Futuretronics Mini Remote for the PS3 Review

At my house, all media centre duties have been delegated to the PS3. Sure, it's not as flexible as a dedicated media centre/PVR, but you just can't go past something that puts network shared videos, music and photos on your TV, plays Blu-rays and DVDs, and plays PS3 games all for under $500.

Until now, I've been using the wireless PS3 controller as a remote when watching movies and such, but this has its drawbacks. In order to minimize the number of recharges and therefore prolong the life of my controller, I have it setup to turn off after a short period of non-use. So, say the phone rings and I have to pause the movie I'm watching, I'll have to hold the PS button for a few seconds to turn the controller on, wait for it to sync with the PS3, and then press pause. Annoying. Also, one hand operation can be awkward.⁺That's not a joke. 
"Sony makes genuine PS3 remotes. Just go buy one." Yes they do, and no I won't. See, the PS3 remote Sony offers - for around $39 - uses Bluetooth like the PS3 controller and must be "always on" as opposed to a standard infrared remote which only uses power while a button is being pressed. This means Sony's PS3 remote chews through its AA batteries much faster than your average TV remote. On the up side, you do get a full featured remote that, thanks to Bluetooth, works without being pointed at the PS3.
But all I want is something cheap to pause and rewind videos without needing its batteries changed every other week.

Enter Futuretronics' Mini Remote.

The packaging, front and back, before I let my scissors at it.

The Mini Remote blister pack holds a small infrared remote and a receiver in the form of a USB dongle. Plug the dongle into one of the spare USB ports on the front of your PS3, turn on your console, and you're away. Plug & Play: It's not just a euphemism anymore.

The dimensions of the remote are: 95mmx50mmx16mm. The shaping and positioning of the buttons makes them each easily distinguishable by feel and the battery covers telltale ridges on the underside of the remote will let you know if you're holding it ass about. This makes the remote easy to operate in the darkness of a movie session or perhaps you're listening to music and have the lights down low for… other reasons.⁺Might I recommend Moon Safari. 
I found all of the buttons easy to hit without much repositioning, the top buttons more so than the bottom. It's a little disappointing that the video control button set is at the bottom, since they're the most used and they should be in the most comfortable position. This isn't really an issue though since the "ENTER" button and d-pad located in the centre of the remote can be used to play, pause, rewinds and fast-forward.
The Red, Green, Yellow and Blue buttons which some Blu-ray titles make use of are absent, but you can still access their functions by bringing up the on-screen menu with the Triangle button. A power on/off button is also missing, but you can still power off your PS3 with this remote by backing out of whatever you're doing and powering off via the main menu (Xross Media Bar). Performance wise the only real complaint I have is the weak/narrow signal range. You have to be pointing the remote directly at the receiver for it to respond.

The remote, IR dongle and a 20c piece for scale.

As for build, the remote is quite light - weighing in at about 30g - and feels good in the hand. For comparison: A PS3 controller is about 190g and my Harmony 520 is about 140g. The buttons are rubber, but have the appearance of hard, glossy plastic. Hair-line cracks are visible around many of the buttons, but I don't consider this to be a big deal since my Xbox 360 controller has hair-line cracks around its buttons too. The unit is suitably robust and, since it's so light, can be tossed about a carpeted room without consequence. The receiver dongle, on the other hand, not so much. The top half of dongle housing came away when I was moving it to the neighbouring USB port. A dab of superglue will clear that right up, but still. It also protrudes from the PS3 a little further than I'd like, but that's neither here nor there.

The infrared receiver dongle has the added benefit of enabling control of your PS3 with a universal remote, albeit limited to the same controls available via the Mini Remote. Logitech even has a device profile for it so you can set up your Harmony remote to take over nice and quick like. This also sidesteps the issue of the Mini Remote having a weak signal.

This action shot gives a better sense of scale and a less obscured view of my tablecloth.

After having the receiver dongle for the Mini Remote plugged in for a week, I noticed an annoying phenomenon: Sometimes the assignment of the PS3 controller would be bumped from player 1 to player 2. I knew this was a side effect of the dongle, but why was it not happening consistently? The light! Of course. Let me tell you about the light:
When you press a button on the Mini Remote, a dull red light can be seen inside the receiver dongle. This light remains on for a few seconds before going out. I had also noticed that the PS3 was faster to respond to the remotes button presses while this light was on. This light also comes on for a few seconds when you turn on the PS3. So I theorised that the PS3 recognises the dongle as a PS3 controller while the light is on and that if you turn on your actual PS3 controller while the PS3 sees the dongle, it will register it as a second controller. To test this hypothesis, I turned on the PS3 and controller together by holding down the PS button. My controller was assigned to player 2. I then tried turning on the PS3 with the button on the console itself, leaving the controller off. Once the system was powered up and I could see that the light in the receiver dongle was out, I turned on the controller and sure enough, it was assigned to player 1. As a final test, I turned off the controller, hit a button on the Mini Remote to light up the dongle and, while it was still lit, turned on the controller. Player 2.
So there you have it. To avoid the annoying side effect of having your controller bumped to player 2, turn your console on first and your controller a few seconds after. If you really don't want to get off your ass and insist on powering up via the controller, you can manually reassign your controller back to player 1. From the main menu (Xcross Media Bar), scroll across to "Settings" and then down to "Accessory Settings". Open this submenu and select "Reassign Controllers". Change the "Reassign the Controller" value back to "1" and you're finished. If you're playing a game and you don't want to quit out of it, you can simply hold down the PS button until the little text menu appears, select "Controller Settings" then "Reassign the Controller".

Here you can see how far the dongle sticks out from the PS3.

If you have a spare AU$60 you might want to check out Logitech's Harmony Adaptor for the PS3 which boasts support for "all 51 PLAYSTATION 3 commands". It communicates the IR signal of the Harmony to the PS3 via Bluetooth so it won't take up a USB port, but it will need a power point. This seems like the best option, the only drawbacks being that it costs $60 and you'll still need a Harmony remote which can cost anywhere from $50 to $300.

In the way of PS3 remotes, the Futuretronics' Mini Remote might not be the most ideal option out there, but if you're after cheap simplicity, then I can recommend it. I was disappointed by it, but it's still a decent device. They're available from all the places you'd expect, but you're most likely to find them in stock at JB Hi-Fi where you'll pay $20. (Accurate at time of writing. All prices are in AUD a.k.a Plata Pounds or Jum Bucks⁺or Steve-Irwin-died-from-a-lack-of-common Cents  )

Pros:

• At $20, it's a cheap option
• IR dongle allows use of a universal remote
• Longer battery life than Bluetooth options
• Small, light, feels good

Cons:

• No power on/off button
• No PS button
• Remote signal is a little weak
• Bumps your controller assignment to Player 2

www.futuretronics.com.au