Dish Network Voice Remote Review

Voice remotes have become increasingly common among media streamers like the Amazon Fire TV ( at Amazon) , the Apple TV ($148.38 at Amazon) , and the Roku 4 ($129.00 at Amazon) . They haven't picked up quite as much traction with set-top boxes, but Dish is looking to fix that. The Dish Network Voice Remote is a $30 accessory for Hopper 3 and Joey boxes. It adds a microphone for handy voice search and channel changing, and replaces the four-way button pad with a touchpad. It's not vital to your Dish-watching experience, but it's undoubtedly convenient and worth considering as an upgrade, so it earns our Editors' Choice.

Design
The Voice Remote is slightly shorter and wider than the standard remote that comes with the Hopper 3 ($295.00 at Amazon) and Joeys. It measures 5.5 by 2.3 inches (HW), but is just about as thick (0.9-inch) as the standard remote. The power source is also the same—two AA batteries.

The four-direction navigation pad and Select button have been replaced by a simple clickable trackpad that serves the same purpose. Above the trackpad, dedicated power buttons for both the connected set-top box and your television sit alongside two rows of menu buttons. Playback and volume controls are below the trackpad. The number pad from the standard remote has been cleverly hidden; pressing the Number button on the remote makes the trackpad glow with a full set of numbers, plus Backspace and Enter buttons.

The left edge of the Voice Remote holds the same Aux, Input, Sat, and TV buttons as the standard remote. The right edge adds three more buttons: Backlight, Microphone/Search, and Shortcut. The microphone itself is located in a small hole between the two power buttons at the top.

The touchpad is at first a jarring change from the conventional four-way button pad of the standard remote, but it's responsive and accurate. I had little problem adjusting, and it makes flipping rapidly through multiple selections much faster than the old pad—if you swipe your thumb quickly, it moves much further down the list you're viewing than the cursor movement you get by slowly moving your thumb.

Pairing
The Voice Remote pairs wirelessly with your Hopper or Joey ($160.00 at Amazon) , using RF to consistently send commands to the set-top box without requiring a line of sight. The pairing process is extremely simple: Press the Sys Info button on the box itself, then press and hold the Sat button on the remote until it makes a tone. A message will appear on your television letting you know the remote has been paired, and if an update is necessary it will prompt you to press the touchpad to start it. It only took a few seconds to pair the Voice Remote to a Hopper 3, and a few minutes to wirelessly update it.

Voice Controls
Voice search is easy to use and works nearly instantly. Just hold the Microphone button down and speak into the remote, then release the button. If you say the name of a network, your Hopper or Joey will automatically change the channel to it. If you want something more specific, like a particular show, it will bring up a set of search results beginning with any episode currently airing, then any future airings or episodes available on-demand. It even works with Netflix; asking for Stranger Things brought up all available episodes, ready for me to watch.

You can also search with less specific terms. Genres or broad search terms make the box pop up with "No results found" for a moment before populating a list filled with suggestions. These searches are largely helpful, though some results are questionable; asking for classic cartoons, for instance, brought up American Dad and Family Guy. Even if the search results aren't always the smartest, the voice recognition reliably figured out whatever I was saying into the mic, at least.

The Voice Remote also offers fast voice-controlled access to a variety of set-top box features and functions. Saying "Game Finder" will bring up the Dish Network Game Finder, which shows upcoming sports broadcasts and lets you flip through the results of recent games. You can also bring up the Guide or DVR menus, though they have dedicated buttons (Game Finder is accessible through Apps, so the voice command saves a few steps). You can start recording anything you're watching by telling the remote to "Record this."

Conclusions
You don't need the Dish Network Voice Remote for your Hopper 3, but it's a really handy accessory. The simple ability to say a channel's name into the remote to automatically switch to it is convenient, and if you have a handful of favorite channels scattered across the hundreds of options Dish has, it easily justifies the $30 price and earns our Editors' Choice.