X1S Universal Remote with Hub and App, All in One Smart Universal Remote Control with Customize Activities, Control Up to 60 IR/Bluetooth/WiFi Devices

I am a very long time user of Logitech Harmony Remotes. And I was really bummed when they announced they left the remote control business because there is really nothing else like them for those of us with complex systems. I set up a new system and needed a remote to replace the growing stack of remotes that my wife was juggling. I found this SofaBaton X1S and I am impressed so far after a couple days of use. I will give more details, but overall, I can't find anything with this remote that I can't do, and seems to have all the same functionality as my trusty Logitech Harmony Elite. FYI: there are currently TWO product listings for this remote on Amazon, from similar named sellers, for the same price. I can't tell what is different between the two based on those product pages. DESIGN - Albeit a simple design, I really like this remote. It has the basic buttons necessary, feels good in the hand. Not premium, but definitely not cheap. It does not have any of the soft rubber material that some Logitech remotes had, which are prone to rotting and feeling sticky over time. - The LCD screen is basic, but I like it and there is some customization (renaming and re-ordering devices and activities, ability to add a few icons, etc.). - There is a rolling button (for lack of a better description) that is separate from other buttons, controls use of the remote itself (by scrolling through the screen). This is intuitive and feels solid. - The remote and the hub use USB-C which is welcome. - The hub does have a light that is quite bright, which I had to put some tape over since it's being used in a bedroom. - Comes with two USB-A to USB-C cables, but only one power brick; so you'll need a second one to charge your remote (or unplug the hub while charging the remote). - Comes with breakout IR leads, which I have not needed to use, but absolutely appreciated for situations where you might need them. - The room I am using this has a basic set of devices, but I browsed some other options, seems like a wide range of devices are supported. - You can learn remote commands for devices which are not working correctly (I had to do this with the power commands for my TV) or for legacy devices which may not be in the library. PERFORMANCE - After setting up 5 devices and 4 activities (which took about 1 hour, to include troubleshooting), I have this remote working as solidly as my other set ups using Logitech remotes with similar, or bigger setups. - I had no problems pairing via Bluetooth to a Sony TV (although I find that using IR for this TV works better, which I think is a function of Bluetooth being buggy, nothing to do with this remote) - I have not used any WiFi components (I do use Philips Hue, but have not set that up yet) - I don't use Amazon Alexa or Google Home, so I cannot comment on that functionality VALUE - For $150 (with the current deal), not a bad deal compared to the original Logitech Harmony Elite price (I paid $250 in 2017 -- now they go for MUCH more than that) - Given this reasonable price, and seemingly able to do everything the Logitech Harmony Elite does (which is now unavailable) this seems like a great deal. CONS - I wish there was a charging cradle for the remote. - I would appreciate a second charging brick, and I would prefer the bricks were USB-C instead of USB-A since all my stuff is going full USB-C nowadays. - I wish there was a way in software to dim or turn off the light on the hub. - Syncing the hub with the remote is slow, but TBH, it's just as slow as my Logitech Harmony Elite. - I think other reviews have commented on difficulty programming the remote; from my experience, it is no less cumbersome than using any of the Logitech remotes. Which is to say that it is hard. If you are not savvy with these things, and have no patience, then you will be frustrated. But, TBH, I don't know how the interface could be any easier given how complex of a job you are asking these devices to do. - It would be a nice touch to have a colour screen, but not necessary. - You won't be able to use voice commands & searches for things like with Xfinity or Apple TV, but the Logitech remotes (and probably every one else) don't support that either. - I am not certain, and I am not sure if it makes a difference, but I "think" the hub connects directly to your phone for setup, and not through WiFi (and then to your phone), which I wonder if that might be a problem under some circumstances that I can't predict right now. - It would be nice to support Apple HomeKit. - No customizable wallpaper for the LCD screen, but this isn't really necessary.

This “universal” remote is almost none of the things it claims to be. Despite boasting the ability to connect to IR, Bluetooth, and WiFi devices it struggles to perform the most basic operations. My setup, Sony Bravia, Onkyo AVR, Firestick, and Xfinity X1, defeated the device. It couldn’t control the X1 properly (up and down arrows work but not left and right) and there is no obvious way to change channels! The Firestick also struggled. Some aspects of control work but not others. The same thing for the Sony Bravia. The killer for me was that after playing around with the device for 8 hours I couldn’t even create a “Watch TV” activity. It is astonishing to me that this device continues to be sold as a universal remote when it cannot control one of the most popular TV series, a popular streaming device, and a very common set-top box. The reality is that each of these technologies presents difficulties that the Sofabaton does not address. The sadly discontinued Harmony Hub cleverly worked around most of these challenges, certainly much better than the Sofabaton. With the “right” combination of devices this Sofabaton might have worked, but with my combination (which consists entirely of modern—last two years—devices) it was a total failure. It may be that no option for controlling my setup from a single device exists, except going the $$$ system integrator route. The other approach would be to buy a Sony AVR and go totally down the Bravia Sync route, but I’m not there yet. And would that control the Xfinity XG1? Meanwhile, I have reverted to my Harmony Hub, which at least covers 95% of my needs, and am returning the Sofabaton.

Pros: Slick Remote with intuitive interface Unlimited device control Able to control complex activities Stellar customer service Cons: Programming can be exasperating No ability to transfer setup to another remote Hub compatible with only one remote at a time If you need a replacement for a Harmony remote or otherwise have a complex home theater setup with multiple devices, SofaBaton is really the only game in town when it comes to universal remotes. I’ve owned several Harmony remotes over the years and their products evolved to the point that they could literally program themselves. SofaBaton’s remotes aren’t nearly as simple to set up and programming requires a lot of patience. Ultimately, that patience is rewarded with an exceptionally functional remote without any of the limitations of Harmony’s last-produced models. Before purchasing the X1S, I’d suggest looking at the U2 remote, which is adequate for most people. It incorporates IR and Bluetooth control, but not WiFi, and can control virtually as many devices. It lacks the ability to control activities, but with a little macro programming, it can effectively switch all of the necessary inputs to initiate a given activity. One can use multiple U2 remotes simultaneously, giving multiple users control. What it can’t do is control IR components inside a cabinet, nor can it keep track of the existing state of all of the devices and seamlessly switch between activities. Switching activities must therefore be done manually. The extra time and effort needed to program the X1S is well worth it if you have a more complex setup. The biggest drawback is that the hub can only be paired with one remote at a time. I keep an older U1 remote handy so that others can control the volume, pause playback and so on. A second major drawback is that there’s no way to share device and activity setups between SofaBaton remotes. The U1/U2 and the X1/X1S don’t even seem to share the same online code library, which is crazy. I’ve found that functions that are available for the U1/U2 for one device may be unavailable or function differently on the X1/X1S remotes. It’s evident that SofaBaton uses a crowdsourced code database, but I can’t fathom why they haven’t consolidated them into a single database to use with all of their remotes. Given that nearly all modern home theater components have associated smartphone apps and a voice control API compatible with Alexa, Siri and/or Google, I can’t fathom why more effort hasn’t gone into WiFi control. Harmony’s hub-based models were literally able to scan one’s entire WiFi network and identify all connected devices that it was capable of controlling. They downloaded all of the control codes and set themselves up, leaving the user to identify devices not on the network and to program the activities. With SofaBaton, one must enter each brand and model of each device manually for each and every remote. When a button doesn’t function as intended, SofaBaton does have a “Fix” procedure that allows one to use alternative code sequences from their database, and that usually works, but Harmony did a much better job of refining their database to match individual models within a brand. Perhaps SofaBaton just doesn’t have a large enough user base to support that yet. When all else fails, there is a learn function that allows one to program a button with the IR signal from the original remote. That approach isn’t available for Bluetooth or WiFi devices, however. The one area where SofaBaton outshines all other companies is in their customer service. You can live chat with a technical support person, or send a text to tech support, or initiate a support ticket, all from their website or right from the SofaBaton app. The response time in answering a text or email request has never exceeded a few hours - not days or weeks. I cannot emphasize enough what a revelation it is to get rapid, competent tech support on the fly. Contrast that with Logitech Harmony, where one must first search through the FAQ, then post a question to the user community, and even then, it can take days to get a response to simple question about a feature that doesn’t seem to work as intended. In summary, the X1S remote can be frustrating to set up and it’s not nearly as polished a product as similar Harmony remotes. With Logitech pulling out of the universal remote business, SofaBaton is now the only real game in town. Although I’ve yet to find a function that Harmony could do that the SofaBaton X1S cannot, programming it can be exasperating. That said, customer service is exemplary. For the tech-savvy individual, the X1S is well worth the time and effort put into it.

i bought SofaBaton X1S Universal Remote and I was expecting it to work with my Vseebox V5 Pro. but it didn't work and I had to send it back returned it to the salon it's a failure it doesn't work it works with infrared but it doesn't work with Bluetooth. So for those who are looking for Bluetooth remote control expecting it to work with S1X Remote, don't be too optimistic it's available