Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame: review

The Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame is an innovative photo frame built on the third-party Frameo platform. While its premium styling and large, glare-free display are undoubtedly a visual treat, the feature most likely to draw admiring comments from visitors to your home will be the rear-facing wall light, described by the manufacturer Lexar as the ‘world’s first’.

If you’ve read any of my past reviews of digital photo frames built on the Frameo platform, you’ll be familiar with how easy the app is to use. Adding users is a cinch. You simply tap ‘Add Friend’ on the frame, and it generates a code. Once you or your loved ones have downloaded the app, you can enter the code, and you’re good to go.

Sending photos to the frame has been improved since I last used the Frameo app. You can still select up to 10 photos to send at a time or upgrade to the Frameo+ app for $1.99 / £0.99 a month or $16.99 / £7.99 a year to unlock unlimited sends. Once you’ve selected which frame you want to send the photos to, you can add captions and adjust their alignment. In a marked improvement over earlier versions of the app, you can now manually select the positioning of images in both landscape and portrait orientation, ensuring your snaps are cropped exactly how you want them.

Once my snaps were loaded on it, I was generally impressed. It certainly gives some of the best digital photo frames a run for their money. From a decent viewing distance, my black-and-white shots of the Puente Romano in Córdoba look crisply detailed. Up close, though, it doesn’t always look quite as precise – that’s an inevitable side effect of that larger screen size, which gives it a pixel density of 141 PPI, rather than the staggering 212 PPI of the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame.

Another area where it falls a little short of the excellent example set by its predecessor is color balance. One of the things that blew me away about the older Pexar frame was its impressively vibrant hues, but the Starlight looks more muted to me. Even compared to the screen of my iPhone 16 Pro – not a device notorious for its hyper-saturated colors – the Barbie pink of camellias or blazing gold of rhododendron blooms look more conservative and less exuberant. It’s not miles off the mark, but it’s just enough that photos look a little more subdued than I’d like.

Despite these slight missteps, the Pexar Starlight’s performance is still impressive, giving your photos plenty of pop. In a large part, this is thanks to the frame’s bright display and super-dynamic, contrasty pictures – even if the colors look a little duller from time to time, photographs I’ve uploaded still look bold and assertive, making for an impressive focal point in my living room.

Naturally, this is helped by the design of the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame, which is flat out gorgeous. That 15.6-inch screen is bright and almost entirely glare-free – honestly, it’s so unperturbed by all the artificial light in my office that it’s like it’s subject to some kind of quantum tunnelling effect where the light just passes straight through it.

The frame is a bit of a stunner as well. Its wood grain finish is beautiful and feels delightfully tactile, while the bezels around the screen are nicely textured to mimic a proper mount. Admittedly, the plastic this is made from doesn’t feel quite as authentic as the paper-like effect on the Aura Aspen but the overall effect still gives it a more premium feel than the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame before it.

Given its name, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that the biggest new feature of the Starlight is backlighting. I didn’t notice it a whole lot when viewing the frame stand-mounted or under bright light, but mounted on the wall or in the evening, it looks picture perfect. Honestly, it makes the frame a statement piece in its own right. I do wish there was an option to change the warmth of the backlight, though, as it can look a little cool for the kind of soft amber light I prefer after dark.

Ultimately, I feel like the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch is the difficult sequel to Pexar’s breakthrough album, the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame. It’s more ambitious, more innovative and yet it compromises on a few of the things that made its predecessor such a hit. It still features pretty highly on my list of favorite digital photo frames but for $159.99 / £149.99 you can snap up its stablemate instead.

Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame review: price & release date

• Launched November 6, 2025
• Retails for $349.99 / £349.99

Released on November 6, 2025, the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame is available in both the US and UK for a list price of $349.99 / £349.99.

While that’s not exactly cheap, it’s still reasonably priced. For example, the Aura Aspen costs $229 (around £175) for a smaller 11.8-inch display, though it does offer better pixel density and color reproduction. By contrast, the huge 27-inch Netgear Meural Canvas II will set you back a whopping $599.99 / £649.99 – for that spend, you get great features and better color, yet it has a much lower pixel density as a result of its bulk.

Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame review: specs

Should I buy the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame review: also consider

How I tested the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame

• Tested over several weeks
• Uploaded a range of color and monochrome photos
• Have many years of experience working with photography

I spent several weeks testing the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame. To test out how easy it is to use, I first set up the frame and added several users to it. I then sent over a range of photos using the Frameo app, both individually and in large batches to see how easy the transfer process is, before tweaking the fit and alignment of each image.

I made sure I uploaded a significant variety of photos to test out how the frame’s display performed against different criteria. To test its resolution and contrast, I used a variety of black-and-white photographs, from mountains in the Scottish Highlands to Spanish architecture. When assessing its color performance, I used vibrant shots of blossoms, flowers and fireworks, comparing its color reproduction against the screen of my iPhone 16 Pro.

Not only have I tested over half a dozen of the best digital photo frames released over the last 18 months, I’m also a keen photographer, having snapped over 40,000 images on my Canon SLR and iPhone 16 Pro. On top of this, I spent over a decade working in print publishing, meaning that I have a keen eye for managing photography and assessing how it’s translated to another medium.

• First reviewed: November 2025
• Read more about how we test

Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame: review

The Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame is an innovative photo frame built on the third-party Frameo platform. While its premium styling and large, glare-free display are undoubtedly a visual treat, the feature most likely to draw admiring comments from visitors to your home will be the rear-facing wall light, described by the manufacturer Lexar as the ‘world’s first’.

If you’ve read any of my past reviews of digital photo frames built on the Frameo platform, you’ll be familiar with how easy the app is to use. Adding users is a cinch. You simply tap ‘Add Friend’ on the frame, and it generates a code. Once you or your loved ones have downloaded the app, you can enter the code, and you’re good to go.

Sending photos to the frame has been improved since I last used the Frameo app. You can still select up to 10 photos to send at a time or upgrade to the Frameo+ app for $1.99 / £0.99 a month or $16.99 / £7.99 a year to unlock unlimited sends. Once you’ve selected which frame you want to send the photos to, you can add captions and adjust their alignment. In a marked improvement over earlier versions of the app, you can now manually select the positioning of images in both landscape and portrait orientation, ensuring your snaps are cropped exactly how you want them.

Once my snaps were loaded on it, I was generally impressed. It certainly gives some of the best digital photo frames a run for their money. From a decent viewing distance, my black-and-white shots of the Puente Romano in Córdoba look crisply detailed. Up close, though, it doesn’t always look quite as precise – that’s an inevitable side effect of that larger screen size, which gives it a pixel density of 141 PPI, rather than the staggering 212 PPI of the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame.

Another area where it falls a little short of the excellent example set by its predecessor is color balance. One of the things that blew me away about the older Pexar frame was its impressively vibrant hues, but the Starlight looks more muted to me. Even compared to the screen of my iPhone 16 Pro – not a device notorious for its hyper-saturated colors – the Barbie pink of camellias or blazing gold of rhododendron blooms look more conservative and less exuberant. It’s not miles off the mark, but it’s just enough that photos look a little more subdued than I’d like.

Despite these slight missteps, the Pexar Starlight’s performance is still impressive, giving your photos plenty of pop. In a large part, this is thanks to the frame’s bright display and super-dynamic, contrasty pictures – even if the colors look a little duller from time to time, photographs I’ve uploaded still look bold and assertive, making for an impressive focal point in my living room.

Naturally, this is helped by the design of the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame, which is flat out gorgeous. That 15.6-inch screen is bright and almost entirely glare-free – honestly, it’s so unperturbed by all the artificial light in my office that it’s like it’s subject to some kind of quantum tunnelling effect where the light just passes straight through it.

The frame is a bit of a stunner as well. Its wood grain finish is beautiful and feels delightfully tactile, while the bezels around the screen are nicely textured to mimic a proper mount. Admittedly, the plastic this is made from doesn’t feel quite as authentic as the paper-like effect on the Aura Aspen but the overall effect still gives it a more premium feel than the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame before it.

Given its name, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that the biggest new feature of the Starlight is backlighting. I didn’t notice it a whole lot when viewing the frame stand-mounted or under bright light, but mounted on the wall or in the evening, it looks picture perfect. Honestly, it makes the frame a statement piece in its own right. I do wish there was an option to change the warmth of the backlight, though, as it can look a little cool for the kind of soft amber light I prefer after dark.

Ultimately, I feel like the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch is the difficult sequel to Pexar’s breakthrough album, the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame. It’s more ambitious, more innovative and yet it compromises on a few of the things that made its predecessor such a hit. It still features pretty highly on my list of favorite digital photo frames but for $159.99 / £149.99 you can snap up its stablemate instead.

Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame review: price & release date

• Launched November 6, 2025
• Retails for $349.99 / £349.99

Released on November 6, 2025, the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame is available in both the US and UK for a list price of $349.99 / £349.99.

While that’s not exactly cheap, it’s still reasonably priced. For example, the Aura Aspen costs $229 (around £175) for a smaller 11.8-inch display, though it does offer better pixel density and color reproduction. By contrast, the huge 27-inch Netgear Meural Canvas II will set you back a whopping $599.99 / £649.99 – for that spend, you get great features and better color, yet it has a much lower pixel density as a result of its bulk.

Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame review: specs

Should I buy the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame review: also consider

How I tested the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame

• Tested over several weeks
• Uploaded a range of color and monochrome photos
• Have many years of experience working with photography

I spent several weeks testing the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame. To test out how easy it is to use, I first set up the frame and added several users to it. I then sent over a range of photos using the Frameo app, both individually and in large batches to see how easy the transfer process is, before tweaking the fit and alignment of each image.

I made sure I uploaded a significant variety of photos to test out how the frame’s display performed against different criteria. To test its resolution and contrast, I used a variety of black-and-white photographs, from mountains in the Scottish Highlands to Spanish architecture. When assessing its color performance, I used vibrant shots of blossoms, flowers and fireworks, comparing its color reproduction against the screen of my iPhone 16 Pro.

Not only have I tested over half a dozen of the best digital photo frames released over the last 18 months, I’m also a keen photographer, having snapped over 40,000 images on my Canon SLR and iPhone 16 Pro. On top of this, I spent over a decade working in print publishing, meaning that I have a keen eye for managing photography and assessing how it’s translated to another medium.

• First reviewed: November 2025
• Read more about how we test

I'm dehydrated. How do I know? Withings U-Scan told me so, and it's based on what may be the best source for this information: my own urine.

I know. Blech. But also, wow; home urine analysis in about the time it takes you to, well, use the bathroom.

I first learned about the Withings U-Scan home urine analysis system back in January at CES 2025. It sounded kind of incredible. The device could take the lab-style analysis that usually requires you to go to a doctor's office, pee into a cup, and hand it over to a lab technician who would then send it to a lab for analysis, and transform it into a compact system that fits in any toilet.

That's more or less what we got here, a $379.95 / £319 rechargeable device that does all of that in one... er... sitting.

It's not perfect. It might require that you change your bathroom habit, it uses replaceable cartridges that'll cost you $99.95 / £89.95 every three months, and it cannot yet, as was promised earlier this year, recognize different people's pee. Essentially, it's a urine analysis system for one and can only be activated through the Withings app on your phone.

Even so. I'm impressed.

Withings U-Scan Review: Design and setup

Withing's U-Scan is a large white puck that you press between your palms to twist and open so you can install the carousel of measurement tabs. There are a total of 44 of these tiny, chemically sensitive strips in each carousel. Every test takes two strips for a total of 22 urine tests. Most people will only test once a week. The circuit board and algorithm live inside U-Scan, so that all analysis is done there.

Twisting the device open and closed is not easy, but in some ways, this gives you confidence that it is fully water-tight.

When it's open, you set up your app and connect it via Bluetooth to the U-Scan by pressing a button on the inside. It also connects to your home network's Wi-Fi. This process is pretty painless, as is installing the carousel of test tabs. The app, by the way, can connect to Apple Health to gather all your relevant health data and to share Withings' insights with Apple Health.

U-Scan also ships with three sizes of toilet clips and guides you on which one to use based on your toilet's style. There's also a charge tank, which doubles as a bath to wash the device after the first three months of use (the charge is rated to last three months, too). It even ships with gloves so you don't have to touch a device you've spent the last three months peeing on.

U-Scan can, depending on which carousels you use, test for either nutrition or kidney health. In the latter, the system keeps track of calcium levels, an excess of which can lead to the development of painful kidney stones.

My test unit, though, arrived with the nutrition carousel, which looks at acidity, vitamin C, ketones, and hydrostatus.

Withings U-Scan: Getting started

Proper placement of the Withings U-Scan in your toilet is critical, and this is where I learned that, if I wanted to measure my urine, I'd have to sit down to pee.

You see, the puck and its attachment hanger are placed dead-center at the front of the toilet; the clip hangs over that front lip.

The smooth back of the U-Scan faces you and, if you pee on it, the other side is designed to capture and direct that pee into a reservoir that pulls the liquid inside.

Since the system does not know when it's being peed on, you have to first open the Withings App and then select measurement. After that, you have two minutes to pee.

I went through this process three times before I successfully got a reading. The first time, there was an unidentified error, and the second time, the system accused me of not peeing sufficiently. Fortunately, it didn't waste any test strips in either case.

Finally, I peed long enough to get a reading. I knew the system was doing its work because there are somewhat noisy motors that make the urine collection and the tiny internal lab work possible.

Within minutes, I had my first reading. If you don't see it, you can quickly sync your phone app to the device.

I was pleased to see that my pH or bio-acidity was "In Target", as were my vitamin C and ketone levels. The only thing that didn't look right was my hydrostatus, which came in low. When I opened that reading for details, the app told me, "Your hydration level is lower than optimal. Increase your water intake to reach a better balance."

Withings U-Scan: Verdict

As my wife said to me, somewhat sarcastically, when I told her about my reading, "Oh, good, I guess you don't have to go to the doctor."

I'd like to think that, but this is not an FDA-cleared device and is not intended as a medical substitute. Instead, it's a wellness product that gives you indicators but not the final word.

Still, it's nice to get some early warning signals on nutritional issues and, yes, I would love to avoid painful kidney stones in my lifetime.

I do not look forward to the cleaning process and think it's a shame that it's not yet useful for all the people peeing into that toilet in my home. Withings told me that the feature is coming, but did not provide a timeline.

The price is not terrible for what it does, but I'm not thrilled about paying another $99 every three months to check my urine. That's the one area that will likely give many people pause and may relegate this for use with people who really need frequent urine analysis. I'm probably not one of them.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to drink a big glass of water.

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Eptusmey 10.1-inch WiFi Digital Photo Frame: review

The Eptusmey 10.1-inch WiFi Digital Photo Frame is an affordable digital photo frame built on the Uhale platform. At 1280 x 800 pixels, it’s not the highest resolution photo frame on the market, but it’s capable of pretty credible sharpness and is far easier to use than other affordable frames I’ve tested.

I’ve used quite a few different digital photo frame apps now, and they vary widely from the full-featured, bespoke marketplace of the Netgear Meural Canvas II to Frameo, the third-party, one-size-fits-all app used by many digital photo frames, including the alternate version of this device. But there’s something novel about the Eptusmey’s user interface that I find particularly smooth and intuitive.

Setting up the frame is straightforward enough. Once you’ve selected its language and logged in to your Wi-Fi, you can start getting friends and family set up to send photos directly to the frame. Just download the Uhale app, scan the QR code, or enter the displayed code, and you’re good to go. You’re then ready to start selecting photos from your phone and firing them over.

If you’ve read many of my reviews of the best digital photo frames, you’ll know a pet peeve of mine is how some devices handle image orientation, often opting for a universal size that rarely fits every photo well. Instead, the Uhale app and Eptusmey photo frame allow you to scale images to fit and adjust the vertical or horizontal alignment to precisely frame the elements you choose. Being able to adjust this on a per-picture basis on the screen made it far easier to tweak specific images that didn’t look right, rather than having to delete and reupload them.

Odd issues did crop up now and then, though. First, despite the fact that I could set the scaling and position of images in the app, this didn’t seem to be saved for the uploaded images, meaning I’d have to set it again once they were on the frame. I also found that while scrolling through my phone’s photo library, it was far too easy to accidentally drag and select a bunch of images or, worse, deselect all of the ones I’d already picked out.

While colors are decent, they’re not quite as vibrant as I’ve come to expect from the best digital photo frames. Hues are accurate – there aren’t necessarily any specific missteps in terms of the color profile – but the frame pulls its punches when it comes to saturation. Rhododendrons that are a fireworks display of pinks, oranges and yellows even on the relatively conservative screen of my iPhone 16 Pro look more pastel than I’d expect, making the overall effect much more subdued.

By contrast – if you’ll excuse the pun – black and white photography really pops. Capable of both impressive brightness and relatively deep blacks, the Eptusmey shows off monochrome shots with an expansive dynamic range. Whether it was displaying shots of lichen-covered cliffsides in the Scottish Highlands or neo-gothic buildings in Budapest, grayscale photos always looked both bold and bright.

Despite the frame’s relatively meager 1280 x 800 resolution – hitting a pixel density of 149ppi – detail is also very decent. Whether it’s the individual hairs of a bumblebee’s fuzzy butt or the grains of sand clinging to a frog’s back, fine detail is crisply rendered. Unfortunately, though, the Eptusmey fares less well with images shot at shorter focal lengths. The iPhone 16 Pro’s artificial bokeh occasionally appeared over-sharpened, making those images look much weaker by comparison.

Another regrettable blind spot of the Eptusmey is how reflective its glass is. I tested this digital photo frame during a British autumn – I can barely remember the last time I even saw the sun, let alone had it shining on this frame. But, even so, this photo frame’s screen is swamped by reflections of our modestly lit testing space, meaning it’s not going to be a good choice for anywhere particularly bright or with a lot of furnishings to reflect.

Outside of the screen, the Eptusmey’s design is similarly mixed. In the plus column, its rear leg is very sturdy and makes switching orientation simple: pop it out and pop it back in rotated at 90 degrees, and you’re good to go. It also offers decent aesthetics, with the painted wood frame and modest white mount around the screen looking classy enough for a frame at this price range, and the two color options providing a decent choice to match the frame to your decor.

It’s not perfect, though, by any stretch. The mount is very plasticky to the touch – I’ve definitely been spoiled by the beautiful paper-like texture of the Aura Aspen here, though, so I won’t hold that too much against it.

Perhaps a more significant minus is the fact the paint on the exterior frame has started to wear off in a few places. Picking at the edge of the frame with my thumbnail, I was easily able to replicate this damage, which makes me worry a little about its durability.

OK, the Eptusmey 10.1-inch WiFi Digital Photo Frame definitely isn’t flawless: its colors are a little duller than they should be, while the screen shows up way too many reflections even under artificial light.

But this needs to be viewed in the context of its price: you can get it for as little as $55.99 / £49.99, putting it right down at the cheapest end of the market. Given the price, it’s impressive: not only is it surprisingly crisp, it makes it really easy to frame your photos and get them looking their best. It’s definitely worth a look if you want to save on a frame.

Eptusmey 10.1-inch WiFi Digital Photo Frame review: price & release date

The Eptusmey 10.1-inch WiFi Digital Photo Frame is available now and has a list price of £79.99. Cheap though this is, you can actually get it for even less if you shop around, with Amazon UK selling it from just £49.99. It’s also available from Amazon in the US for $55.99, although only the version compatible with the third-party Frameo app, which offers a great user experience but is different from that outlined in this review.

While the US market is restricted to the Black Oak Wood colorway tested here, those in the UK have more options available. You can pick up the White Oak Wood colorway for £49.99, the Walnut Wood colorway for £59.99 and the Black Oak Wood colorway for £79.99, giving you more options to ensure your frame complements your decor.

Eptusmey 10.1-inch WiFi Digital Photo Frame review: specs

Should I buy the Eptusmey 10.1-inch WiFi Digital Photo Frame?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Eptusmey 10.1-inch WiFi Digital Photo Frame review: also consider

How I tested the Eptusmey 10.1-inch WiFi Digital Photo Frame

• Tested it over two weeks
• Uploaded a wide variety of photos
• Tried it in multiple locations and orientations

I tested the Eptusmey 10.1-inch WiFi Digital Photo Frame over a period of several weeks. First, I set it up, then I used the Uhale app to transfer photos I’ve taken, making sure to split the balance between brightly colored shots and more subdued detail-focused ones. Next, I used the frame to tweak the cropping and alignment of photos.

I then tried using the frame in both horizontal and vertical orientations, as well as moving it to a variety of locations in my home and the TechRadar office to see how it coped with reflections and ambient light conditions.

I’m an experienced photographer, having taken more than 40,000 shots over the years on my Canon DSLR and iPhone 16 Pro. On top of this, I spent many years working in print publishing, meaning I know how to assess the nuances of how images can differ between the source device and the final product.

• First reviewed: October 2025
• Read more about how we test

WEFFORT Smart Shades: one-minute review

WEFFORT offers a ton of different smart shade options, including roller, cellular, zebra, roman, sheer, outdoor, woven wood, drapes, and more. Within each category, you’ll find a variety of neutral colorways and differing degrees of light filtration/blocking. I ordered the 60% light-filtering Lattice Series Roman Shades in white for two identical windows in the same room.

You can choose to charge your blinds via a wall charger or a solar charger; I got one of each. You also choose your home’s ecosystem; I chose Apple’s HomeKit but it also works with Google, Amazon Alexa, Samsung, and several others. You can also get a remote control – either one-channel, five-channel, or 15-channel.

Installation initially went relatively smoothly, though the included screws are low quality and the threads will strip if you’re not careful. The major hiccup, however, was that one of the strings wasn’t wrapped around the motor correctly, so the blind would not lower all the way on one side. After some back-and-forth with customer service, who provided detailed instructions and videos, I was able to get it working properly.

Once that was done, the blinds worked like a dream. I set up an automation, so the blinds open each day at sunrise and close each day at sunset. I also utilized the remote control and Siri voice activation. They work exactly as expected.

WEFFORT Smart Shades: price and availability

• Starts relatively inexpensive
• Order directly from site or Amazon
• Gets fairly pricey with customizations

You can order WEFFORT Smart Shades from WEFFORT's website or from Amazon in the US. You'll be able to see all of your options more easily if you order directly from WEFFORT, though you might find some sale prices though Amazon.

The shades start at $119.99 USD (about £90 / AU$180). I ordered two shades for two pretty large identical windows. I selected the 60% light-filtering Lattice Series Roman Shades in white with a battery motor (as opposed to hard-wired) and measured for an outside mount. I added a five-channel remote control, solar charging panel, and chose the HomeKit Motor over Thread. All told, my total was $1,013.94 (about £750 / AU$540) for two shades.

• Value score: 4/5

WEFFORT Smart Shades: design

• Had some hiccups with installation
• Shades look fine, if not luxurious
• Smooth and quiet operation

You'll need a drill and the know-how to use it in order to install the blinds. Note that the included screws are not up to the quality of the rest of the kit; if you're not careful, you can strip them pretty easily. But the trickiest part was that one of the strings that control the blinds got out of place, which meant that one of the shades would not lower all the way. Eventually, with help from WEFFORT's customer service, I was able to fix the string and get the shades working correctly.

You can order the shades with whatever sort of smart home ecosystem you like, whether you prefer Apple HomeKit, Samsung, Google, Amazon Alexa, Homey, Hubitat, or something else. However, for this kind of customization, you'll want to order from WEFFORT directly. Custom orders on Amazon can be a bit tricky.

I set mine up with Apple's HomeKit, there was no need to download any other app to get this done. In addition to controlling the shades via HomeKit and Siri, they can also be controlled via remote control.

I ordered 60% light-filtering shades, and that's what I got. The light filters through pleasantly, but the harshest rays of summer middays are blocked when I want.

As for the aesthetics, well, these don't look or feel like super expensive shades. The fabric of the shades is more like plastic than anything. The string that raises and lowers the shades is very thin. The valance is functional-looking, not anything special. It all looks fine though; I don't need shades to look fancy, I need them to work. And they do work. Operation is smooth, quiet, and flawless.

• Design score: 4/5

WEFFORT Smart Shades: performance

• Set up with Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Google, and more
• Control with your phone, your voice, or remote control
• They just work

When you place your order, be sure to choose your motor type carefully. The Standard Motor uses just the remote control. The Zigbee motor works with Amazon Alexa, Samsung SmartThings, Home Assistant, Hubitat and other Zigbee 3.0 Hubs. The Z-Wave motor can be used with Samsung SmartThings, Home Assistant, and Hubitat. The Matter motor works with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Samsung, and Google. The HomeKit motor just works with the Apple ecosystem.

I found the shades easy to set up with Apple's HomeKit without having to download any other apps. Once set up, you can tell Siri to open and close your blinds, or use the app to choose the exact percentage open you want them.

You can set up Scenes and Automations to have the blinds open and close when or under what circumstances you prefer. I like my blinds to open at sunrise and close at sunset; once I set that Automation I can forget about it and the blinds do just that.

As I mentioned earlier, I did have an issue with a twisted string at first. I'm not sure if the shades came that way or if that happened during installation. With the string twisted, the blinds would not fully lower. I did speak with customer service via email; they sent me instructions and videos until I was able to fix the issue. Since then, everything has worked flawlessly.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Should you buy the WEFFORT Smart Shades?

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

WEFFORT Smart Shades: also consider

Want some other, similar options to check out? Here are a couple of TechRadar favorites to consider.

How I tested the WEFFORT Smart Shades

I installed the WEFFORT Smart Shades on two different windows in my dining room and tested them over two weeks. I opened and closed them a variety of ways, including using the remote control, the HomeKit App on my iPhone, and voice commands to Siri. I also set up an Automation to open the shades at sunrise and close them at sunset.

For more details, see how we test, review, and rate products at TechRadar.

First reviewed October 2025

Aqara Doorbell Camera Hub G410: two-minute review

Whereas most of the best video doorbells are sleek, with the look and feel of a traditional doorbell, the same can’t be said of the Aqara G410. Like its predecessor, the G4, this is a decidedly chunky unit. The reason why soon becomes clear when you realise it’s powered by no less than six AA batteries (even the latest ‘long-life’ Blink device only has three and most have two).

While this might not be a massive issue when it comes to operation, it does make installation a little more challenging. Aqara provides a wedge mount for installing on a door architrave but the likelihood is you will have to install it on a flat surface because of its large size.

Furthermore, lack of waterproofing (IPX3 provides very modest protection against splashing) means you have to install in an enclosed or semi-enclosed (storm) porch rather than exposed to the elements – at least in the UK. Aqara provides screws and wall plugs for installation or alternatively there is a large and strong adhesive strip on the back of the device for placing directly onto a wall or front door.

Unusually, the indoor chime is also the hub of the Aqara system. It is here where you scan one QR code to sync the doorbell to the Aqara iOS/Android app and another to connect to various smart home platforms including Google Home. It is also here where you insert a MicroSD card (up to 512GB) to store video clips rather than paying Aqara from £3.99 (about $5 / AU$8) a month to store all of your clips in the cloud. However, Aqara only provides a USB-C to USB-A cable so you will need a mains plug with a USB-A port to use.

Once set up, a 4:3 image appears in the app alongside a range of options to help you take control of your video doorbell. As well as the usual settings that allow you exclude or include parts of the image or adjust doorbell and/or chime volume, AI-based facial recognition is also included as standard. This allows you to add images of people who live in the house for the camera to store. It will then send you an alert if it spots that person leaving the house (and if it’s someone it doesn’t recognise it will say ‘lingerer detected’!)

Subscribers to the Aqara’s HomeGuardian service can also access additional functionality such as AI Video Search where you can enter keywords to search through videos more easily and AI Video Summary which will provide a one sentence summary of the video created – for example ‘courier in red T-shirt carrying parcel'.

Aqara Doorbell Camera Hub G410: subscription options

• Aqara HomeGuardian (1 device): £3.99 (about $5 / AU$8) or £39.99 (about $55 / AU$80) per year
• Aqara HomeGuardian (unlimited cameras): £7.99 (about $10 / AU$15) per month or £79.99 (about $110 / AU$160) per year

Aqara Doorbell Camera Hub G410: price and availability

• How much does it cost? Aqara G410 £129, $129
• When is it available? Available from August 2025
• Where is it available? UK/US

When the original Aqara G4 video doorbell was released back in 2023, it cost £119/$119 (although it is now available online for under £100 / $100). With the new model, Aqara has managed to maintain the same price point (give or take £10 / $10), at the same as making a shed-load of improvements. These include much better viewing angle, dual-band Wi-Fi capability and much improved video resolution (2K rather than 1080p) to name but a few.

Nevertheless, the new Aqara G410 is actually towards the upper end of the price range for a video doorbell with many devices now retailing for under £100/$100, albeit without local storage so you have to pay a monthly subscription fee to store video clips in the cloud. The advantage of the new Aqara model is that, while a monthly-subscription fee is available for advanced AI-detection features, you don’t have to pay it to store video clips. Instead, you can insert a MicroSD card in the smart home hub/chime and get pretty much all of the functions without having to pay extra.

So is the Aqara video doorbell worth the investment? Much depends on how you intend to use it. If you want to use it just as a standard video doorbell to talk to whoever comes to the front door then we’d say probably not. There are simply better, and definitely nicer looking, video doorbells out there. There’s no getting around the fact that the G410 looks cheap and plasticy, like something you would have bought from a Tandy store back in the day (if you are old enough to remember them!)

However, if you want to use it as part of a home automation system so, for example, the doorbell unlocks a compatible smart lock when it sees a face it recognises, then the Aqara G4 does represent much better value for money. For example, in this scenario it’s possible to imagine the Aqara doorbell taking centre stage – effectively becoming the brain of your smart home. Just don’t get it too wet as the limited IPX3 weather resistance means this ‘brain’ could stop working completely if you return from work in a downpour.

• Value score: 3.5/5

Aqara Doorbell Camera Hub G410: design

• Easy installation
• Chunky design
• IPX3 weather resistance

Measuring 14.2 x 6.5 x 3cm (5.57 x 2.56 x 1.2 inches), there is no getting around the fact that the Aqara is big and ugly. Whereas most video doorbells on the market have the form factor of a chunky traditional doorbell, the Aqara has no such pretensions. Instead, it’s more like the shape of an old-fashioned door entry phone. At least it means it has a nice big, illuminated doorbell that visitors simply can’t miss.

That it’s so big is largely down to how it is powered. Though it is possible to hard-wire the doorbell into your existing doorbell system, most people will probably use it as a stand-alone doorbell. This means installing no fewer than six AA batteries by unscrewing the panel in the back of the unit (standard AA batteries are provided).

That’s considerably more than most battery-powered video doorbells, which usually only require two or three AA batteries unless they’re powered by a rechargeable lithium Ion battery.

Installation is relatively straightforward. Aqara provides wall plugs and screws for mounting on the door or door frame. Alternatively, there’s a very strong adhesive strip for sticking both the doorbell and chime to a suitable surface. Also provided is a wedge-mount for installing at an angle though the likelihood is that this video doorbell is simply too wide to mount on most door architraves.

Importantly, the chime/smart home hub needs to be installed on the same Wi-Fi network as the doorbell, close enough so they can communicate with one another, but also in an area of the house where you are most likely to hear it from several rooms – such as a hallway. As noted earlier, the Aqara G410 will need to be enclosed in a semi-enclosed or enclosed porch to prevent it getting wet. It also shouldn’t be mounted too high in order to get the best view from the 4:3 shaped image. Aqara recommends a height of between 1.4 and 1.5m from the ground (around 4.5 to 5ft).

• Design: 3/5

Aqara Doorbell Camera Hub G410: performance

• Good image quality
• mmWave radar detection reduces false alerts
• Complete smart home hub

There’s no doubt that when it comes to performance, the G410 represents a massive leap forward from its predecessor, the G4. Whereas the former unit offered 1080p resolution, the G410 boasts much sharper 2K (2048 x 1536 pixel) resolution. Aspect ratio too has been changed from a wide 16:9 to squarer 4:3 which is more suitable for capturing people coming to the door (although some of the latest doorbells now favour the square 1:1 aspect ratio for head-to-toe footage).

On the downside, the video doorbell still lacks HDR support. However, we generally we found the dynamic range was more than sufficient for recognising visitors and monitoring deliveries during the day. More problematic was night vision which was not always that clear unless the PIR on my porch light was triggered. Alternatively, it is possible to program the Aqara to trigger a smart porch light if anyone approaches your door at night.

One really useful addition is mmWave Radar detection. We recently saw the technology used to great effect on a Baseus Security S2 outdoor security camera and the same’s true here. Indeed, the technology seems a big improvement over older PIR detectors which tend to be a little overly sensitive.

This feature drastically reduces the number of false alerts from passing cars and pedestrians walking past your house which can be a problem with some video doorbells.

Other plus points include a very loud indoor chime (up to 95dB) – handy if you can’t always hear someone coming to the front door – and a reasonable speaker and microphone for talking to whoever is at the door. In fact it’s even possible to disguise your voice with various settings (anonymous, robot and clown). This may be useful, if say, you are a vulnerable woman and don’t want whoever is at the door to know you are home alone or simply for having fun with family and friends.

Finally, where this model really comes into its own of course is as the engine room of a home automation system. The G410 is now a fully-fledged smart home hub with a built in Matter Bridge and controller, a Zigbee Hub, a Thread border router and a dual-band Wi-Fi adaptor.

However, it’s worth noting that while the camera is technically capable of 2K resolution, this is only available if the device is used exclusively within the Aqara app. For example, if it’s added to Apple HomeKit (or any other ecosystem), the resolution is downgraded to just 1600 x 1200 pixels. As a result, images via Apple Home Kit look less sharp.

• Performance score: 3.5/5

Should you buy the Aqara Doorbell Camera Hub G410?

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

Aqara Doorbell Camera Hub G410: also consider

If you're not sure whether the Aqara Doorbell Camera Hub G410 is right for you, here are some other options to consider:

How I tested the Aqara Doorbell Camera Hub G410

• I used the doorbell every day for 10 days
• I installed it myself
• The doorbell was set up in a storm porch to the side of the door

I regularly test video doorbells, much to the confusion of local postmen when I have several up at once and they don’t know which one to press! As an experiment, I decided to leave two up for a short while, a Blink Generation 2 video doorbell on the front of the door and the Aqara at the side of the storm porch.

Interestingly, I found that most couriers/postmen rang the Aqara drawn no doubt by the extremely large doorbell button in the centre. Ideally, I would have installed the doorbell in the centre of the door, but it’s extremely wide design made this impractical. For many, it’s lack of waterproofing will also prove a massive obstacle (it seems essential for any outdoor product, at least in the UK).

It’s a shame because there is much to like about this product, including its compatibility with all the major smart home platforms, accurate motion detection and local as well as cloud storage. But without waterproofing and an impractical design it is simply difficult to recommend the Aqara G410 to TechRadar readers.

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First reviewed October 2025