Your TV is probably augmented by an ever-growing collection of boxes that plug into it — and you have a remote for every one. Remembering what setting everything has to be on can be frustrating. Enter Harmony Touch. Tell it which devices you have, and assign them to Activities, such as “Watch a Blu-ray.” Tapping an activity switches the relevant gear on and selects the correct channels.
It knows all this because you spent time setting it up on your Mac beforehand. Still, it’s something you probably only do once. You can associate up to 15 devices (from a list of more than 225,000), but for a PlayStation 3, you have to buy a $59.99 adapter.
It’s pleasant to use. The stone-like surface on the rear divided opinion, and the touchscreen is a bit easy to brush accidentally, but the backlit buttons feel great.
The bottom line. It really does make a huge difference, and it’s such a lovely object that even if you have an older Harmony remote you might be tempted to upgrade — you can even migrate your settings. Once your family uses one, the idea of futzing with half a dozen remotes gives you cold sweats.
of 5
Logitech Harmony Touch
OS X 10.5 or later
Easy to use. Feels great in the hand.
Initial setup is a pain. Expensive.
