New Universal Remote

Irrenhaus

Hi,

I just order a Sofabanton X1 remote, to replace my Harmony Hub that will go as a Karma if this one works okay.

https://www.sofabaton.com/products/x1/

Report coming later this week.

Cheers

pitdogg2

Good luck, they've gotten terrible reviews from the audio rags.

msg

I almost bought one of these, but I just couldn't quite get around the reviews. They seemed 50/50, and/or something about the functionality? It was a couple of years ago, so I can't quite remember why I held off. It wasn't for me, anyway; it was for a B&K AVR 507, TV, and couple of other devices for someone else.

BUT - there's not really anything else out there anymore, is there?

Anyway, very curious to hear what you think, Rey!
Hopefully you ordered from Chinazon
Return Reason: "Inaccurate description"

muncybob

Hope it works for you. I have found nothing that I like better than the old Harmony 650.

Emlyn

I got their U1 model in September 2020 when they were relatively new to market. In comparison to the Harmony remotes their database of codes was tiny. That was the major drawback I saw at the time. They may have improved on that. The model I had was decently built for the price.

It did make me a little uncomfortable to have the remote fully paired with my cell phone.

I found once again that I simply don't like universal remotes and prefer to use the individual remotes that come with gear. The U1 may be in a drawer somewhere but I probably tossed it.

Irrenhaus

Hi,

This one is listed as the 2023 upgraded version, so let's see how it goes. Is coming from Amazon so I have a 30 day trail.

Cheers

Irrenhaus

Hi,

Just a quick update.

So far it controls the Pioneer AV, Panasonic blu ray player, Roku, cable box X1 and the Optoma projector.

The remote feels nice it has a good weight to it. Is rechargeable.

Next how to do the sequences.

Upstatemax

Mine is sitting on a shelf in the box, it was junk.

After the frustrating setup, the hub constantly needed to be power cycled as it would stop responding to the remote.

Mine is also the “updated 2023” remote.

Upstatemax

msg wrote: »

I almost bought one of these, but I just couldn't quite get around the reviews. They seemed 50/50, and/or something about the functionality? It was a couple of years ago, so I can't quite remember why I held off. It wasn't for me, anyway; it was for a B&K AVR 507, TV, and couple of other devices for someone else.

BUT - there's not really anything else out there anymore, is there?

Anyway, very curious to hear what you think, Rey!
Hopefully you ordered from Chinazon
Return Reason: "Inaccurate description"

Based on my experience with Sofabaton, a lot of the "reviews" are essentially bought and paid for.

Write a poor review?

Sofabaton will be in touch, likely tell you they will refund/upgrade you to something else and go ahead and keep the product. A few days later, another email will come, essentially suggesting you delete or edit your non-flattering review in light of them "taking care of the issue".

When you ask them to speak plainly and let you know what they are looking for, they will pretend the email was "sent to the wrong person" and you should ignore it.

Irrenhaus

Shipped back to the jungle. Not Good.

Cheers

audioluvr

Bummer. I'm going to be really disappointed when my Harmony goes the way of the dodo.

txcoastal1

That is bad news. I had RTI, now ELAN, which are not off the shelf consumer products, and not cheap when you add in the dealer installation, but I’m in the business. Those Harmony’s were pretty good, and sad in todays world there is not a viable alternative for the consumer.

Using my ELAN, although I have a remote, I can use our phones, pads, etc. As I rotate out my communication devices, we leave our latest and greatest old GEN phone or preferably tablet as the local ELAN remote in the theater room, using the app as old phone/tablet OS/firmware becomes obsolete as remotes for my system.

So in reality it doesn’t ever cost me anything for new remotes. I just take my retired phone/tablet, wipe it, download the ELAN app, use Wi-Fi only

It would be nice if someone would provide a consumer app to do the same. No additional hardware to develop or sell. Just the SDK licenses from the manufacturers. Yes this is a major corp expense, but could be sold global, at a fair cost. $50, maybe even higher. Every couple years when a major update occurs, $30.

Features like these provide a 2-way street in sales for not only the remote, but on the source manufacturer. If that app company becomes so popular he no longer pays for manufacturers SDK, they actually start sell their SDKs to manufacture as “JOE’S Remote App” compliant…..ie a Universal consumer remote app