As part of a bigger plan, the Curtain Rod 3 excels.
If youve never used a SwitchBot curtain opener before, you may enjoy the novelty of the machine.
If youre upgrading from the Rod 2, you may question if the changes were enough to warrant switching.
Mark LoProto / How-To Geek
Then I needed to add magnets where both Rod 3 devices were meant to stop.
Between the beaded strand, the metal telescoping bridge, and the magnets, the visual appeal is lost.
However, everything worked as I hoped.
The SwitchBot Curtain Rod 3 offers very small improvements over the Rod 2 and stumbles in some of the same ways. Despite being newer, some rod configurations still require inconvenient components that take away from the Rod 3’s upgrades.
The noise level of the Rod 2 was one of my biggest complaints.
To combat this, the Rod 3 boasts a QuietDrift Mode that reduces the decibels to below 25dB.
For reference, thats quieter than a whisper.
Mark LoProto / How-To Geek
Without QuietDrift Mode on, the Rod 3 still makes noise, but its better than the previous model.
QuietDrift Mode does produce virtually no noise at the cost of speed.
Opening and closing the curtain took about 47 seconds longer when using QuietDrift, which isnt necessarily an issue.
Mark LoProto / How-To Geek
For my setup, all of this is rendered moot by one thingthat telescoping rod.
Every time the opener crosses that threshold, it amplifies the noise level.
So you leave your SwitchBot light bulb on, but you dont want it on all day.
Are clouds rolling in?
Should You Buy the SwitchBot Curtain Rod 3?
It can automatically open and close your curtains even when youre not home.
As a standalone piece of hardware, it remains a novelty that is admittedly fun to toy around with.
SwitchBot sent me its two-button remote, and I did enjoy assigning the Rod 3s functions to each button.
Is that worth a purchase?
That all depends on whether youre excited by new technology.
