One For All Smart Control 5 universal remote control - Control of 5 devices - Guaranteed to work with all manufacturers - Free app for setup - Optimized for Smart TV URC7955

I have used universal remotes for a number of years and have generally liked them. However, some whilst have been good have not been able to use them with the latest tech. But this one is different, TV, Blu-ray players, satellite boxes, soundbars, hifi are generally pretty easy. However I was an early adopter of Sky Q and I have the Sky Soundbar. So my current universal remote could not be used with these two new pieces of tech. Until now, the URC 7955 does them all, now it controls all of my devices with ease and does a great job. Initially I was sceptical as to how much functionality it would actually have, but with the help of One for All support service I've managed to get all functionality for each device which is Samsung TV & Blu-ray player and now with great joy my Sky Q 2TB box and Sky Soundbar which is made by a fairly unknown brand Devialet. So I would highly recommend this remote to anyone with a number of devices similar to those I've listed. Yes it does take a bit of playing with to set it up right but once it's done you will be happy.

As background to this review I need to explain that some years ago I discovered the world of Harmony Remotes, a universal remote that allowed you to program activities such as "watch movie" and it would turn on your TV, Sound System, BluRay Player and set everything to the right channel. Sadly Logitech discontinued them and the buttons on my Harmony 555 are now failing, so time to find an alternate.So after much searching I was faced with the choice of this remote or one more like the Harmony Remotes but at approximately ten times the price. As this one advertises macros and an Activity key I decided to gamble on this one before forking out ten times as much for the other.For setup I decided to use their iPhone app (Android version available) and that was a breeze for getting my devices added. I simply selected the brand for each of my devices, entered the model number, and it selected the right set of codes. This worked brilliantly and it was easy to do. A quick test and I found I could turn all my devices on and off. The only frustration with the app is that is all it does, you can't program macros with it or anything else, all you can do is setup the devices.In terms of device control everything was reasonably intuitive except for my Pioneer AV Receiver; the remote controlled hardly anything. However I was able to learn from my old remote and that introduced the missing buttons; I can't see why the default doesn't include them but not a great hassle to program the remote to learn them.For the life of me I cannot figure out the Activity button. The instructions imply that you press the Activity key until the activity you want is highlighted and everything will turn on (with a programmable choice of what combination, for example TV+STB or TV+STB+AV), however it doesn't; pressing the Activity key until the one you want is highlighted does nothing. [Update: Customer Service finally replied and explained that with all devices on the Activity button configures the remote to control relevant parts of each device so, for example, if you are watching TV then the programme buttons would control your STB, the volume buttons your AV receiver and so on. It isn't meant to switch the devices on/off but if you long press the power button having selected the activity that will turn the devices on/off]You are also supposed to be able to add a macro to the activity, for example to switch the AV receiver input to a different device (so for TV I need it to switch the input to the Humax box and for BluRay to the Sony player) with the commands being sent 3 seconds after you select the activity. I successfully programmed the macro and I can see the remote sending the commands 3 seconds after I select the activity, but as nothing is on it is a bit pointless. [Update: After talking to Customer Service the sequence would be 1. Select Activity 2. Long press power button 3. Select Activity again to send the macro]After some trial and error I found that if you select an activity and long press the power button it turns on the correct devices for the activity, but the macro is sent during the long press of the power button (as the 3 seconds have elapsed) so it achieves nothing. Also you have to remember to select the activity again before long pressing to turn everything off otherwise it will only turn off the device you last controlled.I've tried asking OneForAll support what I'm doing wrong but to date they have only sent me excerpts from the user manual which say exactly what the copy included with the remote says, so I'm no further forward. It might be I have a defective remote, but who knows. [Update: See above for answers from support]In frustration I have assigned macros to the red, green, yellow and blue buttons as we never ever use them for anything, and if we needed to in the future we could dig out the relevant remote. I programmed the red button to switch on the TV and AV Receiver and put the AV Receiver on the right input for my Fire TV stick. Similarly the blue button does BluRay, green button sets it up for my Switch, and yellow for my Humax box. These work brilliantly, one press and everything switches on, one press and it all switches off again. If you decide to do something similar just make sure the last device you turn on is the one you want the remote to control, so for TV I make the last device my Humax box as I receive TV through that. If you don't it's no issue as you can always use the Device button to select the device you want to control, but it's neater if you end the macro on the right device. [Update: Now understanding the Activity button I think I'll stick with the solution I devised as it is a one button press to achieve what would take multiple presses if you used the remote as intended]Finally the remote has a function to lock the volume control buttons to a particular device, so in my case they will always control the AV receiver no matter what device the remote is controlling. That works really well.So, in summary, I have managed to get the remote to do what I want. It isn't elegant but it works. The setup app is helpful but could be so much better if it allowed you to do all the setup. The Activity button's function eludes me but I've found a way round it. My heart says "spend ten times as much and get the more elegant remote" but my head says "save the money and stick with this one". I think I'll give it a few months and see how frustrated I get with it (or not). Given the intricacy of setting it up this is one product I'm keeping the instructions for ... [Update: I've asked customer support to update the instructions and advertising material to clarify the purpose of the Activity button as it is currently misleading]

OFA helpline were very helpful. The remote works well with my Panasonic TV + Sky satellite box + Yamaha A/V amp. Although I cant set 1 of the 5 devices to control multiple systems, I can set each system to a different remote device.However the OFA is easy to use inspite of occasionally forgetting what device is currently selected.It was also easy to set the vol control for both the TV and Sat to control my A/V amp.

Super easy to use. Excellent and accurate.

I’ve had this remote for a few days now, and unless I have a faulty one, this device should never have been released. There are way to many glitches in the setup.There is the possibility to set up 5 devices, and while I do have 5 devices, I intend to only use 3 of the available slots.There are plenty of buttons, but there are a few missing to be able to fully recreate any of my remotes. That being said; there are sufficient buttons to make a fully workable solution, no doubt about that.The first issue, is that if you use the codes, you are st uk with One4all’s interpretation of how a given remote should be transposed onto this one. If you use the code, the learning function does not work to edit the few that you want to change. The lights blink as though it’s learned, but it simply doesn’t carry out the task.Also, I want to program it myself, my plan was to use one set to control both my blue ray player, and my hifi as well as adding in the tv volume.Then on another slot, have my Freeview box, but with the tv volume and not the set top box output volume.By doing a factory reset and starting again, I have programmed the remote over and over, I’ve fully achieved both of the above configurations successfully and they worked! But not at the same time.When one works, the other does not.It is as though you only have a certain amount of buttons in total that can be learned, and once you’ve reached that number, you are pouring water into an already full glass.It’s very frustrating and time consuming, I’ve spent hours now trying over and over, I’ve even managed to go through the entire process of programming both setups in one with no fumbles, yet it still failed to learn all the commands.I appreciate that this is a lot of rambling about a fairly specific issue, but if you’re looking for something fully programmable, don’t look here! If you are happy with just a few basic generic controls then it’s probably fine, but if you’re genuinely trying to get rid of 5 or 6 remotes from the arm of your sofa, you’ll probably struggle.