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This entry has been published on 2015-02-26 and may be out of date.

Last Updated on 2015-02-26.

[:en]The official list of supported MCE remote controls is quite good, but unfortunately many of the recommended models are not available any more.

So I decided to create my own list of compatible, recommended USB remotes and will try to keep them updated.

Every remote below meets these requirements:

  • OpenELEC / Kodi / MCE compatible
  • All (or most) buttons working in Kodi
  • USB IR receiver included

For mapping of non-default buttons, you can use the addon Keymap Editor.

Note: Mouse pointer keys are not really necessary for Kodi.

 

Model Avg. Price Availability  Notes Mouse keys Test state Batteries My rating
 Zotac IR remote  17 €  bad  Only usable if  receiver model is OVU710001. No key-repeats. no OK 2x CR2032 75 of 100
Xenta PC remote  6 €  good  Only if you rarely need number keys. yes OK, but see notes below (2) 1x CR2025 50 of 100
 PC remote (other model)  6 €  good  Only if you rarely need number keys yes OK, but see notes below (2) 2x AAA 45 of 100
 Hama MCE remote 15 € good  Also available under other names like “auvisio”  yes OK  2x AAA 70 of 100
HP MCE remote 18 € good  My current favorite. See notes below (1) no OK 2x AAA 90 of 100
MultimediaComputer Remote Control 10 € good Good price-performance ratio, but does not always remember mouse/keyboard toggle state yes OK 2x AAA 70 of 100

 

Notes

(1) Although the price is quite high, the HP MCE remote is my current favorite. It offers all needed keys including numbers, and both the remote and receiver are good quality products. In OpenELEC, it is recognized as remote, so “irw” command and several tools are able to show keypresses and handle keys for special cases. Basically all keys are predefined and working. The receiver gets every signal, no matter where you point the remote. Key repeating (e.g. for volume adjustment) is also supported.

One single deficit: If buttons are pressed very shortly, the receiver gets them but irw or OE/Kodi does not. But it’s something to get used to easily.

Update 2018-06: The “new” HP MCE remotes got some keys replaced, in my opinion those are better for Kodi usage. E.g. you have red/green/yellow/blue keys on top instead of Radio, Music etc. Tested with Kodi, the new keys can be programmed with the Key Editor addon, e.g. you can use the Red key for the context menu, which was not possible with the Radio key before.

Comparison:

(left = new, right = old)

 

In addition, the new USB IR receiver is much smaller than the old one.

 

(2) Full Name (lsusb) is “1d57:ad02 Xenta SE340D PC Remote Control”. It basically works out of the box, but has some major disadvantages if you want to e.g. use it for less popular features:

  • OpenElec recognizes this remote as HID keyboard and mouse. So “irexec” cannot be used to run commands, which would be useful when kodi.bin is not running.
  • SSH “irw” command does not show any output. As a workaround, turn on debug log and watch /storage/.kodi/temp/kodi.log.
  • Power button seems to only work once, you then have to reconnect USB.
  • After booting or rebooting with connected IR receiver, it does not work in general until you reconnect. See this post for a workaround.

hp mce usb receiver irhp mce remotes[:]