Are IR blasters not a thing for Android phones now?

Huawei is one of the few that still have them. Apparently the new thing with phone manufacturers is to remove features from a phone. I had it on my LG G2 and it wasn't something I used often but it was a nice to have.

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I initially thought it was a gimmicky feature

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I thought this as well, until I got one.

Never had to look for a remote again. With a toddler thats a huge pita.

I miss the crap out of the ir blaster, and Im not buying a huawei phone.

oddly enough, a few type c ir blaster adapters have started to come out (at least a few on amazon). They are too bulky to leave in all the time and still questionable on how well they'll work.

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Are they no longer a thing?

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Unfortunately, they essentially are not.


If it's just for home use, nab a Logitech Harmony Hub. If you are using under 3 devices, that will work. If using more than 3 devices, you need a distribution block like this with a blaster on each device. It's definitely not the same, but if you're worried about one, single setup, that's an option.

ETA- the harmony hub blaster port is 2.5mm. This little guy's input is 3.5mm. You need a 2.5-->3.5 adapter or cable. They're cheap and readily available online. Granted, this is a $75-100 solution for what your phone used to do, which is pretty annoying. But it's a solid (functional) replacement.

eBay has some of the older model remote watches. I had one in the 90s. Fun toy. I don't know how they kept up with the current IR codes or if it would work well any more.

Lastly, Tom's Guide put out a list of phones that still have an IR blaster
I linked the Google search because it lists them without going through the Tom's Guide slideshow. I hate slideshows.

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Great for changing games at bars

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Underrated activity, I had a lot of fun with this.

There are a lot more gimmicky features that are less useful being added to or continuing on smartphones. I'd rather have and not need