SofaBaton U2 Universal Remote with APP, All in One Universal Remote Control

Es una maravilla de control remoto universal. Reemplazó muchos controles remoto que tenía en mi sala de entretenimiento. Por ahora controla mi Sofabaton U2: TV Samsung, Amplificador Stereo Rotel, Amplificador 5.1 Yamaha, Reproductor CD Onkyo, Reproductor Bluray Sony, Chromecast y Nvidia Shield. Que tengo en mi sala de entretenimiento. Al principio cuesta un poco de trabajo como programarlo, una vez que entiendes la ropa facilisimo lo programas incluso también las macros. Yo para mí Chromecast hice una macro (Encender TV Samsung en HDMI 1) y lo hace. Estoy encantado.

As a former harmony enthusiast, when that company was eaten by Logitech and failed to update their product, I was pretty pessimistic about the future of universal remotes. For years, I just went back to having multiple remotes and with the advent of HDMI control. It wasn’t that bad however, whenever I wanted to change the settings of the picture or sound, which I do quite a bit, I was back to remote flipping. I honestly didn’t think a general universal remote could come close to what Harmony did so. I waited and waited. And then came the ultra expensive options (yikes). I knew that as good as those were, the amount of time would take to program them and set them up was going to be exhausting. I started to see positive reviews on sofa batons U1 so when the U2 came out, I still waited but eventually I just picked one up. With the improved back lighting and standard AA batteries, I knew they were on the right track. It only took me one session to get everything set up. My initial thought was “no activities”!? But I realized there was macros, and you could assign any button to any device Overriding any function on a set of custom remotes, which is honestly better in some ways and, more important, simpler. It’s really up to you to decide how you want to use things. One thing I will recommend is Define one button cross all devices (I use the input button) to use as a “fix it button” that will reapply the proper inputs and your preferred sound mode in case things get messed up or don’t complete. I was able to do that and many more things, even with the simpler architecture of the SofaBaton. As far as device button database is exhaustive, but fairly easy to search and find your devices as long as you know the model numbers. The remote supports infrared, unfortunately many devices nowadays use some form of RF and this just isn’t supported also with Bluetooth now becoming a standard in remote control that can make things a little bit difficult. So it will depend on how many of your devices use traditional infrared control, but I was able to get Apple TV working with Bluetooth and all my other devices through infrared very well As far as improvements, it would be nice to back up not only your device buttons, but your macros and everything but at least they have a backup function in case you need to reset the remote. But without the macros being saved, it seems kind of half solution. The only other improvement I could think of would be Support for a wider range, remote control like the aforementioned RF remotes and more than one blue Ray remote. That’s probably a bit too much to ask for and such as a simple device. But as far as infrared controls, it really seems complete and I couldn’t think of any major improvements.

This product is, on the surface, very nice. It has a Bluetooth connected App on your iPhone for setup, a display that actually tells you what mode it is in when you pick it up, feels well made and is feature rich. Then why did I return it to Amazon for a refund? I have a TV, a TIVO Over The Air DVR and a multi-channel amplifier for surround sound. The TV talks to the Amplifier over the HDMI port, so it passes on the Volume control settings and switches modes seamlessly, between TIVO and it's internal streaming services. We were using just two remotes, the supplied TIVO one to watch regular TV channels, and a second for the TV itself, which we only picked up and used when we decided we wanted to Netflix or Amazon something. Then I rediscovered DVDs and my tidy world fell apart. We found streaming services were coming with a lot of constraints and shows we wanted to watch were now 'sublet' by other companies you have to sign up for additional monthly fees to watch. But, we also found Amazon sold DVDs containing entire series of shows at very reasonable prices. No contracts, no bleeding down our bank accounts month by month. Purchase and Done. Except to do this we now had to use the DVD remote to play DVDs and the Amplifier Remote to switch between the TIVO box and the DVD box. This is too complex. I bought the SofaBaton remote to solve this and was immediately enamored by it. To program it via the iPhone App you can actually choose the model number of your specific Sony TV and it finds the best code set. Gone was the challenge of paging through the instruction book to find the TVs section, then the Sony TV codes, only to discover there are 25 different codes for Sony TVs and you have to try each one at a time to determine which one comes closest to emulating ALL the keys on the original remote. I love this new concept of App programming, it was way overdue. So I chose my TV, my DVD player, my Amplifier. This was so neat! Except when I started using it. For some reason the SofaBaton remote handles powering the Sony TV poorly. It sends out repeat codes to the TV. When I switched off the TV with my SofaBaton the TV went off. Then barely two seconds later it turned back on again. This is the most stressful thing you can do to a piece of electronics. Power it down, and then power it back up before the electronics has had time to discharge fully and reset properly. It offers the greatest chance of breaking the electronics because it is caught in an intermediary state that is undefined. I lost and expensive TV due to a power brownout a few years back, that is a very similar stress event. It did it twice, and I was releived my TV was still operational after the ordeal. I didn't try it again. After calming down, I figured the remote is good but for this one flaw and tried to use its' Learning Feature to teach it how to behave properly by using the reliable remote that came with the Sony TV. So I successfully taught the Power Button for the TV on the SofaBaton and tried it again. And got the same stressful result. That was extremely frustrating and a real rookie mistake by SofaBaton that forced me to return the remote to Amazon for a full refund. Thank you Amazon for having a good return policy for defective products. If you don't have a Sony TV this is probably a very good remote, which is why I didn't give it just one star. This remote has a lot of potential. Just not in my house....

I'm one of the many people who enjoyed a Logitech Harmony One programmable remote for almost two decades - until Logitech dropped programming support and I needed to add a new AVR to my entertainment system earlier this year. I found out that support was dropped in May of 2025. Bummer. That was a great remote for a very long time. I researched which current programmable remotes exist today and found the SofaBaton U2 for far less than I paid for my Harmony One so many years ago. Having understood the Logitech philosophy of programming a remote, I had to readjust my thinking while learning how a SofaBaton remote is programmed. Bluetooth was in it's infancy when the Harmony One was introduced. Programming the Harmony required you to connect the remote to your computer to access the vast database of electronic equipment so that equivalent original remote commands would be properly processed on the Harmony. SofaBaton simplifies the programming process, with the prevalence of solid Bluetooth technology and mobile devices (phones and tablets). This experience is much faster than the relatively kludgey Logitech methodology. The U2 is not a direct replacement for all of the features and functions of the Harmony One, but it's close enough for me at a price I was willing to pay. The higher end SofaBaton remotes most likely meet and surpass the Harmony's capabilities. I've programmed my U2 to turn on (and off) all necessary components to watch Roku, Blu-ray discs, etc. I've programmed it to switch between Roku and Blu-ray and vice versa with the colored buttons. I've programmed specific keys for specific functions for each device type selected with the scroll wheel. The Harmony was more intuitive to operate. You have to think a bit more about how to perform some tasks with the U2. I typed up a cheat sheet to make that easier. I can live with that. My wife has also learned and accepted the changes. My Denon AVR's remote handled volume control much quicker than the U2 did. After a bit of online research, I found the answer. I reprogrammed the U2 volume buttons for the AVR to learn the equivalent buttons of the AVR remote. Problem solved! You have to think outside the box a bit, but after a few month's use with the U2, I'm quite pleased with it.

What a joke. I returned this junk in record time. In addition to the mention requirement of setting up an account (that was with me), they require you to have your phone on with location. Not general, but EXACT location. What possible reason would they need that info?! They blatantly (probably because the have to) tell you that they will sell this data to third parties. Unreal. The remote itself is not the replacement you want if you come from harmony remotes. Harmony makes it so easy to setup your situation. not here. No way to download software to your computer. Nope, complex setup via yet ANOTHER app for you phone. I returned mine and am going with another option, not sofabatron. No real easy option to hit a button and have everything setup for you. You have to do macros that won't be labeled on your remote. "Activities" on the harmony remote. Basically, this is just a bunch of remotes in one remote and you have to turn on everything yourself one by and one and set your inputs. F-