Chromecast and it's probably one of the best things Google has built in recent years. It's entirely removed the need for me to hook up a media PC to the TV, and now I can just stream content from the home server. Also multi-participant Youtube parties are a thing, and work well (everyone can add things to a shared queue).
Yes, I love mine … and yet, why doesn't it have a remote. No, my phone is not a suitable remote: it's locked, so I must unlock it before I can do TV stuff with it. Also, for some reason Chromecast & my phone tend to desync a fair amount of time.
I've never been happy with the Apple TVs I've used, either (the UI is pretty painful), but at least they have remotes.
A remote doesn't make sense for it honestly.
I would pay $20–$50 for a decent remote. I'd also love for the Chromecast to have the ability to use my accounts to play entertainment directly from that remote.