Look at the top edge of your phone: an IR blaster is a small dark window, a few millimetres wide. Many Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO phones have one. iPhones and recent Samsung Galaxy phones don't.
How to check
- Look at the top edge of the phone for a small dark window.
- Not sure? Search your exact model's specifications for “IR blaster” or “infrared”.
- Or open Universal TV Remote Control: it checks by itself and offers infrared only when your phone has an emitter.
Which phones usually have one
- Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO: many models have one.
- Huawei, Honor, vivo, realme, TECNO and Infinix: some models do.
- Samsung Galaxy: recent models don't (some older ones did).
- iPhone: no iPhone has one.
Models change every year, so this isn't a complete list: check your own model.
Control your TV without Wi-Fi
An IR blaster sends the same kind of signal as a TV remote, so it controls almost any TV, smart or not, with no Wi-Fi at all. Point the top of the phone at the TV, about 1 to 3 m (3 to 10 ft) away, with nothing in between. The app offers infrared only on phones that have an IR blaster; without one, your phone and TV need to be on the same Wi-Fi.
No IR blaster?
Your phone can still control a smart TV over Wi-Fi: use your phone as a TV remote. A TV with no network connection needs its own remote or a universal infrared remote.
