I purchased the fire TV cube several months ago. It works very well controlling my AVR and TV over HDMI-CEC. That is - it doesn't use IR codes to control devices (which is very error prone) but sends signals on the HDMI cable.
The problem is that the only way to increase the volume was to yell at Alexa or use the fire TV app on your phone. My kids were mystified - I brought them a new box to watch TV and it didn't have a volume button?!? It seems like a huge miss.
In any case, this new product fixes the volume button problem. It works flawlessly with my fire TV cube after I paired the remote. As to the product manager that decided to ship the fire TV product without a volume button... wow.
The remote works perfectly for my setup - Vizio TV, Vizio soundbar, and FireTV Ultra 4K Pendant. I don't have cable nor an AV receiver, so it is about as simple as you can get. I have the soundbar plugged into the HDMI ARC so the TV itself controls the volume.
In that configuration, the mute and volume controls control the TV volume, which in turn controls the soundbar volume. If you have the same kind of setup, once you have paired the remote with the TV, you are all done. In fact, pairing with the soundbar will NOT work and will remove your ability to control the volume.
The setup directions are very sparse because it is supposed to be self-guided by software once you pair to your FireTV. However, if you make a mistake ( I did by accidentally choosing the wrong TV brand) and don't get your TV choice done, there is no way, at least no obvious way in the guided setup, to re-choose your TV. So you end up with what you think is a 'bricked' remote.
Take heart, there is help, albeit obscure. You just need to go online to Amazon's Help section, for Amazon Devices, then choose the new remote. It's at this link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G47P2QLV6DKLKA6P
In the help section you will see how you can go to the Settings of your FireTV device and choose Equipment Control which will let you manage your equipment setup. What was really frustrating is, if Amazon had just added an extra section on the fold up directions, they could have put those helpful tips right in the box. Instead, the entire back of the directions were taken up with useless disclaimers and legalese. So the remote is very slick once paired, but the directions, if you make a mistake, are not worth the paper they are printed on. I do have to say, that the online help is really excellent AND it includes a video. Why they didn't put something more helpful in the directions, something as simple as "If you have any trouble, visit the HELP section on Amazon.com", is beyond me.
Now, with the remote correctly paired to my TV, I have the perfect single remote to turn my TV on and off, control the volume up or down, mute, and control everything on my FireTV. I previously used a Harmony 1100 to control my whole AV stack, but since I simplified my setup, this remote makes it a single remote solution to give me control but reduce clutter. Highly recommend.
First, I know tech.
I struggled to get it to work the first time. I paired and unpaired 3 times over 3 days. The final time was a charm. It is worth it once it works. The TV tells the firestick what the remote should do.
Steps. 1 Pair the device.
2. The firestick updates.
The real issue is that the instructions give no indication about the remote updating. Just says pair the device and your done. Well, if it didn't update properly and the volume buttons don't work it should specifically state to try again and even show what to expect. Even a manually update would help.
I did call tech. Spoke to 3 reps. No one had a clue what I was trying to do. Interesting that Amazon could get on my tv and take control. Bizaar yet didn't help at all. Service rep was confused and hard to understand.
Overall product is great. Just need clarity on set up.
**** update. After working correctly, it failed again. Discovered 2 things. First, there is a manual update once paired correctly. Its in the settings tab. Equipment control or something like that. I setup this way a second time and it worked again.
Also, when you setup, the remote says to plug into the original usb adapter. Do this instead of the TV. The setup says that it needs the right power supply. I know the tv provides the correct power so I moved on. However, the install stalls when you shut the tv off and the stick powers off. It continues upon restart but when I tried this a few times and it stopped when i kept constant power to the stick while I shut the tv on and off.
It works.. Keep tinkering.
UPDATE: Looks like Luck is with me. The fourth person I spoke with said that the issue with the activity lights and "Battery Offline" is normal. I also figured out for myself that an *inactive remote* ALWAYS reports itself as "Battery Offline", which just means that my new remote is actually OK, it just took a few tries (?) to get it to "pair" properly. (?)
Many thanks to nice (and patient) person at Amazon Fire TV Support for her help with this issue!! :) :) :) :)
Update to the Update: :( See bottom of this boring review for Extra Trivia (software updates/etc)
For those wondering how to "program" the new buttons on this version of the remote with TVs and Other Devices
==================================================================================
For Information's sake, while beating my head against the floor over "Battery Offline" issues, I was able to see how the remote "auto-detects" with devices like my TV to configure the new buttons such as Power On/Off, Volume, etc. After setting up the new remote, another setup screen kicked in and auto-detected my television ("we see you have a Sony TV") and I was asked to try On/Off and then select whether or not the TV did as it was told. Similar for volume - was asked to press "up/down" and then select whether or not it worked. So looks like the IR setup for the new buttons is done by auto-detection of devices rather than manual programming, entering codes, copying from an existing remote, and so forth.
- You can fine-tune this under "Settings" by selecting the "Equipment Control" category.
- Under Equipment Control//Manage Equipment//Add Equipment, you can add/configure support for additional devices such as a Sound Bar, an Xbox, AV Receivers, etc.. If no "Equipment Control" - update Fire Software?
- Some devices may also require the use of Alexa: Etc: "Alexa.. switch to...X", etc..
Some Troubleshooting Tips: (which come in handy when your new remote remains inert.)
...all this stuff takes place under Settings, Controllers and Bluetooth Devices, then Amazon Fire TV Remotes...
1) To RESET the remote, hold down THREE BUTTONS SIMULTANEOUSLY: "Back", "Menu", and "Left" (aka: Left side of the Circle). After 5, 10, etc seconds, the remote now should be unpaired/inactive AND IT WILL NO LONGER FUNCTION. However, it will *still show* under available remotes, but will show as "Battery Offline". this has NOTHING to do with the status of the battery, it just means this particular remote is now inactive/not currently paired. You cannot delete a remote that is active/in-use, so resetting a remote is one way to make it possible to be removed. Or cheat by taking the batteries out and rebooting your Fire Device, etc. To use the remote again you will need to add it back/re-pair it from the Amazon Fire TV Remotes Menu or patiently via it's Home button. Or just reboot and cross your fingers..
2) To delete a remote, it must be considered inactive first. If it's already inactive (like mine likes to be) just select it and use the "menu" button to delete it.
3) If you are stuck with an inactive remote that you WANT to actually use.. one that for some reason did not detect/pair properly (like mine), then try rebooting your Fire device and perhaps also holding down it's Home Button. Maybe delete the troublesome remote from the list and try re-detecting it from the Amazon Fire TV Remotes Menu. Deleting/re-detecting may save your thumb, as it took a looooong time to work just holding down it's Home Button
4) If your remote/s are not paired with your Fire Device, trying holding down that remote's HOME key (for a while) to "force detection/pairing". Rebooting the Fire Device wouldn't hurt. Remove batteries, reboot the Fire Device, re-insert..
5) I was told that.. ..uhm.. Using multiple Fire TV Remotes with the SAME Fire TV Device is.. uhm.. Not Supported... IT WORKED (I had one in each hand, and both were going fine..), but it was suggested that I remove one of the two remotes and just have a single remote "active" at any one time.
Trivia: Looks like this updated version of the remote is about 1/4" shorter than the original/previous version.
EXTRA Trivia (1):
No clue if this is Myth or Fact
You *might* need a "software update" for this to work correctly... who can say?
- I know (for the Pendant at least) that there was a "Software Update" around October 25th or so
- I also know that I *checked* for "updates" the *Morning* of November 14th - None Available.
- I also know that when I spoke with an Amazon rep after connecting the new remote on the *Evening* of November 14, I was told to "check for an update" and there was a "New Update" that was *not* available only a few hours before. (coincidence?)
- I could have sworn that "Equipment Control" did not appear till I attached the new remote, but am not 100% sure.
--> To check for Updates: Settings, My Fire TV, About, Check For Software Update (Try this at least TWICE).
--> So far as the Pendant goes, I believe the software rev is NS6255 / 1628 as of Nov 15 2018.
Extra Trivia (2): Was reading some of the other reviews and comments, and one item popped up a bit.. ..a suggestion to use the supplied AC power adapter rather than get power via the TV. I was already using AC power (Pendant) and still ended up with a Phantom Remote for a while, but never hurts to pass on info - just in case.
Extra Trivia (3): Although I think this is listed, the new remote is not compatible with 1st Gen Fire Stick Stuff.
Extra Trivia (4): It was "suggested" that I have only one Fire TV Remote "paired" at any one time, although I was also told that having multiple remotes would not result in the newer one dropping away. ???
Useless Info: Oddly enough, my regular remote was Rev 137 but the new/upgraded remote was 124. ???
Semi-Disclaimer: I ended up with this remote as it would seem that my original remote is going through batteries at an accelerated rate and I was allowed to get this one as a replacement and only pay the various shipping charges there and back. When this recent one began displaying "Battery Offline" and not detecting properly - Fun Times For Me.
What a disappointment. The new remote paired seamlessly with my second generation Fire TV stick. It controlled power and volume on my Panasonic plasma set on the first try, and added switching control on a later try. It also recognized my Comcast X-1 cable box immediately, and I am fairly confident I will be able to use the voice command to change channels if I can ever solve the problem that inspires this review.
I spell out all the things that work because they lead me to conclude that I do NOT have a defective device.
So much for the good news. The bad news is that the remote simply refuses to recognize my Emotiva UMC-200 device that I use to control switching between devices and to control volume to my 7.1 speaker setup. Amazon includes Emotiva on its long list of products that will work with their remote and Amazon does not list any limits on how it works. Amazon troubleshooting pages appear to be limited to making sure that CEC is activated.
I hope to update this review someday to a higher score. For now, this remote does no more than the first generation Alexa voice remote that came with the Fire stick.
UPDATE - Rating increased from two to five stars. Within a few hours of posting my initial review I received an email from Amazon asking me to schedule a time for them to call and help with my problems. They asked for 48 hours and called about 50 hours from the time I wrote back.
Paula said she had no experience with my equipment, but she did have detailed notes from her tech department. We followed through the steps suggested. There were a few hiccups, but we got the remote synced with the Emotiva, and later with my Comcast X-1 and Roku box in fairly short order. When we hit snags, she was able to message her tech guru and get back on path fairly quickly.
I am very impressed that Amazon provided this level of customer service this quickly on a product at this price level. While I am not completely sure of this, I think they actually did an update of their programming for my particular Emotiva device.
The best trick I can pass on from this experience is to keep clicking YES, even when the answer is no. It asked me to power down my processor, then asked if it worked. I said yes when the answer was no. Then it asked me to try using the volume control, and asked if that worked. It didn't but I said it did. I then made a mistake which returned me to the home page. Power did not work, said yes, then tried volume. This time it worked! It then asked for some HDMI info and then to use my original remote to change to any other input. Pushing the fast forward button then returned me to the Fire home screen. And pushing the Power button then turned the whole system off.
The remote seems to learn more and to offer more setting options the further you get into the setup process. Go through it again and if things are working, you get still more changeable options.
The remote is not perfect. It does not have enough buttons to do everything you might want done, and an awful lot of switching gets done by voice instead. You need to be very patient waiting for some of the voice commands to take. Still, I think it is very good value for the price. Paula and her customer service team did a great job for me on this one.
Feature Product
- Compatible with Fire TV Stick (2nd Gen), Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Cube, and Amazon Fire TV (3rd Gen, Pendant Design). Not compatible with Amazon Fire TV (1st and 2nd Gen), Fire TV Stick (1st Gen), or Amazon Fire TV Edition smart TVs.
- Now with power, volume, and mute buttons that let you control your TV, sound bar, and A/V receiver.
- Just press and ask Alexa to easily find, launch, and control content.
- Quickly skip to your favorite scenes with standard navigation and playback controls.
- Do more with Alexa-play music, view sports scores, check the weather, see live camera feeds, and control compatible smart home devices.
- Includes 2 AAA batteries.
Description
I am very pleased with this new remote. Having recently cut the cord and just having Fire TV on our 2 TVs it is great to have one remote for the bedroom TV that turns the TV on-and-off, adjusts the volume and operates the Fire TV stick. This new remote uses a signaling method that sends the remote commands from the Fire TV down the HDMI cable to the TV set. For everything to work you'll need a 2nd generation Fire TV or newer, and a TV that has "HDMI-CEC" capability. That means the TV can handle the commands sent to it over the HDMI cable. Most newer TVs have this feature, even my budget-buy 4 year old Insignia TV from Best Buy has it and it works with this remote.
To help you determine if your Fire TV device works, search you orders to find your order to determine which Fire TV device you have, then go to Fire TV Support and check the generation. If it's 2nd generation or newer you've got half of the puzzle solved.
Also check your TV's manual to see if you have an HDMI input that works with HDMI-CEC. Unfortunately, most sets only have one input that does so you may have to swap your Fire TV to that HDMI input. And, many TV manufacture has a different name for HDMI-CEC and it's capabilities are often turned off by default. Check out this article https://www.guidingtech.com/53974/hdmi-cec-tv-support/ to find out what your TV set manufacture calls the feature and a generic description of how to enable it. For my Insignia TV it is called INLink. My LG TV in my family room calls it SIMPLINK.
If your TV has the HDMI-CEC feature and your Fire TV is 2nd generation or newer, you have the second half of the puzzle solved. Order up! You can have reasonable confidence HDMI-CEC technology will work for you. (Reasonable... not perfect. This is techie stuff after all.)
Finally, when your new remote arrives, the instruction booklet will get you started pairing the new remote with your Fire TV and then an onscreen tutorial will walk you through testing each of the HDMI-CEC features.
Enjoy!
I have sticks on all my tvs but I hated that I needed another remote just for volume. This gets rid of the extra remote! Set up was simple thru settings just recognize remote then go back to settings for additional controlled devices. It recognized my tv and asked what I wanted to control. Sound bar set up was easy too. Very happy with this purchase. All I need now is covers to become available so I don't keep losing them. I'm convinced the covers stop from falling into depths of couches!
I was so excited to finally have a remote that could control both my TV and my Fire TV. The new remote basically paired itself with just a couple of steps to my LG TV. Unfortunately it will not control the volume on my TV. I went through the steps on the Amazon Device Support page (which basically only tell you to go through the steps to re-pair it) and the volume still cannot be adjusted on the TV with this “all in one” remote. Still having to use the TVs original remote to adjust volume kind of defeats the purpose of this thing. I am hoping they come up with a fix for this as I see many people with the same complaint. Other than that all of the other buttons are functional, but I would probably recommend waiting until they fix the bugs on this thing before purchasing.
UPDATE: After re-pairing it, un-pairing it, restarting my fire TV, taking batteries out, and unplugging everything multiple times, I was finally able to properly pair this and get it working with my TV to control the power/volume. I’d say I spent maybe 2 hours total and it seems to be an issue with the FireTV not doing whatever update/download it needs to do to activate the device control feature and have this option appear under your settings to complete the remotes setup. Then there are a series of steps you have to go through after the device control feature is activated to complete pairing. For at least an hour I was just getting a screen that said it takes 10 minutes to pair but then when I hit next it would just tell me to use this remote to turn my TV off with no other steps. Finally after what seemed like a million restarts I ended up being prompted through several other steps and the remote paired properly. I waited another week to update my review just in case I had any other issues and I’m happy to say everything is still working. I plan on getting one for my 2 year olds TV next, hoping they are on sale for Black Friday.
Simple to set up. Product synced instantly and now control volume, ON/OFF, and most importantly...Mute. I bought one for each of my Fire TV Cubes (Bedroom TV and Living room TV) I stream Tubi TV, Pluto TV and Amazon Prime. Being able to mute through the commercials is the best quality of this remote, since they are designed to MAKE you watch the commercials. Now I sit at my computer desk or in my bed, and happily mute through my news and movie programming. FABULOUS! Now if Amazon could just add control of the Timer function (since I go to sleep to movies), it would be the perfect product. I would happily plunk down another $60 to buy two more with this capability. Cheers!
finally!! it's great. you have to pair to your fire tv. a great change. no more 2 remotes.
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