Universal remote control

SwitchBot Universal Remote review – Will waving this wand warrant home theater wonder?

SwitchBot Universal Remote 04

REVIEW – Since the departure of the Philips Pronto and Logitech Harmony lines, there has been a substantial unfilled void in the consumer remote control market. I’ve explored a multitude of contenders seeking a comparable solution and was eager to look at SwitchBot’s new Universal Remote. Is it the “Harry Potter” of remote control wands? […]

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SofaBaton X1S Universal Remote Control review – A cure for coffee table clutter

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                              REVIEW – With cinemas closed during COVID, home theaters became more popular, with many opting to choose their components. A universal remote control like Sofabaton’s X1S is integral to any system. How does it perform? Let’s have a closer look! What is it? The SofaBaton is a smartphone app-programmed, rechargeable, battery-operated, universal remote control

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Orvibo Smart Universal Remote Control Home Automation Hub review – Take control of your devices

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REVIEW – If you’re of a certain age, like me, you remember the first TV remote control – it was you. Your parent would tell you to get up and go change the channel to one of the other two that your TV received.  Then, TVs started coming with Infrared (IR) remote controls, giving you

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Logitech Harmony Express Universal voice remote review

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REVIEW – I own a lot of home entertainment devices, and with that comes a plethora of remote controls. I’ve looked into purchasing a universal remote, but most of them seemed intimidating and hard to use. Then I stumbled upon the Harmony Express Universal voice remote. Can a universal remote really control all my devices

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Logitech’s new Harmony Express Ultimate remote trades everything for voice control

harmony express

It’s been over 6 years since we reviewed a Logitech Harmony Ultimate Remote. I remember always wanting one of their remotes because they just looked cool with their big display, eleventy billion buttons, and all the features. But when I reviewed one, I found it to be a little complicated to set up and I

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Sideclick adds more functionality to your Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV remotes

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Last year Janet told us about the Sideclick crowdfunding campaign for the snap-on universal remote sidecar for several streaming media devices like Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Nexus Player and Roku. As a reminder, Sideclick is a slim universal remote attachment that snaps onto existing media streaming device remotes and adds programmable IR buttons, giving

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AnyMote Home turns your iOS or Android device into a universal remote

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How many remotes do you use for your TV and other home theater devices? I am currently using three. I have a remote for my DirecTV, one for my A/V receiver and one for my Roku. In the early days of PDAs and smartphones, most devices included a built-in IR transmitter so the device could

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Master (dvr) space and (recording) time with the sonic screwdriver universal remote

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I’m generally a cool, calm, and collected guy, but one of the few things that causes me to geek out is Doctor Who. I discovered the current incarnation of the show about a year ago and have been hooked every since. While I can’t afford high-end Doctor Who merchandise, I do think I have enough

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Control your home theater with a Pronto

pronto smart remote

With a home theater, you can find yourself swimming in what seems like dozens of remotes.  They are a pain to keep up with, especially when you know you can control everything with a single remote, but those universal remotes can cost a small fortune.  The Pronto Smart Remote can control all your equipment without

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Turn the remote for your streaming video set-top box into a universal remote

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The TV in my bedroom has what has to be the worst remote ever created.  It seems to be underpowered, and there’s an opaque cover over the wimpy IR sender that means it sometimes takes what seems like a dozen tries to get the TV to simply turn on or off.  I need to get

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Turn your mobile device into an Intelligent Universal Remote with @7PM

looq @7pm ir remote for mobile devices

If you’re tired of dealing with a stack of remotes to control your home theater system, and you don’t want to break the bank buying a universal remote, turn your smart phone or tablet into your one-remote-to-rule-them-all device.  The @7PM Intelligent Universal Remote plugs into the audio jack on your mobile device.  The app has an

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A minimal TV remote control for the tech phobic

tek pal remote

I’ve seen one of those funny, captioned pictures you so often see on the internet with one of those big, multi-buttoned TV remotes that some one had fixed for their grandmother to use.  They had taped over every button except for the power, channel up/down, and volume up/down so their less than tech-savvy family member

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Set phasers to stun… er, volume control!

star trek universal remote control

This is the universal remote control for the dedicated Star Trek fan.  This Star Trek Original Phaser Universal Remote Control is an exacting replica of a Star Trek phaser.  It was 3D scanned from the last remaining prop phaser in existence, and it has a detachable MK I phaser unit (seen on the top).  The

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Make Dad feel like the king of the home theater with the new Harmony Ultimate remote

logitech harmony ultimate remote

Here’s another Father’s Day gift idea – this time for the A/V-loving guys.  The new Harmony Ultimate remote from Logitech is the ultimate remote control.  The Harmony Ultimate can control up to 15 devices, including the TV, cable boxes, media boxes, game consoles like PS3, Wii, or Xbox (with the remote’s Bluetooth functionality), and even

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Logitech Harmony Touch Universal Remote review

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How many audio/video home entertainment components do you own? Do you use a separate remote control for each one? Are you the designated controller in your family because no one else can figure out how to start the TV, satellite and DVR? Have you ever been at work when you get a call something like

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VooMote Zapper Universal Remote Control for Apple iOS Devices

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Plug this little paperclip-sized dongle into the 30-pin connector on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, and your Apple device can serve as a powerful universal remote control.  The Zapper from VooMote uses the free VooMote Zapper app from iTunes to let you control virtually all the A/V devices in your house.  You can define

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Peel Product Universal Remote Control Review

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Once you have a home theater setup your mind starts to wander to the myriad of remote controls that you are now the proud owner-operator of.  You start to wonder how you are going to help your partner in life, your children, and your parents operate your shiny new entertainment system.  With remotes for your

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Open Your Beer with Your Universal Remote Control

clicker remote

The Clicker has been mentioned in passing in a gift-ideas post last year, but I thought it might deserve its own post this gift-giving season.  The Clicker universal remote control was designed by a Civil Engineer/building contractor.  He worked for years perfecting his idea of incorporating a bottle opener into a remote control – to

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Griffin Beacon Universal Remote Control System for iOS Devices Review

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I recently reviewed my shopping experience at outfitYOURS.com, and I received a Beacon Universal Remote Control System for iOS Devices by Griffin from them.  I have spent some time getting the Beacon set up, and let’s just say that experience wasn’t as easy as my shopping experience was.  I finally have the Beacon set up

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