Connect with us

CNET

I loved the new Apple TV Siri remote (until I used it)

The Apple TV remote has a brand-new design that aims to fix many of the complaints about the previous one. CNET’s Logan Moy explains why he went from really excited to terribly disappointed after using it for a few weeks. You can buy the Apple TV remote here: *CNET may get a commission from this…

Published

on

The Apple TV remote has a brand-new design that aims to fix many of the complaints about the previous one. CNET’s Logan Moy explains why he went from really excited to terribly disappointed after using it for a few weeks.

You can buy the Apple TV remote here:
*CNET may get a commission from this offer.

Follow @LoganMoy on Twitter:

Subscribe to CNET:
CNET playlists:
Download the new CNET app:
Like us on Facebook:
Follow us on Twitter:
Follow us on Instagram:

Continue Reading
Advertisement
55 Comments

55 Comments

  1. Logan Moy

    June 11, 2021 at 1:20 pm

    Thanks for watching! So which are you, pauser or muter?

    • Danish Ajanee

      June 11, 2021 at 5:19 pm

      Mute ads when watching live tv

    • Ben Sparshott

      June 11, 2021 at 6:08 pm

      Pauser. I don’t want to miss anything! And the missus loves to talk during shows 🙄

    • Spectre Darque

      June 11, 2021 at 6:11 pm

      Both. It depends. Pause for the show/movie, but mute for commercials/ads.

    • Victor Lopes

      June 11, 2021 at 6:29 pm

      pauser!

    • Vivian Roldo

      June 11, 2021 at 7:28 pm

      Pauser

    • Paul Rosanoski

      June 13, 2021 at 12:01 am

      Pauser – unless it’s the 4% of the time I’m watching something that still has ads (aka commercial tv) then mute is a beautiful thing to silence those ads 😀

    • Joe Dorado

      June 13, 2021 at 7:11 am

      Both. Pause for new content. Mute for content that I’ve already seen.

    • Aliassuk

      June 13, 2021 at 11:28 pm

      C|net should mute yourself I think

  2. Mark Dickson

    June 11, 2021 at 5:55 pm

    My Apple TV i bought in 2018 is the only way I watch tv now with Netflix, Prime, Disney+ and iPlayer so I know it well, but gods I flipping hate the damn remote so very much. It is disappointing that with the incredible talent and design genius Apple can often bring to its products, it apparently still cannot come up with even a decent remote. I’m skipping this version, maybe next time, because as much as I hate the remote, I couldn’t get by without my Apple TV now which surprises me.

  3. Spectre Darque

    June 11, 2021 at 6:09 pm

    I upgraded from the last 1080p Apple TV, so was overdue for an upgrade. The new remote is way better, overall, but I do agree that the mute and play/pause buttons should be swapped. The only real problem I have is that the volume controls don’t work with my TV like the old remote did, but that may just need a bit of troubleshooting — haven’t had time to dig into that, yet. Bottom line is that I am quite happy with the new remote.

  4. Fabian T

    June 11, 2021 at 6:37 pm

    This is my first Apple TV and I’m not blown away by the remote and agree with this video. How bad was the last remote?

  5. Reebs

    June 11, 2021 at 6:40 pm

    I. AGREE. 1000000 percent with EVERYTHING you said!!! I couldn’t have said it better myself.

  6. TheStrange 1

    June 11, 2021 at 7:02 pm

    I have found the mute button invaluable for silencing audio from forced ads when streaming ad supported content. Before I used to have to volume down when the ads played (often much louder than the content I’m watching), now I can just mute them.

    I have always had the “select” problem with Apple remotes. You scroll to where you want then when you click down, the cursor jumps! It’s really frustrating but I found an easy fix. When I scroll to the spot I want, I hit the play button instead of clicking select. It works every time.

    Oh, and I found my muscle memory for the position of the play button was changed in just a few hours of using the new remote. It was so dramatic that I found using the old remote on a different TV annoying to the point that I just bought a new remote for the second TV as well. Problem solved!

  7. rubenrar1

    June 11, 2021 at 7:21 pm

    I have the new Nvidia shield and my biggest issue with the remote is you keep hitting the Netflix button other than that it’s super responsive and the buttons go when you raise it up.

  8. Felix Five

    June 11, 2021 at 7:25 pm

    It’s not the tool, it’s how you use it.

  9. Ryan Brown

    June 11, 2021 at 7:38 pm

    The old remote was pure cancer.

  10. Roger Meets Oxygen

    June 11, 2021 at 7:58 pm

    Yes, well articulated review. Everything you said are pretty much my exact sentiments! I really wish the mute/play button was switched. However, I don’t like the Siri button on the side. I’ve clicked it way too many times on accident.

  11. Ricky Quezada

    June 11, 2021 at 8:11 pm

    My thoughts exactly!!!

  12. brian hester

    June 11, 2021 at 8:31 pm

    Totally agree about the play/pause buttons. I put a cut out a square of the fuzzy part of Velcro and stuck it on the play button. It makes it kind of stand out both visually and to the touch without having to look. Try it, works great.

  13. Robert Zeiser

    June 11, 2021 at 8:40 pm

    That was so spot on!
    Hopefully, it’s just a matter of the software catching up to the hardware. In a few months time, who knows. But I really miss being able to skip 10 seconds in YouTube.

  14. Givenchy Homme

    June 11, 2021 at 8:41 pm

    I think your expecting too much out of it. It’s a simple remote. It’s not some kind of high tech device. It has a job and it does it incredibly well. Just don’t expect it to change your life.

    • Logan Moy

      June 11, 2021 at 8:54 pm

      Idk, I feel like for $60 it should at least work as advertised when it launches, meaning the scroll wheel functionality and being “the only remote you need.”

  15. Marcelo

    June 11, 2021 at 9:16 pm

    Bad for youtube.

  16. B Nav

    June 11, 2021 at 9:29 pm

    Glad I held off. The new remote is not worth $60

  17. Nick Roosevelt

    June 11, 2021 at 9:58 pm

    I’m not an AppleTV user but I definitely pause a lot more than I mute.

  18. Jay_DS

    June 11, 2021 at 10:33 pm

    Wish I would have seen this video before I bought it

  19. Buuboi214

    June 11, 2021 at 10:39 pm

    Sounds like you need a new TV with smart input. I have an Apple TV when I press the button the Apple TV comes on along with my tv. When I want to switch to PS5 the It will automatically go to the gaming input. Or vise versa.

  20. Dom Larry

    June 11, 2021 at 10:42 pm

    Agreed 💯 percent

  21. Joshua List

    June 11, 2021 at 11:04 pm

    I don’t have the remote yet, but I believe you have to touch and hold on the scroll wheel until a little circle appears around the playhead before actually scrolling. That should solve your issue with the playhead moving back and forth as you scroll.

  22. Ben L.

    June 11, 2021 at 11:30 pm

    Hate where the mute button is. I agree it should be swapped with play/pause. That was the first thing I noticed and irritates me.

  23. The_Natives

    June 11, 2021 at 11:36 pm

    Thank you for the review!! I will be passing on the remote.

  24. James Peterson

    June 12, 2021 at 12:03 am

    I bought this and I LOVE it! It’s got me watching Apple TV all the time now.

  25. Shevket Duran

    June 12, 2021 at 1:09 am

    Mute button is very useful for You Tube ads that cannot be skipped. The sound does more than 80% of the brainwashing in an ad. If I cannot skip an ad, I mute it.

  26. Toure Evelyn

    June 12, 2021 at 2:27 am

    $60 for a remote? The price we pay for sometimey convenience.

  27. DylValentine

    June 12, 2021 at 10:42 am

    Moving the play pause button was fucking stupid

  28. rendif22

    June 12, 2021 at 11:00 am

    Why would you use the apple TV remote to turn on and off if you have a harmony remote you can use with your voice?

    • Logan Moy

      June 12, 2021 at 4:37 pm

      My thoughts exactly

    • rendif22

      June 12, 2021 at 5:42 pm

      @Logan Moy I gotta say the new remote isn’t perfect but so much better then the terrible old remote.

  29. Quicksilver0922

    June 12, 2021 at 1:04 pm

    Working from home mute is necessary when streaming live tv.

  30. Rich

    June 12, 2021 at 1:22 pm

    I had the exact same experience. The mute button is annoying and the scrubbing is not fixed. Yes, better than the last one. Yes, I’ll keep it. Yes, it still sucks- HTF can apple, the home of user interface led design STILL MESS THIS UP! Are they not dedicating resources to it? Where’s Jony? He would not allow this if he were still there! Don’t they realize the future of TV is cord-cutting streamers? WTF! It’s like having a car with a poorly designed steering wheel, it still gets you from point A to point B, but you are highly frustrated by the smallest detail that is common to the operation. Regarding the mute button, I had hoped that after two weeks of use I would reconfigure my brain (probably the same thing the Apple TV product manager after they saw the results of user testing and focus groups) but that is not the case, I just get mad. What is worse, I have a soundbar, so all volume controls are dummy buttons (connected with a digital optical cable- anyone have a solve?). Someone on GITHUB should hack and reassign the mute button, I think if you duplicated the pause button it would be a better ui/ux. OFF-TOPIC- I saw the “mute for commercials” comment, I would say the YouTube premium is the best subscription I have next to Spotify. When my kids use my TV and we go off my YT account so I don’t mess up my honed and pruned algorithm with first-person shooter videos, I realize what a better experience it is!

  31. Mike Gentry

    June 12, 2021 at 3:20 pm

    I can’t even get the new remote to connect to try it. No matter what I do I just get the “move the remote closer” message and it never connects. I haven’t used my Apple TV HD much because of the original remote and was really hoping this new one might help us out but it’s looking like I need to stick with my first instinct….. Roku.

  32. 1Drummer

    June 12, 2021 at 4:53 pm

    I have a TCL 5 series and I’m loving the new remote vs the old. I mute when I don’t want to hear what’s being said; I pause when I have to leave for a moment or if I’m interrupted.

  33. Molo

    June 12, 2021 at 5:08 pm

    Here I am watching a review of a TV remote….

  34. Jon Snow

    June 12, 2021 at 5:14 pm

    Great video! I agree 100% on all points. I’ve had the remote for 2 weeks now so I know. Love the remote though. So much better than the last version that made me angry 😡 ever time I used it. When they fix the scrolling in all apps it will be killer!

  35. Victor V

    June 12, 2021 at 6:14 pm

    Unpopular opinion but I actually loved the previous remote.

  36. Charles Ferrell

    June 12, 2021 at 7:46 pm

    You mentioned the power being out of sync in your setup. Have you tried the Caavo control center? I have found that it’s way better than Harmony, and doesn’t get out of sync often (usually only when there’s a weird power outage or something like that). The Caavo works great with the LG TV. Also, it connects with Google Assistant, so I can create routines to change channels (using Xfinity box) and turn TV on/off. If I hit the remote on my Apple TV, it’ll automatically come on and switch to Apple TV. Then if I say “OK Google, TV off” it turns everything off. One exception is that the crappy Xfinity box doesn’t respond to CEC like it should, and so I had to set the Xfinity box to stay on all the time (what a power waste), and then I went in to the settings on the Xfinity box and turned off the status light. Would be interested to see you do a video on Caavo.

  37. tateblaze80

    June 12, 2021 at 10:25 pm

    It’s my first Apple TV and I like it

  38. WiSkify

    June 12, 2021 at 10:33 pm

    Steve would not be proud of the last 10 years.

  39. Marcus Hudson

    June 13, 2021 at 1:25 am

    The new remote is much better than the older model. I wish it was a back light in it.

  40. Mark Weaver

    June 13, 2021 at 3:56 am

    Once again, great video until the last 3 seconds. “Thanks for watching.” Is fine, what is not fine is the real big lie! “See you next time.”! Come on, does C l NET not know how video works? This is not a zoom call, it’s damn YouTube. Please help me stop videos big lie‼️

  41. Nate Louden

    June 13, 2021 at 10:52 am

    Apple remotes suck

  42. Troupe Goal

    June 13, 2021 at 1:20 pm

    Meh it’s just a remote, hard to get excited either way

  43. Paul Black

    June 13, 2021 at 2:35 pm

    The remote could use a input button and I notice that the power button is useless since my Sanyo TV does not have HDMI—CEC built in. Alternative for now I recommend is the Channel Master Simple Remote despite not having Siri included

  44. Aliassuk

    June 13, 2021 at 11:27 pm

    Most biased review haha. Joke. Love the remote and it’s the only remote I use. Can’t relate dude. You’re not very likeable either. C|net 👎👎👎

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CNET

Unboxing the PDP Riffmaster Wireless Guitar Controller

Whether you’re jumping into Fortnite Festival or starting up Rock Band 4, the Riffmaster Guitar Controller will have you ready to rock. Available to pre-order for #PlayStation, #Xbox and #PC. #videogames #rockband #fortnite #tech

Published

on

Whether you’re jumping into Fortnite Festival or starting up Rock Band 4, the Riffmaster Guitar Controller will have you ready to rock. Available to pre-order for #PlayStation, #Xbox and #PC. #videogames #rockband #fortnite #tech

Continue Reading

CNET

WWDC 2024: What Will Apple Announce?

Here’s why Bridget Carey thinks this year’s event will be the one to watch. What do you think they’ll talk about? #ios18 #iphone #mobile #tech #visionpro #applenews #technews

Published

on

Here’s why Bridget Carey thinks this year’s event will be the one to watch. What do you think they’ll talk about? #ios18 #iphone #mobile #tech #visionpro #applenews #technews

Continue Reading

CNET

CNET Editors’ Choice 2024

From phones and tax software to mattresses, our CNET editors highlight top products and advice across many different categories. #tech #software #editors #reviews #shorts #gadgets

Published

on

From phones and tax software to mattresses, our CNET editors highlight top products and advice across many different categories. #tech #software #editors #reviews #shorts #gadgets

Continue Reading

Trending