Remotes are cheap and break regularly

I have not had an Roku wireless (RF) remote go bad.  A couple of the remotes have even been chewed on by a puppy.  One was to the point in which the battery door barely stays on.  However, the remote still works.

The one situation in which I have seen a Roku official remote go bad was the simple infrared remote that came packaged with the Roku Express (the non-4K model).  The buttons felt spongy and it took several presses of the button just to get it to eventually register.  We tried replacing the batteries and tried holding up close to the front of the Roku Express.

I recommended replacing it with a Roku Express 4K+ which comes bundled with a wireless RF remote.  Ever since then they have not had any problems.

If you need an universal remote (and are *not* using a Roku Stick) then the Sofabaton U2 works fine.  It is infrared so it requires line of sight to the front of the Roku.  Mostly I only recommend if for people that need to also be able to control an A/V receiver.  However, if you lost faith in Roku remotes the maybe it will work as alternative.