The Kameleon 6 is unlike any other remote control on the
market. It takes its name from an ability to change its appearance
according to the selected mode, illuminating only those keys
that are relevant. Its entire face is a backlit touch-pad
that's activated whenever you pick up the remote and turns
off after 10 sec of inactivity.
At just 14mm high it's probably the thinnest remote control
around. It's also light and sits comfortably in the hand.
One For All says the Kameleon 6 is future-proof, as new codes
can be downloaded over the phone or from the internet using
your PC's speakers.
At the top of the pad are icons for the six main devices.
When activated, these remain lit regardless of the selected
mode, as do four Macro modes and the ubiquitous four coloured
'buttons' used for TV text and digibox navigation.
For each device the Kameleon 6 adopts the guise of your average
remote, offering most common functions. Where necessary,
a Scroll button provides secondary screens. The most unusual
icon is the Magic button. This is used for programming the
Kameleon 6, which is the most tedious part of owning a universal
remote.
The manual provides the setup codes for hundreds of AV products,
listed by brand and device. In our setup of a Toshiba TV,
JVC VCR, Pioneer DVD deck, Denon amp and Sky+ PVR, only half
the products were listed. For the others we had to manually
program each command into the Kameleon 6 using the Magic
learning function. Next we set up some Macros to turn on
or off several items of kit with one touch, which was a breeze.
Setting this zapper up can be a major headache. Why, for
example, doesn't One For All list every product by name and
model number as a downloadable PDF on its website? This would
take a lot of the guesswork out of the setup process, and
avoid tedious phone calls to One For All.
Still, once you've cracked the codes this is a superb device.
It's not as user-friendly as some handsets but it's a fine
example of an all-in-one. The Sky+ PVR control is especially
impressive.
Verdict:
Complicated to set up but a highly versatile remote with the
flexibility of an LCD-based remote and the usability of a button-based
one.
