OpenMote Is a $99 ESP32-S3 Universal Remote You Can Hack

A Remote Control Built the Way Makers Would Build One

The universal remote is one of the few consumer gadgets that got worse over time. The good ones learned infrared codes and worked forever; the replacements phone home to a cloud service that may not exist in three years. OpenMote is a deliberate correction. It is a programmable ESP32-S3 remote in a wand-shaped shell, it ships pre-flashed with ESPHome, and it does its job entirely on your local network.

• Core: ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 with a dual-core 240 MHz LX7, 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM and 16MB flash, plus Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE
• Controls and sensors: 12 buttons (11 user-programmable plus power), a 6-axis IMU with wake-on-motion, and a 940nm IR emitter with a 38 kHz receiver for learning existing codes
• Audio and expansion: PDM MEMS microphone, a 3.2W speaker driven by a MAX98357A amplifier, and a Qwiic/STEMMA QT I2C connector
• Price: $99 assembled or $59 as a PCB kit on CrowdSupply, with a 1,200 mAh battery and USB-C charging; deliveries are scheduled for late February 2027

What Makes the IR Transceiver the Important Part

Plenty of ESP32 boards can blast infrared. The receiver is what turns this into a universal remote rather than a hobby project with a homework assignment attached. The 38 kHz receiver lets OpenMote learn codes directly from the remotes you already own, so the ancient amplifier and the projector with no smart features of any kind both keep working.

Combine that with ESPHome out of the box and the setup path is short: the device shows up in Home Assistant, buttons map to whatever automations you have already written, and nothing needs a vendor account. That local-first stance is the same one behind the OpenInfrared Point ESP32-S3 remote hub, with the difference that OpenMote is the thing in your hand rather than a hub on a shelf.

Why Put a Motion Sensor in a Remote?

The 6-axis IMU is the spec that explains the shape of the shell. Wake-on-motion is the practical justification — the remote sleeps until you pick it up, which is how a 1,200 mAh battery lasts in a device with a speaker and a microphone in it.

The rest is play. The developers list motion control support for the Dolphin emulator and BLE HID gamepad operation for Android TV, Steam Deck and PC, which means the same device that dims your lights can also act as a motion controller. Whether you use that is beside the point; it is there because the sensor was already needed and the firmware is yours to change.

Open Hardware, With the Usual Crowdfunding Caveat

The developers plan to publish complete schematics, PCB layouts and firmware as open source before units ship. That is a stated plan rather than a shipped repository today, which is the honest way to describe it. The $59 "Mod Your Own" PCB kit only makes sense if that material lands, and anyone backing on the strength of the open-source promise should treat the February 2027 delivery window as the date the claim gets tested.

Programming is via Arduino IDE, PlatformIO or ESP-IDF, so the toolchain is entirely conventional. If you have flashed an ESP32 before, there is nothing new to learn.

Who This Is Actually For

If you want a remote that works out of the box and never think about it again, this is not that product and does not pretend to be. If you already run Home Assistant, have flashed a board with an ESPHome starter kit, and have a drawer of infrared devices that no modern remote supports, OpenMote is aimed precisely at you.

The smart-home hardware worth owning is increasingly the kind that keeps working when a company changes its mind. A $99 remote with published schematics and local control is a reasonable hedge. More boards and projects in our mini computer coverage.

Sources: CNX Software — September 19, 2026.