One for All Xsight Colour

One for All Xsight remote controls are based on a similar idea to Logitech's Harmony range. The Xsight Colour, for example, can be programmed via a computer to carry out 'activities'—series of commands that get your audiovisual devices ready for action at the touch of a button. The Xsight Colour has a colour screen and can be used to control an impressive number of devices, but does that make it a worthy rival for the excellent Harmony 700?

Design & Handling: heavy and bulky

As soon as we got the Xsight Colour out of its packaging we had serious reservations about its size. It's longer than the Logitech Harmony 600, 650 and 700 by a good centimetre, while its width and weight are just as imposing. Although it does have a soft, non-slip coating to help you keep hold of it, small hands will still have trouble getting to grips with this beast.


However, the arrow keys, volume controls and channel skipping buttons are all well-positioned and naturally fall under the thumb. The blue backlighting makes it easy to see what you're doing in the dark and comes on automatically when you press any button. The Xsight Colour runs on three AA/LR6 batteries. Its overall finish could be better as there's too much shiny plastic for our liking. It therefore picks up fingerprints and dust far too quickly.

The colour screen is fairly large (2.2" / 5.6 cm) but is just as low quality as those seen in Logitech remotes. The viewing angles are very tight and unless you're directly in front of it, the colours will look inverted. Plus, the screen's low definition makes everything look pixellated. Note, however, that we've got a bit of a screen-quality fetish here at DigitalVersus and that poor resolution isn't necessarily a problem for everyone on a remote control screen.

The screen is used to display information such as the list of registered devices or the various pre-programmed activities (see sidebar). Shortcuts to a selection of favourite TV channels (6 per page) can also be added together with channel logos.

Set-up: with a computer or the remote

This remote hooks up to a computer using a standard mini-USB cable. Once it's plugged in, the installation software is very easy to use.

Not all of the advanced functions we were hoping to find were available in the Xsight Colour. Although you can programme the remote to wait a given amount of time between performing each step of an activity, you can't adjust the amount of time for which the signal is sent. As devices can take varying amounts of time to register a signal, some may not have time to register the command and so won't be turned on or off automatically when requested.
The remote can be programmed to recognise devices in two different ways. First of all, you can look for your device in the One for All database. If your device is listed, it will be automatically configured via the user interface. If it's not listed, you have to use the device's original remote to save each command to a button on the Xsight Colour. It's a rather time-consuming and tiresome process but it's very effective. Plus, your device and its manually programmed settings will be added to the manufacturer's database to save time for future users.


Finally, we liked the fact that you can add new devices directly via the remote, without having to use a computer. Once again, you either do this by choosing a device from the manufacturer's database or by programming the remote manually. Here though, the list of pre-programmed devices is unfortunately quite limited.