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Oct 20, 2024

The 3 Best Universal Remote Controls of 2024 | Reviews by Wirecutter

By Adrienne Maxwell Adrienne Maxwell is an editor covering AV gear. Her specialty is video projectors, so she spends a lot of time alone in dark rooms. After completing a new round of tests, we have

By Adrienne Maxwell

Adrienne Maxwell is an editor covering AV gear. Her specialty is video projectors, so she spends a lot of time alone in dark rooms.

After completing a new round of tests, we have added the Sofabaton X1S as our upgrade pick.

Fewer people need a universal remote control these days, which explains why the category is dying and great options are hard to find. But if your home-entertainment system is more complex than the basic media player, TV, and soundbar combo, and you’re looking for one remote to control all your gear, the Sofabaton U2 Universal Remote Control is the best option we’ve found under $100.

This model has some notable flaws, but compared with its competitors, it can control a wider variety of home-entertainment devices and has a better physical design.

This remote can control 15 AV components, including Bluetooth-based devices, and the button layout is intuitive. But it lacks backlighting and activity buttons, and programming advanced tasks can be challenging.

With clipped on-page coupon

This remote works with a hub to control IR, Bluetooth, and some Wi-Fi devices, and it’s great for controlling gear hidden in a cabinet. The remote has an intuitive design, but programming it can be a chore.

This remote can control eight AV components, has a logical button layout, and is fully backlit. But it can’t control Bluetooth or Wi-Fi devices, and the setup process is archaic.

If your home-entertainment system is more complex than the basic TV-soundbar-streamer setup, you’d benefit from a universal remote.

Since fewer people need universal remotes these days, you won’t find many good options that you can set up and program yourself.

We looked for remotes that can control up to eight devices, have an intuitive button design, and support more advanced programming.

The cheapest remotes usually control only infrared devices. The better models can also control gear via Bluetooth and sometimes Wi-Fi.

This remote can control 15 AV components, including Bluetooth-based devices, and the button layout is intuitive. But it lacks backlighting and activity buttons, and programming advanced tasks can be challenging.

With clipped on-page coupon

The Sofabaton U2 Universal Remote Control can control up to 15 devices, including both infrared- and Bluetooth-based AV devices, so it’s more flexible than many lower-priced remotes, which typically work only with IR devices. The button layout is intuitive, and you can program the U2 using a setup app for iOS or Android, which includes a lot of customization options to make the remote work for your specific system.

Although this remote is better than everything else we tested in its price range, it has some notable drawbacks. It lacks backlighting, and it has no dedicated activity buttons for grouping different devices together to perform tasks such as “watch TV” or “watch a movie.” You can still create activities, but you have to figure out all the programming yourself—and we fear that the app’s learning curve may be difficult for people who have never programmed a universal remote.

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This remote works with a hub to control IR, Bluetooth, and some Wi-Fi devices, and it’s great for controlling gear hidden in a cabinet. The remote has an intuitive design, but programming it can be a chore.

Sofabaton’s X1S Universal Remote Control represents a big step up in price from the company’s U2 model, but it’s also a big step up in performance and style. This two-piece system includes the handheld remote and a hub that sits in your equipment rack and can control devices via IR, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi. It should be able to control pretty much any AV device you own, as well as a few smart-home devices (with more support to come, we’re told). The package includes IR blaster cables, so you can hide your gear away in a cabinet.

The well-built remote has a sleek, minimalist design, with a large OLED screen and the essential buttons we look for, plus backlighting and a rechargeable battery. This system uses the same setup app as the U2, but it runs a more advanced programming routine that lets you create and customize activities that are prominently displayed on the remote’s screen.

The main downsides are that the setup app has a learning curve, and Sofabaton’s code database isn’t as accurate as we’d like—so getting everything working the way you want it to will take some time and effort.

This remote can control eight AV components, has a logical button layout, and is fully backlit. But it can’t control Bluetooth or Wi-Fi devices, and the setup process is archaic.

The Insignia 8-Device Backlit Universal Remote is a good choice for people whose gear works via infrared control (IR); it doesn’t work with devices that you control by Bluetooth, radio frequency (RF), or Wi-Fi. If you’re not sure how your device is controlled, try this: Point your device’s remote at the floor in the opposite direction from the device’s location and then press a button. If the remote still executes the command, it’s not using IR.

This fully backlit remote can control eight devices and has all the important buttons you need, including three activity buttons. The layout is clean, albeit somewhat generic-looking, and the buttons are fairly large.

The programming process is old-school, though: You have to manually input codes for your different AV devices and then teach the remote any functions that are missing or executing incorrectly. These steps are not as quick or intuitive as using an app, and the owner manual is not as clear as it could be.

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I am the supervising editor of Wirecutter’s AV coverage, and I have worked as a writer and editor in the consumer electronics industry for over 20 years. During that time, I have reviewed numerous audio and video devices, including virtually every major DIY universal-remote platform.

For this guide:

Today’s home-entertainment equipment delivers more functionality in fewer boxes. The average living-room entertainment system may include only one source device—say, a streaming media player, cable/satellite set-top box, or gaming console—plus a smart TV and a soundbar. For a setup like this, a universal remote probably isn’t necessary because basic control of these devices is built into—or can be easily added to—the remote that came with your media player or TV.

If, on the other hand, your home-entertainment system is built around an AV receiver and multiple source components, and sitting down to watch a movie or play a video game requires shuffling among several remotes to switch inputs and control multiple components simultaneously, a universal remote is exactly what you need.

In the past, you could find a few high-end DIY remotes that incorporated a bit of smart-home control to adjust your lighting, temperature, or security system too, but those options are now few and far between. If you’re looking for advanced whole-house and smart-home control, you’re better off turning to a local specialty AV retailer that can create a more personalized control system from a company such as Control4, Crestron, or URC. It’s a more expensive option, but if done properly, it will result in a much more satisfying experience.

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In years past, if you wanted an advanced universal remote that you could program yourself, you had many choices, from brands such as Harmony, Pronto, Sony, UEI, and URC. But today’s sad truth is that fewer people are buying DIY universal remotes, and this category is nearly dead. When Logitech discontinued Harmony universal remotes a few years ago, it killed the last of the big-name brands.

Sure, you can still find a ton of inexpensive replacement remotes whose primary purpose is to replace the one the dog chewed up. But those remotes aren’t designed to provide an intuitive, customized, activity-based experience; they’re just designed to hold a lot of buttons to control your different devices.

In contrast, a good universal remote should offer the following features:

While the pickings are definitely slim these days, we continue to test any new universal remote that meets the core criteria above.

For our latest round of testing, I programmed each remote to control a home theater setup consisting of a Hisense TV (IR), a Denon AV receiver (IR), a Panasonic Ultra HD Blu-ray player (IR), a Chromecast media streamer (Bluetooth), a Roku media streamer (Wi-Fi), and an Xbox One X (IR/Bluetooth). Previous tests included an Apple TV 4K media streamer, an Onkyo AV receiver, an Oppo Blu-ray player, a Polk soundbar, and LG and Samsung TVs.

For each round, I evaluate how easy it is to add or remove devices, learn commands from existing remotes, reassign buttons, and set up activities. I also live with each remote for a while to see how intuitive and reliable it is for my family and me to use on a daily basis.

This remote can control 15 AV components, including Bluetooth-based devices, and the button layout is intuitive. But it lacks backlighting and activity buttons, and programming advanced tasks can be challenging.

With clipped on-page coupon

The Sofabaton U2 Universal Remote Control delivers the essential elements we look for in a good universal remote: the ability to control many assorted devices, a good physical design with all the necessary buttons, and the option to customize how those buttons work for the best experience. The U2 isn’t perfect, but it’s better than any other sub-$100 DIY remote we’ve tested.

It can control up to 15 infrared and Bluetooth devices. Most “universal” remotes under $50 can control only infrared devices, those that require line-of-sight between the remote and the device. That covers a lot of TVs, disc players, audio receivers, and cable or satellite boxes. But a growing number of new devices rely instead on Bluetooth control, which means you need a remote like the U2 if you want complete system control.

In our tests, we were able to program the U2 to control numerous devices in multiple AV systems, including Google Chromecast and Apple 4K TV media players that use Bluetooth.

Like all other remotes in this price range, the U2 can’t control RF or Wi-Fi gear, which includes smart-home devices and any Roku streaming device that comes with the Roku voice remote. Roku-device owners should check out our upgrade pick instead.

It has a clean, simple design, with almost all the buttons you need. The remote is a manageable size that’s not too wide, long, or heavy; even with my small hands, I could reach the essential controls with my thumb without having to shift the remote around in my hand. The U2 runs on two AA batteries, which are included in the package.

At the top of the remote is a simple OLED screen that shows the model names of the devices you’ve added (you can customize the text), plus a scroll wheel to quickly select the device you want to control. Browsing customized names is more intuitive than looking at the generically labeled device buttons you get on many other remotes, including our budget pick.

Because the U2 is not locked in to a set of prelabeled device buttons, it can control multiple models of the same type—say, two media players, two TVs, and two audio systems. And because it can control a total of 15 devices, you could set up one U2 to control multiple systems around the house.

Basic setup is easy, thanks to the app. Programming the remote requires the free Sofabaton app for iOS or Android. You have no option to use computer software or to program the remote manually, so if you don’t own an iOS or Android mobile device, this is not the remote for you; consider our budget pick instead.

The remote communicates with the app via Bluetooth. Once you’ve paired the two, you can start adding the devices you want to control by choosing from a list of preloaded devices or entering the manufacturer and device name. If Sofabaton has control codes for your device in its database, the software automatically and wirelessly updates the remote with the proper codes after you add each new device. If it has no codes, you can teach the U2 the control commands from your existing device remotes instead.

In my case, all of my devices were in the Sofabaton database, so initial setup was fast and easy.

The buttons are customizable, but doing so requires effort and patience. Once you’ve loaded all your devices into the app, you have the option to customize how the remote’s buttons behave. You can reassign almost any button to perform any task on any device that you’ve loaded into your system configuration.

Overall, I found this process to be straightforward but not necessarily quick. Your time investment will depend on how precisely you want to tweak your controls. The Sofabaton app makes you customize every little thing yourself. For instance, there’s no quick process for locking the volume and mute buttons to your AV receiver or soundbar; you have to manually reassign the volume buttons for every source device. This is easy enough to do in the app (here’s a helpful video), but if you have lots of specific desires for how things ought to work, be prepared to spend time making it all happen.

The good news is that you have to do all of the programming and customization only once (unless you upgrade your AV gear a lot). And any tweak you make uploads to the remote instantly via Bluetooth. In my tests, when all was said and done, the U2 successfully controlled every piece of gear the way I wanted it to.

Although we found a lot to like about the Sofabaton U2, it also has a few significant drawbacks. The hard truth is, you have only a smattering of DIY universal-remote options to choose from these days, and they all have notable flaws. We think the U2’s low price makes some of its flaws easier to overlook, but you may feel differently.

It lacks backlighting. Add in the remote’s black-buttons-on-a-black-shell design, and using it in a dark room is somewhat challenging. But the button layout is intuitive, and the main navigation, volume, and channel buttons are clearly distinguished by size and shape, both of which help to alleviate those challenges.

It has no dedicated activity buttons. Many remotes have “activity” buttons to launch a sequence of commands, such as “watch TV” or “watch a movie.” Sofabaton has inexplicably omitted them on this remote.

You can create your own activity button that does what a “watch TV” button would do, but you have to figure out the macro (or sequence of steps) and assign it to a random button. The process of creating these multi-step activities—for instance, to turn all your gear on, switch to the right inputs, and make sure volume control is assigned to the right device—is more mentally taxing than some people are willing to tolerate.

Don’t expect much help from the Sofabaton literature: Neither the setup guide nor the app provides instructions for macro or activity setup. Here’s a helpful video.

It can pair with only one Bluetooth device at a time. When you’re trying to add a Bluetooth-based source such as a Google Chromecast, you have to unpair the remote from the setup app to test the device control and then re-pair it to the app to proceed with setup. It’s kind of annoying, but here’s hoping you have to do this only once, during initial setup.

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This remote works with a hub to control IR, Bluetooth, and some Wi-Fi devices, and it’s great for controlling gear hidden in a cabinet. The remote has an intuitive design, but programming it can be a chore.

If you’re willing to spend a lot more money to get a more functional, stylish, and intuitive remote, we recommend the Sofabaton X1S Universal Remote Control. The programming process could be improved, but the end result is a clear step up in performance from the cheaper Sofabaton U2.

The hub-based design gives you more control options. The X1S package includes the remote control and a standalone hub that you place near your equipment in a TV stand or gear rack. Press a button on the remote, and it communicates with the hub, which then sends the control command to your gear via IR, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi support has become a rarity in DIY universal remotes, so it’s nice to see that feature in the X1S. Right now the Wi-Fi support is limited to Roku, Sonos, and Philips Hue devices, but Sofabaton says the list will grow. Roku compatibility is a big perk, and I had no issue incorporating a Wi-Fi–based Roku Streaming Stick 4K into the control system along with my Bluetooth-based Chromecast.

The hub draws power via USB-C and has two IR outputs, to which you can attach the supplied IR blaster cables if you want to control IR gear you’ve hidden in a cabinet. At last I was able to put the doors back on my TV stand.

We loved the remote’s physical design. It’s smaller and more minimalist than the U2, yet it still has all the essentials—and it adds backlighting.

The 2-inch color OLED screen at the top shows your device list and any activities you set up (more on that in a minute). Below that is a navigation wheel and a button panel that’s thorough without being overwhelming, thanks to the clean, intuitive layout.

The X1S feels more substantial and less plasticky than the U2, and its screen is brighter and easier to read. It uses a rechargeable battery, charged via USB-C, so you won’t need to replace dead AA batteries. Plus, it has a battery-life indicator on the screen.

The X1S supports more sophisticated programming. This remote uses the same setup app as the U2 (available for iOS and Android), but once the app pairs with the X1S, it launches a different programming routine.

That routine involves adding devices, answering questions about each device’s power and source configuration, and then setting up activities involving those devices. Harmony-remote owners will see some similarities, although Sofabaton’s system still has a ways to go to match Harmony’s ease of use.

The programming is quite robust and customizable. You can rename devices and activities, reassign most buttons to behave differently, and teach missing commands from your existing remotes. The app regularly syncs with the remote to reflect any changes you make, and you can use the app itself as a secondary remote to control your system. I did not experience any connection issues between the app, remote, and hub during my testing.

Just as with the U2, the X1S’s setup process is fairly straightforward, but it’s not fast. Your time investment will vary based on your gear and how much customization you want to do. The app includes video tutorials, guides, and an FAQ to help you along. Programming the X1S to behave how I wanted it to took me the better part of an afternoon.

But in the end, this is the only remote I’ve tested since Harmony’s demise that actually did everything exactly the way I wanted—yet was still simple enough in its design that my kiddo felt comfortable using it.

Sofabaton’s code database needs work. Although all of my AV devices were listed in the company’s database, most of them either lacked some commands or did not execute every command properly. The most time-consuming part of the setup process was fixing and adding commands.

The setup app does include a feature that lets you upload your codes for any given device to help flesh out the database. During your own programming, you might be better off choosing a user-uploaded code set than the main one Sofabaton offers.

The other hiccup during my setup was getting power commands to execute properly for activities. Even though the setup wizard claims to program that for you, I had to manually insert power codes for my TV and receiver to get them to work properly.

As with the U2, using the app with the X1S definitely involves a learning curve. If you don’t have previous experience programming a universal remote, the setup process may require a lot of trial and error—but once it’s done, it’s done.

The rechargeable battery has a limited lifespan. As convenient as rechargeable batteries are, at some point they will lose their ability to recharge, which means this already-pricey remote potentially has a shorter lifespan than one that runs on AA or AAA batteries.

This remote can control eight AV components, has a logical button layout, and is fully backlit. But it can’t control Bluetooth or Wi-Fi devices, and the setup process is archaic.

If you can control all of your devices by infrared (IR), the Insignia 8-Device Backlit Universal Remote is a nice, affordable alternative. As the name suggests, it can control up to eight AV components—but nothing that relies on Bluetooth or Wi-Fi for control. The setup process is archaic, but it does not require use of an app, which some people may prefer.

The remote has all the necessary buttons but no customizable device screen. This model looks like your standard stock remote, with a whole lotta buttons taking up every bit of the front panel. Thankfully, the button layout is logical, with core functions such as volume, channel, mute, home, and menu grouped near the center. And the buttons are decently spaced.

The full backlighting is a welcome addition, but this remote is longer and less contoured than the Sofabaton U2. I had more trouble reaching the important buttons with my thumb without having to shift the remote around in my hand. It requires two AA batteries (not included).

At the top you’ll find three activity buttons, with icons to watch TV, listen to music, or watch a movie, as well as eight device buttons with generic labels for functions such as TV, stream, disc, and audio. When you press a device button, it briefly lights up to confirm that you are now controlling that device.

You can assign any device to any of the eight buttons, but since this remote lacks the customizable device screen found on our top pick, it’s best to match the button to the device type whenever possible. That essentially limits this remote to controlling only one AV system, or maybe one video system and one audio system.

The setup process takes place on the remote itself. Either you manually put the remote in setup mode and punch in codes to add your devices, or you initiate an automatic code search for each device button. Either way works, but be prepared to jump back and forth between the remote and the supplied setup pamphlets to follow the instructions.

Unlike cheaper eight-device remotes we looked at, this Insignia model does have learning capabilities, so you can teach it codes from the remotes that came with your devices. You can reassign buttons, fix codes that aren’t working, and build macros. I found it easy to teach the remote some missing codes from my AV receiver, as well as to reconfigure how the buttons worked to control my media streamer properly.

I also liked the ability to quickly set a “master volume” code that locks the volume and mute buttons to an AV receiver, soundbar, or TV without a lot of extra programming. In addition, the manual approach allows you to fix commands instantly—no need to reach for your phone to launch a setup app.

That said, my attempts to build more advanced activity macros for “watch TV” and “watch a movie” definitely involved some trial and error, which I attribute more to the confusing owner manual than to the remote itself. Setup and customization took me longer on this remote than on the Sofabaton U2, but eventually I programmed this remote to do almost everything I wanted.

It controls only IR-based equipment. That disqualifies some media players, TVs, and gaming consoles. And it means this remote needs line-of-sight with all your gear. We found the IR window to be sufficiently wide to ensure that commands execute reliably. If you want to hide your gear away in a cabinet, you need to pick up an IR repeater kit.

Because this Insignia remote does not support Bluetooth devices, I could not program it to control my Bluetooth-based Google Chromecast or Wi-Fi–based Roku device, but I was able to use it to control all the other components I tried in my testing.

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If you’re looking for a simplified, big-button remote for TV watching: The Flipper is an IR-only remote that’s specifically marketed toward older adults and people with dementia, but it’s also a simple remote for young children. This isn’t really a universal remote since it can control only two devices, namely a TV and a set-top box. It’s meant for people who watch live TV from traditional cable or satellite boxes or their TV’s internal tuner.

The Flipper has large buttons for power, mute, volume up/down, and channel up/down, as well as a number pad that hides beneath a slide-down panel. It isn’t backlit, but it uses different colors for the power, mute, volume, and channel buttons, which may be more helpful for those with low vision.

I tested the Flipper using the internal TV tuners in Samsung and LG TVs. But thanks to the mom of a Wirecutter colleague, I also was able to get it in the hands of a few residents at a senior-living center who were in need of a new remote. Our testers liked the size and shape of the Flipper, although they all would’ve preferred the volume and channel buttons to be vertically aligned, instead of horizontally. (The company recently introduced a new version with vertically aligned buttons.) The buttons were easy to read, and the remote was not too heavy, too big, or too small. They found it easy to set up (the process took about one minute), and they thought the instructions were easy to understand. And it controlled their devices perfectly.

Like the Sofabaton X1S, the SwitchBot Universal Remote is designed to work with a hub (sold separately; we used the SwitchBot Hub 2) to control devices via IR, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. The remote itself combines a customizable touchscreen with a limited button pad, and the hub adds temperature and humidity sensors that show the results on the hub’s front face. Wi-Fi support is mostly focused on SwitchBot’s own smart devices, but this system does support voice control that allows it to work with Alexa and Google Home devices, too. This system showed enough promise that we may revisit it down the line, but the first iteration was too complicated to program, too limited in customization, and too slow in launching activities.

The One For All Smart Control 8 URC7880 is similar in setup and functionality to our budget pick but costs more. Where the two remotes differ is in their physical design. This model lacks backlighting but looks more sleek and modern—and it has five activity options, versus three for the Insignia remote. It has only one physical device button, which you have to press repeatedly to scroll through your various devices. The single activity button works the same way. We found this design to be less intuitive in everyday use, as getting to the command you need takes more button presses.

The $60 One For All Smart Control Pro 6 is a fully backlit universal remote that can control up to six devices, and it uses a mobile app for setup. This remote supports IR and Bluetooth devices, and it supports voice control for Google or Android TV media players, which is rare at this price. We had no difficulty when adding devices using the My Nevo setup app, but things fell apart when we started creating activities. The app is just way too limited in its programming options compared with the similarly priced Sofabaton U2.

We tested GE’s 8-Device Backlit Universal Remote, a low-priced, fully backlit, IR-only remote that’s available in several colors. Its button layout and programming process are almost identical to those of our budget pick, but it lacks activity buttons. More important, it has no learning capability, so you can’t program in macros, fix controls that don’t work properly, or add controls from your device remotes.

Like the Flipper, Continuus’s EasyMote is a simplified, big-button remote. Our testers generally liked the EasyMote, but they said the Flipper’s slightly larger size made it more comfortable to hold. We appreciated the EasyMote’s bright, green backlighting (which you can turn off) and its wrist rope. But I noted that the instructions had smaller print, so they might be harder to read. Plus, the EasyMote doesn’t have a number pad to directly tune in a certain channel.

Logitech Harmony and Universal Remote Control (the company) used to be major names in the DIY remote market, but neither company still operates in this category. You may be able to find some of their older, used remotes online, but you’re taking a chance with that approach.

If you don’t want a handheld remote, you might consider an app-based control system, such as the MoesGo Wi-Fi Smart IR+RF Remote Controller, which lets you use your mobile device as a remote control. We don’t recommend this approach, however, because using your mobile device’s touchscreen as a remote requires you to look away from the TV screen and down at your device to search for the right part of the screen to touch, and this makes channel surfing and volume tweaking cumbersome. Plus, it’s a pain to have to wake up your phone or tablet and wait for the app to reconnect with the system whenever you want to change the channel or the volume. Sure, to avoid that you could disable sleep mode on your phone, but in that case you’d be draining your phone’s battery while you’re watching a movie or show.

This article was edited by Grant Clauser.

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Adrienne Maxwell

I oversee all of Wirecutter’s coverage of AV gear, including headphones, TVs, speakers, and more. I also write all of Wirecutter’s projector guides, and I test peripheral AV equipment such as screens, remotes, and HDMI transmitters.

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