Do you own an Amazon Fire TV and have just heard about the new upgrade to your remote? Don’t worry, I saved you hours of research and reading by summarizing it all in this article.
The Fire TV remote Pro provides some extra features on the normal remote like extra buttons and glow-in-the-dark buttons. If you lose your remote often then the “Find My Remote Feature” will help you find it by playing a beep sound until you press a button.
The new Fire TV remote pro offers some new features and additional buttons which we’ll discuss in detail in this article.
Is there enough bang for your buck? Well, it depends on personal usage and preferences.
First Glance
You get a couple of manuals, AAA batteries, and the remote itself in the box. The remote looks similar but feels a lot different.
The Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote Pro offers 3 additional buttons. A small button with a headset in the corner and two shortcut buttons labeled 1 and 2 respectively.
The remote is also shorter and a little bit thinner than the one you get with Fire TV.
Key Features
Amazon had to make this remote worth the extra bucks we have to spend.
I think while they might have done enough for most of us, there are still some things it can change to better appeal to the audience.
Glow-In-The-Dark Buttons
One of the new features you get for purchasing this piece of tech is glowing buttons. Yes! the buttons now glow in the dark.
When the remote is held or shaken, all of its buttons start glowing in the dark, and after some time they turn themselves off to save power.
This makes it easy on the batteries and also not annoying for the eyes when you decide to watch a movie in a dimly lit room.
Find My Remote
Another feature that makes it stand out from the normal remote is the “Find my remote ability”. If you are someone who often misplaces your remotes then you can greatly benefit from this feature.
By simply saying, “Alexa, Find my remote”, the remote will begin to play a beeping sound until a button is pressed.
No more searching endlessly for your remote, plus the sound is conveniently annoying motivating you to find the remote as quickly as possible.
Extra Button to Trigger Routines
The biggest selling point in my opinion is the new buttons to trigger Amazon routines. If you are someone who frequently uses Amazon’s products then this remote is made for you.
The remote has 2 shortcut buttons that can be assigned a routine very easily too.
- Simply make a routine on the app Press the shortcut button and the routines will appear on your Fire TV
- Please select your desired routine and now it is assigned to the button.
Quick Pairing For Blue-Tooth Headsets
Another addition is a dedicated button for connecting Bluetooth headphones.
This is handy if you enjoy listening privately without disturbing others.
| Pros | Cons |
| Convenience: The glow-in-the-dark and find-my-remote features are a convenient addition to the remote. This makes your television experience more fun and hassle-free. | The Price: The $35 price makes the remote more expensive than the regular one. Some people may find the features unnecessary and not enough to justify the price tag. |
| Additional Control: The new pairing and shortcut buttons grant you more control on your smart devices than what you normally get. | Device Dependency: The Find My Remote features are dependent on the Alexa voice assistant. If the Fire TV is the only smart device you own you would need to use your phone every time you want to use the find-my-remote feature. |
| Saves Time: If you are like me and always lose your remote in the never-ending void of the couch then this may truly benefit you. The ”Find My Remote” feature makes it hard to lose the remote. | Compatibility: Older devices may not support its new features rendering it useless. |
| Private Listening: Though it was possible to pair your headset before by diving into the menus, the new button may seem insignificant but really simplifies the blue-tooth pairing process. | Personal Preference: If you aren’t someone who uses Amazon routines a lot, 2 of the 3 new buttons are useless to you. You may not fully benefit from the remote if the features provided are just not to your taste. |
| Unnecessary: A normal remote comes with the Fire TV for free. Buy the Pro one and now you have two remotes and I mean you can’t use them simultaneously. |
Is Fire TV Remote Pro Worth It?
As mentioned above, it does depend on your needs. Following are some practical and realistic situations in which the remote is worth using.
- If you are someone who frequently uses Fire TV or other Amazon products, adding the Fire TV Pro won’t hurt and may serve as a helpful addition.
- If you are someone who really strives for smart products and doesn’t mind the price tag for a little bit of automation then this remote will enhance your smart home experience.
- If you enjoy watching movies or shows late at night like a nocturnal owl, the glow-in-the-dark buttons will make the remote more user-friendly and improve your overall experience.
- If your normal remote is broken or you are looking to buy a new remote anyway, then the Fire TV remote Pro is worth it, the few extra bucks are worth the features.
On the other hand, if you rarely lose your remote or don’t use enough smart products then you may find it to be an unnecessary expense.
What Can Be Improved?
Alexa
Taking Alexa out of the equation will greatly improve the device.
If the remote had a microphone and could hear you by itself instead of depending on Alexa, I would rate it higher than right now.
Rechargeable Batteries
The Fire TV remote pro only comes with a couple of AAA batteries that are not rechargeable. While it may feel like a hassle to recharge your smart devices, in my opinion, it’s way better than having to buy new batteries now and then, moreover the non-rechargeable batteries aren’t efficient anyway.
This is my personal opinion and you don’t have to agree with this. Everybody has the privilege of having an opinion.
The Price Tag
A little cut to the price tag will greatly improve how people feel about it. Currently, $35 feels too much for a couple of feature upgrades to an item that we get for free.
Amazon has to either give more features to this product or reduce the price to better appeal to the audience.
Overall Rating
After considering all the arguments above, I am assigning the remote a rating of 6 on a scale of 1 to 10.
The reason is the fact that it doesn’t provide enough features to justify the $35 price tag for most people while also being really unnecessary because of the free remote that comes with the FireTV anyway.
If the remote wasn’t Alexa-dependent and had a lower price, it would have helped it to gain a better rating from me.
FAQs
Can the Fire TV Remote Pro Control Volume?
With any Fire TV remote you can:
- Control the volume
- Power off
Does the Fire TV Remote Pro Work With Fire TV Stick?
The Fire TV remote works flawlessly with all of its compatible TVs which include:
- The FireTV cube
- FireTV stick
How Do I Pair My Fire TV Remote Pro With My TV?
Pairing a remote is now easier than ever.
Long press the home button until the LED light starts blinking and a notification appears on your television that the remote is paired.
Conclusion:
- The Fire TV remote Pro provides some extra features on the normal remote like extra buttons and glow-in-the-dark buttons.
- If you lose your remote often then the “Find My Remote Feature” will help you find it by playing a beep sound until you press a button.
- Buying the remote certainly has some benefits like time-saving and convenience. It can be a helpful addition to your smart home if you don’t mind the drawbacks.
- Ultimately it depends on personal preference and the choice is yours to make on the basis of your usage and priorities.