Wibree technology has got special features to decrease the battery usage. The benchmark is to run a wibree device on coin sized battery for an year without any recharge. The technology is such that the device will go in to sleep mode when not in use to save battery. The usage matches a remote as it is not used continuously. The handset powers up only when a button is pressed.

The receiving end (TV) is AC powered. So the receiver section can be made very powerful even to detect the most feeble signal coming from the remote. Better and bigger antenna designs can be used on the TV to improve the signal reception.
Moreover I can use my wibree mobile phone to control my TV by installing an additional software. Even a Wibree watch can be used for the same purpose, but with a lesser range.

When compared to IRDA, wibree remotes can support more complex features like a two way communication, pre-programming certain channel settings etc.