Control4 Reviews 4,028

Cannot get the doorbell to connect both audio and video. Problem has persisted for several months. Spend hundreds of £'s on a feature that doesn't work. Control 4 still trying to fix problem - wouldn't recommend until issues are resolved.

$50K bought 6 years of misery. Dozens of tech support call outs. Hundreds of days of frustration, missed games, dead AV weekends. Unbelievably unstable. Horrible complex remote. Don’t even think about wasting your money on this. Would have helped if our dealer hadn’t told us it was all our fault. I long for our old Sonos system back, and a few sound bars. Now then, would anyone like to buy our Control4 kit?

Jeff came highly recommended from a friend who had used Jeff's company before on a home install. He was incredibly knowledgeable and had a clear and concise way of explaining why we were having difficulty with our 13 year old AV systems. His bid was less expensive than others we considered and his install was done on the exact schedule he provided beginning to end. The Control4 technology is super simple to use too. Even more impressive... Months after our project was completed, Jeff took my call on a Saturday night to walk a Spectrum Rep through how to install a cable modem in our equipment rack without interfering with any of our current hardware/software. Needless to say, we highly recommend!

It has a lot of steps to do anything and they are heard to remember all the time especially using the remote. The iPad or iPhone are much more direct and easier to use. I have both old remotes and new remotes so the steps to go from one room to another take multiple steps. Otherwise I really like the system.

I use FireTV on a new professional cinema room. NeXT is the professional install company in Austin, TX who set up my Control4 and I only have partial functionality on the Control4 versus full FireTV functionality with the remote control that comes with the FireCube. NeXT informed me they have issues with FireCube full control using the Control4. Is this true?

Your system is unreliable. I have had to have the service provider back on five different occations to diagnos and fix problems. I sometimes wonder if spending $50,000 was worth it when Sonos worked wonders!

Not at all user friendly and much too expensive to upgrade for the use and value perceived

The remotes are great. But only one function out of the many work. And it barely works. I don’t understand. Programming doesn’t work well at all.

Spent way too much and disappointed with my remote.

Our service guy is great - the best. I have the latest software. But the system is far below expectations. To be blunt, its terrible and I wish I could rip it out and unload it. We have topflight wifi throughout the house. System for lighting and other controls is good and has some benefits. It is terrible for AV and acutually ruins the experiene. Lag times for Cable and Apple TV is frustrating beyond description. Steps to enter - select from C4 then have to hit menu to access cable - if you dont know or remember that step you'll never get in. So we have to leave written instructions for guests. How backward is that? All you can see on the phone is the remote control - not the selections like cable, dvr dvd apple tv etc or the guide on the TV. If the system is acting up like it often does, you are lost. System frequently freezes. Its gotten to where I dread sitting down to watch something because I know I have to navigate the system and there's a good chance there will be a problem. Several times I have come home to watch a game and its had a problem and would not load right.
For audio, the menu us very hard to understand how to get to Sirius to add channels or browse. At the end of the day, it adds frustration with no utility whatsover and ruins enjoyment. I am regularly very close to telling Brian, our service expert to just come in and rip it out. If we didnt have it in the house when we bought it, I would not get it and would never consider it in a future house. There's a good chance I will disconnect TV, Audio and entertainment just go to Cable, Apple TV, Sonos and Spotify to simply enjoy things. Your handheld remotes are terrible - very small screen, very dim even on brightest setting and brightest color and buttons dont light up and are tiny. Cable and TV remotes are much better. I tell people who are building to stay away or look at other systems. I have several friend who bought a house that had C4 and either disabled it or put in something else. Our service expert, Brian is very knowledgeble and responsive but there's only so much he can do. A cool concept but not ready for the market. Is there an aftermarket for used systems? If so could you let me know? If so, I'd like to unistall it and sell it ASAP. I hope this is helpful.

Excellent product, but the dealer lock in is ridiculous. Say if you just subscribed to a new streaming service, you would have to pay your dealer to add the button to your remote which only takes them a minute to do. Very expensive with little value added by the dealer centric model. If you're not worried about value, it's a great product but prepare to spend more than it makes sense to as you go on.

It is a great concept. When it works well it works well. There are still many bugs to work out though. I currently have 6 cameras, a doorbell with intercom and camera and two tv's controlled (one outside, one inside) with respective audio on 3 zones with 2 remotes and the control 4 10" controller. I can control most of these the way I want but in order to adjust I really need one of the tech's from Dynamic Audio Video to come out and do it. As the end user I find it's not really user friendly to adjustments. Kind of like a car - I can operate it well, but if something is not right I do not know how or have the time to fix it.
I intend to add some lights and switches and maybe one more camera on this house. I am building another house and plan to do the same set up there but would like some improvements. Great idea to merge the intercom app onto the control 4 app! Not sure why it wasn't done originally. But the intercom is not working like I expected. I'd like to be able to call the doorbell via intercom whenever I want. It's not working. Hope it's something the tech can fix, maybe a glitch. Is there a way to intercom to the cameras? Would be so nice to when I see someone out by the pool and they don't have their phone on them, to be able to talk over that zone.

I like the product, but making the system so closed where I have to use an "authorized installer" to make changes to the system (which seems to never quite understand my request) makes it frustrating. If it were not for this limitation, I could recommend Control4 to many others - especially those that like to "do it yourself."

Good overall product. A pain to find and wait for a pro anytime I want something changed or added. Absolutely should open up the setup to home users.

still a bit clitcy when it works its awesome
But when it plays up its so frustrating

As a system the Control 4 is a fantastic idea. However, it has lots of issues which the installer can’t fix. When it works, it is great but I have wifi6 which seems to confuse and make the controller pause constantly. It’s a lot of money for a system that only works 50% of the time. If you have a modem mesh Wi-Fi network I would check it works with Control 4 before spending the money.

Expensive
Requires someone else to program
Cant adjust system myself
Non compatible with everything
Requires subscription to use

Control4 has some great features, but it is a miserable system to use. Buggy, slow and impossible to modify without an expensive technician. Composer HE is an absolute nightmare and provides nearly zero control. The mobile app is slow an clunky and virtually non-customizable.

It was already installed in the house I bought, otherwise I would choose a different platform.

overall product is nice but the remote control is lacking. doesn't work seemlessly with roku at all and often has bad lag when going between tv and c4 screens - even requiring unit rebooting.

I bought a house with a C4 system installed that controls the multi-room speakers, thermostat, and door bell.
The system is easy to use, but the 1 star review comes from the inability for the end-user to modify the system for daily use.
For example, I wanted to get Amazon Music app onto the C4 Listen screen but had to ask the Pro who installed the system to add the app.
Also, I found out that I could not answer the door bell remotely without a C4 subscription service so really feel like C4 product "nickel-and-dimes" the end-user.
All and all, many other smart home products are available now that are much more user friendly without extra costs.