Why You Can Trust CNET Ray Super Remote review: A Ray of remote control hope pales next to Harmony
The Ray Super Remote promises the world, with a touchscreen interface and claims of transcendent simplicity. But for most people, Harmony remotes remain a better choice.
- Although still awaiting his Oscar for Best Picture Reviewer, David does hold certifications from the Imaging Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology on display calibration and evaluation.
If the 800-pound gorilla of universal remotes is the Logitech Harmony, the Ray Super Remote is a monkey dressed in an astronaut's suit. It looks way cooler, and seems smarter, but in a head-to-head contest the monkey gets crushed.
Ray Super Remote
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
At $250 US, the Ray is twice the price of my favorite Harmony remote, the Home Control. The Ray's main draw is a big touchscreen, which does provide some advantages over a button-based clicker. But the screenless Home Control's buttons are easier to use, especially by feel, and its two-piece design -- it includes a hub base station that deftly handles all of the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and infrared (IR) control duties and translations -- trounces the Ray's traditional point-and-pray IR emitters.
And if you really want a touchscreen, you can control the Harmony using an app on your phone, shell out $300-plus for the top-end Harmony Elite, or just use your phone as a remote. The latter option may seem a-Peel-ing, especially since some Android phones can act as remotes using free apps, and iPhones can work with relatively cheap devices like $50 Pronto, but the convenience of a dedicated clicker is worth the investment in my book.
What advantages giveth the Ray, you ask? In addition to behaving like a friendlier Harmony -- easing the process of turning on your devices, switching inputs, and obviating your other remote controls -- it also helps you find something to watch on TV. You can browse what's on by genre, check the Ray's suggestions, or keyword search for shows right from the remote. Setup is also simplified, and it's accomplished entirely on the remote's screen. There's no separate phone app or PC required.
Those are all good things, but still not worth the high price. Harmony's remotes are simple enough for my four-year-old to use, they almost never fail because of the hub-based control, and the TV browsing features won't be of much use to people satisfied with their cable service's program guides. And I really don't trust my munchkins not to break the heavy, chunky Ray eventually, despite it being clad front and back in Gorilla Glass (that's your cue, OtterBox).
The Ray remote offers simplicity and smartphone-like modernity in its attempt to challenge the Harmonys, but in most important ways it's second banana, at best.
Sleek hardware, friendly menus
There's no escaping it: the Ray remote looks like your old phone. It's thicker and has a smaller screen than most current phones, and it feels heavier in the hand. Compared to button-based remotes like the Harmony, however, it seems much more futuristic, mainly because of its superior screen.
The Ray (left) next to an iPhone 6S (right)
High-end Harmony remotes like the aforementioned $350 Harmony Elite have screens but, let's face it, they suck compared to the Ray. Smaller, lower resolution and saddled with chunky graphics, they seem like throwbacks to a bygone day when text had rough edges and logos all the sharpness of stuffed animals. The graphics and icons delivered on the Ray's screen are sharp, bright and modern, worthy of any phone operating system.
The Ray's home screen is pure simplicity: a vertical column of icons for power, DVR and other devices you want to add, sprinkled among selections for Search, Settings, Best of TV, Sports and other categories. You can power up (or down) devices right from the home screen, as well as see the time and weather.
Access to individual devices is just a tap away, most major buttons are replicated as you'd expect, and you can add custom buttons for commands that aren't included by default. I found I had to add the all-important "skip" command from my TiVo, for example, to augment rewind and fast-forward. I do wish the thing had haptic feedback, and that it "woke up" when you picked it up (both features of the Elite), but those are quibbles.
Cradle return discipline
More than a quibble is the fact that, like any screen-based device, the Ray needs to be recharged frequently. The company recommends you park it in the included cradle when not in use. The cradle takes up more room than I'd like but looks very slick, and you'll definitely need to learn to replace the clicker there, and train your family to do so, when it's not in use.
If not, you could find yourself without the ability to control your stuff. In my testing, the battery lasted about three days before needing a recharge.
By comparison, the battery in the screenless Logitech Home Control remote can last more than a year (!) without needing to be replaced.
Buttons beat screens for easy control
The only physical buttons on the Ray are along the side: power (to turn on the remote itself), mute and volume. If you hold it in your right hand, they're an easy thumb stretch away.
For every other kind of control you'll be looking down at the remote, then back up at the TV, then down at the remote, quite a bit. Depending on how many commands you normally issue, this can be more or less tedious, but the simple fact is that with a well-designed button-centric clicker like Harmony's, you can keep your eyes on the screen while you drive around your device's on-screen menus mainly by feel.
Ray, to its credit, tries to replicate the by-feel process with its "Navigate" tab, which calls up a mostly blank swath of screen that you can swipe around and tap to select. Unfortunately the process isn't nearly as responsive as using the buttons on a standard four-way keypad control; swipes take longer than clicking a button, and the screen is "stickier" than something like the wonderfully responsive touchpad on the Apple TV remote.
Even the volume buttons on the Ray weren't as responsive as on the Harmony. In the end, using it to get to what I wanted felt a step or two slower.
Line of sight required
The Ray is "outfitted with multiple LEDs that enable 180-degree transmission at up to a 33-foot operating distance," according to the product literature, but in my test setup, its infrared blasts often failed to register -- frustrating to say the least, especially after living with the flawless reliability of Harmony for years.
Some of my gear is inside a glass cabinet under the TV, and the Ray didn't always turn it all on or dial up the proper input. I found that if I kept it aimed carefully it usually worked, but even then it failed to control some devices hidden away in the recesses. I tried to rearrange my gear to receive the Ray's commands, but the only way to assure success was to leave the cabinet doors open.
Many buyers in the Ray's price bracket stash their gear unseen, and it simply won't work for them. If your gear is more exposed, then the Ray's direct IR system might work fine for you. But you'll still have to aim the clicker at your stuff for best results, and you won't be able to control things from another room or across the house.
As I mentioned earlier, the Harmony's biggest advantage over the Ray is its two-piece hub-based system. The Home Control and other newer Harmonys don't need to be aimed at all, because they rely on the separate hub -- a little puck that sits quietly inside your cabinet or atop your gear stack -- to send infrared blasts. It works flawlessly in my experience, and so reliably that I'd never consider going back to a direct IR system again.
Setup is simpler, but control less robust
As much as I like using the Harmony, setting it up to control all your devices via its smartphone app can be a time-consuming pain. The Ray makes the process a bit simpler because it doesn't require you utilize a separate app or computer -- it all happens on the remote screen itself.
It still takes some time though. After unboxing the Ray, you'll need to connect it to your Wi-Fi to download any software updates, create an account, input your zip code and TV provider, and choose your TV show genre "interests" (sports, drama, animation, and so forth). Only then will you be asked to set up your devices, a process that consists of entering the manufacturer name and testing commands until the device responds. Next you'll specify inputs on the TV and (if necessary) AV receiver, and test the whole setup again.
It works well, and I appreciated helpful hints along the way like "Try tapping the input or source button on your TV remote to see the list of inputs." That said, the Harmony's setup routine is similar and relatively simple itself, beyond the added step of having to synch changes to the hub and remote once you've finished setup via Harmony's app.
It's also worth mentioning that while the Harmony can currently control Fire TV and PlayStation 3 devices via its hub, the Ray cannot (although it claims support for those devices, as well as the PS4, are coming soon). The Ray can command Nest Thermostat devices as well as Philips Hue bulbs, but so can the Harmony, in addition to many other smart-home products like SmartThings, PEQ, Honeywell and Lutron. Like the Harmony and other universal remotes, the Ray can learn IR commands for devices that aren't in its database.
The Ray doesn't offer control of devices like Roku and Apple TV over your home network, which on the Harmony's hub remotes lets you use the app's on-screen keyboard to enter search terms and login information. I also wish for more direct-access to Roku apps; the Ray can only jump to Netflix, Pandora and Crackle directly, whereas the Harmony can directly access just about any Roku app. One advantage the Ray has over the Home Control, however, is that it can command more than eight devices.
The Ray advantage: Find something to watch
The Ray does offer one thing that Harmony doesn't: the ability to browse your local TV listings directly on the remote, and tune to a show now playing with one tap. It divides shows into categories, shows you what's playing now in each, and even lets you set reminders to tune to a show when it comes on.
Personally, I've never found much use for "what's on now?" aids, and if I want to find something to watch my TiVo's program grid is perfectly fine. And like any DVR, it offers the option to record an upcoming show directly, as opposed to just being reminded about it like the Ray does.
But if you've found your DVR or cable box a poor way to find something to watch, the Ray might be a good alternative. The main "TV" selection (the Ray calls them "apps") collects channels, genres, reminders and even a traditional grid program guide in a scroll-and-swipe thumbnail image fest that would do any phone app proud.
Click the "Kids" app and the various offerings currently playing on children's channels appear, from "Wild Kratts" to "Spongebob" to "Phineas and Ferb," complete with cool icons and the channel name.
"Best of TV" is the Ray's curated section, suggesting shows you might like based on interests you've selected. And each section supposedly "learns" your tastes and suggests new shows accordingly. It's also easy to set up and select any number of favorite channels.
Unfortunately for people who get their TV over the air, the Ray's TV functions currently only work with cable or satellite providers. There's also no integration of streaming TV sources, like Netflix or Hulu.
Too expensive for the benefits
In the end, I didn't like the Ray as much as the much cheaper Harmony Home Control, and the $350 Elite leaves it in the dust. My main issues are its lack of physical buttons and the inability to control IR devices without line of sight.
To its credit, Ray is improving its software, adding things like Philips Hue control, device shortcuts for unsupported gear, and even integration with third-party network-to-IR controllers to command devices without needing line-of-sight (I didn't test that last capability, which obviously increases cost even further). Its simplicity of setup and sheer screen-centric coolness will certainly apply to some well-heeled buyers, and there's plenty of potential in the hardware for further cool features. But for now it's not compelling enough to recommend over the Harmony.