The good-old-fashioned handheld remote remains a major control device in the modern smart home. With all of the new technologies available to monitor and manage your home, it’s easy to discount the power of the handheld remote control. You can operate just about anything with the sound of your voice and keypads and touchscreens are so intuitive and engaging, it makes that remote by your couch seem so old-fashioned and too antiquated for a smart home. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There are many reasons why you should not only hang on to your handheld but employ it as a mode of control in your smart home.
IT FEELS GOOD
For starters, it’s handheld. Ergonomically speaking, there’s no better way to command the lights, thermostat, AV gear and more from the comfort of the couch, kitchen bar-stool or patio lounger. No need to get up to stroll to a wall-mounted switch, no need to shout edicts and hope Alexa hears them. That trusty remote is right by your side ready to launch strings of instructions to anything you want. And, speaking of trusty, the tactile feel of a remote control’s buttons instills a sense of confidence that your commands are getting through to the right equipment.
IT COSTS LITTLE YET
CONTROLS A LOT
It’s not just AV gear that falls under the guidance of a remote control, anymore. Today’s remotes are able to control anything in a smart home when programmed accordingly. Plus, with built-in LCD screens, it’s like holding a miniature version of a portable home control touchscreen in the palm of your hand. No matter how sophisticated a remote is, however, it’s still one of the most affordable modes of home control available. Even better, a remote control is extremely flexible and scalable, which means you can start with basic functions, like controlling your home theatre gear, then update it gradually to control other parts of your home—lights, door locks, motorised blinds, thermostats, and more. Because a remote control is affordable, it offers a good way test the smart home waters before investing in something of a larger scale.
IT APPEALS TO EVERYONE
Kids and expensive technology are never a good combination, and seniors can often get frustrated by super technological controls. Both are good reasons to stick with a remote control. It can stand up to a good amount of wear and tear, and if the remote does break you aren’t out thousands of dollars. For older generations, the familiarity of a remote breeds comfort. Guests, too, may also feel more at ease picking up a remote than toying with a touchscreen.
IT CLEARS THE CLUTTER
The more tasks a remote is able to handle—and it can handle a lot—the less tech clutter you will have around the house. You won’t need a remote for the motorised blinds, another for the smart light switches, and yet another for the electronic lock on the front door. One remote can do it all, and it can do it all without having to be pointed directly at anything. Equipped with technology that enables signals to travel unobstructed throughout the house, you can be in bed upstairs and turn off lights on the front porch, for example. This also means that you can keep the microprocessors required of many smart products and systems hidden inside closets, cabinets—wherever—and still have commands from the remote reach them without a hitch. Consider all of the superb merits of a modern remote, like the Control4 SR-260. It’s versatile and powerful enough to control a wide variety of smart home products and systems, it’s affordable enough to make a mainstay in your home, and it’s easy enough for everyone in your family to master.