Men's Journal

We went channel surfing with four intelligent universal remotes to find out which provide enough convenience to justify the expense. We wanted a simple setup, an intuitive interface, smart features for managing a sprawling home theater, and a design and button layout that felt natural in our hands. Some excelled in a few areas, but only one reigned supreme.

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BEST IN CLASS: Logitech Harmony One
Well-designed? Check. The Harmony One sits comfortably in hand, with well-placed buttons that let you navigate the main controls by feel. Intuitive? Yep. Programming the Harmony with a Mac or PC was a breeze. And smart? As hell. That simple computer-based setup helped us master even complicated settings, such as creating custom buttons that appear on the touchscreen and control multiple devices with one tap — say, turning on the stereo, TV, and DVD player at once for movie night. Every remote here could do this, but no other made it so easy. [$250; logitech.com ]

Marantz RC3001
The RC3001 is the most feature-laden remote here, but you’ll need a Ph.D. in engineering to summon its full potential. Programming requires a Windows PC — sorry, Mac users — and we had to scour the Marantz website for necessary software, because it wasn’t in the box. The fun doesn’t stop there: Once you get it, the perplexing software will drive you to read the manual, which was apparently written in geek Sanskrit. A shame, because features such as RF operation, which lets the RC3001 control devices stashed in cabinets or closets, make it a power- house. [$350; us.marantz.com ]

Philips Prestigo SRU 8015
Unlike the other remotes, the Prestigo don’t need no stinking computer, because all the infrared codes for your devices are stored in its brain. Point it at a component that’s turned on, hit a button, and the remote will automatically configure itself to work with that piece of gear. The lack of PC programming makes tapping into the Prestigo’s advanced features more daunting, though not impossible, and the button layout never quite felt natural. Still, for the average couch potato, it’s a great deal. [$180; usa.philips.com ]

ESPN Ultimate Remote
Besides excessive branding — does it really need to grunt the SportsCenter theme song when you turn it on? — the Ultimate Remote’s real differentiator is built-in WiFi. Net powers let it show news headlines, TV listings, and sports scores on its display. You can even browse websites, but the screen’s so small we just got annoyed and walked to our computer. Worse, inputting device codes is a trial-and-error affair acceptable only on a $25 remote from Radio Shack. Plus, it’s uncomfortable to hold, with tiny, tightly packed buttons. Ultimately, not so ultimate. [$312; amazon.com ]

This article originally appeared in the November 2008 issue