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That's not a big deal for some people, but for others it might be a deal-breaker. If you get the Elite, you'll basically have to keep it in its charging cradle when not in use. If the Elite went longer than three days on a charge I felt lucky, and a couple of times when I forgot to recharge it, I had to resort to another remote. Logitech claims a 20 percent improvement in battery life compared with the Harmony Ultimate, but in my time using the product that didn't matter much. Of course, a Roku 4-like finder function, complete with a button on the hub, would be even better. The package includes a sleek-looking cradle that charges the remote, keeps it upright and also provides a convenient place to park it, which helps prevent dreaded RLS (remote loss syndrome). With its screen and backlight, the Elite uses a rechargeable battery that replaceable in case it goes kaput.
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Sarah Tew/CNET Backlight good, battery life badĪside from the screen, one of my favorite extras on the Elite is full backlighting behind every hard key, making it much easier to use in a darkened home theater than the Home Control.ĭropping the backlight allows the Home Control to achieve tremendous batter life, however - you'll typically go half a year or more before you have to replace its watch battery. Stashed at the bottom, where they belong, are the less important color-coded keys and smart-home keys.
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They're right under the screen on the Elite, above the main four-way cursor pad. I give the Home Control and now the Elite a big thumbs-up for moving those controls within easy reach.
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The original Harmony Touch and Harmony Ultimate had the same screen as the Elite, but I complained about the nonsensical button placement, with the "transport" keys - play/pause, fast-forward/rewind, stop and record - mounted a far to the top, necessitating an inconvenient stretch of the thumb to reach. I also liked the haptic feedback, so you get a little jolt of reassurance when you select items or long-press a button. At times it was a bit too responsive, and more than once I engaged an activity more than just by picking it up. I found the Elite's full-color screen easy to use and relatively responsive, although it didn't feel as sensitive as a phone or tablet screen, and the resolution is much lower, leading to chunkiness in some icons for example.
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I especially love being able to pull out my phone to turn off the living room TV from afar, once kiddie TV time is over. Once I trained the munchkins to always return the clicker to its cradle for recharging (upon pain of no dessert!), it's been smooth sailing. icon, and be watching the latest "Mutt and Stuff" in no time. They can easily recognize and engage the "Watch Roku" activity, then click the Nick Jr. Harmony's hub-based systems are designed so well, my 4-year-old uses one with no problems.Īnd me and my kids really like the Elite's screen. It's Logitech's best remote yet, but unless you have money to burn, or really want its extras like a touchscreen, fully-backlit keys and control of up to 15 devices, get the Home Control instead.īoth offer Harmony's most important features, including a two-piece design with a separate hub that hides among your gear, allowing seamless control of all of your home entertainment devices, and many smart-home devices, from a single remote - or the Harmony app on your phone or tablet. I've been using the latest high-end version, dubbed Elite, at home as my main clicker for the last couple months.