New Remotes Inbound.....

[RyanE]

4 minutes ago, ILoveC4 said:

The two most commonly used buttons at my house are DVR and GUIDE. Those missing will make it a tough sale for my family. 

And by missing, you mean 'only available on the touchscreen on the remote'.

RyanE

 

[RyanE]

1 minute ago, Gary Leeds UK said:

Its a Neeo and works like Neeo - Just going to cost a lot more than a Neeo. 

No, it doesn't work like Neeo.

It has a touchscreen and the same set of buttons, but they work like Control4.

The firmware is completely different, and the functionality is completely different.

RyanE

[therockhr]

I'll reserve judgement on the functionality for another time (i think its premature at this time to drop the Guide and DVR buttons...but who knows) but one thing I read from a CEPro article was the simple, non dealer setup:

In terms of programming… there is none, according to Kindel. Integrators will be able to ship the remote directly to a customer or sell it from their showroom. As long as the home is equipped with OS 3 and either the EA-1, EA-3 or EA-5 hub, homeowners only have to enter their Wi-Fi password, tell the device which room they are in, and it is online.

That seems pretty nice.

[therockhr]

Also though...im not going to pay 600 dollars for a remote. The SR series was the perfect price. 

[RyanE]

7 minutes ago, therockhr said:

(i think its premature at this time to drop the Guide and DVR buttons...but who knows)

They're not dropped, they're still available as soft buttons on the touchscreen, when the source is selected in the room.

RyanE

[therockhr]

4 minutes ago, RyanE said:

They're not dropped, they're still available as soft buttons on the touchscreen, when the source is selected in the room.

RyanE

In this case it is the same thing. you still have to take your eyes off the TV to find that button. 

I'm also curious about not having the DVR controls (hard buttons) available as well. I have Dish network and i dont know if the directional pad can work for that.

[RyanE]

14 minutes ago, therockhr said:

In this case it is the same thing. you still have to take your eyes off the TV to find that button.

Not having something and having it, but being less convenient are not the same thing.

I agree, soft buttons are not as convenient, but you are not *losing* the functionality, and saying Control4 has 'dropped' the DVR button could lead others to believe the functionality is not available at all.

RyanE

[Jayaredoubleu]

*Sigh*   Like, I said before, I am pretty disappointed in this product launch.     If we compare Crestron, Savant, RTI remotes as what C4 is trying to beat, thenI am not sure this NEEO remote accomplishes that goal.    The gain of a "cool looking touchscreen" doesn't offset the major losses in functionality of hard buttons people use everyday on a remote.   Like other people have stated in this forum, it appears to be a handheld navigator or mini-T3 touchscreen - not a remote for AV. 

The biggest misses I see for this product are:

1. No back light functionality (which for me unfortunately is an absolute requirement and a deal breaker).   I don't know how you can easily use this remote at night time. 
2. Missing highly useful buttons   (e.g. DVR, Guide, etc.)   This could have been remedied by at least adding some custom buttons on the remote (e.g. color coded), that allow for programming for whatever customers want.   With this remote - we can't do any of that with a single button push. 
3. The missing microphone limits any future use of voice for home automation commands or search functionality (which is extremely useful).  Every major remote on the market has this functionality now. 

Honestly, I don't even know if I would add this new remote to my system even if it were free, and that is sad.   As a product marketing manager myself, I feel this is a big miss in understanding customer wants/needs and doing a proper competitive analysis. 

I am not trying to knock C4 overall, as I am very happy with their products and my current system.   This is just the first product launch, however, that I feel is actually a step backwards.   My guess is a lot of SR-260s will still be sold (not just because of price, but because of their ease of use for traditional AV needs).

Just sharing my frustrations and concerns as an avid C4 supporter!

 

[Amr]

My 2 cents here since it’s a buzz feed, am not disappointed from this announcement at all, it’s just an option for a fancy remote may be in a guest room, who know little to nothing about C4. As for hardcore users like us we will pass for a better than SR-260’s that C4 should work on!

[RyanE]

As far as backlight, I thought I would miss backlight as well, but after using this remote for some time now, I find that I don't need to look down for any hard button control.

That's one of the advantages of the small number of hard buttons, which have nubs and contours that make the remote a fairly easy to hand navigate by feel.

RyanE

[Jayaredoubleu]

24 minutes ago, RyanE said:

As far as backlight, I thought I would miss backlight as well, but after using this remote for some time now, I find that I don't need to look down for any hard button control.

That's one of the advantages of the small number of hard buttons, which have nubs and contours that make the remote a fairly easy to hand navigate by feel.

RyanE

I understand this could be possible, once you memorize the layout of the buttons.  But that takes time.  

I can see this being useful for Apple TV, but not for cable or for watching a blu-ray.

How do you address things like "guide" quickly? or "DVR"?  or "Record" or "pause"? or the difference between "previous" and "exit"

Essentially it would be like using your iphone to control your AV system, which isn't much fun. 

[RyanE]

It's quite usable, and takes less time than you'd think to memorize the d-pad, ch+/-, vol+/-, menu, and back.

As far as transport controls and proxy buttons, you get the control screen as soon as you select the device, so they're immediately available.

The big difference between using the remote and your phone is that there's no wake-up or delay to use the remote, and no need to exit twitter before controlling.

For most things, I find the remote quite a bit quicker and much more convenient than using the phone.

This opinion, of course, is extremely biased, but I believe honest.

RyanE

 

[Gary Leeds UK]

RyanE 

It look nice and its something new (Ish) and good to see Control4 Telling us about a product before it launch date. 

Its Price point is Stupid but understandable - Dealers need to make a cut 

But Control4 does need to start speaking to Customers about Products not Dealers 

Hence the frustration  

[RyanE]

1 minute ago, Gary Leeds UK said:

But Control4 does need to start speaking to Customers about Products not Dealers 

Hence the frustration  

Control4 does (and will continue to) talk with both customers and dealers when designing products.

I appreciate your input, and apologize for your frustration.

There's always room for improvement.

RyanE

[chopedogg88]

I actually think the price point is very reasonable, less than I thought it would be, considering the build quality and that:

-SR-260 with docking station is $300 USD

-Savant Pro remote is $800 

-Crestron remote is $1200

I am a Dealer, but also a user of course (as most dealers are!), and I think most Dealers' feedback would be the same or very similar to Customer feedback to be honest.

[WhyPhy]

Dear Control4, you bought the wrong remote control company. You could have purchased a better hardware design 10 years ago and likely for a lower acquisition cost. It would even have had plenty of adequately-spaced hard buttons and backlighting.

 

[chopedogg88]

I hope you're kidding. The design of that remote is horrible.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[ntlord]

C4 knows damn well that people want more buttons and back-lighting. They know that makes a better product. All the excuses in the world won't change that. But here is the bottom line: C4 was behind on the remote control game. Instead, of coming up with their own product, the bought a company. Nothing wrong with that. But instead of fixing the obvious design flaws of the Neeo, C4 is hastily releasing it in an attempt to stop any bleeding to competitors. They could have waited. Released a great product. But they didn't wait. Instead, they will now likely release a better version in a year or two, fixing all of these problems (claiming they now listened to customer feedback), and then leave everyone who bought this shitty version high and dry. So my advice, wait. Don't buy it. Show C4 with our money that they should release well-designed products, instead of re-branded half-baked bullshit.

 

[RyanE]

I disagree with nearly all that ntlord says above.

I believe despite the shortcomings, that this is a great product.

Product design and development is a series of tradeoffs.  This remote (as does any product) reflects those tradeoffs.

The one thing I agree with is: this won't be the last remote control released by Control4.  If this remote doesn't do it for you, that's fine, don't buy it.

RyanE

[WhyPhy]

16 minutes ago, chopedogg88 said:

I hope you're kidding. The design of that remote is horrible.

I've owned both the Pronto Pro and Neeo and hands-down prefer the old Pronto Pro hardware. The Prontos have better button count, shape, spacing, and backlighting. They can be used in a dark room and without having to take your eyes off the TV. Not so for the Neeo. Of course the Neeo wins on touchscreen responsiveness and software, but it's also 10 years newer. 

But my main point is the that Control4 and Neeo could have done better. There's no need to "reinvent" at great expense to usability and functionality.

[WhyPhy]

On 10/29/2019 at 1:36 PM, KWD said:

Not the correct wood background. Not buying it. 

Problem solved!

[chopedogg88]

I've never used either remote but it sure looks like it would be uncomfortable to try to hold the remote while adjusting volume or channels since they are way at the bottom.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[ntlord]

15 minutes ago, RyanE said:

I disagree with nearly all that ntlord says above.

I believe despite the shortcomings, that this is a great product.

Product design and development is a series of tradeoffs.  This remote (as does any product) reflects those tradeoffs.

The one thing I agree with is: this won't be the last remote control released by Control4.  If this remote doesn't do it for you, that's fine, don't buy it.

RyanE

I figured you might  And I actually agree with almost everything you said, except for obviously the "great" product part. I think it's at best going to be an ok product given the limitations I have already stated. I agree that design and development is a series of tradeoffs. And my point was that here C4 traded off having a truly great product with a fast go-to market strategy.  That is a tradeoff for sure, just not the tradeoff I wish C4 made. But I guess that's why I don't work in the consumer product space. 

To me it's unclear whether any of this still doesn't mean it will be a success. The Neeo is impressive to hold--I'll give you that. And that might make it easy sell to consumers. But I think it will be a purchase they regret. I think the SR260 just has better usability. Why do I think that? First, I own a neeo and an SR260--so I have some ability to compare. Second, my portable T3 stays in the closet. Why?  Although it looks cool, its a pain in the ass to use--I like the buttons (like most people). I suspect others on this forum would back me up on that point. But I guess we'll agree to disagree there.

But with this. I'm done being negative about this. I'll reserve any further judgment until I see one in action. 

P.S. Ok. I can't help myself. I notice there s no comfort menu. Is that additional functionality that is missing? I can't adjust my thermostat?  

[msgreenf]

the good part is you don't have to buy it!

Personally, I don't plan on buying them

[South Africa C4 user]

I must say, I usually jump in and buy... but I am going to wait for a few reviews from end users before I buy this one.... but if I don’t buy the Neeo, I have no doubt I’ll buy the Neeo V2 so please do keep developing 

Great to see new hardware coming out.