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Last year, Samsung unveiled an innovative solar-charging remote during CES. Now, the company has revamped the product, and it now can convert routers’ radios waves into energy to stay charged. While Apple introduced a new Siri Remote less than a year ago, the Cupertino company should definitely take a look at Samsung’s idea to improve its own product.
According to The Verge, the 2022 Eco Remote not only uses outdoor and indoor light for charging, but it also now supports radio waves from routers.
Aside from the new RF harvesting option, the Eco Remote can be charged from both outdoor and indoor light or (for the fastest results) over USB-C. Samsung says it’s introducing a white model of the remote this year, which the company says is meant to better complement its “lifestyle” TVs like The Frame, Serif, and Sero.
Since Samsung introduced its QLED TV in 2017, I have always praised its remote design. Simple and charming, it has a very Apple-like philosophy that you can do more with less. After all these years, Samsung not only refined the experience as it’s now aiming at another Apple goal: sustainability.
This remote is made of recycled materials and offers charging options that neither require AAA batteries nor use its USB-C port. On the other hand, although Apple improved the Siri Remote for the new Apple TV, it still lacks Samsung’s innovative ideas.
9to5Mac’s Take
Having the ability to never need to charge the Siri Remote again using a Lightning port would come in handy. Another missing feature is U1 chip support – but that of course is something that no remote has so far. At the time of the Apple TV 4K announcement, Apple said it sized up the Siri Remote so it wouldn’t need the UWB chip.
This excuse doesn’t make sense, as it would’ve been great to use Precision Find to discover the remote lost in the couch or hidden in the living room.
Even though, there is still one thing that I praise Apple over Samsung’s new remote. Apple still keeps the Siri Remote as simple as possible while Samsung is monetizing like hell the streaming services buttons, adding not only its proprietary “Samsung TV Plus” channel, but also Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video. Although they’re all very popular in US homes, I still think it’s frustrating for those who don’t care that much about these services to have dedicated buttons.
The new Eco Remote will be available for the new Neo QLED TVs in black as well as its lifestyle TVs in a white option.
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