Big improvement for most Rokus!
One of the things I have liked least about my two year old Roku Express streaming stick is the lack of mute, volume control, and TV power off/on button. Today my husband and I were shopping for a new Roku for him (his was a freebie from Sling, probably one of the old Rokus and it has been dropping off and/or buffering far too much). His new one came with voice control and all the things I have been hoping for.
Well, right next to the Roku we got for him was a Roku voice remote control with TV controls. I got one, brought it home and installed it. Installation was easy - power off the Roku (by unplugging it), let it reboot, put the batteries in the new remote, press the Pairing button on the remote, and let them find each other.
Then you let the remote go through codes to link to your TV. Now I can turn the TV off and on, adjust the sound, and mute commercials! The voice control works OK, though it seems to have a little trouble understanding my Southern accent.
The new remote is not that much cheaper than a new Roku, but it sure is easier to install. If you have an older Roku and want to see if you can use one of the new remotes, go to http://go.roku.com/remotecheck Then scroll down to find your Roku model.
My only complaint is that they have a different set of streaming channels than on my old remote - my old one had Netflix, Sling, Hulu, and Amazon. The new one has Netflix, ESPN (which I will never use), Hulu, and Sling. SO the first voice command I tried was "Launch Amazon" and after two tries, Prime came on. I guess I can live with that, though I may put a piece of black tape over the ESPN button.
