Using a Raspberry Pi 4 as a media centre makes for a brilliant way to access your favourite sounds and movies. Add Argon40’s sleek ONE case and it looks as good, if not better, as any other set-top box. There’s even mature software in the form of the LibreELEC operating system and Kodi media centre app. All that’s missing is an easy way to control the action. The eagle-eyed may have noticed the ONE case’s circuitry includes an IR sensor, and now Argon40 has made the companion Argon IR infrared remote control (£9/$10)available.

Thankfully, Argon40 has been watching other tech design teams rather than those of most modern TVs. What you get for your very reasonable £9 is a minimalist, slim remote with just enough to make controlling Kodi a breeze. Basic directional control, selection, volume, and standard navigation work alongside a power button that works out-of-the box with any Raspberry Pi 4, regardless of operating system. It’s light too, at just 65 g with two AAA batteries.

More than media

If media centres are not your thing, or you have other epic plans for a remote control, Argon40 provides software that allows you to assign any key press to a button using the standard LIRC library with ease, making the addition of IR remote control to your project easier than ever before. In our tests, this worked flawlessly. However, we did have some issues configuring Kodi due to some missing steps in the supplied instructions. Once resolved, the remote performed admirably from across the room.

Although the setup instructions could be improved, Argon40 has delivered a sleek, simple, and reasonably priced IR remote, both for Raspberry Pi media centres and homebrew projects.

9/10