The SofaBaton X2 is the distant I have been on the lookout for my entire life

Ever since I added a receiver and Apple TV 4K to my front room, I have been cursed with having too many remotes. I’ve my receiver’s distant, my TV’s distant, and my Apple TV’s distant. It was a jumbled mess of issues, and I typically had to make use of a mixture of all three to get to the place I wished to go. For a very long time, I simply put up with it, however that is all modified with the SofaBaton X2.

Common remotes have been round for a few years, however I do not assume I’ve ever seen one fairly like this. For starters, the SofaBaton X2 has a contact display screen on it that lets me simply change between units I management, and it is very intuitive when you get all of it arrange. I will not lie — there have been some bumps within the street. The setup course of was far more tough and longer than I might hoped. Nevertheless, as soon as I obtained previous all that, the end result was greater than value it. I can lastly put away my further remotes.

Credit score: SofaBaton/Amazon

4.5/5

Model

SofaBaton

Integrations

IR, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi

Battery

USB-C

Built-in Display screen

Sure

Execs & Cons

• Good high quality
• Connects to many units
• Contact display screen
• Lengthy battery life
• Plenty of customization

• Lengthy setup course of
• Heavy
• No voice controls

Worth, specs, and availability

Let me get this out of the best way straight away — the SofaBaton X2 will not be an inexpensive distant. You should purchase the distant from SofaBaton directly or on Amazon, however the value is $360 regardless of the place you are shopping for from, barring any gross sales. With a value that rivals a funds TV, that is definitely one thing for lovers, however I might argue that is what it is designed for. There’s little to no purpose for anyone to choose this distant up simply to make use of it with a single TV and no exterior units. That is one thing meant to regulate many units directly, and it is priced as such.

What I like concerning the SofaBaton X2 distant

It makes every part simpler

The SofaBaton X2 seems like a top quality distant, and it is a huge step up from the likes of the Roku or Hearth TV remotes. After all, on the value, that is to be anticipated. The X2 has a contact display screen that makes navigation very straightforward, and you may simply change between your linked units relying on what you need to management. I’ve my Apple TV 4K, my TV, and my receiver all linked to the distant, and I haven’t got any points in any respect.

Since there’s a big contact display screen, I figured battery life could be a problem, but it surely hasn’t been in any respect. I arrange my distant about two weeks in the past on the time of this writing and nonetheless have not needed to cost it. Talking of charging, you may cost your SofaBaton X2 with a USB-C cable, or you would use the docking station that is akin to an previous landline cellphone. Each work, and if you’d like, you would merely dock your distant every day to make sure you’re at all times at a full cost.

You may also arrange actions on the distant that make quite a lot of steps occur with a single button press. I’ve only one in the meanwhile, however what it does is activate my Apple TV 4K, my receiver, and my TV all on the similar time. On prime of that, it switches my TV’s enter to HDMI 3, so I am up and operating with all my units in a couple of seconds. It is a good characteristic that saves a variety of time and sofa house, since I can do away with further remotes.

There are many further buttons on the distant you may map to capabilities, so you may completely eradicate the necessity for one more distant should you’re affected person sufficient to remap every part. In the event you’re lazy, you may simply use the contact display screen and undergo menus to do the identical factor. Each choices work simply high quality. If vary is an issue, you may snag the R1 vary extender, however I have never had a necessity for that. The common receiver works simply high quality for me, and its small form-factor design is not almost as distracting as the larger ball of the R1 is.

What I do not like concerning the SofaBaton X2 distant

Loads of minor issues

There’s nothing that is flat out a deal breaker for me, however there are a couple of smaller issues with my X2 distant that I feel are value mentioning. The very first thing I seen was that this distant is way heavier than something I’ve used earlier than. It isn’t an enormous deal, but it surely’s one thing I really feel each time I decide it up.

One thing I love to do lots with my Apple TV distant is use the voice controls, particularly once I’m trying to find one thing particular on YouTube. The SofaBaton X2 does not have a built-in mic for voice controls, so I’ve to kind every part in myself. That is really a second the place the Hearth TV’s Alexa hands-free voice controls turn out to be useful. What this implies I have to preserve my Apple TV distant helpful for these moments. You may get round this by having a Google House or Alexa gadget close by that is synced to your distant, however sadly, I do not.

Finally, the largest drawback I bumped into was the preliminary setup. That is removed from a plug-and-play choice, and I needed to undergo a firmware replace with the distant earlier than I obtained to make use of it. You do a lot of the setup by way of the app, and the distant did include a set of directions that have been straightforward to observe, but it surely was time-consuming. You must do a take a look at of all of the units you are connecting to verify the distant controls them, and it wasn’t that prolonged for me since I solely had three, however I think about anyone connecting many units would have an extended day forward of them.

Do you have to purchase the SofaBaton X2 distant?

In the event you can afford to, then certain

I’ve by no means used a common distant earlier than I obtained my fingers on the X2, and now I can not think about a world the place I will not use one. It is so good to regulate every part with one distant, and it means I can put my legs up on my ottoman as an alternative of additional remotes. Certain, issues like voice controls are lacking, however I feel it is a worthy tradeoff.

Worth is what this all boils all the way down to for a lot of. If I needed to spend my very own cash on this distant with out testing it first, I doubt I might’ve completed it. Now that I understand how seamless it makes every part, I feel I might splurge. I can not deny that every one the issues it does make my viewing expertise significantly better, but it surely’s straightforward to think about higher methods to spend $360. This distant is geared towards individuals who need to take their dwelling theater expertise to the subsequent degree, and anybody who has dumped lots of and even 1000’s of {dollars} into their setups will not balk on the excessive price ticket.

The worth you pay is for comfort, and the SofaBaton X2 provides you a variety of it. Is it $360 value it? I feel that’ll boil down to private desire. In the event you’re on the lookout for a alternative on your Logitech Harmony, for instance, then yeah, I might say this delivers. I’ve by no means tried out that distant myself, and I do know many individuals take a look at it fondly, however contemplating Logitech has dropped assist for the distant, the SofaBaton X2 has taken the throne as the present king available on the market.

4.5/5

Model

SofaBaton

Integrations

IR, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi

Battery

USB-C

Built-in Display screen

Sure