Best phones with IR blasters
Remote controls are so old school. So, it's perhaps no surprise that people are looking for the best phones with IR blasters. These small components mimic infrared-remote controls and effectively turn your smartphone into a universal remote.
- Best phones overall: Our top picks right now
- Longest-lasting phones: The best phone battery life
- 5G phones: What you can buy now
Unfortunately, while IR blasters were once a common feature for some phone makers, they've fallen by the wayside in recent years. Samsung stopped embedding them in its flagships with the Galaxy S6, for example. That said, some Chinese manufacturers, like OnePlus, TCL, Huawei and Xiaomi, still see value in IR blasters and continue to incorporate them to this day.
All of this to say, if you're desperate for a smartphone that can replace your living-room remote, there aren't many easy choices. Many of the best TVs can be controlled through their respective apps. Nevertheless, these are the ones that rise to the top.
What was once a popular feature is now an uncommon, niche one. Once upon a time, a vast majority of the best Android phones also had IR blasters embedded within them. Combine that with a proper remote control app — either one that came pre-installed onto the phone or third-party software you could download off the Google Play Store — and you had the holy grail of all universal remotes at your disposal.
Times have changed. Today, few flagship phones on sale in North America come with an IR blaster. The majority of them come from OnePlus, which not only sells its phones directly through its site, but they can be picked up at other retailers and carrier stores as well. Samsung and LG ditched them long ago, and Apple never believed in them to begin with.
You can still find ones from other phone makers — like the LG G5 — but it's severely outdated. But if you desperately need one on the cheap, it's one worth considering. OnePlus surprised us by including it in some of its latest phones, so it's refreshing to see newer stuff carrying it.
In most cases, we'd recommend you actually stay away from an ancient device like an old Galaxy or LG handset simply because they're too slow to use reliably anymore, and are missing out on critical security updates to ensure a safe and stable user experience. However, you may find it worth picking up one of these older models as a separate, second phone simply to use as a remote.
The best phones with IR blasters you can buy today
The OnePlus 12 is your go-to phone if an IR blaster is high on your list. Its companion app lets you easily search through thousands of gadgets to control with its infrared blaster, which is made better by the fact that it's a flagship phone we're dealing with here.
Even better, OnePlus delivers one of its best flagship models in recent memory because it just about improves in nearly every category. First of all, we're happy that wireless charging returns to its flagship series with a blazing 50W wireless charging speed — which complements its even faster 80W wired charging speed (100W for the international model).
Speaking of battery, it pulls in the fastest time in our battery benchmark test with a time of 17 hours and 41 minutes. That beats out just about every other device in our best phone battery life list, and shows the incredible power efficiency of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip.
If those reasons aren't enough to convince you about the OnePlus 12, you should know that it offers the best flagship value in any phone — mainly because it's cheaper than other flagships. Add in its sharp 3x optical zoom camera, we think it has a solid package worthy of your consideration.
Read our full OnePlus 12 review.
The Xiaomi 14 is as cutting edge a phone as you can expect to find with an IR blaster onboard. Powered by Qualcomm's latest processor — the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3— and a generous 12GB of RAM, the Xiaomi 14's 6.3-inch OLED screen also benefits from an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate for increased responsiveness.
Other features of the Xiaomi 14 include a triple-lens rear camera which packs the a primary 50MP camera, 50MP ultrawide, and 50MP telephoto with 3.2x optical zoom. There's also superfast charging, whether you opt for 90-watt wired or 50-watt wireless. And, of course, this is a 5G phone, meaning it can take advantage of faster data speeds.
As with any import phone, however, you'll want to make sure the Xiaomi 14 will work with enough of the bands your carrier relies upon for service, before taking the plunge on this rare IR blaster-equipped flagship.
Read our full Xiaomi 14 review.
It's the only one in its class to feature an IR blaster, but there are many valid reasons why the OnePlus Open is one of the best foldable phones around. Given how it's OnePlus' first time making one, it's astounding how it hits the mark high in nearly every category.
Starting off with its design, the OnePlus Open feels incredible lightweight and premium. Usually foldable phones have this fragility to them, but not this one. Its main 7.82-inch flexible AMOLED display looks lovely, making it perfect for watching movies and running several apps simultaneously.
Speaking of multitasking, no other phone can match its Open Canvas features, which dynamically arranges up to three apps at the same time. You'll have increased productivity thanks to this feature. If that's not enough to convince you, it undercuts its rivals on price — while also reaching new levels for a foldable phone with its extra long battery life.
Read our full OnePlus Open review.
Released in 2016, the LG G5 stands as one of the final flagship devices from a prominent, large-scale phone maker to tout an IR blaster. But the LG G5 was quirky for other reasons too; it was modular and had a removable battery, which made for a pretty cool distinction four years ago. Unfortunately, the 2,800-mAh battery onboard (respectably sized by 2016 standards, it must be said) didn't last long enough on a charge.
Today, the LG G5 can be found on Amazon for less than $200, which is either a decent price by modern smartphone standards, or far too expensive for a universal remote, depending on how you look at it.
Read our full LG G5 review.
How to choose a phone with an IR blaster
This is one of those cases where you actually don't have a ton of choice. If you're in the market for a relatively-inexpensive phone and the LG G5 fulfills your basic needs, it's worth taking the plunge on that sub-$200 device.
IR blasters generally function the same on all phones, so it's simply a matter of determining which imported handset will best support your carrier's network. Always opt for the international versions of GSM unlocked handsets, as these models can connect to the widest range of bands that carriers employ all over the world, and stand the best chance of working where you live. Do note that only GSM carriers, such as AT&T and T-Mobile, are fully-equipped to take on an internationally-sold, GSM-unlocked phone; Verizon and Sprint are more locked down, and likely won't sync up with an imported device.
If you're interested in snagging an older phone, just be aware of what you're getting yourself into. Any potential software flaws you run into likely won't have fixes. Battery life on a charge could be lacking too, especially if you purchase a device secondhand, after it's endured some normal wear-and-tear.
How we test smartphones
Every smartphone Tom’s Guide reviews is tested for several days in real-world use cases and benchmarked with a gamut of performance-measuring apps. In terms of performance, we used Geekbench 5 to measure overall speed and GFXBench to measure graphics performance.
We also use our own video editing test in the Adobe Premiere Rush app to see how long it takes to transcode a clip, which we run on both Android phones and iPhone to compare performance.
We use a light meter to ascertain display quality data, like brightness and color accuracy, and our proprietary battery test determines longevity on a charge by continuously loading live webpages over a 4G or 5G network. We set each phone to 150 nits of screen brightness and try to use T-Mobile's network each time in order to achieve comparable results across phones.
Lastly, we explore the software, test gaming performance and conduct live camera comparisons with rival handsets — and each of these factors play a part in our comprehensive verdict.
