Customer Ratings & Reviews

I bought it to get rid of my numerous remotes, with a piece of home automation and it works well for that! The packaging feels premium, as the remote and the heavy base. The screen if well defined, not too bright at night and readable during day. I heard the battery is not that big, I hadn’t any problems with it but I left the remote on the base every time I’m not using it (mainly to find it easily the next time). You can’t point and click with this version U, it is reserved to the X. The configuration is dead simple using the application. Keep in mind that you must have an iOS or Android smartphone to use it, you can’t configure anything on the remote except the Wifi network. The remote is detected quite quickly by the phone. You must be on the same Wifi obviously, double check that your phone is not on 3G/LTE if it doesn’t work. You must keep the remote on during the whole configuration otherwise it seems to loose Wifi! Touch the screen when it dim and everything will be fine. Not ideal but, yeah. If Sevenhugs reads me, please keep the remote on when in configuration mode. I configured my infrared devices in less than 5 minutes (Denon amplifier, Samsung TV, Sony projector and DirectTV receiver) You just have to click “Add a device or service” > choose the kind of device “Infrared” > the category of device “Audio/Projector/TV…” > your region > the device brand and there you can switch to the remote to identify the model automatically or fill it manually. Once done, it setup everything on the remote and you find your new panels dedicated to this device. If the default screen layout doesn’t fit your needs, you can customize it. There is 4 pages you can play with, and even add a button with recorded infrared from your old remote if a command is unknown. I took a few more minutes to link it to my Hue lights (in the “Wifi & bluetooth devices” category) and Spotify account (in the “service” category). Here, the flow is more specific to each device, but the steps are well explained, with pictures, and very simple to follow. It is compatible with a variety of devices, like Apple TV, Roku, TP-Link, Wemo, … and more to come. (And if you do like DIY electronic, I noticed it can run HTTP commands so possibilities are almost endless) The interface is simple, you have a carousel on top of the screen that you can swipe to access all your devices, and a panel related to the current device on the rest of the screen. You can have multiple pages per device, 1 for the light, 2 for Spotify (playlist, controls), and up to 4 for complex devices. You can hide devices you don’t want to see in the carrousel, or group some lights. A must for those lights with multiple bulbs. Once devices are added, you can create scenes. There is 2 types, “Home scenes” and “TV scenes” The first one is “Home scenes”, which is very flexible. You can register actions from different devices, directly on the remote, and replay them later on. For example I created one to shutdown everything in the house and another one to dim the lights in the living room. And the other one is “TV scenes”, which is for me the best feature. It links devices together for a specific usage. As I did buy my devices from different brands I had to use multiple remotes for any basic task. To create to “TV scene” you have to choose an “icon and a name”, the “content source”, the “display”, the “AV receiver”, the “device used for volume”, the “Home scene” to activate when it start and stop Once created, you can - Start the scene, it turns on everything you configured, with the correct inputs source and runs the defined “Home scene” - Then you have a dedicated panel where the volume button acts with the amplifier and the channels with the receiver. Once again you can customize this panel with the button you commonly use. - Stop the scene, it turns down everything and runs the defined “Home scene” If you have a lot of smart devices you could maybe create scenes like - Starts the projector, the amplifier, the speaker and the Xbox to play a game - Dim the lights, open the projector screen, close curtains, starts the projector, the amplifier, the speaker and the blu ray player to watch a film The cons here is that most of my devices are using infrared communication. It means I have to point the remote on TV when I run the scene, otherwise it don’t work. It’s not a problem as most of the time everything is in a cabinet under the TV, but it is something to think about. I use this remote everyday and highly recommend it if you have multiple devices in a room!

I’m honestly surprised by the bad reviews! Setup was so easy, customization was a breeze, and the ability to teach the remote to add new buttons was so intuitive. I know the remote is smaller than most, but it’s honestly nice to have everything easily in reach. I’ve been so frustrated for so long by having 4 remotes, especially since 3 of them were for Samsung devices yet I still needed all of them, but now I can put them all the way and just use this one remote! I definitely recommend buying this!

This product rocks!! I had no problem setting up all of my devices into the control. Samsung TV and PlayStation were set using the combination of the app/remote, the rest of the TV’s were set up using Wi-Fi as they have Roku built in. The texture on the back of the remote is subtle and provides a good grip without being annoying. Aside from the seemingly endless functionality, it is well built, has good weight, does not feel cheap, with a bright responsive touch display, not once ounce of lag breezing through the menus. In summary, this is an excellent remote that should last for years.​

Do not purchase this remote. Just received an email from the company that they are abandoning the product and it will not work from July 2022. Luckily for my I purchased it a while ago and returned it almost immediately due to the fact it wasn’t that great compared to the Harmony stuff. I’m writing this review to warn other people not to buy it, otherwise you will have a rechargeable paper weight in about 12 months. See my picture for the email that was just sent to me.

Overall a great solution to consolidate your various remote controls. Only drawback is that it is quite sensitive to touch, so can move between components unexpectedly.

I recently tried out the sevenhugs SR1AI Smart remote control. I wasn’t sure what to expect but was for the most part pleasantly surprised by it. To start things off, you need a smartphone to program the remote. The Smart Remote app installed on your smartphone is used to configure everything on the smart remote. You can configure most of your smart devices by selecting if it is controlled via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or Infrared. You then select the general category the device fits into, the part of the world you are in, and selecting the brand and model number of the device. The phone then downloads the appropriate details from sevenhugs and loads the control panels, for the device, onto the smart remote. I loaded my TP-Link electrical outlets, 2 TVs, my Android TV Box, Blu-Ray player, Roku Express and Cox Contour DVR. The TP-Link electrical outlets simply give you an option to turn them off and on. The televisions each give me multiple control panels which provide all of the functionality of the factory remotes. Same goes for the Blu-Ray player. All of the devices are made by different manufacturers and it handles them all well. The Control Panel for the Roku is missing the four service buttons, but that’s not a big deal since you can navigate the menus on the Roku to bypass the need for the buttons. The Cox Contour DVR requires 4 control panels. These 4 control panels give you every function that the Cox remote has except for voice control. The remote does have a microphone and they promise voice input soon. The remote is extremely easy to use. Simply scroll to the desired device at the top of the screen or point the remote at the device. Most of the time, the remote knows what device you want to control, simply by aiming the remote at it. If there is more than 1 control panel needed for the device, a scroll line appears at the bottom of the screen and you can swipe left or right to change which panel is displayed. My only complaint is the functionality with my Android TV Box. The control panel for this is very limited. It has a trackpad, buttons for home, + menu, -, back forward, rewind and play/pause. There is also a button to display a keyboard, which will also be displayed by simply rotating the remote to a landscape orientation. The keyboard itself is limited. As you can see in this photo, there are a lot of missing keys. It doesn’t have Esc, function keys, cursor movement keys, page up, page down, home, end, Alt, Ctrl, AltGr, left and right mouse clicks and programmable keys that most mini-keyboards would have. This means that you will not be able to give up your existing remote if you are using one of the many mini-keyboard remotes out there. You can configure Home Scenes and TV Scenes. Home Scenes are defined sets of functions to perform on devices such as you smart outlets or programmable lighting. TV Scenes control your AV equipment and can also activate Home Scenes when you turn a TV Scene on or off. As an example, when it’s time to watch your favorite football team, you could have a TV Scene that would turn on your TV and Cable Box, switch to the station your team plays on, turn on your AV receiver and surround speakers, set the volume and change your Hue Lights to your team color. It’s a very powerful function of this remote that I’m only starting to get into the details. Overall, this is a great remote and I highly recommend it. My main drawback has to be its functionality when using it with an Android TV box. It still can’t quite replace your wireless keyboard, but it’s certainly very capable in all of the other areas. Since they are constantly adding new compatible device drivers and functionality, hopefully, this is something they can fix in the future.

This review is about SevenHugs smart remote “U” based on 3 day usage experience. From its packaging and design I interpret that its look and price point appeal to upper scale gadget. At high level I would describe it as a mobile phone without actual phone features dedicated to remote control function. The similar functions can be achieved on the phone with diverse application that exist in the market. However, the SevenHug remote control allow to remove all the juggling process between apps and have single hardware that focus on the remote control of devices within home. Installation: like many smart devices installation is straightforward and simple. One thing I would observe as beneficial is connecting to WiFi directly from the devices instead of using your mobile phone like in smart thermostat or smart lock door. As the network login occur in the remote control itself, you don’t have to deal with the intermediary dependency and not being able find out what is going when it doesn’t connect to the WiFi. Upon connected to WiFi, automatically check for software update and perform its installation. In this aspect not very different to many other smart devices while start it for first time. Connection to smart devices and multimedia: This aspect is performed via application from the phone (or tablet), in which each kind and brand being added. As soon it is added, the same appears in the remote control. Interestingly appears immediately. During addition of the devices to control, it require each of device login, like to add Sono require Sonos user/password and so on, Hence if you are adding ten kind of different brand, you have to have on hand necessary login info. Each of added device appears with the name used in the source. For instance, if FireTv account name is XYZ’s, will show XYXZ’s Fire Tv. Then specific case of Apple TV in my setting of TV connected to soundbar for which via AppleTv control the volume, sevenhug would not honor this setting. Meaning, after having added to smart control, then smart control only control navigation and rest of function of AppleTve except volume. Hence need to control with second connected device as soundbar and control from here. (I am guessing later this has to be done via what sevenhug calls Scenes). The experience: Smart Remote U use carrosel to change type of device. The kind of device indicator sit nicely on the top of the screen, and as you scroll shows the list of devices added. In some case taping it works as On/Off function. Underneath there is small square space which is designed for Up/Down/Right/Left/Scroll and interface vary depending on type of device. The space and buttons are tiny and I would say it require some time to get used to. The big downside is that, for instance using Apple TV or Fire Tv, while watching program and on the attempt of changing or navigating in the screen, as try to control via square space sometime endup touching the device name resulting change device or OFF. I guess this aspect will depend on person but I think there might high percentage of cases going through the same. One surprise is the haptic touch like feedback when you touch each button. This is big plus as while you are watching tv you can control still and know that the button you pressed has executed without having to looking at the control Now, using with Sonos specifically, there seems to be issue when it is connected and added in the remote control. This is because it added duplicated names repetitive way, then need to remove one by one. In my case have several grouped Sonos. Still on the case of usage of Sonos, from the remote control selection of different station is limited to availability from Sonos Favorite. Hence if want something out of Favorite and different ones are setup from desktop or phone, would require to leave the remote control. Wishful functions: 1. Allow to turn on the screen when pickup the remote control, like the phone. This because after having selected desired channel station etc, and leave down the remote control, it require to touch the screen to see the option. Rather more effective to have turn on automatically upon picking up. 2. Voice command feature is not available. For instance for AppleTv functions, the option for voice absent. Although in the sevenhug website’s product specification does mention “Microphone and Speaker Ready”, couldn’t find any instruction on how to. 3. For the upper class appealing gadget and price point, should have wireless charging. In bottom line: it is nice gadget if you can afford or don’t mind spending on it. However, like most of nice things that look simple, this take get used experience and with it some frustration. But once setup properly it create seamless experience while leaving your phone and table dedicated to productive purpose. Having said that, the setting aspect require quite focus that removes the practicality. Based on this the rating. In the attachment of photo includes comparison vs Apple TV remote control, look of home screens from the application, and charging state.

Open the box and the first thing i see is a damaged charging port. Either I got a refurbished remote, or their quality control is terrible.

I’ve got a thing for tools that enable home automation. I have a ton of smart home devices that all talk to each other and enable me to do repetitive tasks automatically (like saying “Alexa, time for bed”). The sevenhugs remote seems to be a perfect fit from all appearances - it claims to integrate with Roku, Spotify, TPLink smart devices, several other smart home products and a ton of IR based devices. Out of the box, you get a simple touchscreen remote with a USB C charging base. The remote feels a little small in the hand, but the screen is 100% accessible with your thumb. First boot starts with a nice “hello world” and a brief software update. Initial out of box experience was slightly painful personally - my network inadvertently blocked their update server so I had to do some networking gymnastics to make it happen. Up to, and including enabling the 2.4GHz band of wireless as this product does not support 5GHz - an odd design choice for 2019, but semi-understandable. Out of the box, my “trial” setup included a pair of TPLink Smart Plugs, Spotify, a Roku, a Vizio TV, and a Samsung Soundbar. The smart plugs and Roku were automatically recognized on the first launch. Getting IR devices added was relatively easy - either type in the manufacturer and try a few remote codes to find one that matches or type in the model number and it will attempt to recognize from an automatic list. All in, setup took me about an hour to get to a 90% “good enough” configured set-up. Once configured, the option exists for you to configure what’s known as “Home Scenes” and “TV Scenes” - this is where the sevenhugs automation suite comes in to play. Home scenes are used to automate communication of your smart devices (plugs, lights, etc..). TV scenes are used to automate devices that connect to your TV. The software offers a customizable (beta) remote interface for their TV Scenes. This lets you pick parts of various remotes and stitch them together. Say, for instance, adding the volume controls of your soundbar to your Roku remote. When activated, the remote will turn on all associated components (and even toggle your smart lights if configured). It’s neat if a bit restricted. Would have been nice to see a bit more in terms of startup/shutdown actions like launching an app on Roku or exiting all apps. This will satisfy most entry-level automation desires. Now, why did I end at “good enough” and not “perfectly” set up? In the past, I’ve worked with several Logitech Harmony devices - starting with a basic IR remote, moving up to the Harmony Smart Control, and even recently trying out the Harmony Express. All of those devices had one critical thing in common; they knew the remote profile of the devices that you were interacting with and could almost always control it with pinpoint accuracy. This is crucial for a smart remote because the more things you need to do by hand, the more likely your automation is likely to break. sevenhugs falls short here. It connected directly to my Roku over the network, but it failed to recognize any of the “dynamic app buttons” that you find on the normal Roku remote like Netflix, YouTube, or Hulu. The requirement to get those buttons added to the sevenhugs remote is to first find an IR input device that can do this and have it learn that way. As my Roku did not come with an IR remote, I was saved by my original IR-based Harmony remote. Yet without that, I wouldn’t have been able to actually get half the integration functionality out of my Roku. Beyond that, interfacing with the remote was tedious at times. For remotes that use directional pads, sevenhugs has replaced the said pad with a trackpad style interface where you move your thumb in the direction you’d like the remote to navigate. It’s cool in theory, but I often found it difficult to accurately land on specific tiles - often stopping short or going just over the tile I wanted to press. This tedium extends to their Spotify integration. It works; their integration shows your playlists and shows devices that you can connect to as a remote control. Interacting with it beyond volume and track controls turns an otherwise okay interface to a sluggish experience. Larger playlists (~100 tracks) load in single 10-track batches with choppy inertial scrolling. The interface sadly only allows sorting tracks oldest to newest - would have been awesome to see a reverse order sort. Battery life was a bit short - this remote will likely require daily (or every other day) charges. I might be able to stretch it for four days, but it’d be with barely any use. Most of these things can (and probably will) be fixed with software updates (probably). But there was one thing I found that I missed the most with this remote and it’s something that can’t be fixed with software. I truly missed a tactile location on the remote - I thought I could get used to a remote without it, but I needed _something_ tactile. That reach that you have when the next episode comes on at 150% volume and you just want it to quiet down. Before this remote, an instinctive reach and press. After this remote, it turns to double-tap the screen, make sure you’re in the right view, and carefully press the right button. Just from character count alone, the new process takes more dedication. I think I might be able to live if there were just some kind of volume rocker on the side, but that’s not on offer here. One last note before leaving - the day prior to writing this review saw me having to rebuild my wireless network because my router died. Some things changed under the hood, but _most_ of it was the same (to include passwords and names). Despite having a ton of similarities, the sevenhugs remote forgot how to talk to all my WiFi devices. As of this moment, it seems my only recourse is to reset the remote and rebuild the configuration entirely. My Harmony Smart Control seemed to recover 100% without me touching it. I’m sure I’d get better with setting it up over time, but set up should be a one-time thing - not something that needs repeating several times. If this was the only remote I had access to, I could make a friend of it with a few quality of life improvements. Given the price as of this review and the challenges I had getting it going though, sevenhugs has some room to grow before I’d pick this remote.

I nearly gave up on this remote because I was so frustrated with the way the stock configuration worked. I was able to download the app on my phone and get the remote paired with my phone and wireless network without any issues. I then started adding devices using the device’s model numbers which is the way I would recommend doing it. Once I got the devices added I then tried to start using the remote and this is where the issues started. I have small hands and fingers but trying to get the right function to work on the trackpad was nearly impossible. Other remotes have the physical buttons so you know the difference between the up key and the enter key. On this remote the trackpad has no buttons so it’s a guessing game to find the exact right spot. Also several of the standard configuration screens had buttons I had no interest in using or they were located in the wrong order. The buttons for the Roku for example did not mimic the position of my Roku remote which adds to the confusion. See photos. Luckily I found the Customize Screen Layout option on the phone app and this is what you need to use to make this remote really shine. Using the Customize function I was able to replace the trackpad with individual up, down, left, right and enter buttons – see photos. Now I knew exactly where to push to get the function I wanted. Next I realized I could Customize what buttons I wanted to use for each device. For example my Denon remote has 66 buttons! Out of those 66 buttons I was able to create 2 simple screens on the Sevenhugs, one for adjusting the volume and sound options and one for selecting the source. Each screen has only the necessary buttons which drastically simplifies the operation. I did the same thing for my TV, Blu-Ray player and Roku. On other high end remotes that I have I was able to combine IR commands to operate everything but I still had a zillion buttons that I never touched and even though I could program and name some of the buttons I did not have total control of the way the buttons were aligned. With the Customize Screen Layout in the phone app you can put whatever button you want where ever you want it on the remote. You basically can design your own remote with as many or as few buttons as you require in any sequence to meet your needs. Because I can now simplify the remote screen by only showing the buttons that are necessary to control the device in use makes it far more usable for anyone who is not a tech geek. Handing someone a Universal remote with 60 plus buttons and trying to explain what buttons are required for what device is insane compared to handing them this customized remote that only shows buttons they understand and need. It’s not perfect however, I still have some concerns: 1. I cannot get my TP link smart outlets to register with the app. I have been working with Sevenhugs support but so far no resolution. 2. The remote is small, too small in my opinion and difficult to use one handed. On other remotes you can rest your hand on a button without pushing it. On this remote any touch activates the function. This isn’t a show stopper and I am guessing with time I will get better at it. 3. The documentation on how to set up the remote and to customize it was not intuitive. Once I realized I could customize things I started searching for information and found it but it should be included either as a tutorial on the phone app or on paper packaged with the remote. 4. Using the phone app and customizing the remote takes some time and some thought as to what and where buttons should be shown. You cannot just drag a button to a new location, you need to delete it first, then re-add it in the new location. Because of this the set up can be tedious.

Just purchased but can't return it now, it will cease functioning June first 2022

First of all, was shocked how tiny it was. I expected it to be the size of my phone but more resembles a snickers candy bar, so could definitely be wider and much larger with bigger on screen buttons... it's not like it has to fit in a small pocket and spends most of its life on a table, lol. Comes with a charger base but is super fragile so don't expect it to last long and I will just find a normal cable to use instead. Only runs on 2.4ghz so had to switch my phone and devices over from 5ghz to connect them, but wasn't much of a issue. It easily loaded ALL of my remotes which is awesome. Has a little slider at the top to choose which device you want (again, if it was wider they could be down the side and actually fit them on all one single screen for much easier/quicker access). It loads up it's suggested layout for each device, but you can fully customize the whole remote layout with as many or few buttons as wanted (but single buttons presses as a button hold won't work like the Apple TV uses to make it go to sleep) and separated with different pages from the phone app (don't know of any other remote that can do that which is awesome!) The Apple TV 4K wouldn't connect with Bluetooth so had to use IR (has to be in line of sight), and the PS4 still isn't able to communicate through Bluetooth with it, but every single other device worked perfect (synced to the Hue lights, LG tv, Sony audio receiver, Apple TV 4K, Nvidia Shield, and Xbox One). I think they are working on adding microphone functionality and getting the PS4 Bluetooth working still, but it's been a while so not sure if that will ever release. It's a really neat remote and is fully customizable with great compatibility, but should have been made way larger or had a XL version so the buttons aren't so tiny causing wrong key presses...

The Sevenhugs Smart Remote U is a universal remote capable of controlling devices through Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or IR and comes with an innovative user interface. At the top of the remote is a carousel containing icons of all the devices the remote is currently paired with. Once you select the device you want to control from the carousel, the rest of the remote’s user interface changes to reflect the device you want to control. So, if you select a Roku device, the remote changes to have buttons and inputs Roku users would be familiar with and if you select another device, the user interface would change to have buttons and inputs for that particular device. You can also customize the user interface using the companion app by adding new buttons and changing the layout for each device. Right now, the user interface for each device has the same “look” but with different buttons and inputs for each device. I think it would be neat if the remote supported skins so when controlling a Roku, it would actually look like a typical Roku remote. Setup was very easy. The first thing you do is connect the remote to your home Wi-Fi after charging it on the included charging stand. One thing that is a bit concerning about the stand is that the only thing supporting the remote is the USB-C connector. I would feel better if the charger provided additional support. I can easily imagine accidentally bumping into the remote and damaging the connector. Battery life was about 3 to 4 days for me. The remote provides screens for you to select the available networks and a virtual keyboard to type in your password. Then you need to download the companion app to your phone or tablet. You use the companion app to add devices to your remote. You can add IR or Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices. To add a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi device, the app scans your network for available devices and you can then select the ones you want to pair with and the user interface for that device will be downloaded to the remote. I was able to add the following Bluetooth or Wi-Fi devices. 1. TP-Link Smart Plug controlling my living room light 2. Roku from my TCL 49S515 Series 5 4K UHD TV (only after connecting my TV through Wi-Fi instead of ethernet) 3, Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K 4. nVidia Shield TV 2017 5. Apple TV 4K The Sevenhugs remote was great at controlling my TP-Link smart plug. Just pressing the device icon turns my lights on and off. No problems at all. It has so far been rock solid. The Sevenhugs behaved perfectly as a great Roku remote. In fact, I consider it to be an upgrade over the remote my TV came with. The TV remote used IR but the Sevenhugs communicated with my TV using Wi-Fi (or maybe Bluetooth) so I didn’t have to aim the remote at my TV to get pass the soundbar blocking the IR receiver. As a Fire TV and Apple TV remote, I noticed that I kept getting notifications that the Sevenhugs remote was connecting and disconnecting whenever the remote would go to sleep or wake up which was annoying. As a Shield TV remote, I didn’t notice this problem. To add an IR device, you must select it from Sevenhugs’ database. According to Sevenhugs their database has over 650,000 compatible IR devices. Once you select an IR device, it is downloaded into the remote which then appears in the device carousel. I was able to add the following IR devices 1. TCL 49S515 Series 5 4K UHD TV 2. TiVo Bolt 3. Sony UBP-X700 UHD Blu-ray player 4. Philips BDP5012/f7 Blu-ray player 5. Microsoft XBox One S I was able to add the following unsupported IR device using a workaround to simulate IR Device Learning. The Sevenhugs remote can currently use IR Learning to add unsupported buttons and inputs to any existing device but it cannot use IR Learning to add a whole new device. To add new buttons to an existing device using IR Learning, all you have to do is to press the button or input you want to add from the original device remote while it is pointing at the Sevenhugs remote and it will learn the IR code for that button. The workaround for adding an unsupported IR device is to pick any IR device from the list and remove all the buttons. Then you use IR Learning to add the buttons from the unsupported device. Doing this, I was able to add the following HDMI switch to the Sevenhugs remote. 1. Univivi 4K HDMI Switch 7x1 All IR devices work great with the Sevenhugs remote although I did experience one problem where one of the XBox’s IR buttons seem to be the same as an IR button on the HDMI switch. While using my XBox, it kept switching to another input. But this wasn’t any fault of the Sevenhugs’ remote. It was just a weird coincidence. Finally, I had one device which the Sevenhugs remote did not support and I could not figure out how to add it. 1. Bose Soundbar 500 With the Sevenhugs Smart Remote, we can label the inputs to be more descriptive. For example, instead of having the buttons labeled “Input1”, “Input2” and so on for my HDMI switch, I can label them as “Xbox One S”, “Apple TV” etc. The Sevenhugs can also group your devices into Scenes where one button can turn on your TV, turn on your receiver or soundbar, switch inputs to your TiVo and then turn on your TiVo. Unfortunately, I was not able to figure out how to set up a scene within the time I have had for this review. I’ll keep working on it. I’ve been using the Sevenhugs Smart Remote for about 7 days now and I’m comparing it to my Logitech Harmony Elite. I like the form factor of the Sevenhugs remote a little better than the Harmony Elite. The Harmony Elite is a little too long and it can be awkward interacting with the touch screen and then reaching down to interact with the physical buttons. With the Sevenhugs, most of the entire screen is within reach of my thumb. The Logitech Harmony Elite has a larger device database. The Logitech also includes a smart hub that includes IR extensions to control IR devices behind closed cabinets. With the Sevenhugs, you need to make sure any IR devices are within the line of sight of the remote. The Logitech Harmony Elite also allows voice control using Alexa and Google Assistant. This feature is missing from the Sevenhugs As a remote, I feel that the Sevenhugs is superior or has the potential to be superior to the Harmony Elite. I like the form factor and user interface better on the Sevenhugs. But as a smart ecosystem, the Harmony Elite is superior. If it is possible to add a smart hub to the Sevenhugs remote as an IR extension and add voice integration with Alexa and Google Assistant then I would feel that the Sevenhugs Smart Remote U would be a worthy rival to the Harmony Elite.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the money on this. However, I decided to get the U remote (What I understand is that the X version, includes sensors that allow the remote to know exactly what device it is pointing to. It didn't make sense for me to spend an extra $100 for that feature). The Good: - Easy to set up - Nice app (with some exceptions - see below) - Worked quickly with all of my devices (including my Philips Hue Lights) The Cons: - The biggest con for me is that there are not hardware volume buttons. So, unless I am missing something, I have to swipe back to my TV screen on the remote to change the volume. Physical volume buttons would allow me to change volume without having to go back and forth between the screens just to change the volume and go back to what I was doing (flipping through the on-screen tv guide, or whatever). - The remote is actually too small. I am not a large person, but the remote is just small and sometimes the button pushing on the screen isn't as easy as you might think because of the small amount of real estate on the screen. - The phone app also doesn't double as a remote. This would be a great feature, if I could just control my devices with the app if I am not right near the physical remote. Overall: Not disappointed, just not as in love with it as I had hoped.

Today I reluctantly returned the Sevenhugs remote to Best Buy. I wanted this work so bad, but at the end of the day this remote failed to live up to my expectations and didn't replace my multiple remotes. Pros - Sleek design - Lots of compatible devices - Lots of customization available - Great solution for a room with a SINGLE tv, a receiver, and several aux devices. Cons - The device is way too small, and it is very hard to hit the buttons, ESPECIALLY the trackpad. I would have to stare at it an be VERY careful when going through menus. - Difficult to dock. Hard to do while watching tv and it is dark. Would be better as a wireless charging device. - Hue integration left a lot to be desired. Lots of lag to the lights when you make a change. Functionality is very basic, as it just changes the color and brightness. The scenes from the Hue application on your phone do not carry over. - No current support for Nest without extensive workaround - FireTv integration is sub par, at best. Especially when you have a tv with the Fire built in. Controlling volume on a tv with the built-in Fire controls requires creating a "tv scene." However, when you have multiple Fire Tvs in a single room this just doesn't work because it turns them all on. This remote was purchased for the main purpose of replacing two FireTv remotes. It failed to do it. Only work around was to turn on both Fire tvs in IR mode then go to each one individually as a device and make changes. Too much hassle. - Nearly impossible to use this to control multiple TVs in a single room. Scenes do not let you customize enough, at least not yet. - Sonos integration with the 5.1 soundbar setup was clunky and glitchy. When it did work there were connection errors and delays. I tried for weeks to get used to this remote, and I really hoped that updates would fix some issues with Hue and FireTv integration. They just didn't. I hope they make a second generation with a larger display. If they make a bigger remote and FULLY integrate the advertised compatible devices I would give them another try.

I 'use' this remote with a Denon receiver (AVR-S710W), Apple TV (4th gen), ComCast Xfinity cable box, a Phillips Hue hub (2nd gen), a Wemo bridge, Samsung UHD 4k tv (UN55RU8000), and Samsung-Harmon Kardon 7.1.4 Channel Dolby Atmos soundbar (HW-Q90ZA). I set this smart remote up on an iPhone Xs running iOS 12.4. I have Gigibit ethernet service. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: It’s a waste of time and money. I had a terrible experience. I was so utterly disgusted after I set up this remote and tested it, that I no longer use it; cumulatively, I’ve used it for no more than 4 days. Physically setting this up took at least 3 hours. The app would not find most of my components, so I had to put most things in by hand; the app kept freezing. The most time-consuming, and most frustrating thing was that the remote kept losing the WiFi signal. So, if it were in the middle of getting programmed for a particular component and the app could not locate the remote, I had to re-start the programming process for that component. It was constant, sometimes >5 times in a row, losing the WiFi signal, restarting the app, and restarting the programming process. See the picture I attached; programming error, remote not found…I saw that error so many time, I couldn’t even guess the number of times. REVIEW: I unboxed the remote and set it aside on its stand to charge, then installed a firmware update. I will say that for its size and shape, it felt comfortable in my hand; nicely ergonomic, with a rubberized base to prevent it from slipping out of my hand. Anything that I wanted to control with this remote, I switched (if not already) on the 2.4GHz WiFi band as instructed; that is, my iPhone as well as any components. I gathered the brands / model numbers of those components, and I started setting up the remote. Note I was sitting on my sofa, <7 feet from these components and my Wi-Fi router with no obstruction and had full WiFi signal strength. There are YouTube tutorials, and the manual is written well online. Physically setting this up took at least 3 hours, and I’m sure I’m underestimating that time. The app would not find most of my components, so I had to put most things in by hand; the app kept freezing. The most time-consuming, and most frustrating thing was that the remote kept losing the WiFi signal. So if it were in the middle of getting programmed for a particular component and the app could not locate the remote, I had to re-start the programming process for that component. It was constant, sometimes >5 times in a row, losing the WiFi signal, restarting the app, and restarting the programming process. To verify it was not an issue with the cable, I contacted ComCast, who verified the cable signal was fine, and I used an app to verify the broadband speed to be ~920Mbps. First off, the app found 3 components of all the ones I intended to control with this app (the Wemo bridge and Phillips Hue hub were two of them, so not very helpful), so I really just ended up putting in the model numbers of the components. My 2019 television and my cable box required ‘learning’, which would have been fine, if there were not the time issue with remote dropping out / losing connection. Since I had to ‘learn’ the components, some functions were not available, especially on my tv. The 3 hours of setup time was mainly due to performing it over 2 days or so time; I didn’t set aside 3 or more hours to set up the remote. There wasn’t an issue finding the Phillips Hue hub, but it didn’t detect my lights, so I put them in separately. It didn’t detect my light groups, so I had to do that manually. It didn’t detect my Scenes, which if recreated, I could never get the exact colors, so I didn’t even bother setting all of them up at this point. I could not find a way to group all lights under a ‘menu’ on the remote, so I had to scroll through every single light bulb, along with my components. The selection of light color looked cool and futuristic, but there was no way to ‘fine-tune’ colors; I wanted an ultraviolet (black light) color but could not ‘dial in’ exactly what I was looking for. In terms of the Wemo bridge, it found my plugs and their names automatically, but I could not group them into a ‘menu’ called ‘plugs’ or something on the remote or app, so I had to scroll through those, as well as the lights and components. I did put minimal effort into setting up activities, like ‘Watch TV’, but since the remote had to be ‘learned’ for my tv and cable box, it didn’t really work well. I watched YouTube videos and chatted with Severhugs support, but my issues were not really resolved. So, the ‘smart’ remote sits in my drawer. I’m extremely disappointed.

I really thought this thing would be cool, and it does have a cool factor to it but they still have some work to do. I guess in the end the biggest thing I didn’t like was trying to use a touch screen to quickly change the volume or channel. With my regular remote I can pick it up and do these tasks without looking at it, with this one you have to look every time because obviously by design there are no tactile buttons. Also, it doesn’t completely work for everything. I got it set up with my Apple TV and it mostly works, but when I go into YouTube it stops responding and I have to use my Apple TV remote anyway. If I’m having to use multiple remotes anyway there is no point in having a $200 universal remote. Just one more thing, I tried and tried and could not figure out how to set it so when I use the volume control from the TV/Apple TV screen it would control my soundbar. CEC doesn’t work right on my TV so I shut it off so the TV volume buttons are worthless. On the Logitech Harmony and even the One for All universal (not sold at Best Buy, I found it at Walmart) you can lock the volume controls to a specific device no matter what other device you have selected. With this very expensive remote you have to manually scroll back to soundbar every time. In the end, I found this remote to be even more work than just using 4-5 remotes anyway. With software updates they can definitely make it better but I also don’t think using just a touch screen for a remote will ever feel natural.

Only owned for about a week so far, but I like it better than I thought. Bought this to replace my Harmony Elite which I couldn't stand anymore due to clunky software and slow responses to button and screen presses. The Sevenhugs remote is nicely responsive. Swiping between devices is quick. Touch inputs are registered almost immediately. The app is better than Logitech's, though, that's a low bar to clear. It's pretty easy to program, but it might not be as beginning friendly as the Harmony. There is a few more manual steps. On the plus side, you can change and tweak things a lot more than on the Harmony. For systems that the Harmony always seems to struggle with, this could do the trick. If the device database doesn't have your device you can do manual IR learning, but you have to build off a random device instead of being able to create a new one. This has the side effect of having to change any activities manually to the learned codes. It's workable, but not ideal. The remote itself is much smaller than I expected. The means the the on screen buttons are smaller, so if you have poor eyesight, that could be an issue. It is easy to hold and light. There are no physical buttons at all. Sevenhugs, if you read this, please add a physical power off button, and physical volume buttons (on the side like a mobile phone could work nicely). There is no hub with IR blasters or RF like on the Harmony. This is mostly good as it reduces how much you need to plug in and setup. WiFi and BT are built into the remote itself. The only downside would be if you have your devices behind solid doors, in which case you'd need a repeater, which is built in to the Harmony Hub. USB C charging is pretty great. If you don't want to use the charging stand you can use most smart phone chargers. No proprietary docks is always a good thing. Overall, I'm happier with it than I was the Harmony Elite so far. I'd recommend it to most people as long as you're willing to put in some extra time programming.

Nice idea, not great implementation. The remote itself is too small for a normal sized hand, this would be much improved if it were a physically larger remote. The software and user interface is pretty good, you can only configure from a phone, not a PC and some advanced configuration is difficult to get to because it is geared to the simple tasks. If you want an easy to configure all-in-one remote, this is a good option (as long as you have small hands!) but if you want anything advanced then the Logitech family would be better (and they are more ergonomic)

I purchased this unit in an attempt to find something more reliable than Logitech Harmony remotes, which at least half the time, don't work the system properly. My wife and I were very frustrated with the Logitech units. I bought one of these units last month, and could not program my devices into it. After following the troubleshooting guide and several alternatives, I could not get the unit to either download device profiles (i.e., TV, receiver, Blu Ray settings) OR to work to copy infrared settings, which is the alternate to downloading from SevenHugs. I know it was not my WiFi, and I tried it on two different Android phones. No luck. This led me to believe the remote itself was bad. So I contacted SevenHugs, who pretty much asked me to do what I had already done, which I explained I had already done. Nonetheless, I tried it again, and no such luck. I suggested that they might want to exchange the unit as it appeared to be bad. They then told me that they would get back to me, but to let me know if "anything changes." Well, how the heck is it supposed to change if I can't program the darn thing? Six business days later, they still have not reached back out to me. This is pretty lousy customer support. In the meantime, I went ahead and exchanged the remote for a similar one through BestBuy. This time, the unit WOULD program to download the device information, and I did get it to work and be programmed. However the learning from my existing remotes function does not work, although I tried it with several remotes. It seems to copy the codes but then will not perform the programmed functions. At least however, it does seem to work overall. In using the remote, I find the swiping functions not to be the best. For instance, scrolling up and down, right and left, on Amazon or the DirectTV guides is tricky. One problem I encountered was that I could not get the remote to program which input to use on my TV. However I later realized that this was really not an issue (except for a video game device) because the DirectTV, Firestick, and Blu-Ray all use the same TV input setting. So I simply removed all instructions to change the input selection on the TV from the remote and that worked. So overall, while I think this unit DOES work better than the Logitech and seems to consistently turn on and off my devices for the right device combinations (for instance, turning on the DirectTV, TV, and Receiver to watch most TV; and switching the DirectTV off and changing the receiver input when changing to Firestick; note that this was my BIG complaint with Logitech which was VERY unreliable functioning), it was a little tricky to program and a little clunky to use. Lastly, their customer support was completely worthless and is an example of poor service and support.