Five of the Best Universal Remote Controls
It is quite difficult to choose a universal remote control these days. There are many simple programmable IR transmitters out there, but some of the best remote controls can control other devices using Bluetooth or even Wi-Fi. This week we take a look at some of the best universal remote controls based on your nominations.
Earlier this week, we asked you to tell us which universal remotes you think are the best . Your nominations ranged from funny to incredibly useful, and while we haven’t covered the category for a long time, many remotes still sit on either side of the huge dividing line: on the one hand, there are programmable IR blasters that are cheap and effective for most home entertainment systems. … On the other hand, these are complex and often more expensive devices that can control all of your IR devices, as well as any smart home equipment and other home technologies. Some even allow you to use your smartphone or tablet.
Beyond that, let’s take a look at your top five picks from a round of nominations:
Logitech Harmony One / Harmony Ultimate One
The Logitech Harmony One, much loved and praised but eventually replaced by the Harmony Ultimate One, is a tough, versatile remote. Many of you have emphasized how much you loved the original Harmony One, its fully programmable buttons and actions, tons of customization, and reliability. Despite being discontinued, you can still buy it – albeit at a solid $ 349 on Amazon , while its replacement, the Harmony Ultimate One, costs $ 209 for a more affordable price tag . For its part, Ultimate One tries to capture what people love about the One, including an adaptable touchscreen, programmable actions, and the ability to control all devices in your home entertainment center. Both remotes are IR emitters only, which means there are no RF and Bluetooth devices, but it also reduces the number of buttons on the face of the remote, instead relying a little more on the touchscreen for a lot of operations and for custom, buttons have been added … Ultimate One has also scaled it down to a slightly smaller size. Some people like these changes, others don’t like them, but in the end you have options.
Those of you who have nominated the Harmony One and Ultimate One praised the device for being able to control just about everything in your setup with little real-world configuration. Everyone (and you’ll see this a recurring theme among other Harmony nominees) complained a little about Logitech’s overly heavy and complex desktop programming software, but it’s better than pointing the remote at another remote to learn commands (although the original One was capable of this) .) Many of you liked the ability to switch between activities and devices to perform certain actions on your devices, even if they are not part of the “actions” you program, and many of you loved your original devices so much. a lot of what you said, you don’t know what you’ll do when he eventually dies. You can read more in this nominations thread , this one or this one .
Touchsquid
Touchsquid – is not so much the remote control as an application for the remote control that turns your Android phone or tablet into a universal remote control with pre-programmed database of more than 700,000 units. Of course, your device must either have its own IR port for the app to work (and there is a list of supported phones and tablets here ), or it must be paired with an external IR transmitter that will send the app’s signals. to your home entertainment equipment. If you’re looking for a quick way to turn your Android phone, especially if you have a device like the HTC One or Galaxy S5, both of which have built-in infrared, into a universal remote (or you’ve upgraded from these phones and want to find application), that’s all. Touchsquid software comes in two different flavors: the $ 14 home version, which lets you control up to 6 devices per “room profile,” and the $ 40 Pro version , which increases the device limit to 14 per “room profile,” adds a user programmable macro buttons, nested buttons and sync between devices with a pot. Best of all, if you’re not sure if this will work for you, you can download a free trial from Google Play . Either way, you just tell Touchsquid which devices you have in your home theater, which ones you use for what, program your actions (much like the Harmony devices), and you’re off.
Those of you who have nominated Touchsquid have noted that it loads quickly, that it is fairly responsive to the features it offers, and that it is quite simple to program and use. You noted that it works well with external IR transmitters that you can connect to via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and it also gives you the ability to turn any Android device in the house into a universal remote control, and you don’t need a rifle scope to control any of your devices. Of course, using your Android device’s touchscreen to control your entertainment center has drawbacks, namely that you don’t have hardware buttons or haptic feedback, but if you don’t mind it’s worth checking out. You can read his nominations thread here .
Logitech Harmony Ultimate Home / Harmony Smart Control
The Logitech Harmony Home and Harmony Smart Control are certainly different, but we’re grouping them into this category because of one important feature they have: the Home Hub . On its own, this $ 93 device allows you to use your smartphone or tablet as a remote control for not only home entertainment devices, but other smart homes or connected devices throughout your home. That means thermostats, lighting systems, security systems, and more. It’s all programmable and customizable, and you can control it all from your phone, tablet, or both. Of course, whether you’re more focused on controlling entertainment devices or smart home devices will depend on whether you want Harmony Ultimate Home ( $ 287 on Amazon ) or Harmony Smart Control ( $ 100 on Amazon ). Ultimate Home (and downgraded Harmony Home Control ) are designed to control everything in your home – not just your multimedia equipment, but everything that can be controlled via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, RF or IR. Harmony Smart Control, on the other hand, is more about controlling all of your entertainment electronics in a closed cabinet, still works with your smartphone or tablet, and is solidly engineered for living room use. It can even be expanded by purchasing additional controls for other rooms in the house, all connected to the same Home Hub. It’s a little confusing (okay, very confusing), but once you take the time to compare devices on Logitech’s site, you can choose which option has the features you need. The main point here is that they all revolve around the Home Hub for controlling multiple devices from your smartphone or tablet OR the included Harmony remote, capable of controlling all kinds of devices in your home, regardless of whether they are traditionally receptive to the remote. control or not.
Those of you who have nominated for Harmony Ultimate Home, Smart Control, and Smart Home have praised each iteration for giving you only the features you need without having to overspend on a package you don’t need. For example, Smart Home can be a great option over Ultimate Home for those people who are not interested in the Ultimate touchscreen or additional features, but for those who are just looking for a simpler remote, Smart Control may be better. … Logitech themselves stepped in to nominate the Harmony Ultimate Home , but some of you praised the more modest Smart Control in such discussions , stating that it controls all the devices you need without any additional (or more expensive) bells and whistles. Some of you even praised the white version of Smart Home in nominations like this , noting that you liked the color, but also that you can use it to control many devices in your home – not just your TV and entertainment equipment, and not one of them didn’t need a line of sight to work. Almost all of you said that once you switch to these systems and get used to them, you will no longer see that you need another remote system again.
RCA universal remote
We have to give credit to the simple universal RCA remote that has come in several shapes and sizes over the years. However, most of the nominations were for this $ 9 model with four devices on Amazon, or its smaller version with three devices for $ 6 . Either way, these remotes are much simpler and reminiscent of the simpler day of universal remote programming – which means you’ll have to give it control codes if it doesn’t automatically recognize the type of device you’re trying to control – and even so make it work. may be unsuccessful. That said, if all of your devices use common codes, this is a simple device that can replace your other remote controls for essentially a few dollars out of your pocket. Versatile RCA remote control options are also available, some of which are designed to replace the cable remote as well as the TV remote, and some are backlit to make them easy to find in the dark, but they all have one thing in common: they’re cheap and do my job.
Those of you who nominated them also pointed specifically to their price point – you said some of you don’t need all the bells and whistles associated with smart home controls, other widgets and accessories, and you don’t have mainstream home entertainment. installation that requires an expensive universal remote control. You might have a TV remote, a cable remote, and perhaps another one that you’d like to replace, and it does the job well, is cheap, and you don’t feel bad if you lose or break it. Some of you have lamented the fact that these remotes can be tricky to program, don’t work with your specific devices (and when they do, there is nothing you can do), and not as advanced or reliable as others, but for others it’s all about you. Read more in the nomination thread here .
Logitech Harmony 650
The Logitech Harmony 650 (and, to be honest, if I add them, the Harmony 350 and also the discontinued more expensive Harmony 700 or Harmony 880 ) were also popular in the nominations round, mainly because they represented a slightly simpler time. in universal remote configuration and use. These remotes are slightly more durable, have more controls and buttons on the remotes themselves, and smaller touchscreens, and while they support fewer devices, they’re not very expensive either. The Harmony 650 is $ 65 on Amazon , for example, it can control eight devices, has a color screen for programmable actions or favorite channels, has one-touch action buttons, and straddles the line between just the options you need and a wallet-friendly price tag. …
This has been a recurring theme in a stream of massive 650 promotions. You shared your impressions of these remotes failing and getting replaced by Logitech, but many of you pointed out that the 650 does exactly what you want it to do without spending a lot of money or time consuming to set up. connect additional devices, install apps, or try to get used to using multiple devices to control your equipment. Many of you have lamented that it is part of an older generation universal remote control, that it requires a line of sight to operate, etc., but others have said that you don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars just to control everything with one device. You can check out the nomination thread here , take a peek at the nomination thread for 350 ( $ 40 on Amazon) or Harmony 700 ( $ 145 on Amazon ) and Harmony 880 ( $ 290 on Amazon ), both of which are discontinued (which is why they are not included) top five), but are still available on Amazon in both an updated and a new version.
Now that you have seen the top five, it’s time to vote and determine the favorite of the Lifehacker community:
Honorable mentions
We received an honorable mention this week for the Sony PS3 Media Remote , which many of you say was purchased for use with the PS3, but is actually used to control your entire home entertainment center. It is easy to program, has all the necessary buttons and commands, and works quite well without requiring constant intervention from other remotes. Obviously it’s perfect for people with a PS3 as opposed to people who may not have it yet, but it’s definitely a good all-round remote nonetheless.
For the funnier nominees, we have to name the 11th Doctor Sonic Screwdriver Remote by Doctor Who, or if you’re more of a fan of the 10th, the 10th Doctor Sonic Screwdriver Remote . Aside from the fun and humorous nominations, they really got amazing support in the nominations thread. For you whores.
Speaking of fan nominations, we hats off to Phaser Star Trek: The Next Generation’s universal remote control . Because it wouldn’t be fair otherwise, and who doesn’t like the idea of putting a phaser on their TV to get rid of some annoying program they’d rather not watch?
Do you have anything to say about one of the applicants? Want to substantiate your personal favorite even if it wasn’t on the list? Remember, the Top 5 is based on your most popular nominations from the Call for Applicants thread earlier this week . Don’t just complain about the top 5, let us know which option you prefer and justify it in the discussions below.