Blumoo Universal Remote and 150’ Bluetooth Audio Streaming Hub – Review

Blumoo Universal Remote and 150’ Bluetooth Audio Streaming Hub
Flyover Innovation’s Blumoo
Price: $129.00 list
$79.00 Amazon 

Blumoo is a universal remote and Bluetooth hub that enables your iOS, Android, Apple Watch, and Amazon Echo to control your entertainment equipment and stream audio via a free mobile app. The installation was easy to set up but the configuration was a bit of a challenge. The Blumoo Universal Remote has a low profile, weighing 1.2 lb. and has dimensions of 2(L) x 2.8(W) x 2 (H) inches. It works by transmitting an infrared signal to any device that recognizes the programmed remote code. The mobile device must be at a distance of 150 feet or less to successfully connect via Bluetooth to the Blumoo. The mobile app is used to configure the remotes for your entertainment devices.

Installation of the Blumoo requires downloading the mobile app from the Apple Store or Google Play Store. The app guides the installation for a basic setup which includes powering up the Blumoo and connecting the mobile device via Bluetooth. It is recommended that you point the Blumoo hub at your entertainment device during initial remote setups. After adding all devices you can then find the ideal location for controlling your equipment.

 

TV guide is based on the cable service you selected. Once selected, you can:

• instantly change to a channel by tapping the channel number
• add favorite channels by pressing and holding the channel number in the guide
• filter by genre by selecting the grid icon in the upper left corner of the app
• select a show to see detailed info then choose to watch, set a reminder, or go back to the guide

 

Remote Customization

Follow the app instructions to add, move, delete, or remap buttons on a remote. Creation of multi-function buttons, called macro-buttons, allow you to perform a series of tasks with the press of one button. It took some adjustments to the wait time between entering the channel digits to create my macro to switch to HGTV channel. This is a simple macro but more complicated tasks can be added.

 

Audio Streaming

The included 3.5mm-to-RCA audio cable can be connected to Blumoo hub to stream audio from your mobile device to a stereo receiver or set of powered speakers via Bluetooth. I connected the RCA audio cable to my Bose receiver, selected Blumoo Bluetooth on my mobile then selected iTunes Music on the Blumoo to stream audio from my iPhone.

The test of a universal remote is whether you can put away the remotes for the devices it is controlling and use only the universal remote. There was one major feature of my 5-year-old Insignia TV that the Blumoo could not reproduce: the ability to use cursor buttons to set TV picture, audio, and other settings. The cursor buttons jumped two settings so that you are not able to select all settings. I reported this to their support team and they got back with a fix that resolved the problem just before I posted this review. As the support technician explained, there will be times they will have to adjust an IR code due to the thousands of brands in their database. Thanks to their excellent support team, Blumoo is the only remote I need.

MyMac Review Rating is 8 out of 10.