Review on WeChip Air Mouse Remote: 2.4G Wireless Keyboard W2 for Nvidia Shield/Android TV Box/PC/Projector/HTPC/TV by Lisa Walker

Buy this as a cheaper alternative to replace your broken Nvidia Shield that broke last week. I bought a replacement Shield remote but decided to try one of these as it's half the price. The remote control was nicely packaged in a relatively sturdy box. Installation was easy, plug the USB receiver into the back of the Nvidia Shield, wait a few seconds for the device to be recognized and move the pointer over the screen. The WeChip remote gave me all the functionality of my previous Nvidia remote with one exception, no home button. However, holding down the back button for about 3 seconds effectively worked as a home button, but I found the delay too long, especially given the instantaneous behavior of the home button with the original Shield remote. However, I never expected a one-to-one comparison. The Nvidia Shield treated the remote more like a mouse than a remote, with a pointer appearing on screen as you move the remote. Mouse pointer worked for motion detection. Move/tilt the remote control to the right and the pointer will move to the right. Tilt/move the remote control up or down and the pointer will follow. I found this feature quite cumbersome, pirate-effective. First, the movements were slow and often imprecise; I ended up treating it more like a Wii Remote so it would move the pointer to where I wanted it to go. Also, not all applications treated the pointer as a function. Google apps worked well with the pointer, but Netflix, Hulu, or Prime didn't. I could move the on screen arrow to my selection, middle click/enter and it wouldn't do anything. In Google apps (YouTube) it would highlight the thumbnail of the video I wanted to play and accept enter when clicked. I suspect these apps were designed that way and not the fault of the remote itself. Luckily, this feature was easy to turn off by pressing the arrow button on the top left of the remote. The D-Pad function works perfectly and I only use it with this remote control. The same goes for the keyboard. Some apps treated keystrokes as valid recording (mostly Google apps) so the apps didn't. I also like that it charges via micro-USB. I don't know why more third party remote control manufacturers aren't moving in this direction. Finally, I have not attempted to use this remote on any device other than my Nvidia Shield. The included booklet says it should work on most streaming/smart devices, including PCs, and I'm sure it will work just as well, if not better, depending on the device. Overall I am satisfied with this purchase. It's not perfect, but for the price it works great.