Sony's remote controls: I have an opinion, and the world needs to know it

Luca Fontana

5.2.2019

Translation: machine translated

Video: Dominik Bärlocher

Sony has unveiled its new remote control. Its design is sensational: silvery, handy and pretty. In other words, the exact opposite of what feels like a 30-year-old predecessor model. It's clear to me that the world needs to know about it.

So, the big news first: Sony has given its remote control a new design. Boom. And: the button design has been redimensioned. Because less is more. But not much less. Button mania is also present in the new remote control, just in a reduced form.

Hell yeah.

I have an opinion on remote controls

Yes, I have an opinion on remote controls. At least since I wrote about Logitech's universal remote control.

I thought it was good, but not that good. Then the world gave me its opinion. Also user Trufy0815.

I found out then that I'm not the only person who has an opinion on remote controls.

The old remote control: a statement

I remember my brother's first television well. A Sony tube TV, bought about 15 years ago, placed on an IKEA Billy corner shelf made of beech veneer. The design no longer exists today, but you can still buy the shelf on eBay . The remote control was already black, clunky and ugly back then. Perhaps a kind of design statement. Since then, Sony's remote controls have been one of those things in the world for me that are just the way they are because I can't change them and have to accept them.

While the competition is producing ever smaller and more discreet remote controls that barely have any buttons, the Japanese manufacturer is standing by its nostalgia club, which was probably already used by cavemen.

Then Sony suddenly decides to change this antique thing that is the way it is and has been accepted as such by me. And it's great.

The new one is here, and it's made of aluminium

So the remote control is now silver. It is also available in black, but silver is definitely nicer. The front of the housing is milled from aluminium. This makes the remote control lighter than before and about a finger's width thinner. At least at the front. It gets slightly thicker towards the back, making it easier to hold.

It also has fewer buttons. Especially around the round disc in the centre. Quite intuitively, it now has a button for the settings and a button for selecting the signal source. Because what exactly an "action menu button" wanted to do before, I no longer know.

The best thing is that the round disc now also has a button for voice control. Very good. It used to be at the top of the remote control. It's a damn dirty button when you're holding the fumble bone with just one hand and have to stretch your thumb all the way up to reach it. Who does that? Nobody. Thank you Sony for realising that too. Thank you.

You might be wondering why I'm making such a fuss about a new remote control. The thing is: When Sony abandons a concept as historic as its remote controls, makes a new one, and the new one is so damn good - the world needs to know about it. <p

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more

Follow

These articles might also interest you