Putting up the Christmas tree involves a fair amount of work for something you may then admire mostly in passing. This 7.5’ fiber-optic tree gives you a reason to pause, with cascades of color moving through its branches. The ornaments can stay exactly where you put them while the illumination changes around them.

An included controller lets you choose among 23 synchronized lighting patterns or cycle through the modes. Add your familiar decorations, settle into a chair, and try a few settings until you find one you like. For once, there’s something worth watching in the living room that doesn’t require finding the television remote.

The tree assembles in three sections and rests on an included metal stand. It plugs into an outlet with a 9’ cord, and an eight-hour-on, 16-hour-off timer keeps the display on a daily schedule. You can put the phone down for a while; the tree has the evening’s scrolling colors handled.