Couch potatoes, rejoice! Logitech's new premium remotes can control not just your entertainment center, but a wide range of smart home devices. You may never leave the couch again.
The $350 Harmony Ultimate Home and $150 Harmony Home Control, which go on sale today, bring an added dimension of control to Logitech's lineup of remotes. Both remotes are available in white or black, and are just as comfortable to hold as previous generations, with a curved, soft-touch underside and easy to press buttons.
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While the older Logitech Harmony Ultimate remote can control both Philips Hue lights and the Nest thermostat, the Harmony Ultimate Home takes home automation a few steps further. In addition to controlling a wider range of connected-home devices, such as window shades and door locks, the Ultimate Home will also let users create actions that will dim the lights, close the shades, and turn on your TV just by pressing a single button.
As with its previous remotes, the Ultimate Home communicates with a Wi-Fi connected hub, which then relays signals to your entertainment center or connected home devices.
For those whom a $350 remote is too steep, Logitech will also sell the hub separately for $100, which will allow them to perform all the same actions using an Android or iOS app. The $150 Harmony Home Control is also being offered as a more basic remote, which lacks the touchscreen of the Ultimate Home.
Regardless of which remote you choose, though, consumers will also be able to control their home and entertainment center via the Android and iOS app, provided they have the hub. And, Logitech says that at some point this fall, it will update the firmware on the older Harmony Ultimate. If you can't wait that long, you can bring it into Best Buy for $100 off one of the new remotes.
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