Official Xbox One Media Remote (Xbox One)

Product Information

The smaller size makes more sense for those without cable channels and instead rely on pure streaming media apps. Both are impressive machines, but it was believed the several features, including the IR receiver, from earlier consoles was axed. For Xbox, it allows you to control the entire dashboard, as well as use media controls in apps like YouTube and the Blu-ray player. If you also have something like a Logitech Harmony universal remote, this a purchase you can likely skip.

They have been gaming and writing for most of their life starting with the original Xbox, and started out as a freelancer for Windows Central and its sister sites in 2019. Considering how Microsoft has effectively dropped support for live cable TV integration and more people cord-cutting with apps like YouTube TV, Sling, Hulu, HBO Max, Netflix, VUDU, and more, this is not a surprising move. The console packs the same high-performance CPU and SSD technology as Xbox Series X, while scaling back the GPU and removing the disc drive. The design doesn’t match the stark right angles of the Xbox Series X/S or Xbox One, but it’s much more comfortable to hold than if it had sharp corners. Merging the IR blaster with the bind button also means it takes up less overall space, and doesn’t interrupt the console's aesthetics with a strange black oval.

They're similar in design to some of the best media remotes for Xbox Series X and Series S but resemble PDP's offerings the most. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. doesn’t provide any battery life estimates, but since it’s a purely IR remote that only sends a command when you press a button and doesn’t maintain a wireless connection with your Xbox, you can reasonably expect weeks of use, if not months.

This makes the Xbox Series X and S amazing for gaming, but less capable as all-around entertainment centers. PDP still uses the soft-touch paint, too, giving the remote a nice warm feel compared to glossy plastic designs.There was a first-party option for the Xbox One, which should work well enough with the S and X (as most Xbox One accessories do), but it appears to have been discontinued. All the standard buttons you'd find on any remote are here — play, pause, stop, rewind, fast-forward, and more — but it's larger and has more dedicated buttons. Due to how the human brain works, whenever something is super light, we tend to think of it as lesser quality, even though that is not necessarily true. If you use the Xbox to control most of the media in your home, you're well aware of how clunky the standard Xbox controller can be when trying to command other systems.

Like most of the company’s products, these are well-designed little gadgets that make using your console more enjoyable. The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are undoubtedly impressive next-gen gaming machines, but Microsoft's newfound focus on power and pure gaming led to some concessions in other areas, notably the omission of an IR receiver, and HDMI In and Optical ports. Note: If you set up the console to turn off and on other devices, it may take control of your TV's power at unwanted moments if you use your TV for things other than gaming. They require line of sight to the Xbox console, which wasn’t a problem with the One X in my living room but did cause issues with my Series X, since it’s placed out of sight. Bottom line: PDP's new Media Remote for Xbox is compact, features backlit buttons, and makes using your Xbox to stream media a much better experience.It isn’t too big a deal to get used to if your Xbox is easy to see from where you watch TV, it’s just less convenient than what you might accustomed to. Once you have enabled HDMI-CEC features on your TV, you should be able to enable remote control on your Xbox console.

By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. The console reminded me to enable HDMI-CEC when I pressed the volume buttons, and after changing that setting the remote adjusted my TV’s volume (actually my soundbar’s volume, over another HDMI cable through eARC) without issue. It boasts up to 4K resolution and 120 FPS, full backward compatibility across four generations, and ray-tracing support.You have dedicated keys for volume, mute, play, pause, fast forward/rewind, back, menu, change view, navigation, channels up/down, Xbox home, and buttons for XYAB.