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Logitech’s epic remote unifies your medle y of ele ctricals and smart home gadge ts

Universal remotes aren’t particularly new or sexy. Sure, they enable you to use one remote to control your entertainment gear, but Logitech’s Harmony Elite remote takes things a huge step further. Not only does it corral devices like your TV, Blu-ray player, Xbox, and any other electricals you might have in your lounge, it also ties together your smart home gadgets too, enabling you to control them from the very same remote.

Included in the box is the Harmony Hub: a device which connects to your Wi-Fi and gives the remote access to your connected gadgets. So, as well as turning on your hi-fi, you can use the remote to light up your home courtesy of your Philips Hue smart lights, start a favourite playlist via your Sonos system, or turn up your Nest thermostat when things start to get a little chilly. Pretty neat, huh?

But where Logitech’s super-remote gets really nifty is when you start using its built-in touch screen and the Harmony Activities. With a single tap of the screen you can perform multiple tasks at once. So, for instance, you could programme a ‘movie night’ action that, when activated, turns on your TV, dims your lights to and sends the kids off to bed (oh, if only!).

Much of what can be achieved using the remote can also be done on your phone too, thanks to the companion app. The bonus of using your mobile device is that you can control your electricals from afar. Much like existing smart home tech, you can also schedule devices or activities to start and end at specific times. Or, you can put down the phone and remote altogether and simply ask Echo to do your home’s bidding instead. Turn on the TV, Alexa!

Whenever you want to make changes, it’s easy to programme the remote and adjust settings via the app. Any changes are beamed wirelessly to the Harmony Hub and then synchronised with the remote so that it’s up-to-date and ready to use within seconds.

The Harmony Elite costs £299 and comes with the remote, Harmony Hub, two IR blasters and a charging station for the remote.