New PS4 Remote from PDP
New PS4 Remote from PDP
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Almost two years ago, Performance Design Products launched a Playstation 4 media remote to be used with various apps on the Playstation Store. While the remote was very good in specific situations, there were a lot of unsupported apps, which made using the remote fairly frustrating.
Despite the great design of that product, PDP decided to listen to customer and reviewer feedback and launch a smaller, sleeker, and more universal remote. When you compare the two remotes from PDP, the new version tops the old in almost every single way. Read on for more!
Application Comparability
A universal remote is only as good as the number of apps it is compatible with, and when using the new remote from PDP, I saw a marketed differences in supported applications. Through my use on the system – navigating the Playstation panels, browsing the store, and using applications such as Netflix – the new remote is much better, and more responsive, than their last iteration, which again, I would argue was pretty damn good.
New Design
The obvious difference between the two remotes is that the new media remote is much less busy than the old one, doing away with a lot of unnecessary buttons, creating a more sleek and compact design. I’ve always preferred smaller remotes as they take up less space around my entertainment stand, and the changes PDP has made over 20 months is welcomed.
The directional pad near the top of the device is a bit small for my large fingers, but for most users, should be an appropriate size. Initially, I was worried that the lack of buttons on the remote itself would be a hindrance when doing Bluray navigation, but everything seemed to work fine, and the lack of buttons never negatively impacted what I was trying to accomplish.
A Few Things to Note
There were a few issues I had with the remote, but none of them really is related to functionality WHILE using it. First, make sure you grab a pack of AAA batteries when you are at the store. As a cost saving measure – I would assume at least – PDP has not included batteries in the package. The packaging does indicate this, but many people won’t notice prior to returning home with their product.
The other issue I had with the remote could be seen as a positive or a negative. Pressing any button on the remote will instantly power on the system, which is great when you want to use your device, but terrible when your kid accidentally pressed a button or knocks the remote off a table.
Another pro or con related to the device automatically turning on with a button press, and off with 30 minutes of inactivity, is the ability to conserve battery life. Those watching shows and browsing the Playstation interface don’t want to be constantly swapping out AAA batteries. From our point of view, the battery life seems to be really solid, with our initial Duracell batteries still powering our remote after a few weeks of use. Sure, having the remote sleep after a 3o minutes might become a nuisance when it doesn’t instantly do what you want it to do, but with the quick-on feature, it doesn’t take long to load that next show!
Conclusion
This is a solid remote all around, and for a fairly reasonable price, users will be able to put down the Dual Shock controller in lue of using this device. With our media devices becoming more than just video game machines, having a remote to browse Netflix and watch Blurays is way more preferable than busting out a controller each time.
Article By Adam Roffel
Adam Roffel has only been writing about video games for a short time, but has honed his skills completing a Master's Degree. He loves Nintendo, and almost anything they have released...even Tomodachi Life.
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