Forum Discussion

der0225's avatar
der0225
Channel Surfer
3 years ago

Roku Rechargeable Remote lacks Charging Cradle

Roku should develop a Rechargeable Remote that can be placed in a Charging Cradle rather than having to plug in a charging cord. The remote and cradle should be designed to enable the cradle to be placed on a table or wall mounted.  I have an old (12+ y/o) Logitech Harmony One Universal Remote with the Roku remote codes programmed into it.  Because I stream everything including my local cable TV provider, the Harmony One is used daily with my Roku device.  The Harmony One remote is the only rechargeable TV remote I have because it has its own Charging Cradle that is conveniently located always in the same place on a table and the remote can be easily placed or dropped into that Charging Cradle when not in use such as charging overnight.  My other two Roku remotes require AAA batteries which have to be changed occasionally but definitely not as frequently as having to remember to find the plug-in wire to a rechargeable remote. I would certainly buy Roku Rechargeable remotes to replace my battery powered ones if the rechargeable units came with a Charging Cradle that the remotes could be placed in when they are not in use.  Doing so would facilitate ease of use and convenience. I trust to hear from Roku soon about this. But until such time, I will continue to use my battery powered Roku remotes.

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  • RokuMary-F's avatar
    RokuMary-F
    Community Moderator

    Hi der0225,

    Congrats on your first post in the Roku Community!

    We can understand you are inquiring about the Roku Voice Remote Pro having a charging cradle instead of the regular charging cable that came with the remote. 

    Currently, we don't have any information to share that at moment, feel free to
    keep an eye on our Roku Blog for any future announcements or updates. 

    You may also share or suggest a feature request here: Roku Feature Suggestions & Requests | Roku Community

    Thanks for using our services as we continue to deliver a better streaming experience for our customers.


    Best regards,
    Mary

    • der0225's avatar
      der0225
      Channel Surfer

      Thank you for the quick response.  However, I cannot accept your response as a solution. I chose Roku streaming devices more than 10 years ago because of their universal streaming capabilities and their ability to accept all or nearly all streaming apps. I was given a Fire Stick as a gift several years back but because it still to this day cannot support my local cable TV provider's streaming app that Roku can, I replaced it with your Roku 4K Stick. Roku Streaming devices are definitely far superior to similar devices on the market today. But while Roku has placed its primary focus on its streaming devices, it cannot lose sight of its Remotes. Granted, voice and headphones are nice add-ons, but recharging with a plugin cord is cumbersome. Yes, it is like charging cell phone, but that device displays the percent of battery left before charging is needed. As such, charging a Roku remote is easy to forget to do. That is why a Roku Remote with a Charging Cradle would help ensure that charging the device is not forgotten and it would facilitate ease of use and convenience because the Charging Cradle is always located in the same convenient place. That is why it is so surprising that Logitech developed and implemented this Charging Cradle feature and even the Backlit capability (another suggestion) more than 10 years ago, Roku certainly should have been able to easily develop and implement those features long before now. The technology has been there for years.  I can pick up my Harmony One out of its Charging Cradle and the Back Lighting automatically turns on. It also times out after t30 seconds but pressing any button turns it back on. It is also interesting that Logitech loaded the Roku remote codes more than 10 years ago on their frontend software that is downloaded to the Harmony One Remote. It looks to me that Roku has some catching up to do.

      • atc98092's avatar
        atc98092
        Community Streaming Expert

        Oh, I'm not saying it's not a valid suggestion. Far from it, as having a cradle to store the remote when not in use is a great way to keep it from disappearing in the couch cushions, or under a chair. 🙂

        But as I mentioned in a different thread, it would take a complete redesign of the remote to eliminate the need for a physical connection to charge the remote. Wireless charging is certainly possible, as I have that on my phones and ear buds. But that requires additional hardware the remote does not have, and will increase the cost. 

        Backlit remotes are great when you have lots of buttons. But for a Roku remote, there's really so few buttons it's pretty simple to find the one you want by touch. Again, it's a valid suggestion, but Roku has ignored that request for quite a while now, and I'm sure it's again related to cost.

  • atc98092's avatar
    atc98092
    Community Streaming Expert

    der0225 including a cradle would increase the cost of the remote. Since Roku is attempting to keep the price as low as possible, using a cable is an acceptable way of reducing that cost. I have many rechargeable devices, some with a cradle and some without. It's simply a business decision they have made. 

    • der0225's avatar
      der0225
      Channel Surfer

      I understand the business concept but that does not mean that it should not be developed, implemented and made available for those who are willing to pay for it.  I paid about $150,00 for that Logitech Harmony One universal Remote more that 12 years ago. I was willing to pay any amount to have a universal TV remote that would replace all my other remotes and control all of my devices for Cable, DVD, CD, Turn Table, Surround Receiver, Media player (I pod) and Gaming device. I have never regretted that purchase, it was the best deal around. Being willing to spend some initial tedious quality time with the programming, the Harmony One performs all of the desired functions flawlessly. For every activity set up, it turns on the specified devices and switches inputs on the Receiver and TV with the touch of one button for that desired activity.  It even turns off everything with the touch of the one and only Off button. On top of all of that, the Harmony One has its own Charging Cradle for ease of use and convenience, and the Remote Is automatically Back Lit as soon as it is picked up from the Charging Cradle. A touch of any button turns the lighting back on after the 30 second time out. At the time I purchased the Harmony One, it was advertised as having a very high WAF, Wife Acceptance Factor. That is very true to this day.  My wife of nearly 55 years, 77 y/o yesterday, sometimes knows more about the Harmony One's functionality than I do.  Roku is a fantastic streaming device, and I would not change to any other brand, but I still think Roku has some catching up to do.  I believe much of this functionality has now been copied to a cell phone APP but, even those devices now have charging pads. Also, at 78 years old, I'm ok with making that next leap of faith technological change a little more slowly. I have spent more than enough time wordsmithing this response as it is. I need to now pay some attention to my replaced knee surgery of 5 weeks ago. 

      • atc98092's avatar
        atc98092
        Community Streaming Expert

        I agree that Harmony/Logitech really offered some great remotes. I have a couple still kicking around here. But the fact that Logitech shut down their remote line completely says something about the potential market for such a device. If a company with their resources couldn't make it go, it really seems the market simply isn't sufficient to make it profitable.