.

Beyond acting as a hub for the Curtain Driver E1, the Camera Hub G3 allows the Curtain Driver E1 to be controlled with hand gestures. While this is contingent on using Aqara's app and being located inside the camera's field of view, there are plenty of other automations possibilities work in Apple's Home app natively.

The Curtain Driver E1 is also easily paired with other accessories for specific automations. For example, Aqara's Motion Sensor P1 can trigger curtains to open upon entering a room for the first time in the morning or when an exact light level is reached outside. The motion sensor has three sensitivity modes, a built-in light sensor, a wide 170° field of view, configurable detection timeout, and support for Matter later this year.

The Bottom Line

With a large battery capacity, USB-C charging, excellent build quality, manual control options, and built-in light sensor, the Curtain Driver E1 justifies its price, but things can start to get expensive if you need two drivers for a pair of curtains, as well as an Aqara hub. It may be one of the best available solutions for retrofitting existing curtains with motorization and HomeKit integration, but it inevitably falls short of more costly, dedicated motorized curtain rails.

I was still impressed with Aqara's Curtain Driver E1 and it seems to be a great option for customers who want to automate existing curtains in HomeKit, especially if they already have just a single curtain or other devices in the Aqara ecosystem, and are willing to put up with a little bit of friction with regards to compatibility, setup, and charging.

For those looking for a hub for the Curtain Driver E1 or a reliable smart home camera, I would also highly recommend the Camera Hub G3. It is by far the most feature-rich and versatile HomeKit camera I have ever used, delivering high image quality and useful object tracking.

How to Buy

The Curtain Driver E1 is Amazon in both North America and Europe (UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), as well as via selective Aqara retailers around the world (availability may vary).

• Aqara Curtain Driver E1 – $89.99
• Aqara Camera Hub G3 – $109.99
• Aqara Motion Sensor P1 – $24.99

Note: Aqara provided MacRumors with a Curtain Driver E1, Camera Hub G3, and Motion Sensor P1 for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.

Article Link: Review: Aqara's Curtain Driver E1 Provides an Easy Way to Retrofit Curtains With HomeKit

 

[wanha]

at some point in the not-too-distant future, we are going to have too many HomeKit connected devices at home and we will glance up from our screens as we're busy dimming the lights, turning up the air conditioning, raising the curtains, checking the refrigerator status, and adjusting the oven...

...and we will let out a small sigh of longing for the good old days where we had to get up and out of our screens to manually raise the curtains

 

[stocklen]

Aqara are on the most astonishing publicity drive ive ever seen.

Literally EVERY tech site and YouTuber are currently promoting Aqara stuff - and all within the last week.

They must have a very large advertising budget!


If you are in the UK, take heed of British Gas HIVE system.... they just announced this week they are ending support for their cameras, and security devices... and that means that anything youve paid hundreds on will stop working in 2025.

Lets hope Aqara are in it a bit more long term.

The sad reality with a lot of smart tech is if the company goes out of business or decides to switch off the back-end processing then their tech youve spend thousands on will be worth nothing.

 

[jent]

On this topic, is there a company or product line that is generally considered the best HomeKit-compatible curtain/shades/blinds product for a new setup as opposed to retrofitting your existing curtains? I'll be redoing my old blinds and want would rather go big now.

 

[robertmorris2]

I mean! How lazy do you have to be not to pull back your curtains?

 

[anakin44011]

"Hey Siri...open my curtains. Hey Siri....no, don't start playing music, open the curtains. That's too far...I mean, Hey Siri, that's too far. The curtains...not the volume. Hey Siri...I said...Ugh."

Joking aside, there's something terribly incongruent when Peloton, Apple Fitness, et al are trying to get us to MOVE OUR BODIES and yet we keep installing smart technology to do the opposite. That WALL-E future is ever more prophetic.

Also, a simple light switch never fails me. Nor does a curtain rod.

Smart devices?...Ugh, not even close. I wonder if Apple counts the number of expletives that Siri receives every day.

 

[Trebora]

A roll up version for shades would be nice. I see the usefulness of the device as not for the lazy but as an assist in keeping energy within a building. Also nice for a home theatre setting: close the shades, dim the lights, start the show. Other scenarios such as morning wake up, letting light in as opposed to the alarm clock.

 

[erikkfi]

Why? Just why?

 

[ignatius345]

I mean! How lazy do you have to be not to pull back your curtains?

I can think of a few reasons:

- you like being woken up by natural light* and want to set the thing to open your curtains in the morning
- you have mobility issues and have trouble doing it physically
- you want for some reason to have curtains open and close when you're not home
- you just love spending money and pressing buttons

* a daylight alarm clock does this more easily, however -- I have a Philips which I really like. It goes from zero to very bright over the course of like 20 minutes. Very hard to sleep through, and a good gradual awakening. Also doesn't need some stupid $100 "hub" or wifi connectivity.

 

[chenks]

They are way too expensive.
In the U.K. they are around £80 per device, and you’d need 2 devices per window (as you have a curtain on each side of the window)

So at around £160 per window this is just way too expensive to be viable

 

[everlast3434]

Dam. I just changed my house to all blinds

 

[decypher44]

I mean! How lazy do you have to be not to pull back your curtains?

Why? Just why?

I’d imagine other than the luxury of having one, it could also be really helpful to those with physical limitations.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

I mean! How lazy do you have to be not to pull back your curtains?

If you want some natural light in to wake you up naturally or if you want to close your curtains when you’re away from home would be two compelling use cases. I would imagine it would also be quite nice for those with mobility issues.

 

[alexandr]

but things can start to get expensive if you need two drivers for a pair of curtains, as well as an Aqara hub.

Exactly(

 

[synergize]

If the unit breaks, it will be "curtains."

 

[imola.zhp]

I’d imagine other than the luxury of having one, it could also be really helpful to those with physical limitations.

Don't come in here and give logical reasoning, these people are upset for no reason, how dare you try to take that away from them.

 

[name99]

at some point in the not-too-distant future, we are going to have too many HomeKit connected devices at home and we will glance up from our screens as we're busy dimming the lights, turning up the air conditioning, raising the curtains, checking the refrigerator status, and adjusting the oven...

...and we will let out a small sigh of longing for the good old days where we had to get up and out of our screens to manually raise the curtains

No we will not.
This is like pining for the supposed good old days, when no indoor plumbing meant the toilet never needed a replacement flapper valve, and the hot water heater never needed to be replaced.

Like *every* technical transition there is a messy period during which there are too many brands, too many dumb experiments, too much low quality hardware. But that ends, while the value and the vision endure.

 

[drlamb]

I know I'm going to get one (or more) of these for my home theater. The original homeowner decided to install sliding wooden barn doors along a side wall as the only entrance, which look nice, but suck for sound management.

The idea being install a curtain rod and some thick blackout curtains above the existing door frame inside the theater and be able to have siri control the ambient sound/light of the theater independent of the doors via already established homekit "movie time" automations. I had been looking at another brand that I could get working with home assistant but I'd rather use something with native support.

 

[name99]

I mean! How lazy do you have to be not to pull back your curtains?

My parents installed something like this in their house.
I don't know the exact details but something in their house (plants?) apparently requires the curtains to be opened at least every two or three days. This fact was limiting their ability to visit their grand children because they felt bad asking the neighbors to come over every day and open/close the curtains for anything longer than a week or so.
Now, with automation, they are comfortable leaving the house for a month or more.

So there you have at least on example of a use case that has nothing to do with "laziness".
Remember *every time* you see a new product, that you are not the main character of any movie except your own...

 

[name99]

I know I'm going to get one (or more) of these for my home theater. The original homeowner decided to install sliding wooden barn doors along a side wall as the only entrance, which look nice, but suck for sound management.

The idea being install a curtain rod and some thick blackout curtains above existing door frame and be able to have siri control the ambient sound/light independent of the doors via already established homekit "movie time" automations. I had been looking at another brand that I could get working with home assistant but I'd rather use something with native support.

I have a scheme somewhat like this for the blinds in my house and it works fairly well.

The only problem is **of course** that Shortcuts Automation is the usual absolute garbage that it has been since Shortcuts first shipped, so even though the blinds are supposed to close, as part of a Shortcut that should run when I begin a workout, of course that Shortcut never actually runs, and I have to tell Siri to execute the scene, when I begin, then end, my workout.

For all the complaining about Siri, be grateful that it works pretty much 99% of the time.
It could be like Shortcuts Automation and work about 1% of the time...

 

[rileyes]

I'll never buy another smart product that requires a hub. Deal breaker for me.

 

[ssspinball]

I mean! How lazy do you have to be not to pull back your curtains?

Do you have power windows in your car? An automatic garage door opener? A dishwasher?

Oh noes so lazy!

 

[name99]

On this topic, is there a company or product line that is generally considered the best HomeKit-compatible curtain/shades/blinds product for a new setup as opposed to retrofitting your existing curtains? I'll be redoing my old blinds and want would rather go big now.

How much are you willing to pay?
The high end systems are apparently bullet-proof. They also cost $1000s per window...

The two systems I have experience of are
- MySmartBlinds tilt blinds. These are custom sized (which means somewhat slow ordering) and cost ~hundreds depending on the window size. Right now they use Bluetooth. To use them in a fairly large house you will need at least one of their WiFi to BT extenders.
There are a few good things:
+ they have been mostly reliable (and the one motor that died, they sent me a free replacement)
+ the app is not terrible. You can run HomeBridge to drive them via HomeKit, and that's also pretty reliable.
+ they have a solar charging scheme (that augments the battery) so that if you are in a sunny area you may never need to actually charge the battery
+ the way they install is pretty robust and convenient. But it does require you to be very careful in how you measuer the window size, and to get it very accurate according to their instructions.

But also many bad things
+ they are heavy! Anything but the thinnest window, and you will definitely want two people, maybe three to do the installation.
+ the instructions are terrible. All of them. Horrible paper instructions, no decent web page, no decent Youtube videos.
+ there's one set of instructions no matter what you are installing (roller blinds vs tilt blinds, after-market kit vs stand-alone system). It's idiotic, and every bit as confusing as you would expect.
+ the internals of the device (where you will have to root around to put it together, and even more so if you need to replace the motor) are incredibly user hostile with multiple loose wires, horrible flimsy connectors, and, once again ZERO useful diagrams/videos/documentation.
+ the BT to WiFi extender is not great. Partly this is a BT range issue, but it also hangs a lot -- I have mine powered via a smartplug that cuts power twice a day to force reboot it. This is unacceptable!

They also have a roller blinds system. This is just awful. Omits the few things (like the mounting system) that make the blinds system worth the rest of the pain.
It's a shame. There is great potential in MySmartBlinds, but they seem determined not to get their act together along so many easily fixed dimensions (documentation, radio system, connectors inside the blinds, ...) that I think there's a company pathology you don't want to get mixed up with.

- Alternatively there are the Ikea roller blinds. Honestly, it's hard to criticize these. There are only a range of fixed sizes, so some people complain they probably won't give you full blackout, but they're good enough for me. Price is $100 to $200 depending on how wide you need.
They are very light (feel "flimsy") so a delight to install. The battery has to be recharged (no solar option) which is a hassle, but it's easy enough to pop the battery out, and it lasts (at least in my experience) four to six months.
You will need to get an Ikea hub, which is an irritation, and the weird Ikea pairing business is a PITA; it works but I guarantee that every time you need to do it you will forget the process! Write it down somewhere...
Again, I think you need Homebridge to get HomeKit, but again it works well.
I plan to buy quite a few more of these. The only thing holding me back is the Zigbee/custom radio stuff. Once they are on Thread and not locked to their weird per-room-controller nonsense, I'l buy at least four more.

Bottom line: the tech is still sad. It's great in the sense that it mostly works and is very convenient. It sucks in the sense that once every six months it won't work, you will have to debug it; and the plethora of radio specs (and per company APIs -- note how both require Homebridge...) is just a waste of everyone's time.
If you have the money (say $1000) to play with, sure, go for it now. But in five years you wall probably want to replace your installation with new, hopefully standardized (Thread+Matter) hardware...

 

[spatlese44]

Lets hope Aqara are in it a bit more long term.

The sad reality with a lot of smart tech is if the company goes out of business or decides to switch off the back-end processing then their tech youve spend thousands on will be worth nothing.

Looks like all their devices are going to support Matter “this year”. That’s great news because once it does, they will communicate with other Matter devices. Aquara could go out of business and it wouldn’t matter. Speed, reliability, and compatibility; hurray!

 

[trigf]

It should not be necessary to buy a proprietary hub for these, even if you’re not putting them in the Home app.

Wemo devices don’t need a hub. Even the few that didn’t get HomeKit support don’t need a hub to function in the Wemo app.