Kameleon 8 Universal Remote

The universal remote has created a niche for itself in India, which means more choices for us. Just today we received a universal remote from the internationally popular brand “One for All”, owned by Universal Electronics. The model is from their famed Kameleon series, and can control up to eight devices. It appears to stand apart from the rest, so let’s check out the gizmo…

Form Factor
Even at first glance the Kameleon impresses as a sleek, good-looking device. The body has a brushed aluminum finish with a touch of reflectivity, while the flat front panel sports two rectangular screens and a black bezel. The central black strip separating the two screens has small white buttons for basic functions such as volume and navigation. The bottom strip has a horizontal row of four thin buttons, each of a different color (red, green, yellow and blue).

The Kameleon’s rear is asymmetrically contoured, with a bump measuring about 1.5 cm in radius. This assists in getting a decent grip, though the surface is so smooth that it can slip off and fall down if you’re careless. The logo is printed below, and is not too loud. The remote works on 4 AAA batteries.

The screen uses electroluminescent technology, which means it lights up when you touch it. It’s actually more sensitive than it sounds; in fact it lights up on the slightest vibration. It’s a monochrome screen, which supposedly conserves battery life as it only lights up when required. The arrays of buttons change according to the mode, so in the same screen size you can get different button icons. Of course, a full-fledged color LCD touchscreen will do all this and more, but then it will also be much more expensive.

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Setup and Performance
The remote is easy to set up, with an inbuilt database, plus a plethora of codes given in the manual. It has a learning function, which is the straight-up method of feeding each key one-on-one with your old remote. One thing I would like to point out is the necessity of reading the manual, because successfully operating and setting up the remote is not straightforward.

First of all there’s a button called ‘magic’ you need to access to reach the setup page. A first-time Kameleon user wouldn’t know this. But after a run-through the remote is fun to operate, and the buttons are quite big and responsive. I have an older Sony CRT TV at home, which the remote had codes for, but not all buttons got added directly. Overall, you will have to make the remote learn some of the buttons for any situation that may arise.

The good thing is the amount of control afforded by the device. You can set up everything from the time the screen stays on after use, to the way it is activated. Thus the initial sensitivity problem can be solved. It’s an IR device, so you have to be in the same room at least to use it; no through-wall gimmicks. As long as you are about 160 degrees on either side, the device works fine. It’s got macro functions too, such as one button for watching DVD movie, playing a CD etc.

Conclusion
The remote costs Rs 5995, which I think is quite reasonable for an international product of this caliber. It works well, and if you don’t need a colorful and large remote, this is a great buy. Just remember to read each page of the manual or you could be lost!