Aqara Introduces Smart Roller Blind Retrofit Solution

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aqara, a provider for smart home products, announced the launch of the Aqara Roller Shade Driver E1, a retrofit roller shade controller to automate the existing beaded chain roller shades. The roller shade driver fits beaded cord roller shades with the bead thickness of 3 - 6 millimeter, and works with both plastic and metal beads. The driver has been available on Amazon UK starting from September 22, 2021, and it is expected to land on Amazon France in the next few weeks. It will also be made available via authorized Aqara retailers in Europe and Asia in the following months.

Shades are necessary for almost all homes, as they block harmful UV rays, save energy (for ACs and lights) and protect privacy. Automated shades save users the trouble of manually controlling the shades day in and day out, while helping to cut energy bills and enhance indoor comfort.

The Roller Shade Driver E1 provides a quick, easy and cost-effective way to automate the existing roller blinds. The installation is simple, as it does not require dedicated wiring. Just screw the device to the wall, insert the beaded chain of the roller shade, and the driver will be ready to be connected. The roller shade driver can be charged wirelessly from the built-in battery (2-month battery life per charge¹), or be plugged into a constant power supply via the provided USB Type-C cable, offering high installation flexibility to users. Four adapters for different types of beaded chains are provided, so that the driver could work with a majority of beaded chain roller shades.

The roller shade driver supports the latest Zigbee 3.0 protocol, and it can be bound with an Aqara hub² to work with other Aqara child devices, enabling smart home scenes and automations. It is also compatible with major ecosystems including Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and more³.

With this roller shade driver, users can not only control the roller shades by wireless remote switches and voice commands, they can also configure home automations such as rolling down the blinds automatically when the sun is too bright, or when the user goes to bed at nights.

To celebrate the launch, Aqara now offers a 15% discount for the Roller Shade Driver E1 on its Amazon UK store with the promo code: RSDE1PR1, and the offering will be valid through September 24, 2021.

Moreover, the Roller Shade Driver E1 will be released to the Aqara brand store on Amazon.fr in the next few weeks. It is also expected to be made available in various European and Asian countries via authorized Aqara retailers in the following months. Please check with the regional retailer(s) for product availability.

For more details of the roller shade driver, please visit our website.

1 Based on the assumption of rolling up and down a roller shade of 1.8m*1.8m once a day

2 A compatible Zigbee 3.0 Aqara hub (including Hub M1S, Hub M2 and Camera Hub G2H) is required.

3 Integration with some third-party ecosystems may be unavailable by the time of the launch.