This Smart Home Trend Needs To Stop!

[@TheHookUp]

Ready for something really strange? I got my Switchbot remote about 2 months ago, pulled it out and set up a few IR devices using using the "add devices" button. I do not have a switchbot hub currently. It let me search a list of IR codes from a database and I was able to use it with varying levels of success, but I ultimately decided it didn't work well enough to warrant any coverage. I watched this video and was confused by your findings so I just pulled my remote back out and it had an update waiting. I installed the update and now the ability to add devices without a hub has been REMOVED. I'm so confused...

[@MrDeaz]

Smart home products these days, man

[@avantgardethemighty6724]

Makes me wonder if it's a legal issue...

[@mryo-yobzh9485]

They probably "forgot" to add an onboard IR receiver and just went "Welp, the customers are just gonna have to buy a hub if they really want that". That would make them one less software feature to develop, even if they could have probably reused said feature from the hub's code.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

What on earth really?! There has to be more to this in that case.. the plot thickens! Thanks for the extra context!

[@mryo-yobzh9485]

@@EverythingSmartHome Do you see an IR receiver on the remote ? It should look like a second led. If you do, maybe they plan yet another software update to add the feature. If you don't then they never considered adding a learn function when designing the remote's hardware.

[@BebeMischa]

This is not ranting. This is describing the sad true. Well done!

[@occamraiser]

If you buy a set of features and they are not present in what you buy then send them back - companies who are constantly paying for returns will be discouraged from this behaviour.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Absolutely!

[@dougle03]

@@EverythingSmartHome So will you be sending yours back for a full refund?

[@BobRed0965]

That works for a new product that doesn't live up to expectations. But you're left out in the cold if it's a product you already have where software updates disable it. Anybody with a Sonos product who's happy with them right now?

[@GreenOnionBrother]

​@@dougle03he is a reviewer, not a normal consumer, though.

[@oliverpolden]

Not only that, leave a 1 star review. Buying a product that is not as described is not acceptable.

[@JohnVanderbeck]

When Logitech announced they were killing Harmony the first thing I did was buy two spares on sale at Best Buy. Nothing has been able to replace them yet.

[@Raymond.Jansen]

I did buy 1 spare, but it's only useful as long as they keep the servers running...

[@JohnVanderbeck]

@@Raymond.Jansen Sadly you are right, though I do recall Logitech saying they would do just that. We'll see but its been a few years now I think? And they've held up their end so far.

[@k33nest]

My only issue with Harmony is the lack of home automation lighting control if trying to control Home Assistant or non Hue lights. The options are very limited without doing some wonky workaround.

[@JohnVanderbeck]

@@k33nest use the hue emulator in HA

[@chriswatt2702]

@@k33nesthacky workarounds are the best. They do exactly what you want. I know of a HA company that sells door/window sensors and thermostats… do you think they provide a script to disable heating if any sensor in a group is open? What can you do? Thrusts crotch in the air. “Home Assistant… Home Assistant” (thanks Paul) Full disclosure I had the beard before the HA box.

[@stevecummings3591]

Like you said, this issue is EVERYWHERE. IoT, most software/applications, Microsoft, you name it. No one TESTS anything before it goes to customers. "Just do it and get it out the door, we'll fix the issues later..."

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Sometimes miss the days when you couldn't update things after and so everything had to be perfect on launch

[@lafeu812]

That's exactly how our Product Development department works. In customer projects department we are changing the same processes in our software for every customer the same way, but our feature request for this gets rejected, even though you provide a universal and customizable solution.

[@JoshFisher567]

@@stevecummings3591 as already said by everythingsmarthome but if there was an issue, there had to be a total recall. Especially back in the day when there literally wasn't a USB port or anything. The company had to pay for shipping.from the consumer to them, either fix the device, software or redesign the hardware. Then ship it back to the consumer. That or just flat out return their money. Obviously this took a lot of time so would you buy anything from that computer again? I don't remember there being one recall during that time for electronics. Kind of funny how much QA on every level was ridiculously vigorous. I miss those days.

[@collywallydooda]

More like "we'll fix the issues later if the product sells well, otherwise forget it"

[@chefdeit]

@@EverythingSmartHome Only "sometimes" 🙂 In truth, we've all collectively sleep-walked into it, in our addiction to something "new" and not "good", to "change" and not "change for the better", to "lowest-bidder everything, and please lie to us abt your environmental and labor practices"

[@fixitman2174]

"Sell it now, fix it later" started with PC games. That way of thinking now has it's claws embedded in everything. I'll stay with my IR blasters (RM4 Pro) and a custom HA dashboard on my backup phone. The HA app will remain the only app that directly interfaces with my home.

[@softet]

Totally support the rant. 🤝

[@Runegar573]

I saw this device advertised recently and thought it may be an interesting buy, especially since I joined the Home Assistant crowd not too long ago, but I would say it's still a "project" and not quite a "product." Thank you for your review and insight - much appreciated.

[@philnichols7987]

I would absolutely go wild for a device exactly like this, but with a programmable esp32 in it.

[@kiplinght]

🙌🙌 YES! Louder for people in the back! Consumers need to push back on unfinished products being rushed out the door. Thankfully some countries like the UK/Australia have strong consumer protection laws, if you buy something and it doesn't do what was advertised, GET YOUR REFUND!

[@ParkerTyler]

This is exactly the reason I have not purchased this remote. When I looked at the product page I feel like every feature I wanted had an asterisk on it. That made it 100% of a nonstarter for me. It would have been my first Switchbot product and has put a bad taste of the company in my mouth. I may buy it in the future but I might not. They had a real chance to fill the gap left by the Logitech Harmony Remotes. A gap that is getting bigger every day as more and more people look to replace their aging remotes. Like you said these video reviews are forever and every video I have seen about this remote has said the same thing. Bad reviews will kill a product faster than anything else. Wish them the best but my search for a Harmony remote replacement continues.

[@stephencoakley]

I backed both the Unfolded Circle Remote 3 and the Cantana Haptique RS90x because I too really want *somebody* to succeed in this space, but only time will tell.

[@staceydodds]

I miss the Logitech Harmony eco-system. I still hang on to mine and will for as long as I can but I know at some point they will break, and then I'll have to move on

[@lawrencemanning]

I got about 10 years out of my mid range Harmonies. A common fault (I had it on both of mine) is the clock crystal failing so it never idles to off, so the batteries die after a day. But it’s a fairly easy fix if you have a soldering iron. In the end they just wore out, with button text rubbing off and looking a bit grim, etc. Replaced the living room one with a BroadLink and a whole lot of manual messing with learning remote codes, downloading codes from various places, creating custom Home Assustant dashboards etc. it’s nearly as good as the harmony, and has a lot of pluses, but I do miss physically being able to locate the buttons without glancing.

[@staceydodds]

@@lawrencemanning I gave up on the Harmony One and downgraded to a Harmony 650 which just takes AA batteries. It gets weird when the batteries are low, but not dead yet. Otherwise, they still work perfectly fine. I've gotten rid of most of my components now and just use an Apple TV and it's still working flawlessly for that.

[@lawrencemanning]

Yeap it was the 650 that I had, two of them. I’d dare say it was my son dropping them a few times that sealed their fate. They are delicate; I had mine apart a few times and know the inwards well. In particular the way the battery connectors are attached to the PCB is not great design. You have to look after them! If you ever get them in a state where they refuse to go to sleep when you leave them, remember my tip about the watch crystals. 😊

[@stephencoakley]

My dad still has a Harmony remote for his entertainment center. I've told him to baby that thing and guard it with his life. I'm stuck with low-quality alternatives for now.

[@Omaricon]

I ordered the Unfolded Circle Remote 3. From what I've seen and heard of the Remote Two, the Remote 3 should be amazing. Costly too though.

[@stephencoakley]

Harmony was pretty pricey too though, and that's from a company with a big R&D budget and economy of scale. The Unfolded Circle Remote 3 should be a premium product for a premium price. If it launches successfully...

[@nitro6002]

Thanks for this! I have older relatives ( 70 + ) that have gotten comfortable with using Home Assistant ( so proud of them ) but I'd love to eliminate some of the remotes they have to use. Will be watching this one closely.

[@Nutrafin-3D]

Same here. Looking forward to it. The remote 2 looked nice

[@chrisdixon5241]

Totally agree with you! By the way, it seems like you may have missed the Switchbot mail in your video at the 10:30 mark (the bars to mask things out are visible but nothing more)

[@fredflintstone8048]

I have a long history with SCADA integration in professional settings. The features you need are always promised to be coming out in the NEXT release which is usually promised within a month. You're lucky if the SCADA company releases those actual working features within a couple of years. It's been this way for at least 40 years. The old saying, 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush' always applies. Never buy any device or software on the promise of what it will do in the future.

[@philipreece4648]

Finally an honest review. I bought one off another reviewer's "review" singing the praises of the remote - It's now back in the box. I have done updates and tried to use it but I found it to be unusable for what I wanted to do, software is atrocious and their returns process is appalling. I have a few switchbot items but I will now NOT buy anymore of their stuff. On the plus side, it does look good....

[@derekluckhurst9406]

Absolutely 100% agree. Very annoying when I buy something that is not quite right and "might" work later.

[@Terence-mk9jh]

I subscribe to your channel because of the honesty as far too many reviewers overlook or ignore failings and short comings so as to keep the products coming in. I subscribe to Paul Hibbert for the same reason. You are correct when you say that this product should not be on sale as it is clearly far from finished. Well done and keep them coming.

[@mako9673]

Which is why you should not pre-order any systems like this before they are released and reviewed.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

For sure!

[@Moon-Raven]

It's not a pre-order at this point. It was up for order over 2 months ago.

[@itscarlsanity]

Well, Lewis pre-ordered for us so thank you Lewis!

[@verb0ze]

I for one am thankful to Luis for ordering early-ish. His review saved me and countless others from frustration and time wasted trying to get this thing to work.

[@olivercole1399]

I actually needed a new TV remote earlier today and saw this option come up- I thought this could have been a cool option, but I'm so glad I saw this. I won't buy based on what a product "could" be only on what it is when buying. Hopefully switchbot learn

[@technithusiast]

5:13 lololol the exact scenario you described is EXACTLY what I had to do to learn a new remote. What chaos….

[@ShawnDillon]

It is a practice called MVP (Minimal Viable Product). Companies come up with and idea for a product whether it is software or hardware. They then come up with a list of all the features said product is to have. Someone along the way says we want this product launched by X date. The team developing the product quickly realizes they will not be able to include all of the features they want so they come up with a "minimal viable product" they can launch by X date to make certain people happy within the company. This means we (end users) are left with a product that works, for the most part, but is clearly not in a complete/polished state.

[@nitro6002]

The problem is it's a mutated variation of the MVP. An MVP is supposed to thought of in advance as what basic features can be delivered in full completed and stable form, then other features can be added later. What they are delivering these days isn't even an MVP, it's more like a single update past alpha to see how much bs consumers are willing to tolerate and still pay for it.

[@danielkirk8571]

Loving the LTT Northam Lights desk pad.

[@cbcastillo5681]

Since you did this video 4 months ago what’s the deal with this smart remote? Any updates on it?

[@manosioa]

"This is one of the most infruriating products...." me instantly like the video

[@ercanyilmaz8108]

We must give smart device products a label which contains points like whether te product is half finished, whether how it handles your privacy, whether it is locally usable and so on.

[@vlycop7404]

what happened to yio / unfolded circle remote ?

[@marcelportier6794]

I still use my Logitech Harmony Companion. Really hands down the best universal remote ever made. It works so well, even implemented it in HA. I'm so sad that Logitech pulled the plug on it....

[@JamieVids76]

I would love a product like this, but 4 buttons that don't work in home assistant isn't how I would even imagined it would work. I would love to see an integration where you can add entities to it to control. I will wait, I once purchase a harmony remote, which wasn't bad, but if you accidentally nudged it while it was on the settee it would cause mayhem 😅, it's in a drawer with the touch sensitive sky remote that did similar.

[@JoshFisher567]

When I first saw this and read the requirements my first thought was the number of people who would buy it and not be able to use it. I do wonder about the Matter only via Home kit thing also. Would love to see your take on the unfolded circle remote 3 although it's still not available. Completely local, all the software is open source, free open source API, Home Assistant integration, serup via.a web browser or on device, optional hub with POE. I also joticed the below on their Kickstarter which is obviously for using as a voice assistant and customzing the leds. Dock 3 with ESP Home support

[@SmartHomeJunkie]

Hey Lewis, I totally agree. that is why it's still sitting on my desk and I did not create a review about it yet. Switchbot told me that they will create a Home Assistant integration for this remote and I will wait until this works before I make a review. No point in creating reviews about half-baked products.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Hey Ed! Actually I would please urge you to reconsider that position, your duty is first and foremost to your audience, and if a product sucks, they want to hear that. Your review could directly stop a viewer from wasting money on an unusable product. That's why it's important to review regardless of if its a good product or not

[@SmartHomeJunkie]

​@@EverythingSmartHome Yeah, true. In this case, I just didn't want to spend time on creating a video about something that does not work and decide to wait until it got better. But yes, I can always create another review later if the product has been updated. I sent an e-mail to my contact at Switchbot with my list of things I think should be fixed before I can create a review about it.

[@Megacheez]

the fact it is a half-baked product right now is the exact reason for a review. you can always revisit it at a later date and do an update on teh review. but pretending that they released a great product by the time they finally manage to get around to fulfilling their promises, assuming they actually do so in the end, feels a bit disingenuous. its a bit like no man's sky, that was a game in a piss poor state at release and garnered poor reviews because of it. Now years later its a decent game but you never know wether that will ever happen...

[@SmartHomeJunkie]

@@Megacheez I get it. I just don't want to spend time on creating reviews on a half baked product while other people already did that. It's just too much frustration to experiment with it and costs me a lot of negative energy. On the other hand I want to prevent that frustration for other people, so yeah, a review does make sense. 😬

[@Wysp_Sedai]

Thank you for your review! I appreciate your candid view on unfinished software making what should be a really cool device under the promise that "later updates" will add the actual promised features of a product. I agree that this practice is complete trash and needs to stop. And when companies do this more people need to call them out on their nonsense. Only with public shaming will they be more likely to refrain from this behavior.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

🙏🏻

[@DrippinWetDetail]

Bought this a couple days ago on sale hoping it could replace my harmonys once they go bye bye one day….sending it back. The matter integration is great in concept but so laggy it’s unusable. Adding devices is quite ridiculous needing to go through the hub first for most and a lot of devices aren’t supported at all

[@djashjones]

My theory is that can save money on R&D and testing. Release a product half baked, generate sales then that will pay for the developers to fix the bugs and add the "features" as advertised. If sales are poor then no "features".

[@jorismunnik4999]

Seems like this remote is also not going to be a replacement for my Logitech Harmony Companion (worn down, stopped functioning & strange errors), loved the feel of that remote! While not that expensive for this remote I'm not feeling like adding another extra hub for basic functionality, which should be already there when the product was released initially...

[@MarcSpctr]

I want a remove that can sense WHAT DEVICE I AM POINTING TO and show me it's necessary controls. Can be achieved using 3-5 sensors installed around the room to sense the direction where the remote is pointing. if not such remotes are useless, cause if I have to select device to control manually from the menu, I can already do that using my phone.

[@Nutrafin-3D]

I had backed the Sevenhugs Smart Remote on kickstarter, (you can probably still view its page) which did exactly this. Unfortunately, it was one of those devices that as soon as the company is gone, they took the servers with them and intentionally bricked all devices.

[@omarashraf27]

As a one who recently got interested in smart devices and in your channel, and really admiring your take on local devices. I'm wondering which robot vacuum are you using?

[@raaah]

I will wait for version two because I guarantee you no amount of software updates is going to fix this. It’s probably a hardware issue which is now it’s on sale for 20% off.

[@rcmc88]

Sounds like a great device or will be, but i am of the same mindset as yourself regarding the testing of new unfinished products. I hope it eventually becomes the device it promises to be as i am building my automated home and also a gaming/entertainment room and integrated system.

[@imgeffrey]

I work in software. The grant problem of software is merely the fact you technically can ship a half-baked, fast-made software for cheap. You can ship a plastic shell and “upgrade the RAM later”. Often it’s the short term thinking of business leaders that put pressure on shipping software. Totally missing the point of iterative development. “Agile” shouldnt mean ‘ship random code in the hopes it lands’. It means to be able to change your direction faster than the competitors when the market demands.

[@imgeffrey]

You CAN’T ship a plastic shell and “upgrade the RAM later”.*

[@TechySpeaking]

4:12 I'd be willing to bet the IR codes are learned by the hub, and then transmitted/programmed into the remote between the hub and the remote, because you can't have the remote knowing about a device that the hub doesn't also know about.

[@garethjones5068]

I so wanted this to be a replacement for my ancient Harmony remote

[@Cornish_Stu]

Ah the beauty of late stage corporate agile delivery, where everything must be "agile". If only it had some this 2024 AI magic sprinkled in. I swear I had a Harmony remote that did this sort of stuff better 20 years ago 🤣

[@EverythingSmartHome]

It is crazy to think no one has beat the harmony yet!

[@jorismunnik4999]

@@EverythingSmartHome Wondering why that is, especially the shape and design of the remote itself. Maybe it's patented and can't be used by other companies somehow?

[@russsuter6858]

I bought one a couple of months ago hoping it would be the perfect device to fill the gap left by Logitech when they killed the Harmony remote lineup. I was incredibly disappointed. It's sitting in a closet. I don't use it. I don't know if I ever will.

[@lahmyaj]

5:11 - The remote obviously then doesn’t have a built-in IR receiver, only a transmitter like most regular remotes. Clearly this is an oversight for a universal remote but I believe this is where others that do have a receiver are sold as ‘learning’ universal remote controls since they can in fact receive an existing remote’s IR signal and learn that function. In this case, the hub it seems includes the IR receiver and hence why it has to be involved in this process. Stupid but saves Switchbot on cost no doubt 🙃

[@DBTechYT]

For some reason, a remote like this seems unnecessary to me

[@AhrenBaderJarvis]

For real. Also individual controls over multiple devices isn't where a universal remote shines. It's creating activities that perform a whole host of actions with a single press.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

I do personally think they have a place for devices that still use IR and you want to have a single device to turn on a TV, receiver and audio setup all with a single press for example

[@DBTechYT]

@@EverythingSmartHome I think universal remotes in this form-factor are great for entertainment systems and that kind of thing, like you said with IR, but a remote like this to control the lights in a different room is... weird? Don't get me wrong, I love my pretty basic Home Assistant setup, maybe I'm just getting old.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Yeah I probably wouldn't use it for lights either as they are all automated, but I might grab it to start the vacuum or something if it was nearby and quick to access. Primary use case is certainly for media setups I would say

[@lawrencemanning]

@@DBTechYT Logitech Harmonies were great. Shame they discontinued them. I replicated my old Harmony setup with a Broadlink and some custom dashboard pages. Works pretty well, and of course everyone has a remote on their phone/tablet.

[@lemonofish869]

5:00 obviously you should bring the TV upstairs to add it to the hub, then put it back downstairs /s

[@FilippEXE]

If core functionality is coming "later", then we will be buying the product later, once it's feature complete 😅

[@dsdlonyer]

Great video, shame about the product. I had the same kind of issue when i purchased a Fitbit Sense 2. On the product card at the store, it said Google Assistant coming soon, which was one of they reasons I chose it. It has never appeared despite the fact that Google own it. It came with Alexa integration though 🤔.

[@technithusiast]

6:16 interesting. I did get mines to trigger in home assistant. I’m curious what we did different 🤔 Edit: that is crazy. I set it up on my iPhone and would have never know that it fails with android… wow switchbot is lacking

[@eldaria]

Way more expensive but works better is the Remote from Unfolded Circle.

[@jamesmillsted7606]

Yes true, however I find my remote two very unreliable in particular the "internal server error" message

[@Raymond.Jansen]

I've pre-ordered the 3 from Kickstarter. Hoping for the best!

[@kelvin1316]

I have never been get on with universal remotes. Just ended up using the original remote because the universal missed features of the "real" remote.

[@emmettf1107]

Similar story with th Aqara M3. Very little shows up in home assistant.

[@festro1000]

I'd liken it more to paying to be their quality assurance, but yeah I really hate the trend companies are taking and consumers are part to blame for buying into these paradigm shifts as companies (including AAA developers) seem to see nothing wrong with making customers pay to do something they once paid game testers to do.

[@KimmoJaskari]

Unfolded Circle Remote 3 is in kickstarter but sadly probably too late now (edit: actually you can still pledge but it does cost 400 euros....) It's also still a work in progress but they already did a Remote Two... as long as you lean into Home Assistant with it reportedly it's killer. I want one but don't have one yet. Still, it's most likely in my opinion to become the Harmony remote killer, not least because it does integrate well with HA. Anyyway, it's unfoldedcircle with a dot and a com after.

[@adrianscarlett]

The marketing industry needs to be held accountable. They basically lie about a product to generate sales.

[@jaspercardol]

I bought this very remote to setup two scenes that can turn on and off my Apple TV, Beamer, and Bose Soundbar at once. I only have the original SwitchBot Hub Mini. While I can use the remote successfully, I can not add the Apple TV remote to any scene because it simply doesn't show up in the GUI when creating a scene. Apparently, you need a hub 2 in order to do this. I can use the Apple TV as a 'device' with the remote, but can't add it to a scene? Really?

[@MarioPereztello]

Another inconvenient feature is that when using the SwitchBot remote to control the Apple TV, it often fails to turn the device on, leaving it stuck on a loading screen. You have to use the original Apple TV remote to turn it on first, and only then can you control it with the SwitchBot remote. This process is inconvenient and doesn’t make any sense.

[@markloughtonUK]

Currys sold me a 32" CRT television back in the year 2000. They sold it under the "futureproof" banner. 8 years later it still didn't have the digital teletext that they promised at launch. 😢

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Damn, even all the way back then this was happening?! I tend to think it was the rise of everything being online from like 2012 onwards it started

[@pb78pb]

Reminds me of buying my Pixel 9 Pro in Europe: all the AI features are missing... even some that were present on Pixel 8 in the US. So not sure what we will get in the end.

[@BrandonDoyleMN]

Yikes, it sounds like it shipped well before it was ready

[@DaHaiZhu]

To fix this issue: 1) Never buy the first release of a new product. Wait a year, at least. If it folds, then you've saved a bunch of money anyway 2) If it doesn't do everything as advertised. Immediately return for refund. This costs the company a lot more than if it never sold (processing, refunding, repackaging, etc) 3) Leave a scathing (but honest) review. 5 stars are only for products that work completely and flawlessly. 1 star is for EVERYTHING ELSE.

[@dougle03]

Would your phone with the HA companion app installed not be a better option? It's what I use and it's something I already own and use frequently. Ref Matter: given the costs involved in licencing they are probably waiting to see how popular this is before going through the Matter certification process... I predicted that Matter would not be the final solution, and I was right. The costs involved are causing problems and the costs are being passed onto us the consumer...

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Yeah but very very few phones have an IR blaster these days 😅 plus it can be nice for family members who prefer physical remotes

[@TerraMagnus]

“Matter support coming in a software update.” Yeah right.

[@CraigPotts-r2i]

Just watched your review. Wish I had watched it before I bought the product! It didn’t do anything that I wanted it to do, contrary to what they advertised - tech junk. 😖

[@g33ks55]

Man it happens even in gaming hardware not even a software promise as it used to be, my gaming mouse is sora v2 with a promise of 8k polling rate dongle that will come later, i bought it 4 months ago!

[@theron2119]

It would be great to get something similar to this but runs android that the homeassistant android app can be installed on. I think that, with some well laid out programmable buttons would be perfect. Really I don’t care about the other features such as ir. I can do that with the equipment I prefer to use and just use home assistant to connect everything together. This could be so easy if companies would stop forcing us to use their custom user interfaces.

[@NatesRandomVideo]

Kickstarter taught companies people will pay for unfinished products.

[@johnszatkowski6898]

I do NOT pay into those companies until the product is actually released which many times NEVER happens and will wait awhile for Firmware updates AFTER release. For example, I really wanted the Amazon Echo Hub but it was NOT ready for "prime-time" either when released and lacked things and was really laggy! I waited for a few updates and then bought it and I really LIKE IT! It integrates with Ring Alarm the UI is much speedier now and also supports Matter devices (Matter itself if half-backed at the moment). I will say I do NOT think it's for everyone, but the Hub works great for me and have FULL control of my SmartHome devices from MANY vendors/brands.

[@BPH2OS]

I bought one and returned it. I really wanted to like it, but it absolutely didn't live up to the potential. I have a pretty standard home theater. None of my main devices were supported including my TV, home theater receiver, PlayStation 5, and Chromecast with Android TV. Hopefully things improve over time, it's not. It's definitely not ready for prime time right now.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

That sucks to hear but glad you managed to get a refund at least!

[@BPH2OS]

​@@EverythingSmartHome I was surprised there isn't even a category for home theater receivers when you're setting up new IR devices. My TV from 2022 was widely distributed across Canada and it wasn't supported either. I'm hoping over time, that this device will be better integrated into home assistant and that can make out for some of the software limitations in the native app. 👍

[@lafeu812]

I'm glad I haven't bought it. Was just inches away cause the price is very attractive, particularly with a discount.

[@johnszatkowski6898]

Yeah! This "looked" fascinating as well, but in the end it's half-baked currently! For the price point I went with the SofaBaton U2 remote. The U2 does take a little bit to program keys the way you want, but once setup works like a CHAMP and works with AA batteries. What I hate is MOST of these rechargeable remotes will NOT function while charging and you are screwed! Where as the U2 remote, I can swap batteries in seconds and am up and running! The other HUGE disappointment with the SwitchBot remote is it has NO macro features to preform multiple actions with a single button press, and this is where the SofaBaton U2 shines big time! The U2 has now replaced the discontinued Logitech Harmony remote with of course features lost but through experimentation the U2 has been my go to remote. It allows 16 devices, you can map ANY button to preform a function of ANY one of those 16 devices, will learn ANY IR remotes buttons. The SwitchBot is NOT even close in overall functionality! I still think Logitech was KING here but now they are gone and the U2 is more affordable at $60 USA and has alot of features. I really wanted to like the SwitchBot remote, but it LACKS so much I returned it! I do have the SwitchBot Hub 2 and it works well for what it is.

[@TyDaSpace]

I was sent the unit about 2 months ago by the brand to try out. I have struggle so hard to find anything about the remote. The U2 honestly is useless. The only thing tha has a sense of usefulness is the x1s. I am yet to see anything that beats the Logitech yet.

[@johnszatkowski6898]

@@TyDaSpace Huh? Been using the U2 for over 6months now with 10 devices. I have macros, custom buttons and even programmed a few of my LED light strips and everything works just fine for me. I don't understand why this is so "useless" to you?? Macros work great like Logitech's did with a single button press my tv will change inputs turn ON what ever needs to turn on and then switch to the DVD or media player or whatever and use the remote. Sounds to me like the U2 interface was too much for you to handle and just couldn't figure it out which was NOT that hard! Especially when there are TONS of others are using this remote and give it high marks. Try watching some KZbin reviews on the U2 and you'll SEE it's far from "useless" as you say...

[@mathieuric]

Agility has gone over the deep end and is now applied to everything.

[@paulhyland3528]

The amount of hate ive seen on the harmony range from a lot of people, but there still doesn't seem to be anything to beat it yet ? My companion is still going and cant find a decent replacement. Shame about the switchbot as thats a great price.

[@djashjones]

This Smart Home Trend Needs To Stop! -- Yes, hubs!!!!

[@bryonhulcher851]

I wasnt sure if i was watching LTT or ESH for a second lol

[@EverythingSmartHome]

All I can think of when you say SSH is Secure Shell, which channel are you referring to? 👀

[@bryonhulcher851]

@@EverythingSmartHome lol it was supposed to say ESH ...I should just leave it lol

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Even better 😂 what made you say LTT out of interest?

[@bryonhulcher851]

@@EverythingSmartHome the mousepad in the beginning is ltt lol

[@UNgineering]

but can it run Doom?

[@simonsayshomeassistant]

No but my Cardputer can!

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Almost certainly someone will 😂

[@My-noname]

Tnx for the heads up. No need to waste hard earned cash on that. Not atm anyway.

[@atwixtor]

Logitech Harmony figured this out a DECADE ago (and they still work).

[@Raymond.Jansen]

And still they decided to stop selling it.

[@atwixtor]

@@Raymond.Jansena tragedy to be sure. But if you can find one it still works great.

[@Kathlanus]

A company to add to the watchlist and triple check before buying. The concept of the product is cool, but you're right. Shipping unfinished products like this is not acceptabel.

[@rrkumar78]

I’m here 4 mos after this video dropped. I purchased this remote on a whim thinking software updates would fix it. By and large everything mentioned as a bug has been fixed. The remote syncs well, works as advertised. But. Setup is a pain. Matter is still stupidly employed here. It was truly one of the kludgiest smart home device setups I’ve done. And still, only those four buttons work. Luckily, they do work well in home assistant with scenes. The IR is ok. It’s a pain in the butt to learn some AC units and TVs, but it works, mostly. Anyway, I definitely do NOT recommend this remote to anyone looking.

[@espressomatic]

Commodity-level hardware is easy. Software is always going to be hard. Too many people (developers) think it's the other way around. The only devices I'd like to support are Bluetooth with full support for a full range of BT device pages (keyboard, mouse, media, etc.), along with WiFi and IP - (Websocket, POST, GET, custom ports, etc)

[@lawrencemanning]

It’s interesting to look at it like that. One person could literally spend about 100 pounds and produce a hardware protype for this product in a week. Writing the software, though, has got to be a few man years of effort, assuming all the required generic dependencies (kernel, OS, networking stacks etc) have no obvious omissions or massive bugs.

[@JakeT0191]

Aqara FP2 is a prime example of great sounding but utter trash software. I can’t get it to connect to any wifi despite having no special characters and having connected just fine before factory resetting it

[@bounce510]

Those aren't what I'd consider bugs, bugs are breaks in code that cause features to behave in unexpected fashion. Those are decisions not to prioritize multiple things as shipped features. They straight up decided that they wanted to start getting money before actually completing their feature roadmap and not bothering to advertise it correctly. This is unforgiveable. There is no world in which they can convince me their QA team just didn't bother to test the remote in an Android setting...you know, the mobile OS that holds 71.47% of the market. They either signed off on the feature in which case likely everyone there needs to be fired, or some executive saw that it was non-functional and decided to sign off on it regardless of the QA team and kept the original marketing plan...in which case several executives should be fired, no severance. I do know that I will never by any first generation Switchbot product, I can't trust them to do what they say they do. I'll wait until a second or thrid generation or at the very least a firmware and a couple of software updates have been pushed out before even considering them. As far as I'm concerned that's bait and switch style fraud.

[@johnny5alv]

This has helped me decided on whether to buy this or not… I will not

[@michaels5167]

Never got the point of universal remotes, post smart phones, wifi and other connected signal methods with Home Assistant. Niche market I suspect.

[@bakonjarser5869]

I think there's quite a few of us that think physical buttons > touchscreen buttons.

[@michaels5167]

@@bakonjarser5869 my wife and some others are amongst you. 😉

[@michaels5167]

She sure likes asking the voice assistance to do things too

[@stephencoakley]

I don't want to fumble around with my phone to open an app just to pause my movie when someone knocks at the door. Grab the remote, hit pause. Easy. Also, a remote is shared with anyone. Your 8-year-old can use it. A guest can use it. You wanna make everyone install an app on their own phone just so you can control your media center?

[@thorsteng.8954]

Reminds me of my new Volvo EX30 😂

[@nagyba]

Beta testers should do a class action lawsuit for false advertising 😆

[@neilos2085]

Ive had one for a month, finally gave in. The good news is that switchbot have agreed to refund me.

[@AsadMulla]

Unfolded Circle Remote two and Remote three. That is what you need to get. It has Home assistant integration

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Certainly interested in checking it out at some point, I'm not sure they want to send me one

[@AsadMulla]

@@EverythingSmartHome I've placed an order on Kickstarter for remote three. Hopefully I'll get it early next year.

[@stephencoakley]

@@EverythingSmartHome I don't think they have any to send, ha. Apparently they've had a lot of supply chain issues for a long time.

[@legacyoftheancientsC64c]

Until regulations become such that releasing incomplete implementations is banned the situation is going to become worse. Here in the US regulations are routinely written by the corporations themselves and presented to the legislators they have in their pockets to pass as laws. Thank God the EU seems a smidge more resistant (but not by much).

[@mako9673]

I want to find a remote that will work with Broadlink hubs. Then I replace my old Harmony Hubs.

[@StephenMatrese]

11:00 My water shut off, most of my leak detectors and about 2 dozen contact (door/window/freezer) are YoLink because they boast impressive range, outside of WiFi, and the promised to open up local integration. Well, we got a HomeAssistant app? (not Add-On, but can add it... Apps run as their own program). Problem, you may ask? It's ALL cloud based. If your ISP fail, if YoSmart's ISP fails, if YoSmart's fail, If they drop the free tier (wink hub), or anything else goes wrong, you STILL have the ISP delay. So, yeah, NEVER trust a company and I hope there is a class action to make them release firmware updates to fix this. Heck, I'd take a dongle at this point. YES, I know they have peer 2 peer pairing and all about it and the lack of reliability Good news, they're selling a THIRD edition hub, STILL not local, but it has a 4G backup with paid subscription.

[@coffeecakecharlie]

Well done @switchbot. I don’t😊 own any of your device and if this is your ethos, i never will. Thanks for this video! Hope to be buying a couple of ep lites fairly soon!

[@electronicks]

Hasn't Apple done literally this with HomePod, AirPods, even Apple Watch and iPhone?

[@jasonflt]

Needing a hub. Well I'll pass on it now .

[@alexfoxleigh9443]

I was so disappointed with this. It didn’t even support my Denon receiver. In fact, there wasn’t even a receiver category!

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Sorry to hear that, hopefully it gets added soon

[@alexfoxleigh9443]

@@EverythingSmartHome Fingers crossed! It's been shoved into a cupboard for now.

[@-Brunnen-G]

I'm pretty sure that SHOULD BE called false advertising.

[@JustinHughesRoberts]

@EverythingSmartHome. Have you ever gone back and relooked at this remote Lewis? I believe there has been a lot of updates, So maybe a good opportunity for an uipdate video?

[@nothingtoseehere93]

This kind of remote seems so stupid. Are you supposed to carry it with you? Like a PHONE? Just make a nice UI in home assistant. Remotes belong in the theater

[@Nosjamesmenzer]

Hey @EverythingSmartHome I was wondering if you are capable of reviewing more of the remotes that are coming out and maybe even put them head to head against each other and have the 4 Smarthome ecosystems try each remote so we know more on which to buy and which not to buy I appreciate all of your home assistant content you make and hopefully you have a awesome day