Somfy Vs Louvolite motorised blinds

st3vet

Thank you.  I'm trying to decide whether I have a faulty remote as you suggested earlier.

jabriel

Don't get me wrong. It's not super bright but the way I use it means the level of brightness makes no difference to me.

FYI, I've got one remote for each room and the above to control the whole house. I use the R1722 to raise/lower the blinds when we arrive/leave the house or at night and first thing in the morning. So I never really need to switch between the channels and use the screen.

If the screen was brighter, would it consumer more battery?

jabriel

Hope this helps?

Both images taken without the flash.

Would be interesting to see images of your remote.

st3vet

Your photos are very useful, thank you.  Clearly your R1722 is back lit with large easily read characters.

I have attached a photo of my new R1723 remote.  As you can see, no back light and small difficult to read characters.  The larger characters in the centre of the display is the current time.  The number of the blind that is currently selected is tiny and at the bottom of the screen.

jabriel

I wouldn't be happy with that either. Perhaps speak to the dealer and have the remote exchanged? Try it out in the shop first though.

st3vet

Jabriel

I have returned my timer R1723 controller and exchanged it for an R1722 non-timer one like yours and also a Louvolite Smart Hub.  The controller is brilliant, easy to see.
The Smart Hub, well not so smart.  It is a Neo Smart Blinds Hub used in conjunction with the Neo App.
The limitations I have found so far are all in the app obviously.  The major one being the schedules function.
I want my blinds to operate to a schedule whilst I am away from home, as a security measure, then revert to manual operation when I am at home.
A schedule is one operation, Up, Down, Mid at a particular day of the week and time.  You are able to enter multiple schedules.
Unfortunately there is no means of switching the the schedules on and off.  They operate continuously.  The only way to stop them is to delete them.  I am in communication with the App Devs about this.
My wife has come up up with a work around!!  Unplug the hub while we're at home, then plug it in when we go away.  Bit primitive but it seems to work.

Thank you and your wife for your help with this.

I'll keep you updated with what the Devs say if you are interested.

jabriel

Appreciate the feedback regarding the app. Thanks.

I suppose it's unsurprising that the initial product is somewhat basic. I'm presuming they wanted to get the app out so they can say they have smart home integration and don't loose sales? Clearly not enough thought has been given to what customer expectations are.

Hopefully they will be receptive to suggestions and will be able to quickly release bug free updates. Have they said if a release with your suggestions will be available in the near future?

Is the interface intuative? Is it easy on the eye?

I've just ordered 11 motorised blinds for my mother too so am being given the smart hub for free by the supplier. Probably a few weeks away from receiving it but still look forward to it. Even with the limitations you describe.

Perhaps I'll feed back to them too so if more customers are asking for the same thing, they should act faster with changes/updates?

Glad the controller is now resolved.

jabriel

Forgot to say, yes do keep me posted with updates.

Thanks.

st3vet

I have not received a reply from the Devs yet, I only sent the email this morning.
The slightly worrying aspect of the App is that according to Google Play Store it was first released on 3 Jan 2016.  We'll have to see how it goes.

jabriel

Think a couple of (negative) reviews and feedback on twitter may give them the urgency they require...