Remotes

[Bismarck318]

Anyone noting decreased battery life after the 12.5.0 upgrade?  Seems the batteries are only lasting about 2-4 days, and..... when testing the depleted batteries they appear to be still in very good condition, like it's taking the top end off the battery.

Also I was using a set of rechargeables several months ago that were lasting 3-4 weeks, now these same rechargables only last a day.  

[Bismarck318]

Not sure if related since one of the recent build upgrades my remote stopped working.  It was the Batteries, though now it is using batteries rather rapidly.

I posted as separate issue.

Diminished Battery life since upgrade. 

[RokuTakashi]

Hi, @Bismarck318

Thanks for posting here in the Roku Community.

We appreciate you for flagging this to us, and we'd like to ask a few questions regarding this issue. Did this issue specifically occur right after updating your Roku OS to the latest version? Also, how often do you use the remote and its features?

Please keep us posted.

All the best,
Kash

[Bismarck318]

This is a 3820 stick, (which was the replacement this past June for the 3800 I returned to Roku), the 3800 went through a phase of eating batteries itself, then was OK.  I was fed up with replacing  them, so I went to rechargeable, which were lasting 2 weeks to a month then longer, so something had changed).

The unit auto updates, & had been at 12.5.0 for a while (but I've seen 3 different builds) still had the original batteries since June (so OK the batteries bit the dust, removing them though they still tested relatively good), So possibly this started with the last "build" of 12.5.0. 

I've gone through 3 sets recently (past few weeks) now (all test OK upon removal) & looks like I'm going to replace this evening again as it was giving me the warning the past 2 days).   I tried the rechargeables again last week they only lasted for one evening, these run at a slightly lower voltage I believe. 

I'm going into a different brand of battery tonight to see if these behave any different. 

[Bismarck318]

As I figured the remote was completely dead last night (no battery warning, but batteries test OK), replaced batteries & working again. 

Note:

With any remotes, I noticed, as a rule when the remote dies one or both batteries are usually completely dead, apparently it shouldn't take much power to run a remote.  In contrast in my Roku 3900 I purchased in 2017 or 2018 I only think I had to replace batteries once or twice in that remote.

I will keep you posted. 

[RokuCarly]

Thank you for sharing your input, @Bismarck318.

Roku remotes are designed to go the distance, but a few things will drain a remote a bit faster:

• Congested Wi-Fi network around the device; the reason for this is that most remotes will use RF to connect to your Roku player, and constant reconnection will use more battery.
• Heavy usage of private listening or voice command on the remote itself, but using the Roku mobile app will save your batteries!
• Or viewing lots of short-form content, like YouTube, where a streamer could go through a few hundred button presses in an hour.

Furthermore, please make sure that you charge your Roku Voice Remote Pro for about 3 hours so it will last for approximately 2 months under normal use. Anyway, keep us posted on what you find out. We'll be looking forward to your update.

Thanks,
Carly 

[Strega2]

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@Bismarck318 wrote:

In contrast in my Roku 3900 I purchased in 2017 or 2018 I only think I had to replace batteries once or twice in that remote.

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The 3900 comes with an IR remote.  IR remotes use very little power and aren’t affected by mysterious Wi-Fi networking things, but IR won’t penetrate a TV where sticks are usually hidden.  There have been complaints about “random” phenomenal battery usage in Wi-Fi remotes for years but only some are afflicted.  I have always suspected that it had more to do with the Wi-Fi environment than anything else.

[Bismarck318]

@Strega2 Is this actually a hybrid remote as it will turn on & off the set along with controlling volume via IR?  I initially thought they linked into the IR via the HDMI port for all functions, so the Roku functions are via Wi-Fi then. 

@RokuCarly Back when I had the battery issue before with the 3800, a new set of batteries would drain during non use, I was actually removing the batteries when not in use to save them.  It was almost the same idea when a mobile phone depletes a battery looking for a signal.

I do not use the voice command either.  Don't have a smart phone for the app, but it is installed on a tablet I can use, possibly to find out if it's depleting the battery in non-use.  My definition of non-use is, I do power off the TV & stick when not watching TV.   

[Bismarck318]

OK, so what I have here now since my last post in November is about a dozen (more or less) AAA batteries that all test fairly good.  I can use these in small LED flashlights, yet I have 2 many of these.  

I would like to go back to the rechargeable AAA's at this point, though they may work a couple button presses then **bleep** out (they are a slightly lower voltage @ 1.2v) they may still operate the TV volume for the evening on IR.   New fresh batteries may work 2-3 weeks, I believe on my non Wi-Fi Roku device remote I may have replaced the batteries once or twice since 2018. 

I can see why Roku levitated to a rechargeable remote now, esp. on wi-fi remotes.

I have been using a Fire Tablet to suffice when the batteries go.   Doing a search for the iPad, I come up with many what appears to be 3rd party remote apps for the Roku. 

[Emissary35]

The rechargeable voice remotes are junk too. Mine never will charge fully to 100% and the battery level drops significantly very quickly even with the hands free voice always off and never using headphones plugged in for private listening.

The only Roku remotes that seem to be okay and last long with batteries are the simple IR remotes that you don't pair to your Roku and don't have the TV buttons. All the pairing remotes have issues, they are absolutely terrible products, complaints have been going on for years about them and Roku will not fix any of it.