Looking for a Chain Roller Shade Driver - Recommendation needed!

Questions & Help
1

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for a Chain Roller Shade Driver (CRSD) and I need your swarm knowledge.
I’ve already checked out the Best Buy Guide and browsed the App Store, but I definitely haven’t found all the CRSDs.

Unfortunately, I can’t use the CRSD from Zemismart (ZM1P and MTP1) because they’re too big. With the Aqara Roller Shade Driver E1, I’m concerned about the short battery life of only 2 months.
Shelly recently introduced a CRSD named Yihao Blinds Chain Controller - YH002-A to its product line, but it doesn’t have a battery and is not currently supported by the HP26.

Does anyone know of any other CRSDs that are compatible with a Homey Pro 2026?

Requirements

  • Wireless protocol: Zigbee, Z-Wave (EU), Wi-Fi, Thread
  • Power supply: Rechargeable or regular battery, mains power optional
  • Additional hub/bridge: No!
  • Design: like Aqara RSD E1 or Yahoo Blinds Chain Controller

Thank you in advance for your suggestions!

2

Hello i have 4 Aqara E1 ,very good product

3

Hi Dirk,

Zemismart / Tuya

My Zemismart (Tuya) chain drivers are entering their 6th year of use, no signs of wear (by changed sounds) yet.
These are cloud enabled wifi drivers, but it’s also possible to control those locally by 433MHz (Brel app!)

They also can be controlled locally by using the Tuya Local app.

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The newer models are very big indeed, and more expensive compared to the Aqara’s you mentioned.

Aqara

Since I try to push the use of clouds and hard-to-hide wiring away, I have added 2 Aqara zigbee Roller shade drivers E1 for 6 months now, I picked the model with rechargeable batteries (USB-C).

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And supported by the Aqara app

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When using one Open/Close round a day, they last for about 6-8 weeks driving a huge rollershade (W3.0m * H1.8m);
at around 40% they start to lack enough power (I was surprised it just can drive that heavy shade);
BUT, they last for up to 16 weeks driving a smaller bedroom shade (W1.7m * H0.9m)

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These Aqara drivers are much more sophisticated, like there’s 3 motorspeed settings (with z2m that is), and they’re waaaay more quiet.

Note:

  • Both these models do not respond to manual chain moving to trigger it.
  • In case of malfunctioning, they are clipped off of the wall in a sec to move the chain by hand.
4

I use Soma Smart Shades 3 www.somasmarthome.com

5

Thank you everyone for your recommendations.

The SOMA Smart Shades 3 seem really impressive and look very nice, but at about 159€ each, they’re unfortunately way too expensive.
That’s why I actually decided to go with the Aqara Roller Shade Driver E1, because I couldn’t find any other compatible motors.
My two roller shades are relatively light and small (about 80 x 75 cm), so hopefully the battery will last a little longer than just the specified 2 months.