Few would argue that the new Apple TV Siri Remote control introduced in 2021 wasn’t an improvement over its predecessor. Gone was the finicky clickpad, replaced by a directional, erm, clickpad. (Whatever, it’s better.) A power button and dedicated voice command button arrived as well.
Certainly better — but by no means perfect. It’s still too damn thin and finds its way into the couch cushions far too often. And there’s no “find my remote” option, despite Apple now being among the best in the business at giving you a way to find lost items thanks to AirTags.
Those two features are directly addressed by Nomad’s new Leather Cover for Siri Remote and AirTag . (They sent us one to check out.) That’s a chunky name for a chunky accessory, which itself costs a little more than half of what a new Siri Remote goes for. (The remote, of course, comes included with a new Apple TV, but I’d make the argument that it’s worth retrofitting an old Apple TV with one.)
First off, you get a sort of case/holder combination for your Apple TV remote. It’s got a microfiber interior, and the exterior is Horween leather. That’s Nomad’s signature style across all sorts of accessories, and it’ll age quite nicely. In fact, I’m already seeing the usual signs of wear after just a few minutes, which isn’t a bad thing. Just keep in mind that what you see in pictures isn’t what it’ll look like after a few months of use and abuse — which is what it’s for, of course.
The case doesn’t add a whole lot to the width or height or your Siri Remote — but it does add a good bit of depth, taking things from 9.25mm to a whopping 23.8mm, making the remote about 157% thicker. That does a couple things. First is that it makes it far less likely to fall into a couch cushion, which depending on your temperament may well be worth the $34 — especially if you have kids who don’t always put things back where they belong. More subjective is that it arguably makes the remote a little more comfortable in the hand.
That extra thickness also makes room for an AirTag, which you’ll have to provide yourself. Yes, that increases the overall price of this little remote that much more — we’re now at $123 total, if you’re buying everything from scratch. But that’s another cost that I’d amortize over the number of hours I’ve spent looking for the Siri Remote, despite knowing that it’s somewhere under my couch, tucked away between pounds of dust and dog hair and uneaten pretzels. (Again, thanks kids. Love you.)
And the AirTag also lets you use an iOS device to pinpoint exactly where it’s hiding, down to about a foot or so, as well as make a little chirping noise. And that’ll make it that much easier for the kids to find, saving you that exasperated sigh a day or so later when you give up using your phone as a remote and set out to find the remote that your kids swear they spent a good two or three minutes hunting down and they have no idea where it might have been, even though we all know exactly where it must be and who caused it to disappear there in the first place oh why oh why did I even have kids it seemed like a good idea at the time.
And that, folks, is well worth $34.
