We found that after you had completed this process once, it was very quick to add in new products and most of the time the remote gets it right first time – although it did need a few goes to pick up our Thomson Sky box. If your product is not listed – for instance, we could not find a listing for any Bose kit for example – the remote can learn commands from a unit’s original remote without too much hassle.

Macro command programming allows up to 255 steps

Features, such as adding favourite channels for quick access, are easy to apply. A handy 48 favourite channels are available and you can choose from on-screen icons or, if you favourite is not listed, use one of the blank channel icons and type in the name of the channel. As the product is from a US company, the channels choice is a little heavy on North American options, so a more UK or European spec would be helpful.

Setting up macros is more awkward though and we found some of the on-screen instructions rather vague. We did have to play with the product for a good half an hour before we really started to get the hang of dialling in a command series. A good tip – and to be fair the set-up guide does recommend this – is to add pauses into the list when building more complex macros for a greater level of success. A total of 255 steps can be added, which is more than enough for most homes.

Verdict

A satisfactory performer, with some helpful time saving functions, particularly during basic setup. There are also some other sensible add-ons, like a ‘sofa’ function which senses when the product is stuffed down the side and is having all its buttons pressed and switches itself off. The more demanding user might want something a little more advanced but, for the average AV set-up, the R50 does a decent enough job.

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