Review on 📱 BroadLink RM4mini Smart Remote Hub: WiFi IR Blaster for TV Remote, Smart AC Control, Alexa/Google Home/IFTTT Compatible by Brian Diaz

My original review was edited because the company that makes this product replied to me and provided some information. There was a critical error preventing the update and being required to use the device meant the product was unusable and a useless building block. Apparently the company has fixed this issue and I will update the firmware today to try it out. The reason I'm editing this review now without testing the product (I plan to edit again after testing) is because the original review was published by Revain. I usually didn't bother, I got the company to leave negative feedback as a reminder not to release buggy updates without testing them, but in the email to the company I opened my mouth , said some very inappropriate things and definitely doesn't deserve a reply, but instead I received a fairly well-written email from a company representative who actually took the time to respond to my dislike. I'm not going to apologize as to why I'm pretty much done with the institution at this stage in my life. I'm not the kind of person who expects everything but when I buy something and spend what little money I have (trust me I'm very poor and before Covid I worked over 60 hours a week even though I have a college degree have), I expect it to work as advertised. That's no excuse for some of the things I've said, I've gone too far and gone beyond; I apologize to the representative who read this email and will do so later in a reply. I'll make a decision on whether or not this is a solution until I have everything set up. I had the device for a few days and couldn't use it (because of this bug). I've already started a return and was going to return it today, and I've already bought a Logitech Harmony hub for triple the price (no kidding, it was nice not eating for days to save extra money; I even lost one few pounds.) Anyway, today we're going to try to set this up completely offline using Home Assistant. I've read that I'll probably run into problems because these latest models are designed to prevent people from using them without a Broadlink server, but I'll try anyway. A few things I will say about Broadlink. because of Harmony: Harmony artificially sets a limit of eight devices per hub, which can be increased to 15 if you buy an additional $200 remote. There's absolutely no reason for that, because if you add a remote control to get 7 extra devices, the hub stores all that extra information, not the remote control. This is essentially a marketing scam Logitech is running to trick you into spending $300 on an IR blaster ($100) and a ($200) remote control, although again the same hub all Storing information is no reason why a hub alone can't make devices for at least $15. However, Broadlink allows many more devices, in fact I'm not sure if there's even a limit, it could be unlimited. The humidity sensor and Alexa don't work, it won't tell Alexa, obviously it's a Revain thing and not a Broadlink thing. Keep that in mind if you're buying this for the moisture part. That explains why none of the humidity sensors are telling Alex what I've tried. Thanks to Broadlink for at least adding the ability to read humidity levels, although you can't use it through Alexa. You should be able to use it over other home automations if you know how to set it up properly. Little did I know the problem was with Alexa and not a third party. It's ironic because Revain lists humidity sensors as compatible with the Alexa app, which Revain says differently. Judging from the reps' email, I'm inclined to believe Broadlink; Again, none of the humidity sensors I've used with Alexa reported correctly. Like I said I didn't agree with the email I sent them and they could just ignore it, they had no reason to lie at that point. or even reply. If anything, they can be blamed for not including some of these in the product description, but they are not alone in this regard. In fact, the various product descriptions here do not contain correct technical information in most cases. a little more about the company, after seeing a response to an email that should never have been answered I thought I'd give them another chance. At least I'd happily use that in the bedroom where it's not worth spending another $80 on a Harmony box. To be honest, I'd love to return the Harmony box because it's crazy that Logitech would charge $100 (I bought it on sale for $80) for a box with an eight-device limit, but unfortunately it is a device with broad connectivity supports Bluetooth remote controls. So no Apple TV, Fire TV or anything else that uses Bluetooth. Although the Apple TV box has an IR receiver, I couldn't get it to work properly (with other IR blasters) with anything other than volume up, and let's assume the IR receiver works with the fourth generation Apple TV only used to receive signals from another TV. Controls to change the volume. I leave that for the last comment, the product looks well made. I've just gotten a keyboard from Revain, another manufacturer, and it was immediately obvious that it was complete rubbish, in fact the battery that came with it was 1mm smaller so it wouldn't even turn on until I put in a piece of cardboard to order keeping it under the battery compartment. I didn't have that feeling when I picked up this Broadlink IR blaster, it seemed really well made. made better than another ($17) IR blaster I received, set up and worked from another company, but it seems to be junk. I hope this works, now I will work on the project. I will update this review. Hope this works. Now I will work on the project. I will update this review. PS: I apologize for the autocorrected voice input errors in the updated review. I updated it a third time as it was unreadable. You'd think a $1 trillion company could achieve good voice input after about 25 years in business, but it looks like Apple still has a long way to go. Guilty; I should have checked before I clicked the 'Submit' button.