There are hundreds of Universal Remote Controls spanning the price range from $10 to 1000s of dollars. We will stick to the more advanced ones, although you may be surprised to find that an advanced remote can cost as little as $20. This is a rather fluid area with new remotes being released often; sign up for our newsletter to be notified when we update our site.
Note, this page focuses on push button remote controls. If you are interested in some of the other technologies or comparisons with them, check out the links below. If your budget allows for a Universal Touch Screen Remote Control, we recommend looking in that direction.
OK, on with the remote controls. We show some of the top remote controls by price and then follow with pages by the brand.
Remote Control By Price
High Range ($300 and above)
MX-3000 by Universal Remote. We really like this remote, simply does just about everything you could want from a remote control. Providing a color touch screen along with a good balance of buttons. This remote can provide different layouts for different users and is programmable to run extensive macros. Comes with a rechargeable battery and with its IR and RF capabilities, this remote supports distances up to 100' feet away.
Harmony 1000 Advanced Universal Remote by Logitech. Recently released and sure to be a hit. This remote provides a combination of touch screen and hard buttons. Big win here is that it comes with the same programming abilities that make all the Harmony remotes highly recommended by users. In addition to IR and RF, this also uses Z-wave wireless technology, which allows control of other things that use Z-wave such as lights. Comes with a rechargeable battery.
Mid Range ($70 to $300)
Harmony 880 Remote Control by Logitech. With its color screen, rechargeable battery and docking station this makes a very good remote for its price range. Of course it also supports the excellent programming ability Harmony remotes are known for, supporting both Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac. Note, this remote is IR only therefore will not work through walls or long distances.
SRU9600 Universal Remote Control by Philips. Rotary control makes this remote unique. Touch-screen display that selectively illuminates only the controls needed for the specific component in use makes this extremely simple remote to use. A drawback is the lack of customization. Although the touch screen changes based on the component in use, the buttons on the screens for each component are pre configured and cannot be changed. That can be a disadvantage, as you have to switch between different component screens to operate various components. For example, one screen to change the channel on the TV and another to change the volume on the surround sound receiver. Overall the simplicity wins out of any drawbacks.
Low Range (Less then $70)
Kameleon 8 Universal Remote Control by One for All. What a great concept! And for the price it is a sure winner. Shuts off automatically and motion sensor turns it on when you pick it up. Like most universal remotes, the Kameleon can either learn commands from other remotes or operate according to the programming codes listed in its manual. A few drawbacks are no customizing of the buttons (can not change the labels) and not surprising, considering the screen, the battery life is short. We recommend buying rechargeable batteries.
Universal Remote URC200 10 Device Universal Remote Control. Do not let this remotes simple looks fool you. This is a very good remote for the price range. Ability to control 10 components and featuring macro capabilities and hundreds of preprogrammed device codes. This remote is IR out of the box, however it can do RF (Radio Frequency) with the MRF-100 Expander. Does not come with rechargeable batteries or software to program like the Harmony remotes.
Harmony 550 Universal Remote by Logitech. Any Harmony remote in the low price range category is something to consider. This remote has enough features to address the simple TV viewer’s needs. Can handle 12 components, comes with the great PC and Mac based programming interface we expect from Harmony. Big drawback with this compared to some of the higher priced remotes is that this does not include rechargeable batteries.
Remote Control By Brand Due to the volume of remotes, we review, we have split this page into pages by brand. Click on the links below for details on the remotes.
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