Amazon Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote Pro (newest model) with remote finder, TV controls, and backlit buttons

I was having a lot of problems with the Apple TV in our guest room. Janky audio and video. I decided to try another platform to see if the problem was actually the Apple TV or the TV itself. I ordered the latest Amazon 4K Firestick Max and found it was indeed the Apple TV that had gone bad. The picture and audio on the Firestick is awesome. However, the one thing I was not all that impressed with was the remote that came with the unit. It's fine as it is, but didn't have several functions I wanted. I decided to see if they offered a more premium remote for the Firestick. They do ... It has several functions that I really like. For example, you can use Bluetooth headphones with it, and it has backlight buttons. The overall feel and heft of the remote is simply more premium than the one that comes with the Firestick. It's also smaller. The first thing I did was pair it with the Firestick (which took all of one minute) and then tried my Bose headphones with it. Again, it took all of one minute to pair it and it works flawlessly. Once paired, you simply push the headphone button on the top right side of the remote and that is all you need to do. The audio immediately switches from the external speaker to the headphones. And the backlight buttons are very helpful in a dark room. The remote also has two customizable shortcut buttons. I haven't done anything with those yet but will set one up for my Favorite Channels. One thing you need to do however is check the compatibility list on Amazon. Evidentially the remote doesn't work with some older Amazon Firestick products. It absolutely works with the latest Firestick 4K Pro. Granted, the remote was an additional cost, but well worth it from my perspective. Glad I purchased it. That said, Amazon should offer it as an optional SKU with the Firestick 4K Pro .... I bet they would sell a lot of them in that configuration.

I like this remote because all the buttons are back lit so it’s perfect at night time when you’re trying to find the right button. It does have a one and two button that can be used as speed dial for your favorite app. It does have an option for Bluetooth headphones that connect to this remote as well. With this being said, I don’t know what this remote frequency is because every time I use microphone button, it changes my HDMI input every time. Not sure if it’s the remote or the TV but it runs on a certain frequency and it changes my HDMI input. For reference I use the 86 inch LG. Keep this in mind.

This remote is even better than I expected! Even though I already have perfectly fine Fire Stick remotes as soon as it popped up on my TV screen I immediately ordered one (not something I usually do!) for the backlit feature alone. While waiting for delivery I started reading more about it and got more and more excited because of other features, a couple of which I already had on my previous remote but still worth mentioning. Can turn on TV AND/OR receiver when you press power! This is easily set up during the simple remote setup process. You just have to select the brand of each; you do not even have to fool with model number or other info. Keep in mind that when using these buttons you need to have the remote pointed toward the system because these controls us IR like a regular remote, while most controls between the Fire Stick and remote are WIFI so not directional. There is a caveat about this feature if you have a little more involved "theater" system and also use a multifunction remote like a Logitech Harmony that automatically changes source and input ports depending on what you are doing. For example, if you press "Watch a Movie" on the Logitech to watch a blu-ray disc the Logitech changes the HDMI ports as necessary. The next time you press the power button on the Fire Stick remote the system input and source will still be set for watching a DVD. The Fire Stick remote will turn on the TV and receiver, but the TV will say not connected because ports are wrong. You have to then use the Logitech remote to turn the system All Off then press Watch TV to get the ports set properly. This is a minor nuisance. A more common issue is that sometimes when you turn the system off with the Fire Stick remote and maybe do not have the remote pointed correctly the receiver may not turn off, which you may not realize if the receiver is behind a fabric door like mine. The next time you try to power on the system you actually toggle the receiver off so you will again get a not connected message. Again you have to grab the Logitech to All Off then Watch TV to get everything in sync. There may be a fix for some of this. I recently realized that in Settings for either the Fire Stick or the remote there are a number of settings you can change to modify how the devices interact such as the length of the signal the remote sends, the kind of thing more advanced users might want to explore. TV channel and volume controls are now located and look more like most remotes which, to me, also makes them more convenient to use. Two programmable streaming service buttons are great and pretty simple to set up. We watch a lot of stuff on Paramount+ so it is nice to just be able to jump to that service after watching a different one. I wish more of them were programmable. The backlighting is great! When you pick up the remote the backlight automatically comes on. So I am super happy with this new remote!

07/23/2023: Bought these because I noted that over time, BOTH my Fire Cube devices (along with my Echo devices) seemed to be getting worse and worse in understanding voice commands. The fact that these "fixed" the problem shows clearly that Amazon makes their devices with mics which will fail over time so you have to purchase replacements. Obviously not thrilled with that sort of underhanded marketing, but what can ya do? The remote itself is thicker and heavier than the one that came with the Cubes, and with slightly more functionality - much of which I'll never use. For example, the channel guide and channel up/down buttons. The whole reason I cut the cord was because I detest commercials, and all the "Free" channels in the guide are THICK with commercials - so I ignore them. Very NOT-thrilled with having four permanently assigned buttons at the bottom. The PRIME button "seems" to make sense until you realize that it's completely unnecessary since the HOME button takes you to the Prime portion of the main interface anyway, so when would you ever use it? And of course, the other three are given to whoever pays Amazon the most money to get their name on the buttons. In this case, that's DirectTV, Peacock, and Netflix. So out of the four buttons, I might theoretically use ONE. Personally, I'd rather have four more programmables Speaking of which, there are TWO programmable buttons, and you can program them to run an app (Like Peacock or Netflix - so again making those dedicated buttons mostly useless). But you can also program them to perform commands. Programming them is easy. Hold down the button a few second and a menu appears to choose what you want it to do. The menu will include the last few voice commands you did, so you can just select the one you want, or you can go into "Your Apps" or "More Actions". Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to support "Routines", which would be nice. Personally, since my TV doubles as my screen for gaming I need to change to HDMI 2 pretty commonly. So the "2" button works perfect for that using the voice command "H.D.M.I. 2". There's no need for an HDMI 1 button, because the HOME button puts it back on HDMI 1 to display the menu The SETTINGS button does not take you to Settings. It takes you to a menu with several options on it, most of which I'll never use, and with the actual "Settings" furthest away. My most common use-case for this is to restart the Fire device, which takes 13 clicks the normal way, or 14 clicks using the SETTINGS button on the remote because you can't even go left to circle to the far right like you can on the main screen. So... another possibly great feature poorly implemented. The items on the SETTINGS menu button are (left to right) "Profiles", "Apps", "Sleep", "Mirroring", and "Settings". If you almost never use those, then the button is useless. So restarting is STILL easier using the other method, which is to hold down the "SELECT" and "PLAY/PAUSE" buttons for 5-8 seconds (by the time you get done clicking, you'll have used up that time anyway). The old remote had all the other buttons, except for the headphones button, which I'll probably never use either. So is it worth it? Well, if you have one of the older remotes without volume, mute, and power buttons, then it's probably worth it. If not, you'll have to make that call yourself. If you have one or two commands you use all the time, the programmable buttons might make it worth it to you. If you use the "free" (commercial-thick) channels, then it might also. Otherwise, probably not. One note. I have 2 TVs and 2 Fire Cubes, and replaced both remotes. In both cases I had to set the original remotes so they'd know what type of TV so they'd know which remote control (IR) codes to use. And in both case, the new remotes seem to have "learned" that from the previous remotes. Aside from pairing the remote to the Cube, there was no setup required (other than programming the #2 buttons for HDMI2 of course, since the old remotes didn't have that functionality). Aside from pairing them, there was zero set-up. I had fully expected to have to set the TV models again, so kudos on that. Oh, I almost forgot. The backlight feature is AWESOME! I know I'll have to replace the batteries sooner, but since I operate in the dark 90% of the time, it's really nice to be able to see the buttons. Also, the "Remote Finder" works fine, though I'll probably never use it. I think it's one of those function that I may never use, but if/when I need it, I'll REALLY need it. :-) So I'm glad it's there. Now Alexa can find either my Phone or my Remote. She so smart! Also, when I asked where my remote was, she asked if I wanted to find the First remote control or the Second, so that's nice.

So one of my crazy cats knocked my remote off the counter and was throwing it all over the place playing with it. Somehow the internal microphone must have broken as it no longer responded to voice commands (everything else worked fine). I picked up one of those super cheap ($6) no name remotes that supposedly works with my fire cube (the pop-up message stated that it works with all my fire devices). It did technically work for simple commands but none of the multi-button press shortcuts worked. I use “voice view” amazons built in screen reader for the blind. There are many times when that feature needs to be toggled on or off and the easiest way is by pressing and holding down the “back” and “menu” buttons simultaneously for a few seconds. Anyway, it seems that only the legit Amazon branded remotes can perform these tasks. So I had to order up this one as it was n sale for less than the basic version at the time (still pricy considering that for a few dollars more you can get a fire stick and remote). This remote pairs instantly, much faster and easier than with the no name remotes. As soon as it paired, it immediately asked to update the remotes software so I did. It also immediately generated an Alexa app message on my phone that a new device was found. I’ve never had that happen with a remote before. Ends up that’s part of the “find remote” feature that this remote has. It’s also backlit which is nice. With an Amazon branded remote everything, including the multi-button shortcuts work flawlessly. The only thing that I miss (having low vision) was the colored app buttons as those were easily identifiable. These buttons have the app name printed over a standard black button. At least the microphone button is still colored blue so I know which way is up at a glance.

Update #2: I received the replacement remote today. After installing the batteries and pressing the home button, I navigated to the menu on the Fire Stick to add a remote. It immediately found the remote and paired. Total setup time was under 15 seconds. When I ask Alexa where my remote is, the remote starts beeping as intended. The tone isn't super loud, but it should help locate the remote as intended unless it's under a cushion. The tone almost sounds like the Universal Studios intro. The custom buttons are also super easy to setup. My overall impression of the remote itself after finally receiving it... Is 5 out of 5. It works exactly as intended, and was super easy to setup (once I received a working unit). I only wish the replacement process has been smoother, but it worked out in the end. While I would take off a star because of the initial experience, the product is what I'm rating. And yes, I would certainly recommend this product to others. Update #1: After writing my initial review, Amazon customer service contacted me in hopes of reaching a resolution. They apologized for the confusion with the experts, and were very friendly and understanding. While they were not able to "send a replacement" directly, they agreed to issue the refund immediately, and told me to keep, donate, or dispose of the current remote. I opted to have the refund credited as a gift card, so I could immediately place a new order and apply the gift card, which I did. The new remote should arrive by Saturday. I will provide additional updates on the product one I receive it and finally get to test its features. Initial Review: I ordered this remote to replace a lost remote. By the time it arrived, the original FireTV Stick 4K was bricked, and they could not fix it. I ordered a NEW FireTV Stick 4K during Black Friday, and got it set up tonight without a hitch. Once it was setup, I attempted to pair this Remote Pro with my new FireTV Stick 4K (3rd Gen). Despite repeated attempted holding the Home button down, it would never connect. Long story short, I've now spent 1 hour and 40 minutes on two phone calls, being transferred to 6 different representatives. I've factory reset my remote pro 4 times, changed batteries, unplugged the FireTV Stick, and done everything but dance.... Everything the customer service "experts" advised. The first FireTV "expert" told me there wasn't even an option to add another remote in the settings (?!? Settings.... Controllers and Bluetooth Devices). Then I spoke to another "expert" who told me the Remote Pro wasn't compatible with Fire TV Stick, despite its compatibility page listing 5 types of Fire TV Sticks it's compatible with. After finally having tech support agree it was likely an RMA.... they refused to send a replacement, as it was not in Amazon's policy to do so. The only option would be to send it back, wait days for it to be received, so they can process the refund, wait for it to show a credit, and then I get to spend the money on the remote again and hope for the best. I've been an Amazon Prime customer for years, and I've had great experiences 95% of the time.... But this is by far the worst experience I've ever had with them. I think the product page sounds great for this product, and I understand RMAs happen... That's all fine. I get it. But to go through nearly three total hours just trying to get a remote paired or replaced has me questioning if it's worth it in the first place. Perhaps if I ever get a working Remote Pro, I'll be glad to update my rating.

Ok, I have had this remote now for a good few months and I gotta say, I haven’t ran across any issues what so ever. The voice function works good. The (find my remote) alarm works great. And that function alone is worth buying this thing. These little fire remotes always seem to get lost. They can slide down in couch cushions, get wrapped up in blankets, fall behind beds, or just misplaced in general. So having the ability to ask Alexa where the remote is and she turns on an alarm on the remote itself so you can track it down is perfect. This remote also has back lit keys so you won’t be fumbling around in a dark room trying to make sure you’re hitting the correct buttons. Now the lighted keys only turn on when your fingers brush over the keys. So I’m sure that helps out with battery life, however, this is the only issue I have came across that does put a damper on the remote, is that this thing will drink up batteries very quickly. Not sure how often you will be using your remote, but I can drain a set of triple AAAs in a couple weeks in this remote. Now I shouldn’t have to tell you that batteries in remotes can last for many many months. I have even had some that last for over a year. So when I blow through a set in 2 weeks, you know it’s gonna start costing you. I decided to order a couple sets of rechargeable batteries so I always have a good set to toss in. One thing to note here is if you just leave your remote sitting on your couch or in your bed, some items coming into contact by brushing up against the keys, can cause the lighted keys to turn on. Now this is another reason the batteries can die out more quickly. All in all, looking past these personal things, I still think this remote deserves a 5 star rating. It is definitely better than the old stock remotes that came with the old sticks and cubes. And the added blank buttons that allow you to program in what apps you want to open for personalization is a game changer. Do I think this remote is a bit overpriced? Yes. But like most things, if you really want it, you pay the price. Would i suggest this to others? Yes. And I already have gotten a few of my friends to upgrade to this remote. They dig it also. Just make sure that if you buy a cover for this, that it is the correct cover to fit this remote specifically. Covers for the other fire remotes will not fit this one as they are about a half inch different in length, and the button layouts are different. I do hope this review helps some of you out trying to decide if this is worth buying.

This was purchased to replace the original remote for an Amazon Fire 4K cube which suddenly quit working without having been dropped or damaged in any way. I did NOT appreciate the fact that Amazon refuses to sell the cheaper remote I had, since (for reasons only they know) Amazon is HEAVILY pushing users to use their digital eavesdropper called Alexa. This means that they want to charge over 35% of the initial cost of the Fire cube for a remote that will NEVER be used with Alexa... On the plus side, this remote does have backlit buttons, which is nice for movies in a darkened room. I also like that it can turn my TV on & off plus adjust the volume. This makes it more useful since this handles 90% of our streaming use. HOWEVER, this doesn't help users with the primary issue with EVERY remote Amazon has released for the Fire streaming devices. The functionality is frustratingly poor because even though they made this remote 50% longer & slightly wider you HAVE to look before you hit a button! This is due to their poor ergonomic choice to put TWELVE identical sized small round buttons in the center, with two double sized rockers for volume & I'm constantly finding that I accidentally hit the home button instead of play/pause like I meant to. This gives an unplanned stop to whatever was being viewed. On the plus side it still has more buttons than the lousy remote that came with the new OLED TV we bought... The four buttons at the bottom to take you directly to Prime, Netflix, Disney or Peacock were quite annoying at first because just holding the remote makes it easy to accidentally hit them. Because of the awkward way you'd need to hold the remote in order to USE them I haven't been interested in even using them on purpose. But I have learned to hold the remote on the sides to minimize the accidental presses. I haven't tried using the remote finder feature so I can't comment on whether it works or not. While I wish they'd give us a better designed remote this does do everything the original did. It has the useful upgrades of TV control & lighting, and I suppose some users like using the Alexa so I gave four stars. If not for those I'd give it 3 stars for my personal preferences. YMMV