Gemini remote

Hi there. We appreciate your feedback on our remote features. We have forwarded your suggestion to the appropriate team, so they can review and determine the next steps. Lorie, DIRECTV Community Specialist

I will second the motion on this. The new Gemini remote is the worse TV remote I have ever used. I work in technology. I have dealt with both superb and awful designs, both hardware and software, for decades. Neither my wife nor I can deal with this remote.

Criticisms:

• Poor button layout. Nothing, well save for the on and off buttons, are where I would want them, expect them.
• Poor button shape. I cannot tell where I am on the remote. Many of the buttons are flush with the plastic surface making them hard to impossible to find by feel. You simply cannot tell by feel where things are. That causes problems in a dark or low light environment.
• Backlighting turns off too soon. It lasts like 3 sec then turns off. I haven't found anywhere to change it and make it longer. I have to search for the desired button because of the poor layout. I just start with something, looking for the next button in the sequence, but it turns off, and I can't find anything (see above: low lighted or dark room).
• The ergonomic shape doesn't work for me. It doesn't feel good in the hand. I'm constantly having it slip out of my hand causing me to drop it. Hopefully, it has been thru rigorous "floor drop" studies.
• The extra Gemini features are already on my Apple TV. For me, it provides no value.

I have actually scheduled a service call with DirecTV to come, replace it with a 4K receiver and the older RC73 remote. At least with that one, I could feel my way around the keys, rarely having to look at the remote itself.

Perhaps the next go round, DirecTV could do some user acceptance testing for feedback, thus to prevent messing up like this on future remote models.

Just got Gemini added to my system. The remote is terrible to use. I agree with Bitflipper on the issues with the remote 

Criticisms:

• Poor button layout. Nothing, well save for the on and off buttons, are where I would want them, expect them.
• Poor button shape. I cannot tell where I am on the remote. Many of the buttons are flush with the plastic surface making them hard to impossible to find by feel. You simply cannot tell by feel where things are. That causes problems in a dark or low light environment.
• Backlighting turns off too soon. It lasts like 3 sec then turns off. I haven't found anywhere to change it and make it longer. I have to search for the desired button because of the poor layout. I just start with something, looking for the next button in the sequence, but it turns off, and I can't find anything (see above: low lighted or dark room).
• The ergonomic shape doesn't work for me. It doesn't feel good in the hand. I'm constantly having it slip out of my hand causing me to drop it. Hopefully, it has been thru rigorous "floor drop" studies

Even after years of using it, I still hit the red dot record button accidentally, causing needless recordings that I have to undo.

Hey there @Wooross ! Thanks a bunch for your feedback! We've passed it along to our team to think about for future remotes. Take care!  Mark, DIRECTV Community Specialist

But the battery cover doesn't pop off all the time! It takes a little getting used to but I don't even think about it anymore.

Hey @dddccc1, we’ve gathered your comments along with everyone else's on this question. Our engineering team has a suggestion about the batteries for the remote. It’s best to go with a good quality alkaline battery—just avoid rechargeable ones and those labeled as "heavy duty" or "carbon zinc" to tackle the backlit issues. Take care, Mark, DIRECTV Community Specialist