This Smart Home Remote Over-Promised

Ever since Logitech discontinued their universal remote lineup, I've been looking for the ideal replacement. Enter the SwitchBot Universal Remote, which promised bring smart home control with Matter support and IR functionality. However, my experience was far from seamless.

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SwitchBot Hub 2 with Matter

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Chapters ➡

00:00 Introduction
00:51 Home Theater Setup
03:04 SwitchBot Universal Remote
03:25 Matter Support
03:48 Adding IR Devices
05:12 Adding Audio Receiver
06:13 Adding Devices to Remote
06:48 Creating Scenes with SwitchBot
08:07 Even More Issues
09:01 Shortcuts Support
10:31 Matter Fail

My Gear:

[hmurchison]

I had such HIGH hopes. The design looks solid, the promise and market is there. Keeping working on it SwitchBot.

[adampreiser]

They just released it way too soon. Hopefully they sort these things out quickly. There are many harmony people that want an off-ramp.

[BrandonFeldmeier]

I've been a Switchbot user for 10+ years & have multiple SB devices.They have always been a solid IoT company, otherwise I wouldn't have stayed with them. Being a Harmony user I'm definitely rooting for this remote. Seems like they released it a little prematurely. I'm hoping this was intentional to generate more data & feedback to bring the remote up the level you & I are anticipating. I've got faith in Switchbot & I hope they don't let me down with this one, because this has the potential to be huge.

[sygyzy]

As a fan of the Logitech Harmony, I was really looking forward to the SwitchBot Universal Remote. I am so glad I watched this video. It was so well done and explained in an easy-to-follow way exactly all the steps you took and how frustrating the experience was. I have never been so impressed with the storytelling experience while being upset at how bad the product experience was.

[davidrojas]

Yeah, I think we're all desperate for that perfect Harmony replacement, but people forget that Logitech had years of development (and failure) before they had that evergreen product. What we need is a company who doesn't just wanna make a quick buck and can stick around for the long haul.

[mrgray]

Awesome video. I purchased one and was very disappointed at the lack of "universal" support or basic devices like an audio receiver, as noted in the video. I emailed support, and they suggested I add the hub and try again. This needs to be more accurate as I purchased the device, assuming basic functionality would be 'out of the box' working. I am returning it and will continue to search for a replacement for my Harmory (RIP).

Great video, Stephen.

[CxA]

So, I just spent two FRUSTRATING HOURS trying to set this up, first as a universal remote, then with the Hub Mini set up as a Matter device. Pretty much faced all the issues you mentioned.
At this stage, I am just going to return this. Not waiting for the promise of future updates.

[RMikeGoatStatus]

It’s gonna get a update and work properly don’t worry man

[davidb]

Has the experience changed now that version 4.0 of the firmware has been released? A lot more devices seem to be directly supported now.

[ronaldchan]

Today I got the latest firmware update. What a mess, you can control more devices now, but I have a JVC projector and it's not on the list, I also have a dreo fan and it's not on the list and I have a marantz receiver of course not on the list. What do you really support?

[alondinbar]

Is it possible to connect it to home assistant? Than more devices will exposed to the remote?

[DanielGuterman]

I already have a sofabaton how does this compare? Anyone used both?

[AngryApple]

they need to fix the bugs and the weird setup. Also Home Assistant support is a must have. Im okay if this needs an Hub 2 but Home Assistant should be Incredible high on their list to implement

[rlad]

Good video, if those bugs and kinks get worked out (like you've mentioned from twitter DM's) I can see this company being a great entry point for me to finally get into the smart home eco system

[bobpatin]

I wish I'd seen this video before I bought it...

I never got things working, but was able to send it (and the Hub 2) back to Amazon for a full refund.

[Anon-dfqj]

I was really excited when I saw this remote (I already have hub2 and many SwitchBot devices). I think I read that many of the functions would be coming in early July. I sure hope they get this sorted. Thanks for reviewing.

[mrcqql]

I got it monday and plan to return it tomrrow.

[pauledwards]

Have you seen they’ve just released an app update to correct the issue of scanning remotes from other devices?

Although not sure if you’ve tried yet but they broke the routine setup on the Hubs a while ago, any complex routines fire the commands in a random order 🙈, only fix is to put a delay between commands (which is a minimum of 5 seconds and you’re limited to 10 delays total), makes menu navigation unusable now via routines (this feature worked fine on the original Hub release firmwares).

[aircomba]

Same experience for me as well, which is a huge bummer especially after the high their S10 vacmop had me on. Big deflation and huge opportunity missed. If they had two ground breaking products in a row like that it would have been enormous for their brand and customer base

[verticostate]

Thanks a bunch for the thorough review. I was tempted to get it but i will hold of till it actually works properly and as advertised. I have the Hub2 already so maybe i will play around with the scenes in the meantime :)