🎮 Elevate Your Viewing Experience!
The DotStone HDMI Switch 4×1 is a versatile HDMI switcher hub that allows you to connect up to four HDMI devices to a single HD display. With features like Picture in Picture (PIP), automatic switching, and a remote control, it offers high-resolution support up to 4K and long-distance transmission capabilities, making it perfect for gamers and multitaskers alike.
R**M
A great device but I have some minor nitpicks
The device feels very sturdy and well-made. The box itself is made from a nice, durable, heavy metal. The remote is a little small and weighs practically nothing, but that's nothing worth complaining about. Device does exactly what it says it's supposed to: you plug in four HDMI devices and can switch between them. I haven't done rigorous testing but as far as I can tell there does not seem to be any loss of signal quality.I do have a few nitpicks:1. I was excited to try the picture-in-picture (PIP) functionality, given I tend to listen to Youtube on one screen while I play a video game on another. I figured PIP would let me do both from the same screen. It does do that, but there is no way to configure PIP. Bringing up the PIP display shows ALL HDMI sources at once, even when there are no devices connected, so you'll end up with useless black squares (representing empty HDMI ports) taking up screen real estate. The lack of an options/setup menu also means other problems: you can't reposition or resize the PIP windows, for instance. They feel too small for me and are stuck on the left size of the screen. Also, none of the PIP windows have audio. I kinda figured they might not, but it would have been nice. On top of all that, the video rendered in the PIP windows has a tendency to stutter. Really, all PIP seems to be good for is getting a preview of what's connected to the device before you switch to that input, because it's not worth using for anything else.2. I got this device because my TV only has one HDMI port (taken up by my PS4), and I ended up getting a Roku for Christmas. I decided the Roku could be set on top of the HDMI Switch, but (and maybe this is anecdotal) but the HDMI Switch seems to give off some kind of electrical interference that was playing havoc with the Roku's wifi. Once I set the Roku enough distance from the HDMI Switch (about a foot), the wifi signal strength tripled. An easy problem to solve, but weird that it exists at all -- and who knows, it may even just be a quirk with my setup in general. Your mileage may vary, I guess. (Also, if you're the kind of person who hears electrical feedback, there is a very slight buzz that emanates from the power adapter)3. Depending on what order I turn my devices on, sometimes the switch won't output audio. I'm not 100% clear if this is a problem with the device or my TV. Sometimes, I get audio back by turning the switch off and then back on again. Sometimes, I get audio back by switching to a different input (on the switch). Sometimes I have to switch to a different input on the TV to get it to come back. There's what is called a "handshake" process where devices figure out what's connected and how to output them, so I think something in that is getting messed up. As long as I remember to turn my TV on last, it's not a problem. (So I theorize it might not even be an issue with the switch box)4. The remote is line-of-sight, meaning sometimes you'll push a button on the remote and the switch box won't respond until you angle it just right. It may take some fiddling to find a good place to put the box so you get good coverage with using the remote.Still, though, for $40, this seems worth it. I've tried those crummy no-power pigtail cables in the past and they just don't do the job. This seems like the best quality for the lowest price to me.
D**D
Auto mode doesn't work and PIP doesn't seem to work with amazon devices either
The product does what it says it will do for the most part and it is very inexpensive so i am mostly happy with it but the auto switch mode doesn't work for me or the PIP with my amazon devices it seems, I have read others complaints about the auto not working and seen response comments saying to make sure items power on for auto to detect and switch and i have done just that many times with no success, When i have both my android tv box powered on and my amazon firestick powered on and the auto switch green light is on when i turn on a device nothing happens it just stays on whatever input was on last and i can power on and off both devices and the switch does nothing, Also when i turn on pip only the android tv shows up in mini window and other 2 are blank even though amazon devices are on and running and can be switched to manually using input 1,2,3,4. Maybe auto and PIP only work on certain devices and not amazon firetv, firesticks, or my xiaomi MiBox android tv device at least pip worked on the mibox but auto still doesn't switch when it is powered on either same as amazon devices. I am debating on if i should keep it or not i got it on a flash deal and was only $20 but i can't help but wonder if for a bit more money i can't get a better product, I only use it on 1 LG tv that cheaply only has 1 hdmi port so i have to use a switch on it to use other devices which this switch does do that at least but might just be easier to get a better tv with more ports then mess with these switches. Overall it works as a switch but the other frills don't seem to work right so don't buy this expecting pip and auto to function right.
T**N
Simple & Awesome HDMI Switch
I ordered the HDMI 4 port switch with the PIP auto switch thing.At first I wasn't too keen on the red light always being on (when the device is turned off, the red light is off, but so is your video) or the fact that I couldn't hide the red light because the remote control is IR, so the front of the switch must be visible.But I tried it and so far I like it! What's great about it, when you are watching device #1 and you want to switch to device #2, you simply turn on that device and the switch automatically changes to that port! I really like that feature. If I'm watching a movie and my son wants to get a disc out of his Xbox (turns it on), that might become an issue if I'm in the middle of my movie. (Just thought of this as I'm typing this review, haven't tried it yet).I would like to see the remote have a light of some kind so I can see the tiny numbers at night when I do need to switch the devices.Edit 7/29/18: (upgraded from 4 to 5 stars)I've had this DotStone switch in place for several months now and I got to say it's great!What I've learned so far.Turn device #1 on, the DotStone switches to #1. Turn device #2 on, the DotStone switches to #2 even if device #1 is still on.If I turn device #2 off, the DotStone switches back to device #1 if it's still on. If nothing is on, it stays where it was last used.With the scenario of my my son turning on a console when I'm watching TV, it does switch to that device. Our TV has two HDMI ports, so what I've done is connect our cable box to HDMI #1 on the TV and have everything else plugged into the DotStone.Also, it doesn't seem to matter how new the device is, it detects an HDMI signal and switches.I haven't really gotten into the PiP thing, but just trying it, it does work.There is also an auto button that stops the auto switching when a new device is turned on. But I always leave it on, its the best feature of this switch.
G**.
Straight forward and easy to use
This device is simple, plug in all of the HDMI's and plug the out to the TV and you're set. Unfortunately, the PIP's are small as we have a 60" TV and the PIP's are tiny on there. Would have been nice if the PIP's were according to the ratio of the resolution as opposed to (what seems like) a fixed width and height. Nonetheless, nice device to have, especially when you need to see which input is what.
J**P
Works great.
Ended up not needing it myself so gave it away to a friend and no complaints.
A**R
Tell me I don't know what to do with the switch
It work ok but the problem start when u use the control it control my tv and tv box turning them off
L**D
Très bon produit
Bon produit et il fonctionne très bien
H**H
It worked Perfectly!
It worked Perfectly & I could organise my HD Cabals!
Trustpilot
2 days ago
2 weeks ago