SOMMER 1042V002 3/4 hp Garage Door Opener with Smartphone Controller

I installed this with my wife to help and it wasn't difficult. I did have trouble with a part that both the YouTube video and the manual said was there (it's a pin that holds the control unit to the rail) but it had been replaced by a pre-installed pressure plate. This was likely to address the issues with the contacts mentioned in other reviews but it unfortunately made the install stretch to two weekends while I waited for their support email to get back to me. On this point I should note they did so quickly after the holiday weekend ended.I'd like to touch on something that I haven't seen mentioned in other reviews which is how difficult this is to install as a replacement for an older opener rather than a new install. For my install it wasn't as bad as I'd feared. While the old angle iron was set to hold the motor assembly from its edges, this unit secures to the ceiling on a sliding assembly on the rail itself so you don't have to worry about where your existing brackets are, you can position the assembly wherever you need but you'll likely need to move the existing vertical pieces inward. On the door side all of the existing hardware easily adapted to the new opener. One place you might have issues is in the sensor bracket mounts. My existing ones could not be used for these sensors and the supplied brackets weren't of a useful shape causing me to fashion mounting plates to the walls on the sides of the door. Overall though it was much easier than I expected.With regards to the operation of the opener itself I have no complaints. It's exceeding easy to calibrate and I had no issues with initial setup (though I don't have a HomeLink device which others have said isn't the best). Operation is slow and quiet as other reviews have mentioned. Some seem disappointed by a lack of motion sensors to turn on the garage door lamps but honestly that's a feature I'd never want.Lastly, the GogoGate 2 unit is included in the box but the instructions are completely separate so connect the GogoGate before you attach your control button to the wall. Now bearing in mind that the price difference between this opener with versus without the GogoGate is $30, it's definitely worth the $30 but I'm not super impressed. It doesn't have native Google Assistant support which is a strong strike against it (though I think it may have Alexa support if that's your thing). Both the unit and the sensor mount with double-sided tape which is fine but I'd prefer screw holes all the same. Because it is only accessible to my Google Homes through IFTTT, I cannot simply ask what the door status is which frankly limits its usefulness. I like being able to see the status via a webpage or on my phone and that's worth $30 but I'd have a tough time saying it'd be worth the full price (with Google's ecosystem rather than Amazon's, at least). It's this lack of native support for Google Assistant that caused me to knock a star off the rating and if the functionality is added in the future I will update this review.

The design has several parts which can be installed on the wrong end (tensioners) or backwards (tensionsers, chain guard). Good mechanical design would make this impossible. Good manuals or surface features in the parts would make it obvious. The combination of heinously bad writing in the manual and sloppy engineering make it easy to get to the last step and then need to start over.In my case this was because I installed the tensioner with the electrical spring contact to energize the chain (yes, the chain is one of the two conductors to the carriage) on the wrong end of the rail. The writing in the manual was not clear and the diagram is ambiguous. The could spend less paper on warning text and make the diagrams big enough to be clear.Installation was, in general, made much more difficult due to lack of clarity than due to fundamental assembly difficulty.The remote control looks like it reuses molds from a flash drive from yesteryear and has buttons so small that they're difficult to use. Homelink programming (so I don't have to use the silly tiny buttons) was flaky, but eventually succeeded.The carriage may claim to be 0.75 horsepower, but it's definitely not turning that capability into delivered power. Lifting is maddeningly slow compared to my previous lift (which was also rated at 0.75 horsepower). And the remote range isn't especially good, so the slow lifting is even more noticeable.The power supply box lets a decent amount of light from the lightbulbs through, but is very opaque out the front and doesn't include a down reflector, so much of it goes to the ceiling and none of it goes towards the door. It's also enormous. I don't know why - it has neither a motor nor battery backup.Weirdly the bundled "smart" opener has no idea of the state of the door - perhaps it was an afterthought feature and there is no real communication between units - and you're forced to add a redundant door state sensor. Weak sauce engineering there.At this price point I would have expected to get an outdoor keypad, but no, not included.I bought this unit primarily because it wasn't made by Chamberlain / Liftmaster, who angered me greatly with shoddy electronics and patronizing phone support. If I hadn't had that highly negative experience, I wouldn't have bought this unit.So at this point the best I can say is that it's quiet. And not made by the evil empire. Don't buy this unless you have a grudge.

This opener deserves a good review. It is the quietest opener I have ever experienced. I mean, it is really QUIET!. The only noise is from the wheels of the door itself. It opens the door more slowly than my other opener, but the quiet action is worth it.I would like to say that a pretty savvy DIY'er can install this, as long as the door itself is operating properly.I had some issues installing it. I'm not a professional installer, so I had a learn some things. First, and foremost, the door needs to be set properly so that it could be opened by hand. I noticed that the maximum lifting weight is about 500 pounds. After some problems with the emergency release latch, I realized that my door was almost impossible to lift by hand. After replacing the door opener springs (you might just need to adjust them - a job best left to a pro - believe me), I had no further problems. Therefore, I believe that if you put too much weight on it, even though it can lift the door, the extra weight will cause problems with the emergency release latch. I have not installed the smart phone system yet. After I do, I will post again.