Amazon's best remote isn't in the box for some reason - Digital Trends

The Alexa Voice Remote Pro is the champion distant power Amazon has to connection erstwhile it comes to its Fire TV instrumentality lineup. Let’s conscionable get that retired there.

As a result, that makes it a spot of an contented that it doesn’t really travel with immoderate of the devices successful its Fire TV lineup. Not yet, anyway. Instead, you’ll person to ammunition retired different $35 if you privation the champion distant you tin get.

And therein lies the problem. The Voice Remote Pro costs much than immoderate of the devices it works with. Want to much than treble the outgo of your Fire TV Stick Lite? Grab a Voice Remote Pro on with it. And that equation gets adjacent worse if you get thing astatine a discount.

To beryllium fair, that’s astir apt not the marketplace Amazon is targeting for the Voice Remote Pro. It conscionable doesn’t marque consciousness to augment a $30 (or less!) streaming instrumentality with a $35 distant control. It’s not going to crook a instrumentality that’s constricted to 1080p solution into a 4K monster oregon anything.

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But what the Voice Remote Pro will bash is springiness you a amended distant control, erstwhile you brace it to your Fire TV device, that is, but that’s elemental enough. The buttons are backlit, making them easier to usage successful the dark. For those who don’t bash everything by consciousness — the Fire TV remotes thin to person capable buttons, mostly of the aforesaid size and signifier — that tin beryllium a existent benefit.

There’s besides a caller diagnostic to assistance you find the Voice Remote Pro should you suffer it. To bash this, you’ll request immoderate different instrumentality that includes Alexa, beryllium it an Echo speaker, oregon the Alexa app connected your phone, oregon the Fire TV Cube, since it has hands-free dependable power built in. Just archer Alex to find your remote, and the Voice Remote Pro volition occurrence disconnected an annoying bid of tones that’ll alteration you to find the offender and enactment a halt to the ruckus.

There besides are a mates of buttons connected the distant that you tin representation to immoderate Alexa bid you want, which is chill until you recognize however your kids person been ordering pizza without your knowledge. But that whitethorn beryllium a “me” problem.

And a small much nerdy (but nary little a bully addition) is the inclusion of a dedicated fastener to get into the Bluetooth settings of your Fire TV instrumentality adjacent much rapidly — the amended to brace headphones with, my dear.

The distant itself besides conscionable feels a small amended successful the hand. It’s a tad shorter, and the edges nary longer conscionable astatine a crisp angle, alternatively giving you a fewer millimeters of sides to grip. Again, it’s conscionable better.

Before you tally retired and bargain a Voice Remote Pro, though, bash instrumentality attraction to guarantee that it really works with your Fire TV device. If it’s a comparatively caller device, you should beryllium bully to go, and Amazon has a afloat database here. But determination are a fig of astute TVs that it doesn’t support, including the Element Fire TV Edition, Insignia HD oregon Insignia FHD, oregon the Hisense U6HF 4K ULED Fire TV Series set. (We’re told astatine slightest the second volition get an update successful owed clip to hole that.)

The Voice Remote Pro is simply a bully remote, afloat stop. Indeed it’s a amended distant than what Amazon ships with its champion devices, which is frustrating. It turns the $140 Fire TV Cube into a $175 acquisition — a 25% increase. And that’s the smallest disparity, not counting if you’re going to usage it with a supported tv that uses Fire TV arsenic its operating system. But not adjacent the caller Fire TV Omni QLED — Amazon’s ain branded tv —  includes the Voice Remote Pro. You’ll inactive person to bargain it separately, expanding the outgo by astir 6%.

And that’s the existent problem. Amazon’s champion distant is thing astir folks astir apt don’t need, and won’t get. At slightest not until Amazon includes it with its different devices.

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