Dish Voice Remote Review: Speak to Channel Surf

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Voice search is creeping into everything, so why not our TV? While itꞌs not the first, Dishꞌs new Voice Remote, available for Hopper 3 owners, lets you search for anything just by speaking. But this $30 remote has a few other features that make it a worthwhile upgrade for Dish customers.

Design

The Dish Voice Remote is about an inch shorter than the standard remote that comes with the Hopper. Both have two rows of four buttons at the top for Home, Apps, DVR, Guide, Back, Options and Info. However, in place of the Search button on the standard remote, the Voice remote has a button that turns the touchpad below into an illuminated number pad.

Credit: Mike Prospero

(Image credit: Mike Prospero)

This one feature eliminates the need for a dedicated number pad, as on the standard remote.

Credit: Mike Prospero

(Image credit: Mike Prospero)

Instead of a four-way D-pad, the Voice Remote has a large touchpad to navigate menus and the like; it makes scrolling through the program guide much less tedious than repeatedly pressing the up or down arrow. However, itꞌs a little "loose;" the cursor would slide past the program I wanted to select.

Credit: Mike Prospero

(Image credit: Mike Prospero)

On the left side of the Voice Remote are buttons for Satellite, TV, Aux and Input; the right edge has buttons for Voice Search, Record and backlight. I canꞌt tell you how handy the backlight is when youꞌre trying to find the right button in a dark room. The Record button is a nice addition, too.

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Press and hold the Voice Search button, and a window appears on your TV screen, indicating that the Hopper is listening for your command. I found the remote understood me right away, whether I was searching for Law & Order, The Simpsons, Chris Hemsworth, Mila Kunis and pretty much anything else I threw at it. I also had my fiancée test it — her request was for Something Borrowed — and much to my regret, the Voice Remote brought up that movie, too.

In the event that there is more than one possible result for a search — say, Star Trek — an on-screen menu will appear on the right side of the screen. When I performed this search, a menu appeared with every Star Trek movie available.

Credit: Mike Prospero

(Image credit: Mike Prospero)

Results for shows such as The Simpsons were organized by season, and not air date. As a result, it was hard to discover what episode was currently airing, versus what was on my DVR, and what was going to air in the future.

The large touchpad makes scrolling through the program guide much less tedious than repeatedly pressing the up or down arrow.

However, voice commands extend beyond just programs and people. Say "What’s On Now," and the remote brought up a list of shows currently airing. Saying "Game Finder" displayed every baseball game, as well as the score ─ pretty neat. You can also call up Picture-in-picture, settings, or nearly anything you could otherwise access with the traditional remote.

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Bottom Line

I was impressed with the accuracy and ease of use of the Dish Voice Remote; try as I might, it recognized almost everything I said. And you can use voice commands to search for just about anything, too. But while voice search is the most prominent feature of Dishꞌs new $30 remote, itꞌs the other things, such as backlit keys and a smaller, more hand-friendly design, that really make this a smart upgrade for Dish owners.

Mike Prospero
U.S. Editor-in-Chief, Tom's Guide

Michael A. Prospero is the U.S. Editor-in-Chief for Tom’s Guide. He oversees all evergreen content and oversees the Homes, Smart Home, and Fitness/Wearables categories for the site. In his spare time, he also tests out the latest drones, electric scooters, and smart home gadgets, such as video doorbells. Before his tenure at Tom's Guide, he was the Reviews Editor for Laptop Magazine, a reporter at Fast Company, the Times of Trenton, and, many eons back, an intern at George magazine. He received his undergraduate degree from Boston College, where he worked on the campus newspaper The Heights, and then attended the Columbia University school of Journalism. When he’s not testing out the latest running watch, electric scooter, or skiing or training for a marathon, he’s probably using the latest sous vide machine, smoker, or pizza oven, to the delight — or chagrin — of his family.