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Soma Smart Shades 3 Review: Best motorized shades for renters

John Carter Doe

October 17. 2025

8.8

Very Good

What you should know before buying

Here's the deal in a nutshell

Want to motorize your shades but don't want to replace the whole thing? The SOMA Smart Shades 3 is honestly the cleanest, most straightforward retrofit we've found. It just mounts to the wall and grabs the beaded chain on your existing shade. Seriously, you can have app control and schedules running in minutes. And the real hero here? The solar panel. You just set it up and it keeps the thing charged. No fuss. Now, there are a few trade-offs. The Bluetooth has its range limits, you'll need their hub for voice control, and it's not meant for super-heavy shades. But if that sounds like it fits your setup, the SOMA Smart Shades 3 is a total win.

What you should know before buying

What we really liked

This thing is just so approachable. Believe it or not, most people can get it installed in 10 or 20 minutes with just a screwdriver. The motor is really quiet, too. It’s more of a soft whirr than a loud grind, so it's not going to wake a sleeping baby, and the movement is nice and smooth. That solar panel is a game-changer. It keeps the battery topped up, even if you're opening and closing the shades every day. That means fewer cords and less hassle with charging—it's actual automation. Inside the app, everything works like you'd hope. Setting up schedules for sunrise and sunset is easy, and calibration is no big deal. And here's the thing... if you're outfitting a few rooms, the cost for each window is way lower than buying entirely new motorized shades.

Okay, but it's not perfect. It uses Bluetooth, so if you want to control it when you're not home, or use voice assistants like Alexa, you'll still need to get the SOMA Connect hub. Also, keep in mind this isn't the right fit for extra-wide or really heavy roller shades—you'll want to look at a tube-motor kit instead. We did notice it could lose its calibration just a tiny bit over several months. It's rare, but something to know. And like any of these retrofit motors, you've got to use a good chain tensioner to keep things safe and running smoothly. If you're hoping for newer tech like Matter or Thread built right in, you'll have to wait; for now, it all runs through their hub.