Logitech Harmony Elite

The Harmony Elite is the top of the range. A colour touchscreen on the remote, every button backlit, a charging cradle so the battery is never a job, and control of up to 15 entertainment devices plus an unlimited number of smart home devices.

• The touchscreen is what you are paying for on the Harmony Elite
• Every button is backlit, and it matters at night
• The charging cradle removes a chore
• Fifteen devices, and the ones a remote cannot see
• The rest of it

The touchscreen is what you are paying for on the Harmony Elite

Activities, channels and favourites laid out on a colour screen and swiped through, rather than hunted for by pressing a key repeatedly and watching a list crawl past. The screen answers with a small haptic tap, so you know the command registered without looking up at the television to check. On a system driving a dozen devices, that is the difference between a remote anybody can use and one only you understand.

Every button is backlit, and it matters at night

Watching in a dark room is the normal case, and it is exactly when an unlit remote becomes a guessing game with your thumb. All the buttons here light. Small feature, used every evening, and the sort of thing that never appears in a comparison table.

The charging cradle removes a chore

A rechargeable lithium-ion battery and a charging station in the box, so the remote lives in its cradle between uses and is never flat. No coin cells to source, nothing to open. For a remote that is the only way to operate the room, never going dead is worth more than it sounds.

Fifteen devices, and the ones a remote cannot see

Up to 15 entertainment devices plus unlimited smart home devices. The hub speaks infrared, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, so a games console, a streaming stick and an old amplifier all answer to the same button, and the two IR mini blasters in the box put infrared inside closed cabinets so the equipment can stay out of sight.

The rest of it

Six home control buttons on the remote run lights, blinds, plugs and scenes, so one press can start the film and dim the room together. It works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and setup is through the Harmony app.

For eight devices rather than fifteen, with a plain button remote and a coin cell, the Harmony Companion costs considerably less and runs the same Activities. Wikipedia keeps the history of the Harmony range.