We can all be grateful that the days of needing a different remote control for every device in our home are long gone. Remember when you had a separate remote for your TV, cable, DVD (or VCR) player, and stereo? Today, we can all rely on universal remotes, one remote to control all of our entertainment needs.
Most universal remotes are compatible with nearly all devices made in the last ten years and are fairly user-friendly both in use and installation.
If you’re glaring at the pile of remotes for your TV, cable, BluRay, and AppleTV lying on your coffee table, it may be time to switch over and invest in a universal remote. Here are some recommendations:
Many remotes for the price of one
SofaBaton Universal Remote Control
Courtesy of SofaBaton
For its relatively low price, SofaBaton comes with a surprising number of features. Namely, it can be used on both infrared and Bluetooth devices, compatible with over 500,000 devices total. It can be used across 15 devices in your home and even comes pre-programmed for AppleTV, Xbox One, and Roku, though not the Roku stick. What’s more, everyone living in the same house can download the SofaBaton app and be able to turn their phones into remote controls for all their connected devices. At the time of publishing, this product had over 650 global ratings with 43% giving the product 5 stars on Amazon.
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For those with simpler needs
One for All Smart Control 8
Courtesy of One for All Smart Control
Selling for roughly the same price as the SofaBaton, OneFor All doesn’t come with as many advantages, namely that it almost exclusively connects to infrared devices. Even so, it is still compatible with nearly all cable, satellite, and blu-ray devices, as well as nearly all gaming consoles that use infrared. It can be used across 8 devices, and also offers shortcuts to Netflix, Amazon Prime, and YouTube. At the time of publishing, this product had over 320 global ratings with 56% giving the product 5 stars.
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Most compatible
Inteset INT-422 4-in-1 Universal Backlit IR Learning Remote
Credit: Inteset
Even though it can only support 4 devices in your home, the Inteset INT-422 4-in-1 Universal Backlit IR Learning Remote is compatible with nearly every device there is. So much so, that even if it does come across a device it doesn’t appear compatible with, its built-in device code database allows it to look up the code for these devices and learn it. The Inteset 4-in-1 also comes with “macro programming”, where it can remember multiple details you made on certain channels, such as volume and enabling closed captioning, and then allows you to program them all with the click of a single button. At the time of publishing, this product had over 3,700 global ratings with 60% giving the product 5 stars.
Get the Inteset INT-422 4-in-1 Universal Backlit IR Learning Remote
Much more than just a remote
Amazon Fire TV Cube
Credit: Amazon
While technically speaking, the Fire TV cube is a streaming media player, giving you access to just about every available streaming service in excellent 4K HDR quality, we also included it here because you can also connect it to your cable box and game consoles, and can switch between your services with voice command. On top of that, you can even check the weather, set reminders, and start video calls all through its voice command system. At the time of publishing, this product had over 1,600 global ratings with 62% giving the product 5 stars.
Do you use a universal remote? Let us know your favorite one. We’d love to hear from you.
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