The Sun Zero Oslo Theater Grade Extreme is a polyester rod-pocket blackout panel sold singly, 52 inches wide in 63, 84 or 95-inch lengths. Bob Vila's tester named it the best bang for the buck, rating it 4.5 of 5 for effectiveness and 5 of 5 for value, and liked its heavy, velvety fabric. Reviewed tested three sets bought from different retailers and found they do a decent job blocking light, but its staff thought the shiny polyester looks cheap.
Full review
Bob Vila: best value in a seven-curtain test
Bob Vila tested seven blackout curtains in an urban area where light pollution at night is a recurring problem, and named the Oslo its best bang for the buck. Its ratings: 4 of 5 for ease of installation, 4.5 for effectiveness, 4 for ease of use and 5 for value. The tester liked the heavy weight and the soft, velvet-like polyester, and found the panels performed well once hung.
Bob Vila notes the rod-pocket header prevents light leaking through grommets. The downsides were small: it took a minute to work out which pocketed end was the top, and the heavy fabric made sliding the panels a bit harder, partly because the tester's rod was at the 1.5-inch upper limit of Sun Zero's recommended size.
Reviewed: decent blocking, cheap-looking finish
Reviewed bought Sun Zero sets from Amazon, Wayfair and Macy's and found in testing that they performed similarly, with the set sold on Amazon blocking the most light. It named the Oslo its pick for living rooms but did not love the look: the shiny polyester, in Reviewed's words, looks like it wants to be silk.
In the same tests, Reviewed's top pick, the Amazon Basics Room Darkening Blackout, outperformed every other curtain at blocking light.
Sizes and care
The Oslo is sold as single panels in one 52-inch width and three lengths, 63, 84 and 95 inches, in more than 10 colors according to Bob Vila. Reviewed lists it as machine washable. Sun Zero claims it blocks up to 100 percent of light and cuts heat loss by up to 50 percent, figures Bob Vila repeats from the maker rather than measures.
Strengths
- +Bob Vila rated it 4.5 of 5 for effectiveness and found it performed well once installed
- +Heavy fabric with a plush, velvety feel, per Bob Vila
- +Rod-pocket header avoids light leaking through grommet holes, per Bob Vila
- +Reviewed found three sets from different retailers performed similarly at blocking light
Watch-outs
- −Heavier weight makes the panels harder to slide open and closed, per Bob Vila
- −Reviewed's staff found the shiny polyester looks cheap
- −Bob Vila found it a bit confusing to tell which pocketed end is the top
How it compares
In Reviewed's lab tests the Amazon Basics Room Darkening Blackout blocked more light than every other curtain tested, the Oslo included. Like the Eclipse Fresno it hangs from a rod pocket rather than the grommets on the NICETOWN Contemporary Lined Blackout and Amazon Basics Room Darkening Blackout.
Rating sources
“Though Sun Zero’s Oslo blackout curtains are budget-friendly, they don’t skimp on quality.”
“SunZero's curtains do a decent job blocking light, but they look cheap.”
Our 4.0 score is the average of these published ratings. Ratings marked * were derived from the reviewer’s written analysis or video transcript — the publisher didn’t print an explicit numeric score, so we inferred one from their own words. Click through to verify. More about methodology.
