What happened to the ir blaster?

[ilhe1s]

My last 2 phones didn't come with an IR blaster which is the reason I went out and invested in Logitech's Harmony hubs and remotes. If I'm not paying for it to be included in my phone I guess I am paying for it one way or another.

 

[autoXr48]

I still love and continue to use note 3's I have picked up fairly cheap online after losing my mint condition original purchase...still always hoping something with newer faster specs would come out that I actually see as better other than speed. I tried the note 5 when released and it's been relegated to gear vr only after going back to my note 3 for lack of IR Blaster, sd slot and removable battery. Plus on Sprint it no longer had dual radios to do simultaneous talk and surf because they still didn't do voice over LTE. I've been complaining for years since about the direction phones have taken and tried making it known at Samsung while visiting CES in 2016. My input clearly fell on deaf ears there. Hearing the words premium feel and fingerprint magnet on about every phone review make me want to punch something. It's a handheld tool that should be light and durable, don't care about minor cosmetic dings along the way...compared to easily shattering your whole device now. Polymer aka plastic construction is more resilient to bending and shattering compared to all metal and glass. The hardware should be feature packed, not stripped away with newer models. There is no reason to have a handheld device made of all breakable glass just because they can. Get a special case if you're such a klutz around liquid. I've got a dedicated GoPro for that stuff.

The note 3 or 4 was/is the Swiss Army knife of smartphones or phablets. A large screen, a real digitizer stylus, more than 2 gigs RAM, external memory slot, swappable battery, and the IR Blaster which makes the best Universal Remote everyday or in a pinch while traveling. I finally gave up on slider keyboards when screens got huge but the Pen and IR blaster and preferably a swappable battery, card slot and tried and true analog headphone jack are still the most useful specs to someone who actually uses their phone as a tool rather than an accessory piece. Smart Remote or Anymote by Color Tiger has been one of my favorite apps to take much more advantage of the IR Blaster than the preloaded bloat they came with which was more about marketing consumer viewing than the IR feature. So yeah bring back the IR Blaster...most consumer devices still use it as their standard means of user control. If LG hadn't caved on the swappable battery and they actually added a real digitizer stylus to a flagship offering I'd likely have gone over to them. The Stylo doesn't cut it unfortunately.

 

[zxylady]

give me the ir blaster back in Samsung phones and I would be a happy camper!!

 

[DanielLoreti]

Any chance they add it back in the 10?

 

[Mike Dee]

Any chance they add it back in the 10?

I don't think it is on the list

 

[andrew_ackley]

Check out Huawei if u want an ir Blaster.

 

[darksirhenry]

People forget that ir blasters are also good for air conditioners, home theater systems and even DSLR cameras..not just TV.

Like the radio chip, it blasters should be included in all the flagship phones. These new phones are getting bigger and bigger so there is space AND they don't waste battery (they use the battery when you use those features).

P.s. not any it blasters...but the ones that have both receivers and transmitters (so you can point your remote to your phone and copy any ir remite directly to your phone)

 

[KupKrazy]

I think IR is dated, but it's certainly not outdated. While there are more advanced technologies, it's still a long way off from disappearing - and certainly it's not going to disappear during the life of your Note 9. Shoot, universal remotes are based on IR and WiFi, not RF so it that would kind of go out the window. That being said, when I had it on my older Galaxy phones I never used it (remember the Peel software that was preinstalled?!). But then one day I found it useful and just when I found it useful, they removed it from their phones. lol I don't think it's ever coming back. I'm not sure I miss it, but I think there just wasn't enough people using it rather than space issues.

If I had it today, I'd probably use it for my air conditioner, fans, and at the pub.

 

[Valkem]

Haha, that was basically what I used it for. Man, I miss the Note 4.

Oh no no no. I had every TV in my house programmed on my phone. I had my parents VCR/DVR players and TV. Same with my grandparents. Towards the end my grandparents were ALWAYS messing up the order of working those devices. I would just select the house profile I wanted and could control all of their 'entertainment' devices from my phone. That and DLNA support for networking. i could walk in, switch their tv's over, then pop pictures of the kids straight onto their tv's, all from my cell. Once those 2 things left phones, i had to hook up cables and pull out 3 remotes to make it all work. Worse, when Samsung decided that you didn't need an easy cable to tv option. *huffs* It felt like the tech went backwards over the last 10 years.

 

[Tim1954]

Gone with the wind....

 

[EMGSM]

I wish the IR blaster came back. I actually used it.

 

[jeetu4444]

iam happy my Mate 20 Pro has it.

it's a very very useful feature...1 day my ac remote stopped working and it was a hot day..to my rescue I used the IR blaster on my phone...took me 1 month to find genuine ac remote. I think all phones should have IR blaster
..even cheap phones like redmi have it
Samsung lg get ir blasters back

 

[Beansr519]

Why though? it's fun to be able to change the TV channel at a gym or bar.

I've soooo done this!!!! LOL!!!

 

[Maggnus]

None of the solutions you mentioned above works anywhere nearly as reliably as IR blaster. It's simply foolish to jettison what works and replace it with garbage, unreliable and more expensive tech. It's just madness!
They need to bring back the IR blaster until a better, more reliable option is found.

 

[scottbeamer]

Or...you could just ask someone who works there.
I would hate being the owner / manager and have to deal with some patron random changing the channel.

Sometimes drastic measures have to be taken by the public, especially if the TV is tune to Fox News.

 

[Mooncatt]

Sometimes drastic measures have to be taken by the public, especially if the TV is tune to Fox News.

Or CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN, or anything sports related.

 

[recDNA]

I got a usb c ir blaster. It works perfectly.

Seems like a oretty good feature im new to the note series but a universal remote seems like it would be icing on the cake for the note 9 does anyone know why it was removed?

 

[recDNA]

Here it is on the phone

 

[scottbeamer]

Or CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN, or anything sports related.

CNN is fine.