Alexa Voice Remote Pro Review

Alexa Voice Remote Pro Review
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I decided to take advantage of Amazon Prime Day to upgrade my FireTV stick and while I was about it to give one of these .top of range remotes a try. Even at the reduced price of £24 it was not cheap but I think it was worth it, but at the full price of £34.99, I am not so sure.

In the box, you get the usual elaborate Amazon packaging containing the remote, two AAA batteries, and a user guide. The remote feels a bit better made than the standard ones, the finish seems nicer, the buttons have a more positive feel to them and the battery cover, which falls off on all my other Amazon remotes, this time feels rather more secure.

This remote can be used to replace any current Amazon TV remote and most of the older ones, but the first generation fireTV Stick is not supported. You can check on the Amazon product page to see which devices are supported.

The remote has all the buttons you would expect for track and channel navigation, and volume control plus a few less common ones. There are four presets at the bottom linked to streaming services, these vary from territory to territory and on my remote were for Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Music. There are also useful buttons for TV Off/On, Alexa Voice Control, Headphone Settings, Live TV Guide, Settings, Home, and Mute. A big plus for me is that the buttons are backlit and at last easy to use in a dim room, however, I suspect this may well reduce the battery life which on my other Amazon radio remotes has not been good.

One good new feature is the addition of two customisable preset buttons, helpfully numbered 1 and 2. From the settings screen, you can assign any regular app or features such as 'play the news', or 'show me comedy films'. The system does not seem to recognise sideloaded apps such as KODI and it seems cannot be mapped to them.

Another handy new feature is the headphone button which when pressed during normal viewing will bring a pop-up on screen showing the current Bluetooth status and allowing devices to be added, removed or configured without the need to delve into the Settings menu.

The final new feature, and a big deal for me, is the lost remote feature. Just ask Alexa 'where is my remote" and the remote will instantly emit a piercing sound as the backlighting flashes off and on. The alert instantly stops when the remote is picked up.

I would have liked to have had more custom buttons in place of the factory assigned presets but Amazon is not going to pass up on the licensing fees paid by their partners just to make life easier for their users.

Nevertheless, this is an excellent remote that has been cleverly designed, well made and is an excellent addition to home viewing. I still feel the RRP of £34.99 is a bit steep.

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