IFTTT (If This Then That) support extends options way beyond the officially supported ones. In one remote, or app, you can bring together so many devices into a single, reliable system. In many respects, Logitech’s system is the “smart home” hub that’s been missing up to now. The smart-home connectivity just seals the deal. This means that luddites in your home will easily cope with one remote, and won’t have to troubleshoot problems because the remote didn’t do its job – a common problem with older universal remotes. Moreover, once set up, it’s faultlessly reliable. In fact, you can buy the Hub alone and just use your phone if you prefer – it’s cheaper – but the remote is worth having if you can afford it.Īll this makes using a complicated home AV system much easier. The beauty of this system is that you can use the app as your remote. It took 5 minutes to work out how to edit the inputs in the Harmony app, but this was the only problem I encountered using the app. The only problem I encountered was with my Onkyo receiver the Harmony seemed to think it had more inputs than it really did. For example, “Watch a Film” could mean turning on your TV, setting it to HDMI 1, turning on an AV system, selecting the correct input, turning on a Blu-ray player or console, and setting your Hue lights to a specific colour and brightness. Once you’ve added your devices you can build activities that combine several actions into one. I had my TV, AV system, Apple TV, PS4 and Philips Hue lights all set up in 30 minutes. Logitech’s database of TVs, AV systems and beyond is huge. Logitech’s excellent Harmony app walks you through setting up devices and the settings sync wirelessly. Thankfully, someone invented the smartphone. It was painful, particularly if you were struggling to get something working. This is in marked contrast to previous Harmony devices, which required you to plug the remote into a PC every time you wanted to change the settings. The latter is important, since it’s this unit that handles communication with other devices – for instance, those not controlled by infrared. Included in the box is the charging dock – the remote uses built-in rechargeable batteries – and the Harmony Hub. It’s a decent start, but there’s more to the Harmony Elite than the remote alone. A 2.4-inch touchscreen adds contextual information, such as shortcuts to channels with their logos, when watching TV. It’s weighted perfectly, the coarse plastic rear is pleasantly grippy, and the buttons have a defined click. Logitech is good at making things and the Harmony Elite is a reminder as to why. It’s pricey, but it’s a must-have gadget for any smart-home adopter. Philips Hue, Sonos, Nest, Samsung SmartThings all work, to name just a few. Sure, it controls your TV and AV equipment like other universal remotes, but with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth it’s able to control other smart devices too. It’s a universal remote, but one for the smart-home generation.
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