Customer Ratings & Reviews

It just works. My home theater setup: -Sony smart TV (Android TV); -Denon receiver—home theater A/V is done through the receiver with one HDMI to the TV through the ARC port; -Apple TV; -Direct TV Genie; -Sonos Connect, plus several Sonos speakers in other rooms. Setup: I performed the remote's setup routine using the Savant app on an iPad. The setup is relatively simple but time consuming. My TV is not listed in the setup app (Sony XBR 850D), but the wizard has steps to work around this. My home theater components are on three shelves in a closed cabinet so I put the blaster on the middle shelf and it reaches all the components. There was one initial setup problem relating to the smart TV being connected to the receiver via ARC: After my initial set up, when I would switch between video devices the sound would produce through the receiver, but not the video. I would have to press "TV" on the Sony TV remote for the correct video input to display on the TV. Thus, virtually every video device switch required pressing this button on the Sony remote. This was less than ideal, requiring me to still keep two remotes handy, negating the purpose of spending $500 on a universal remote. Fortunately, I didn't give up and ran the wizard to set up the receiver again. When it asked if the sound source is controlled by (1) the receiver, (2) the TV, (3) both, or (4) neither, I selected "both" this time rather than "receiver only" as I did the first time. Voilà… it works perfectly now. I recommend that anyone with a smart TV keep in mind that, to Savant, audio and video input/output is controlled by both the receiver and TV. Performance: Now the remote works so perfectly that, I dare say, it is boring. The shortcuts and scenes work flawlessly, taking just a few seconds for to run through the related algorithms. It works perfectly with Sonos as well, even allowing me to turn Sonos devices in other rooms on/off or control their volumes. You don't get the full featured searching and sorting that you get on the Sonos app, but for starting your favorite station or playlist after coming home from work, it is so quick and simple that it is, yes, boring. It is so boring that after awhile you stop appreciating the remote and start taking it for granted. But I know now that I would miss it if it were gone. Problems: In sum, after time-consuming upfront setup, this remote becomes an elegant yet unobtrusive addition that simplifies your life. But I do not give it 5 stars because it lacks one feature: the remote has a mic for voice commands controlling the remote; it would be nice if the mic could somehow pass voice through to the smart TV or Apple TV for search terms, etc. Because voice does not pass through, I am now back to typing out searches with this remote. This is not devastating but I was getting fond of talking to the smart TV. Lacking this feature is not a deal-breaker as the remote perfectly does what it is supposed to do; but voice pass-through would make this the ultimate home theater universal. I would also request a quick shortcut for changing picture preset settings (e.g., "Sports", "Home Cinema", etc.). Currently, some navigation is required to make setting changes to A/V components. Again, not a deal breaker. But this device is made to capture and repeat scenes or activities, and performs these tasks perfectly. Verdict: I have owned older harmony remotes in the past and they were fine but occasionally annoying. (I have not tried the harmony elite which is $100 cheaper than Savant). Savant had taken what was good about the harmonys I used and removed what was bad about them: it is a lighter, stylish less annoying harmony. Is it worth $500…? I don't know because I cannot compare—I am so happy with this remote and I am not going to try the cheaper alternatives. If your setup is similar to mine, I recommend this remote.

Very disappointed Savant discontinued this product leaving customers who spent a lot on this remote in a lurch. Now doesn’t work with Sonos. Their answer: spend thousands on a real Savant system. Grrr

After doing a remodel I really wanted to achieve that 'clean look' in our family room. One TV and one remote. No wires and no AV cabinet with most of my components in another room. Finally, this remote made it all possible! REACHES COMPONENTS BETTER THAN HARMONY I previously had a Harmony remote which ran into issues with distance from my family room to my ‘av closet'. I spent months trying everything from IR extenders to daisy changing cables to my ‘av closet’ to splicing Cat5 cable to the Harmony IR wires. Nothing worked. The Savant remote uses wifi and powerful IR signals to communicate with all my components in two different rooms seamlessly. So happy! NO WIRES FOR IR BLASTERS The Savant system also has no wires, so I don’t need to more cables running behind and in front of my components. The blasters work on two double-A batteries. You can buy additional blasters so you don’t need to clump all your devices together. I simply put one in front of my TV, one in my ‘av closet' in front of my components, told the app where each one was located, and I was done. BEAUTIFUL DEVICE AND HI-RES TOUCH SCREEN The remote is one of the most beautiful and elegant I’ve seen. It’s contoured very well and looks very high-end. The touch screen is hi-definition giving the remote the most polished, professional and friendly look. FRIENDLY MOBILE APP The setup and configuration of additional components/scenes goes very smoothly with the mobile app. It’s also nice to be able to power down your system from your phone if you can’t find the remote on your way to bed. UNIQUE SUPPORT FOR SCENES I’ve never really found a system that controls “scenes” like Savant does. Its unique way of configuring components to specific levels and channels allows me to customize each component for different situations. So, "afternoon sports" and “evening movie” can appropriately set components with just one click. WHAT'S NEXT The only thing I’m looking forward to is support for other devices. This is Savants first remote I’ve seen, so I’m hopeful support for new devices will keep up with my AV purchases.

I was recommended this Savant remote while shopping for a universal remote at a Magnolia Home Theater. I decided to set it up myself and found the process very easy to get my Sony TV, Comcast, Roku and Sony Blue Ray player on the system. The remote feels great in the hand, and once I learned how to use it, is very convenient to operate. It's not the least expensive of the remotes I looked at, but I found the quality to be very good thus far.

This is a nice remote but not as sophisticated as advertised. Harmony ultimate is better because it actually works. I've called Savant at least 4 times and I have to wait until the next day for support help. It will probably work better in the future right now to buggy.

Truly horrible performance. Looks pretty but beauty is skin deep. I have 3 - hate every one of them. Must push buttons multiple times to get a response. If your finger accidently brushes the touch screen, which happens frequently, you change channels or devices and have to reconfigure. Very prone to software corruption requiring service techs to reprogram the device. BUY ANOTHER PRODUCT!

I had two older Harmony remotes (Ultimate One and Touch models) and I was looking for something a little more advanced that could not only control my A/V stuff, but also my Smart Home stuff. The Best Buy employees talked this remote up as being "the" remote and for the price, it definitely should be, but it falls short of looking great and being easy to setup. PROS: The setup process is definitely easier (and more modern) than Logitech's Silverlight-based My Harmony app. The desktop setup app for Logitech's Harmony and their unapologetic lower-quality build quality is what made me want to look else-where. These are both spaces that Savant excels in. The design of the remote is beautiful, sturdy and comfortable. I HATE the material that Logitech puts on the back of their remotes, and it was a breath of fresh air that Savant passed on whatever that is, but still made the remote anti-slip. The app is very polished and setting up the Savant remote and host via the app was pretty straight forward. CONS: Using the Savant remote is a process. The remote tells you to try commands like "Watch XYZ" channel and I'll say something like Watch NBC and all of a sudden I'm fighting the remote because it seems like when you give it voice commands it's assuming that the TV is off so it will turn the TV off and then back on and then it turns the cable box off and ends the command there (or turns the cable box off and on but still fails to tune into the right channel). Even trying to just tap on a channel, you get pretty much the same result. From a Smart-home this remote is EXTREMELY lacking. They just got Nest thermostat support a couple of months ago and still don't support MAJOR smart home staple brands like the Phillips Hue (or God forbid you don't trust Google and therefore don't want a Nest, the Honeywell Lyric, Ecobee, etc.). To be marketing this remote as "the" premiere all-in-one smart home remote, these are shocking omissions and it should be noted that these ARE things that the Logitech Harmony Elite advertise as supported. I'll probably take advantage of the Logitech Harmony trade-in offer and try out the Elite and if it's everything Logitech says it is and it improves on some of the shortcomings of previous Harmony models I've had, I'll probably be getting rid of the Savant.

Truly a premium product with a simple set-up and great user experience! I feel that folks with little AV knowledge can easily set this remote up. The Remote and control App are the sleekest to ever hit the market!

I stumbled on the Savant Remote when I was looking for a way to consolidate my multiple remotes into one, and I am glad I did. I used to have a remote for my tv, another one for my blu-ray player, and another one that i only used to switch inputs between the two. Now I only have one and it is so much better. Super easy to setup and use, and I also like that it knows which channels I watch most and keeps them on top of my favorites list. The Sonos control has been a great bonus. I had no problem using the Sonos app before, but it’s nice to just be able to pick up my remote and turn on music when my son asks me to. I never considered myself a “connected home” kind of guy, but I am thinking of getting some of the savant lamp controllers to add to my setup. The way they talk about creating scenes on their site sounds cool and i’m interested to try them out for myself.

My wife has returned the remote. The range barely allowed us to use it outside our theater so we have no chance of using it for Sonos control in areas were we really care. This is bluetooth only so make sure you consider that. Even if the connection works Sonos control is so limited that I always need to take out the phone to choose music. Overall we really tried using it but the frustration was just too big. I would not recommend this remote.

I'll get right to it. I run everything through an AV Receiver/Amp: a DirectTV box, AppleTV 4th gen and a television. All audio/video goes through it. This tends to complicate things for family members who are forced to use 4 different remotes or a universal remote and more often than not, one of the other remotes. I'm not interested in having levels of control of my AV receiver. I'm content with on/off and volume. A few reviewers here complained about the Savant's inability to do this and the lack of other "power user" functions such as the ability to learn. I understand that, however, that is not what this remote is intended to do in my opinion. Why? Because it's designed to be simple, clean and something a 7-year-old can't screw up, which is not the case for all the other universal remotes I've tried to get this family to implement over the years. I had been waiting for the NEEO remote to come out and realized when I read some insights and saw the Savant remote, that the NEEO was lacking some basic buttons and I agreed, so I shifted my attention to the Savant for the past few months and I'm glad I did. The Savant is perfect for a family. I have a 9-year-old, a 6-year-old and a wife who hates the four remotes sitting on our coffee table. As mentioned, we control an AV receiver, DirectTV box, AppleTV 4th gen and a television. Setup of the Savant took me about 20 minutes and my kids figured it out within the first two days as did my wife. My favorite part is that if one of the devices gets out of sync(like an input on the tv or the power on the cable box) you just push the "?" button on the touch screen and it takes about 30 seconds to fix it. ("Is the power on the amp on" yes. Is the input on the amp on the correct input?" No. Boom. Fixed There are a couple caveats to this near-perfect remote: 1. It's charging base is IR line of site. That means if someone walks in front of it when you're sending commands, it can interrupt that command. That said, I'm ready to move the rest of my equipment to the media cabinet and utilize their blaster(provided), which will leave only the TV being controlled by the IR blaster in the charging base, which will reduce any potential issues significantly. You also have to keep the charging station in a place that is in line of sight of your equipment (if your not in a media closet) while also in a place that is aesthetically pleasing. I bought a side table next to the couch to hold it. It's almost like it's a piece of art. Such a geek. 2. It's missing some specific buttons that correspond to your particular cable remote. DirectTV has a delete button which is a nice shortcut when deleting DVRs(recorded shows in your queue. The Savant works, but you just have to take an extra step. That was the only complaint I've heard from my wife after two weeks of use. In fact I called Savant's support line and they were awesome in explaining how that would work. It's a sexy, user friendly universal remote for someone who wants an intuitive remote that the entire family can use. It isn't for power users who want to constantly change settings on their receiver/amp. I like to set and forget and keep it simple. As a family remote, keep in mind if you have little ones, you may have to create some rules around this thing since it is a $500 remote. I told my kids that if I caught them fighting over it or taking it out of the liv rm, and managed to break it, they would be working it off for the next 5 years. That seems to have sunk in. Bottom line, we love this remote. Hope this helps someone.

I have been a Savant Pro dealer for years and am happy that they now have a DIY capable basic solution to now offer. Remote- The handheld remote is simply excellent feeling from a quality and ergonomics angle. Setup using the APP is very straight forward and about the easiest method I can imagine. The end result is a programmed remote with all the common functions easily accessible from the touch interface. The remote is also designed to have your last used source and most common favorite channels appear on top (yes this means the order does change) which is excellent as I have a lot of favorite channels saved but in reality I only use a few daily and those are now automatically on top for me. My wife uses different favorites so we set up a second user so she is now familiar with swiping to switch users and finding her favorites (vastly different than mine). App - Slick looking and very easy to use. This even allows control when you are outside the home which was unexpected. This has been useful when a guest has been there (older) whom I hadn't shown how to use the TV setup. I simply turned everything in for her remotely and she was all set. Sonos: This is the ONLY remote that integrates with Sonos well. We have a Playbar and the big gripe my wife had was about not having a visual volume indication. The Savant remote will show you a volume percentage from 1-100 so you have a reference. From the app i can play my Sonos favorites and Sonos playlists which is also nice instead of having to app hop. ***It is important to note that this remote is designed to make a single room easy to operate so those looking for zone 2 control of an AV receiver and some additional "power user" capabilities should consider alternative solutions. This remote is also not currently great for projector setups as it does not send the double power commands in this current software version.

The Savant Remote is a great hardware and software package to manage a modern AV system and lighting. I've installed a unit in my home and a second unit in the boat. After walking thru the set up with the helpful and friendly technical support department I've got two units that are simple to operate and have been very reliable. The initial set up did take some time due to my non technical brain but the support team walked me thru each step and got the system working flawlessly.

I hoped this would do a better job than a harmony. In reality a harmony is the better option. Most infrared codes of the Savant remote simply don't work. I have returned mine.

I received my first remote as a present, and I liked it so much that I bought another to give to my father-in-law for his birthday. In my house, There is a constant refrain of questions being asked: "How do I put the TV on the TV?" "What remote do I need to change the channel?" "Where's the blueray remote" I used to have a seperate HDMI switcher, and that was enough to make the source selection work ok, but now that I have the Savant remote, I can run everything through the Receiver without having to write a operations manual for the entertainment center. The Savant remote is programmed through an iPhone/android app, and that, I think, was a stroke of genius. My friend has a Logitech remote, and the programming process is so unbelievably complicated that I don't think I could handle it. The screen on this remote is super nice. It looks great, and is even capacitive touch, just like your smartphone. Finally, the ultimate praise I have for it is that my wife and mother-in-law love it. They don't have to ask for help to use the entertainment center any more!

The Savant Remote has quickly become the centerpiece of my apartment. Previously, I was using 4 remotes plus my phone to control all my devices, including multiple apps on my phone. Now, all I need is the Savant Remote and the beautifully designed companion app. The app is used to manage the settings of the system, but is also a fully functioning control app that is pretty slick. Remote access is free and makes it easy to check on things when you're on the run. I added a couple of the Lamp Controls to my setup and it has really taken things to a whole different level. I've replaced the crude alarm on my phone with a scheduled "Wake Up" scene that plays a gentle playlist and slowly brings the lights up to start my morning. Guests are always very impressed with how simple it is to turn everything off or set the mood with a tap or mention of a scene name. Voice commands are even recognized for custom made scene names, which is a nice bonus. My "Friday Night Dance Party" scene has become a quick favorite amongst my friends.

I have no idea who the other 11 people are who gave this remote even a decent review, but they must not own a Harmony Elite. This remote shuffles your favorites all around so you don't know where they are. Their content server has no idea what your local channels are, you have to add a great deal of your favorites manually. They don't even know the music channels for Directv, Weather Nation or a whole host of other stations. For the money this is a joke. I can only assume that Best Buy and this company are working together for Best Buy to say this is a "Magnolia" product.

Was super excited to get this remote, looks nice, sleek sexy. But guess what, no support for ONKYO inputs! I went to install this at a customer's house and spent hours on the phone with tech support and they told me that the onkyo was supported but not the STRM Box input, AM input, Spotify input, etc. For a $500 remote the inputs should at least be available. Sorry RETURNING THIS. Expensive paper weight.

Setup is tedious and not as simple as Savant likes you to think. Had trouble connecting with my Apple TV 4th generation as well as my Bose Lifestyle home theatre system. Ugh!! Back to square one in my mission to find a universal remote that ACTUALLY does the job. Returning this puppy ASAP. :(

Savant puts other "universal" remotes to shame. The remote and app interfaces are terrific, intuitive, and fun to use. The remote itself is also extremely well-designed, with a wonderful feel and nice black matte finish. I have a lot of devices, and connecting them was easier than expected - i was (for once) pleasantly surprised by the set up. Another reviewer commented on the ease of troubleshooting, and I agree - I have two small kids, and when my five year-old somehow got the cable TV out of sync with the Savant remote, i simply clicked on the little question mark, ran through the guided questions, and fixed it in a jiffy. The whole family loves the Savant remote. I'm glad I'm an "early adopter" of Savant and look forward to the updates and other product offerings from this company.