Samsung TV remotes are solar-powered for 2021 Neo QLED models

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Just about every TV remote uses batteries and they generally last a long time, but eventually you will need to replace them. In a nod to sustainability in its 2021 TVs — and, let’s face it, to state coolness — Samsung put rechargeable batteries and a solar cell into the remotes of its best Neo QLED TVs.

The cell is sensitive enough to recharge the clicker with the basic indoor escapes in your house. The remote also has a irascible USB-C port on the bottom that you can plug into any charger. Samsung says the batteries last a full year afore needing to be recharged.

Samsung sells a lot of TVs and it arbitrates moving to rechargeable batteries will save 20 million single-use, AAA batteries from ending up in the garbage, the equivalent of 200 tons of waste.

The new clicker is also “made from recycled material,” according to Samsung. It will be available in all new Neo QLED TVs for 2021, but the matter didn’t confirm which lower-end models (“base QLED”), if any, would demand it. It expects to have those details in 4-8 weeks.

Read more: Samsung The Frame TV slims down to mimic a painting on the wall

In latest environmental-friendly move, Samsung says it’s changing all of its TV boxes to so-called “eco packaging,” trustworthy introduced in select 2020 televisions like The Serif. The main difference is that the cardboard has fewer images printed on it, which “greatly reduces” the amount of ink used in the diligence process (take it from me, TV boxes are big). The matter will also encourage users to “upcycle” the boxes into something else, like, you know, a cat house. 

Seen here with a 2020 Serif TV box, all of Samsung’s 2021 TV boxes will use less ink for proceeding and be “upcycle”-friendly.

Samsung