Discussion LG Magic Remote: A Design Flaw or a Planned Obsolescence Scam?

[ravanraj]

I’ve been using an LG TV with its Magic Remote for a while now, and recently, the scroll wheel on my remote broke down. The rest of the remote works fine, but the OK button is integrated into the scroll wheel, making it a critical failure point.


I took the remote to the nearest LG showroom, hoping for a repair solution. But instead, they told me I needed to buy a new remote, which comes at an unreasonably high price. This left me wondering:

• Why did LG design the OK button inside a fragile scroll wheel?
• Why is there no simple repair option for a common issue?
• Is this an intentional move to force customers to buy a new remote?

For a TV brand that claims to offer premium quality, this design choice feels more like a trap for customers. A regular hard key for OK would have been much more durable. But instead, they placed it inside a scroll wheel, which is bound to break after some time.


This makes me think: Is LG deliberately designing their remotes to fail so they can sell more replacements?


I’d love to hear from others:

• Have you faced a similar issue with your LG Magic Remote?
• Were you able to find a cheaper repair or alternative solution?
• Do you think this is an example of planned obsolescence by LG?

Let’s discuss and raise awareness!

---

 

[COLGeek]

Maybe just a matter of poor design and the company not wanting to spend resources to re-engineer the current solution. Costs are certainly at the center of their design choices.

 

[ravanraj]

Maybe just a matter of poor design and the company not wanting to spend resources to re-engineer the current solution. Costs are certainly at the center of their design choices.

You can reply with a balanced but firm response to keep the discussion going. Here’s a good way to phrase it:

---

That’s possible, but even if it’s just poor design, LG should at least offer affordable repairs or a replacement part instead of forcing customers to buy a whole new remote. A company of LG’s scale should care about customer experience, not just cutting costs.


If this was a one-time issue, I’d understand, but many people have faced the same problem. It feels more like planned obsolescence rather than an accidental design flaw. A simple hard key for OK instead of a fragile scroll wheel would have easily solved this issue.


Wouldn't you agree that such design choices should be reconsidered if they’re causing inconvenience to so many users?

 

[COLGeek]

Are you using AI to reply to my post?