Is it worth the upgrade?

If you have or are looking to purchase a Fire TV device, Amazon is happy to sell you the newly released Alexa Voice Remote Pro as an additional accessory. I recently had the opportunity to test one and compare it to other Fire TV remotes to assess whether it really makes a difference to the media streaming experience.

Basically, the Voice Remote Pro is a $35 replacement for the basic Alexa Voice Remote that’s compatible with most media streamers and TVs based on Amazon’s Fire TV platform. It’s not available as an in-pack – even the top-of-the-line Fire TV Omni QLED comes with the vanilla Voice Remote. It adds extra buttons, backlighting, a Remote Finder feature, and some minor upgrades. We’ll get into all of this shortly.

You’ll want to check Amazon’s official compatibility list before buying one, but there are relatively few products it won’t pair with. Those include the 1st and 2nd Gen Fire TV, the 1st Gen Fire TV Stick, the Echo Show 15, and the Element Fire TV Edition. Most notably, you can’t pair it with the Hisense U6HF ULED, despite that TV being released in May 2022. It also won’t work with Insignia HD or FHD TVs, although it will work with that brand’s UHD and F20 sets.

I tested the Voice Remote Pro with a Fire TV Stick 4K Max, which is second only to the Fire TV Cube in Amazon’s line of streaming boxes and sticks. Both the remote and the Max are provided by Amazon. During the initial setup, I found that you absolutely must pair the Max’s bundled Voice Remote before you can add the Voice Remote Pro – the stick refused to acknowledge the Pro in the setup wizard. This wasn’t a big deal, since I didn’t add the Pro until later through the Fire TV’s Settings menu. You can use both remotes at the same time and it can even be useful to have a backup remote for reasons we’ll explain in a moment.

The Pro adds a number of small but important conveniences, the most obvious being extra buttons. There’s a dedicated Settings option, a channel selector and a headphone button that jumps to the Bluetooth menu for faster wireless audio pairing. The latter is sort of niche, but it’s a mystery why there’s no Settings button on the standard Voice Remote – Fire TV users have to open Settings semi-regularly to check notifications and force app updates, let alone other controls .

You’ll find a Settings button (and/or a channel selector) on some third-party remotes like the Insignia above, so the biggest deal here is the addition of two customizable shortcuts, labeled “1” and “2”. Holding them down lets you assign different actions, with the main choices being to launch apps or issue Alexa voice commands. For example, I assigned 1 to YouTube and 2 to “Alexa, turn on the lights in the living room.” You won’t hear a vocal response when you trigger an Alexa command this way.

Customizable app shortcuts are extremely useful, as the shortcuts on other Fire TV remotes are locked to services you may not be using. Yes, you probably stream from Netflix, Disney Plus and/or Prime Video if you have a Fire TV device, but not everyone has all three subscriptions and other services may be more important to some viewers. The only catch with custom shortcuts is that you have to remember what you’ve assigned to each of them and share that information with other people in your household.

Remote viewfinder

If you lose the Pro, you can ask an Alexa device (or the Alexa and Fire TV apps) to “find my remote.” That causes a loud ringtone, making the Pro easy to track down, at least when it’s within earshot.

There are a few other caveats. The feature has a range of about 10 feet around your TV, and your Fire TV device must be turned on, which could be a Catch-22 if this is the reason you’re looking for the remote in the first place. Therefore, keep the standard Voice Remote as a backup.

Backlight

If you want to dim your lights for ambiance, the buttons on the Pro light up when you touch or pick it up. It’s a smart addition that makes it easier to see what you’re pressing, although in a pitch-black room you might still have to dig a bit to find the remote, as it’s almost all black to begin with.

Better construction

The Pro is built tough. It’s still made of plastic, but feels sturdier in the hand than many Fire TV remotes, and the texture is less slippery. It’s also easier to access the battery compartment, especially compared to Amazon’s standard Voice Remote. While that requires odd hand and finger placement, and sometimes too much force, the Pro opens by simply pressing and sliding the arrow mark – as it should.

Do you need the Pro? No, especially if you’re comfortable using Alexa. Added buttons can save a few seconds here and there, but you can do most of it with voice commands. If you have a Fire TV Cube, a Fire TV Omni, or a paired Alexa speaker, you don’t even need to have a remote in your hand. You can use speech to launch apps before sitting down.

The story changes if you prefer physical controls or hate Alexa. While the standard Voice Remote is capable enough, the Pro softens common actions in a way that makes Fire TV a more enjoyable experience. If you live in a home where people often lose things, the Remote Finder feature alone is worth it to avoid a fight and save your sanity.

If you’re interested in the Pro and have the extra cash, there’s no reason you shouldn’t buy one. The upgrade is useful enough that it will probably automatically bundle the product with high-end Fire TV devices.