LATEST ADDITIONS

Qobuz, the Paris-based music streaming and download service that’s been available in the U.S. since 2019, has finally made its way up north. As part of its ongoing international expansion, the service is now available in 26 countries with yesterday’s addition of Canada.

The Netflix red envelope that defined the era between video cassettes and streaming will soon be a relic of the past. Subscribers to the disc-by-mail service were informed by email on Tuesday (April 18) that the company will ship its last disc on September 29, 2023.

PRICE $190

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Bluetooth, Infrared (IR), and WiFi control
Easy to find devices with model number
Control up to 50 devices
Works with Sonos
Attractive remote
Minus
Confusing setup
Must create workarounds for input switching
Newest game consoles not in database
Inconsistent and occasionally doesn’t work

Verdict
There was hope that the Sofabaton X1 Hub and Remote could replace the now-discontinued Logitech Harmony Hub. Unfortunately, it doesn't hold a candle to Harmony's ease of use, compatibility, and design.

When Logitech stopped making the Harmony remote controls in 2021, there were few options to take their place. The Sofabaton sounded promising with its vast database of codes for TVs and other devices.

If there is one dominant trend in 2023, it is the remarkable increase in brightness of TVs. Whether it’s OLED or mini-LED FALD LCDs, the luminance improvements are substantial. The OLED category, in particular, has seen significant gains, with LG claiming a 70% gain and peak brightness levels now easily surpassing 1,000 nits, which is sufficient to display most HDR content without requiring tone mapping.