SofaBaton X1S Universal Remote Control with Hub, Universal Remote Control with One-Touch Activities, Custom SofaBaton App, Compatible with 60+ Devices, Works with

I purchased the X1S in September of 2024. This is the second Sofabaton X1 I've had; I bought the first X1 version a little more than a year ago, and I have been very, very pleased with both models. I use the X1S for our main sound and video system, and the original X1 with an auxiliary TV. The codes for operating several hundred thousands of devices from several thousand brands are easily download from Sofabaton's data base, or the codes from your original remote controls can be learned by the X1S. A relatively simple scripting language lets you control and operate multiple devices with one operation or "activity", so the multiple remote control devices that you would normally have to use with the various devices in your A-V setup can all be consolidated and run on one remote, the X1S, with the press of one button. The setup is relatively easy. The device is well made and feels solid in your hand. After the X1S was configured and programmed, it has operated flawlessly for the past seven months -- this has also been the case with my original X1. The X1S remote controls your various A-V devices by communicating with a "hub" using RF signals, so the remote does not have to be pointed at the device; it can be pointed anywhere, and it has an impressive range. I recently did a major equipment and carrier switch involving one of my A-V setups, replacing several Comcast cable boxes for internet, phone, and tv, with one Xfinity unit. I simply added the Xfinity box to the main "activity" I'd programmed into the X1S, which automatically included the new device into the existing program and continued to function normally with no further requirements. I am sincerely impressed with Sofabaton's products. I could ask for the moon, I suppose, but I really can't think of much more I would want in a remote control device. Having said that, I do have one suggestion that I think would make the X1S an even more flexible device, which is to add an If-Then construct to the scripting language. Here's an example of how such a construct might be used: you can easily switch input sources from within an Activity, for example, from cable tv, to Netflex, or Youtube, etc. However, depending on your equipment, the key bindings for doing things like navigating up, down, right, and left, for example, may use different codes for different devices -- the arrow keys used when watching cable TV may use one set of codes, whereas if you switch to watching Netflix within the same Activity, there is no way to also automatically switch the navigation key bindings from those used by cable TV, to those needed by Netflix. The workaround is to create separate Activities for live cable tv and streaming sources. This is a wish list item; it would be nice to have, but it doesn't impact my general satisfaction with this product.

After spending way too long juggling four remotes (and occasionally losing my mind in the process), I finally bit the bullet and picked up the SofaBaton X1S Universal Remote with Hub. I use it with an Apple TV, a vSeeBox V3 Plus, a Sonos ARC soundbar, and a Samsung OLED TV. Now that it’s up and running, I can honestly say this thing has completely streamlined my home theater setup. It’s not perfect out of the box, but once configured, it delivers exactly what you’d hope for in a universal remote — and then some. Initial Impressions Right out of the box, the build quality was better than I expected. The remote itself feels solid, sleek, and surprisingly premium. The charging dock is minimal and clean. The included hub and IR blasters are low-profile and easy to tuck away. It’s also nice that the remote uses Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in addition to IR, which gives it the ability to control newer devices like the Apple TV and Sonos. Setup Experience Here’s where I hit a few bumps. Setting up the devices individually was straightforward. The SofaBaton app detected my Samsung OLED, Sonos ARC, Apple TV, and even the vSeeBox V3 Plus (which I was surprised by, since it’s more niche). However, configuring the Activities section took some trial and error. If you’re not familiar with how macros and power-on sequencing work, you might get frustrated at first like I did. For example, getting the “Watch TV” activity to correctly power on the Samsung OLED, switch the input, turn on the vSeeBox, and activate the Sonos ARC took a few tweaks. The initial setup didn’t always switch inputs correctly or would leave the soundbar off. But after some fiddling with device delays, input settings, and testing sequences, I got it working exactly the way I wanted. The good news is — once it’s dialed in, it just works. Daily Use Now that it’s set up properly, the SofaBaton X1S is a joy to use. I hit one button and everything powers up in sync. It switches inputs, sets audio correctly, and I never have to touch another remote. The remote layout is intuitive, and the scroll wheel at the top actually feels useful (not gimmicky). The backlit buttons are great for nighttime use, and the overall response time is quick. No lag when controlling devices — especially noticeable with the Apple TV and vSeeBox. The hub makes a big difference too. I can control devices even when the cabinet doors are closed, and the signal is reliable. Also, the app control feature is handy for times when the remote isn’t nearby — like when I’m on the couch and my phone’s in my hand already. Pros and Cons Pros: • Controls Bluetooth, IR, and Wi-Fi devices all in one • Works seamlessly with Apple TV, Sonos ARC, Samsung OLED, and vSeeBox • Hub allows for closed-cabinet or line-of-sight-free setups • One-touch Activities work beautifully once configured • Remote has great build quality and responsive buttons • App-based customization and updates are solid Cons: • Activity setup is a little finicky and has a learning curve • Some UI elements in the app could be more intuitive • Occasional trial-and-error required for niche devices (like vSeeBox) • No physical number pad if you prefer that for channel entry Final Thoughts If you’re willing to spend a little time on setup, the SofaBaton X1S is easily one of the best universal remote solutions on the market right now — especially for those with a mix of newer smart devices and older equipment. It’s clean, modern, powerful, and customizable. I haven’t touched my Apple TV, Samsung, Sonos, or vSeeBox remotes since I finished configuring this thing, and that alone makes it worth every penny. Final Verdict: 9/10. Small learning curve, big payoff. This remote earned a permanent spot on my coffee table.

Well, the Sofabaton X1S is a work in progress ... On the positive side, the hand-held remote is well made and the simplicity of the layout might work for most streaming devices that you want to control with the X1S. However, if you want to use the Sofabaton X1S to control your Over The Air (OTA) recorder, note that the hand-held lacks a record button - as well as other transport controls. Perhaps Sofabaton's work-around for the lack of the record/transport buttons is that the device would be selected using the scroll wheel, and that one would actuate the button sequence using the scroll wheel / select actuations. For my ChannelMaster CM-7500, DVR+, OTA recorder, starting a recording using the X1S requires a bit of effort to scroll to the RECORD selection, followed by a press of the scroll wheel. Most of the confusion comes when you want to STOP the recording, which you do by scrolling and selecting STOP. However, the DVR+ wants you to confirm that you really want to STOP the recording, so a dialog appears on the TV screen asking for a CONFIRM. You then need to scroll to the OK selection and hit it to dismiss the dialog. At this point, perhaps you might think that the recording is over and you can watch OTA TV, but the OK actuation opens another dialog on the TV screen asking if you want to start a another recording. You then need to dismiss the dialog by scrolling to and hitting the EXIT selection. Otherwise, you need to wait a few minutes for the dialog to time out... At this point, I'm really irritated with Logitech for their abandonment of the Harmony remote, which had working RECORD/transport control buttons on the hand-held, as well as other features for easily dismissing the DVR+ dialogs. Another issue with the X1S is that each device as displayed on the hand-held's screen is listed as the manufacturer and not the model number (or preferably, a user-assigned name). Maybe there is a way to rename the device, but I did not find it. x1s-display.png For example, my media system includes a Sony XBR television, a Sony Blu-Ray DVD player, and a Sony Soundbar. Why must the Sofabaton X1S identify these devices using the name: "Sony" for all three devices? If you need to go to extended controls for the Sony Soundbar (like the rear speaker volume, for example), you need to remember which of the three "Sony" selections is for the Soundbar - before scolling to the control and selecting via the scroll wheel press. It is clear - that IF one can successfully configure the X1S, the best way to use it is for routine selection of devices for a desired activity as well as simplified configuration and control of your media system. The Sofabaton X1S is not practical for control of additional device features provided by the component's hand-held remotes that came with each component. In other words, using the scroll wheel for selection of these detailed commands is impractical. One might ask: what is the real purpose for the Scroll wheel and its display - given the issues with device naming and the actions required to select using the thumbwheel? Use of the original Remote I don't often record OTA signals on my ChannelMaster DVR+. When I would want to, I would use the DVR+ hand-held remote control - to set up and start a recording. The DVR+ remote would also be used to fast-forward through commercials or to go back in a recording to replay. This approach is superior to trying to use the X1S scroll wheel... In other words, don't think that the X1S will allow you to stop using your old hand-held remote that came with the component, in this case, the ChannelMaster DVR+ ... Problems with Learning from another Remote The control code database for the Sofabaton X1S covers many components from numerous manufacturers, but there are instances where you may not find a device for your component in the database. For such cases, Sofabaton offers a learning feature that is used to record control codes from an existing hand-held IR remote. Unfortunately, the recording of control codes from the hand-held (IR-only) remote can be affected by many factors, which can make the recording of IR commands unreliable. For example, I plan to use a model: UHDS-401A, HDMI switch (manufactured by OREI), for selecting HDMI sources in my system. The Sofabaton database includes other OREI devices, but not the UHDS-401A, so I tried to record the IR control codes using the "Code Learning" feature. I think that the UHDS-401A hand-held remote sends multiple control messages in rapid succession whenever a button is pressed, and the X1S hub does not do an adequate job of finding the button-press message's beginning and end. The X1S records a corrupted version of the IR control message, and for the UHDS-401A remote, any attempt to use the recorded IR message will be unreliable. The recorded IR signal may work perhaps 50% of each attempted actuation, which is not acceptable for reliable control of a devices' button selection. Also, the configuration of a set of IR control codes for some non-existing device's IR remote, requires that you start with some other (unrelated/different) device in the Sofabaton database. Rather than provide some simplified tool to define user-entered button names with recorded codes, Sofabaton requires that you must find some other device/remote in the database, which you would then edit to assign recorded IR control codes to pre-existing buttons provided for that selected device. For the OREI, UHDS-401A, I decided to start with the UHDS-402A (which is in the database) and to edit the buttons with reciorded IR codes. So, for selection of the "In 1" HDMI input, I need to edit the button named "Up" by recording the IR code, while pressing the button for that function on the UHDS-401A IR remote. Instead of allowing the user to change the name of the button to "In 1", I must refer to the button selection as "Up", because I can't edit the button name! I need to maintain a table somewhere else (like an EXCEL spreadsheet), so that I know what button name corresponds to which functional selection on the actual HDMI switch. Because the recording of the IR codes would have been corrupted anyway, it is evident that I could not have used the modified X1S UHDS-402A device from the database to reliably control an OREI, UHDS-401A switch. The only recourse I had to go with was to find some other similar, OREI device in the database that might control the switch. With a bit of research, I found that the OREI, HDA-934 device, which is available in the Sofabaton database, does reliably control the UHDS-401A, HDMI input selection. However, the HDA-934 device does not support control of other button presses available on the UHDS-401A IR remote... Note: I found during the process for defining an activity, that it may be possible to change the name for the button; however, I was not able to test the renaming capability, because of a non-recoverable communication issue. The Last Straw While I was working on the X1S activity configurations, I ran into numerous issues with hub communication, where the WiFi connection between my cell phone and the hub would disconnect. After many tries to reconnect and finish the activity configurations, the X1S hub eventually refused to communicate with my cell phone over the WiFi network. I felt that my only recourse was to do a factory reset of the X1S hub and to start over with the configuration. I went to the Sofabaton website and sent a chat message to Sofabaton support, asking how I could do a factory reset for the X1S hub. The chat was not active, but my support request message was sent, and I got an email back a day or so later: reset-x1s-hub.png Unfortunately, from the response from Sofabaton, performing a factory reset of the X1S hub, requires that you connect to the hub via WiFi, so that you can actually send the factory reset command. In my case, I could not connect via WiFi to the hub, so a factory reset was not an option. Note that the X1S hub did appear to work with whatever I had previously configured, so, for example, I could control my Apple TV with the Sofabaton X1S hand-held remote. The Bluetooth connection between the hub and hand-held apparently worked just fine, but the WiFi connection to my cell phone would not... Comment: The X1S hub includes a button to initiate Bluetooth pairing. It would make sense for the button to also function as a means to initiate a factory reset - by pressing and holding the button for say, 20 seconds. This way, the hub could be reset to a controllable state - without having to depend upon a WiFi communication link with the hub to issue the factory reset. I finally decided that the Sofabaton X1S was no longer worth the effort and that it was time to send it back to Amazon for a refund...

I originally wrote a pretty scathing review of this remote but after some help from Reddit I got it up and working. I'm using the X1S to take the place of a Harmony remote. I figure it's only a matter of time before the Harmony remote stops working and I wanted a remote that is actively supported. I had some issues with the power toggle for my Samsung TV but once I resolved that the different activities were easy to set up. The system also learned a command for my Denon AVR with minimal effort. I would say that when I reached out to tech support at Sofabaton for my power issues they weren't really helpful. As I mentioned earlier Reddit was able to steer me in the right direction. At this point the X1S works as well as my Harmony remote so I'm pleased I made the switch.

As someone with a home setup that includes a non-smart TV, AV receiver, Roku, Xfinity set-top box, Fire TV, and a Sound bar, managing multiple remotes was a challenge, especially for my mother when she visits or dog sits. I decided to try the Sofabaton X1S universal remote, and after two weeks of use, I’m thoroughly impressed with its ability to simplify my setup. Setup and Configuration Getting started with the Sofabaton X1S was straightforward. The process involved downloading the Sofabaton app, connecting the hub via Bluetooth, and then syncing it to my Wi-Fi network. The app is central to both the setup and operation, allowing you to add devices, configure activities, and customize button mappings. One feature I particularly appreciated is the ability to use the phone app as an additional remote, which means I can control everything even if the main remote isn’t nearby. Adding devices was seamless. The app includes an extensive database of remote codes, and for my devices, finding the correct code set was easy. For example, my Roku and Xfinity box were added in minutes. I did run into some issues with an older device, but the app's user-submitted codes helped me get it working. Configuring power settings and button layouts for each device was intuitive. I initially had some difficulty with the remote, experiencing lag and inconsistent performance. After some troubleshooting, I realized the issue was due to improper placement of the IR repeater eyes. Once I adjusted their positioning to ensure they were correctly aligned with my devices, the remote's functionality improved dramatically, and the lag was eliminated. Using Activities to Simplify Control One of the standout features is the ability to create custom activities. For instance, I created an “ROKU” activity that powers on the TV, AV receiver, and Roku, sets the correct inputs, and adjusts the soundbar—all with one button press. This has been a game changer, especially for my mother, who can now enjoy her shows without fumbling through multiple remotes. Daily Use The remote communicates with the hub via Bluetooth, and the hub sends commands to devices using infrared (IR) repeaters, which, after adjusting the IR placement, now work flawlessly in my setup. The remote is responsive and feels very much like using individual remotes. I also noticed that it transmits RF signals, though I haven’t had the chance to set that up yet. The physical remote has been easy to use. I also added shortcuts for common actions to make it even simpler for others. The app, however, has become my backup remote when I don’t have the physical one handy. It mirrors the remote’s functions, offering additional flexibility. Build Quality and Battery Life The remote is rechargeable via USB-C, and after two weeks of regular use, I haven’t needed to recharge it yet. Compared to previous universal remotes I’ve used, the Sofabaton X1S strikes a good balance between functionality and affordability. Overall Thoughts The Sofabaton X1S has made controlling my home theater setup much easier. The ability to use the phone app as both a setup tool and a secondary remote adds significant value. While I had initial issues with IR placement, resolving them made a significant difference in performance. For anyone looking for a Harmony remote alternative, this is an excellent option that simplifies complex setups and makes life easier for everyone in the household.