BroadLink RM4 Mini IR Universal Remote Control (2.4 GHz Wi-Fi Only), Smart Home Automation Wi-Fi Infrared Blaster for TV, AC, STB Audio, Works with Alexa, Google Home, IFTTT

Why did you pick this product vs others?:I set up this universal remote in my living room to control a bunch of things that use IR and RF remotes, like the TV, ceiling fan, and an old stereo. The device itself is small, so it fits easy behind the TV. The first step was connecting it to my Wi-Fi, and I had to make sure my phone was on the 2.4 GHz network. The app walked me through the steps and it didn’t take too long. For my TV and fan, I tried the preset brands first, but they didn’t match, so I used the learning mode. I just pointed my regular remote at the device, pressed the button, and the remote copied the command. I did this for the buttons I use the most.It also works with my smart speakers. I made a few voice commands, so now I just say what I want, and the TV turns on or the fan starts. The app lets me put all my devices together, and I can set up different scenes, like turning everything off when I go to bed. I still keep my old remotes in a drawer just in case, but I haven’t needed them much. This makes my setup less cluttered.

Overall pleasantly surprised, especially with all of the negative reviews online. Broadlink (BL) recently provided a firmware update so perhaps that explains the improvements.Setup was very simple - download the BL app and follow the in-app directions. It'll ask for your phone to be connected to a 2.4Mhz channel of your router - I have Google Wifi which, like many other newer routers, will automatically assign the proper channel to each device, so I ignored the warnings and my phone (on 5Mhz channel) sent the wifi info to BL which then connected to the proper 2.4Mhz channel automatically - no issues. I also then reserved the IP address that my router assigned to BL - not sure if this is required but saw it suggested on another forum.Adding IR/RF remotes was fine - selecting the known brands (e.g. TV > Sony) didn't seem to work for any of my devices so I just used the "learning" capabilities where BL learns the remote codes from each of my remotes which worked flawlessly just takes a few mins to learn all the devices and buttons I wanted. For RF devices (if you dont need RF then get the non-pro version) I didn't know the exact 433.XX frequency but the "auto-detect" feature worked great, then similarly just "learned" my RF buttons from the remote. Once the remotes were all set up, BL "scenes" were also very simple to create allowing me to string together commands across my devices (e.g. I created a "Watch TV" scene which turns on my TV, sets the proper input on my receiver, etc) and can set timing delays between commands if necessary.The best feature (and the reason I bought this) was Google Assistant integration. Once you link your BL account from within the Google Home app, all of the BL scenes you create become available for voice command (e.g. "Hey Google, activate Watch TV"). I created a "Volume Way Up" BL scene that would increase the volume in increments of 5 to avoid having to say the volume command over and over.Another feature I found super helpful is that you can also create Google routines to run a BL scene. Just type out the Google routine's "action" to say "activate <scene name>" (e.g. "activate watch TV"). Since Google routines can have multiple actions, this will be great to be able to have google assistant voice commands control not just BL but other devices on one command. Just need to be careful that your BL scenes aren't named the same as generic Google Assistant command (e.g. turn on the lights) or else Google gets confused.The ability to control devices directly from within the Google Home app is limited to certain device types and basic commands (power on/off, etc), but this wasn't important to me (I cared about voice, and I can use the BL app for everything else).Overall- simple install and easy IR/RF remote "learning" capabilities- works great for Google Assistant voice commands for your not-smart IR and RF devices, particularly if your desired voice commands are all focused on your BL-enabled devicesSuggestions- more standard device types (e.g. "receiver" wasn't a listed type which means I had to create a custom type which then isn't available in Google Home app, though still works fine for voice commands)- more options available to control devices directly from within Google Home app (not just voice/assistant)- better suggested remotes to reduce having to "learn" them all manually-support more RF frequencies (only the 2 which seem most common are supported so check your devices before buying)

I love simplicity which is why I love home automation, and the last thing I want to do is go around and turn off all the lights and devices at the end of the day, because there is a lot. So I was in a pickle, I recently bought passive hifi speakers, which meant I had to buy a receiver w/ amp, I bought two receivers, one sounded great but didn't link up with the network in any way, the other sounded okay (too much bass) but however linked up with my network therefore I could work it into my smart home routines! I was going to go with the latter because it would make my life simpler, until I decided to give an IR blaster like this a try. It works, what's there to say...?However there is some negatives, for example it seems if you unplug this device once it becomes dumb and you'll have to restart your router to re-connect it than reconfigure it with your network... (Minus a star there.) Also don't expect a slew of controls out of your other smart devices like Alexa, once synced with your Alexa the controls you can input for your routine are rather limited and very vague. Also expect to manually input your RF commands from your device's remotes, as the library of remotes is very shallow. Nonetheless I only need it to power on and off my devices (TV and Receiver) , and it does that very well, better than my own TV communicating with Alexa on it's own.

I was a bit skeptical when I ordered it after reading some reviews. I became even more skeptical when I saw its size. But I was completely wrong—this device does exactly what I expected.I got it for my garage gym to control multiple devices—TVs, fans, garage doors, etc. First of all, I was able to connect and set it up for all these devices within minutes using the native application. There were no issues at all—it connected to Wi-Fi quickly, and it was easy to link devices from the BroadLink database as well as to teach it commands for unknown controllers. No problems with IR or RF functionality.Then I decided to connect it to Home Assistant and integrate it with HomeKit. Again, I had zero issues. The integration works perfectly (just follow the manual and unlock the device for pairing). Learning how to set up buttons and teach commands through Home Assistant took another 10–20 minutes.This is a great device and a must-have for anyone looking to organize their devices with an IR & RF controller.