Forum Discussion

monophoto's avatar
monophoto
Streaming Star
2 years ago

Remote design - location of volume control buttons

I have three Roku-enabled TVs.  One is an actual Roku TV, one has  Roku Streaming Stick, and the third has a Roku Express with an aftermarket remote.  So the remotes for the Roku TV and the Roku Streaming Stick are the same - the up/down volume control buttons, and the mute button are on the right side of the clicker.  I'm right handed, so when I hold the remote in my right hand, my hand wraps around those buttons, and its nearly impossible to engage with any of the buttons on the face of the remote without inadvertently engaging with one or more of those sound control buttons.  This seems to me to be a design oversight.

The aftermarket remote that I purchased in order to get volume control functionality has the buttons on the face of the remote.  That's a much better design. 

I don't expect that I will replace the existing remotes with aftermarket remotes to get the advantage of the design improvement, but it is something that Roku should consider as a future product enhancement.

remotes

2 Replies

  • Emissary35's avatar
    Emissary35
    Roku Guru
    2 years ago

    I've complained about this several times in various different remote topics. The design decision of putting the volume and mute buttons on the right side of the remote is insanely idiotic! Whoever came up with this idea has zero common sense and should be fired. Everyone else who approved this terrible design should also be terminated because they are even dumber for doing so!

    It's so easy to accidentally press those buttons just by reaching to pick up the remote or by simply holding it in your hand while trying to press the buttons on the top of the remote. There was absolutely no need for the buttons to be placed on the right side of the remote when the top of the remote absolutely has enough space for them.

    If you look at the Fire TV device remotes they have those volume and mute buttons on the top of the remote and those remotes are about the same size as the Roku remotes and they also include the present channel shortcut buttons. So if Amazon can design these volume control buttons to fit on the top of their remotes then why can't Roku do the same thing for their remotes?

    If you look at the bottom of the Roku remotes there are several inches of empty space, the channel shortcut buttons could easily have been moved down lower into that empty area which would free up more space above them for the volume and mute buttons to be placed. Now that is basic common sense that was not taken into consideration by the people who designed the Roku remotes.

    It never ceases to amaze me how "smart people" who design stuff lack absolute basic common sense that any other person has. It's like Roku didn't even bother to test these remotes with users to get feedback before approving the final design, because if they had I'm sure there would have been many people who would have complained about these buttons being on the right side of the remote and causing inadvertent button presses.

    Roku has so many problems with their remotes, just look at all the topics created here about them and these volume buttons are one of their issues. I've said this many times, the Roku remotes are flawed technology and they need a complete redesign, but Roku keeps on making the same ones, it's very frustrating.

    • monophoto's avatar
      monophoto
      Streaming Star
      2 years ago

      Agree, but design of anything is always a matter of compromise, and it the design is not well thought through, that compromise will be really unfortunate.  We agree about the side buttons on the Roku remote, but I mentioned that I have an LG TV, and the design of the remote that came with it is an absolute disaster.  Too many buttons jammed into too little real estate.  Totally inadequate marking (you can read the markings without turning on lights, and in my case, putting on my reading glasses) with no tactile differentiation between buttons.  And the layout is such that to access some critical functions (such as pause and resume), it is necessary to hold the remote with one hand while pressing the buttons with the other hand.

      I think the problem is that the designers of these devices lock in the design without actually doing any real beta testing.  If it were up to me, the designers, and the dudes who approve the designs, would be required to actually used the devices for a couple of months before they were released for manufacturing.