Samsung LN32A450 LCD HDTV Review - Remote Control

The Samsung LN32A450's remote is well balanced, nicely curved and relatively easy to use. It's one of the better remotes we've seen ship with an HDTV, something we're glad to see on a lower-end model.

Ergonomics & Durability (6.55)
The Samsung LN32A450's remote feels fairly comfortable in the hand. It's rather long, but the back is very well curved, which helps it sit right in the palm of your hand. You will need to shift your hand up and down to reach many controls, but the balance stays good due the relative light weight of the remote. The buttons on the Samsung LN32A450 are made of soft plastic and are easy to press, although we would have liked to see some more tacticle feedback and key travel. We've certainly seens worse remotes, for example the JVC remotes we've seen are much bigger, not contoured and lack the balance of the Samsung LN32A450's remote.

Button Layout & Use (6.3)
The buttons on the Samsung LN32A450's remote are relatively large with all the main controls found toward the middle. Those with smaller hands may find they need to shift some to reach the volume and channel buttons from the control pad, but those with larger hands won't have this problem. Regardless of your hand size you will need to shift your hand up the remote to enter a channel using the number pad or to reach the power and source buttons. Still, the shift isn't huge and the fact that the remote gives you decent balance no matter where you hold it makes this easier. We also liked that you could control the Samsung LN32A450 with the remote from a fairly wide angle, out to 90 degrees.

Programming & Flexibility (1.0)
The Samsung LN32A450 is not a universal remote that can be used with any piece of your home theatre system. It does support Samsung's Anynet+ service, however, which allows you to control any Samsung device with the remote. We will award a single point for this functionality.