A:Answer Remote is both IR and BT. The remote will function as an IR remote until Google assistant is connected (BT), after the remote is connected through BT, then only the power button will function as IR, the rest of the buttons will work on BT. Additionally, you cannot completely disable the volume on the TV when it's on Optical. However, it can be put to zero. When that's done, then there would be a speaker icon showing it's disabled. If that's distracting, then the volume on the tv can be changed to 1 so the speaker icon does not appear. Furthermore, you have to use the soundbar remote if connected via Optical. Hope this helps! Thank you, TCL Customer Support