Would you believe that there was a time where remotes didn’t come with an LED backlight to help assist you at night? In fact, that’s how most remotes are today.
Walk into your living room and count how many devices are in there. One? Two? Five? The thing is, each one of these devices will require a remote to do certain functions, functions like changing the channel, volume, settings of the device, etc.
Cable and satellite companies have tried to assist in this problem of too many remotes by having their DVR remotes control both the DVR and TV, but that doesn’t assist in clutter as these remotes are often large.
We’ve all seen futuristic TV shows where the main character may be living in a high-tech apartment or house and has a built-in home computer from which he can speak to have certain tasks be completed, like turning on the TV, but then uses an old fashion remote to flip through the channels.
While we may still be a few years off from the built-in home computer, the way we interact with our living room devices may be entering the future. Over the years, Logitech has been one of the largest leaders in universal remotes, remotes that can control multiple devices at once, freeing your living room table of multiple remotes.
With these remotes still available today, they solve the issue of multiple remotes, but they forgot the art of style and user functionality. In a push to change all of that, Logitech recently announced their new, redesigned, remote. A remote that differs from traditional looks and styles, and a remote that can control not just the usual electronic devices, but your entire home. Is this remote up to the task to be the remote to rule them all?
Welcome to my review of the Logitech Harmony Ultimate Home. Throughout this in-depth review, I will cover the following topics, the unboxing and setup, design, functionality, and my final thoughts. I would like to give Logitech a special thank you for providing this device.
Unboxing and Setup
Your experience with the unit begins with a simplistic unboxing, one that somehow offers a high level of professionalism and class.
Straightaway you are greeted with your Harmony remote, matching color docking station, and Harmony Hub. After you’ve finished gazing at the sheer beauty of this remote, lift up the top section of your unboxing to reveal the additional accessories.
Underneath you will find the lightly paged operators manual, a Safety, Compliance and Warranty pallet which does provide instructions for replacing the internal battery if need be, a short USB to MicroUSB data transfer cable, two USB AC cables, and finally two mini IR blasters.
The included Setup Guide pushes you towards using your Android or iOS smartphone to begin the setup process for your brand new remote. However, I chose to go an older fashion route and used Logitech’s MyHarmony Windows software to begin my installation; from my experience you should use a PC instead of a smartphone.
You begin by setting up your Harmony Hub in its desired location, in my case my living room, and be sure to locate it next to your devices. E.g., underneath your TV or next to your living room home entertainment system.
From there, you’ll need an old fashion pen and paper to write down all the model numbers of your devices. The Logitech Harmony database holds signals for over 270,000 devices, therefore, you should be covered with your devices (You can check the database to ensure your device works before purchasing). (Note: Model numbers can be simple for some devices, like “Xbox 360” instead of writing down HDGST658390FJ.) Once you’ve finished noting the model numbers, you can finally begin your setup. It’s safe to say that Logitech will have your device covered, especially older devices.
Make your way to your MyHarmony software and connect your Logitech Harmony remote to your PC. Then it’s as easy as pressing the Next button and reading as you go along. Throughout the setup, you will be asked to connect to your home’s Wi-Fi network, transfer data from your hypothetical previous Harmony remote, enter in your device(s) model numbers, provide information on your TV provider, setup favorite channels to watch, create your presets, and finally finish off with a firmware update.
During the setup, I experienced very few hiccups or errors other than the device sometimes not connecting to my network or the firmware update failing to complete. Although, by repeating the process, it finally completed the task and total setup time will range between 15 – 30 minutes. All-in-all it takes a medium amount of effort to set this unit up, but if you do run into trouble, Logitech does offer online and phone support.
Design
The Harmony Ultimate Home is offered in two colors, a pearl white (the unit I have) and a matte black. While I only have one unit here, when looking at pictures online I am happy to have received the pearl white unit. Not only does it look stunning in any room, it’s different than all of the black remotes on the market.
On the face of the remote, you find a smooth plastic surface that contains all of the necessary buttons. Working from the top to the bottom, the unit has physical buttons for off (turns ALL devices off), media controls that contain play, pause, fast forward, rewind, record, and stop. Below the touch screen are the buttons for exit, menu, a volume and channel rocker, four-way directional pad with a center Ok button, mute, back, DVR, Guide, Info, and four colored (Red, Green, Yellow, Blue) buttons.
When night falls and the Netflix series must continue, the remote lights up each individual button with a subtle light that allows you to easily read the remote. Furthermore, when you set down the remote, the remote goes dormant and turns off all lighting. Then the moment the built-in accelerator detects movement, the remote is ready for action.
Taking up the majority of the remote’s face is the stunning LCD touch display. A design overlook of the touch display showcases an intuitive color scheme that is bright, colorful, and easy to use. The remote’s display contains four major menus that you slide across to show, similar to a smartphone.
Menu one is your preset activities that you created when setting up your remote. These activates are actions like “Watch TV”, “Play Xbox”, “Listen to Music”, or whatever else you desire to setup. By tapping the activity the remote sends its signals to the Hub and the requested devices will turn on.
Next, menu two uses a 3-by-X grid that shows off your favorite channels; again this is created when setting up the device. You see colorful logos of your favorite channels and by tapping on the logo, the remote will adjust your TV to that desired channel.
Menu three holds the settings for whatever device you have selected. For example, when watching TV, menu three holds settings for aspect ratio, Page UP/Down, Live TV, List, and other commands that a DVR remote may contain. When using the Xbox on the other hand, menu three contains Xbox commands like A, B, X, Y.
Lastly, menu four is your number pad so that you can type in a channel number. On top of these four menus are the remote settings located in the bottom right, a hand gesture to control the menu for multimedia, and a selection menu to turn on one device independently.
Logitech’s clever shape gives the remote a large back hump that can rest well in your hand. Your fingers conform to the hump, two indents, and protruding bar. Moreover, unlike most remotes, this remote can send commands to the Hub by either pointing the remote directly at the Hub, or by holding the remote upright.
The Harmony Hub is a small USB powered hub, 4.88 inches long and 4.13 inches wide. Even though my remote is white, the Hub is a glossy black and has a single green LED that faces down and does not distract you while watching TV. If something does go wrong with the Hub, the green LED will change to Red.
Finally, there is the docking hub that charges your remote. While the remote lasts for hours upon hours without needing a charge, the docking station, which is a stylish white (or black, depending on your model), allows you to quickly rest the remote upright into the dock. Then when you return, you can quickly and effortlessly pick up the remote and continue throughout your TV show, movie, game, or song.
Functionality
Currently stationed in my living room, the Harmony Ultimate Home is now the brains of my entertainment system. With an LG TV, Xbox 360, Time Warner Cable DVR, Vizio sound bar, and JVC Home Theater receiver all stationed in my living room, you can imagine all of the remotes that previously sat on the table.
Once the Harmony Ultimate Home arrived it was like magic as what used to be a messy table of five remotes, became a clean surface and I now have one device to rule them all.
I spoke lightly on the activities section of the remote and can now go deeper into their functionality. Personally, I chose to create three major tasks: Watch TV, Play Xbox, and Listen to Music. As I said, one tap of the screen and all of the required devices turn on, but wait…it gets better. The remote will ask you when setting up the activity what input that certain device is connected to. For example, when turning on the Xbox, the remote turns on the TV, Xbox and Sound bar, and also changes the input of the TV to HDMI2 and the sound bar to Optical. Same goes for watching TV, the remote uses HDMI3 for the input and adjusts the sound bar to be Digital input. What happens when you’re watching TV, but want instead to play Xbox? Simply select your activity and the remote will do the rest! Adjust the TV/sound input, turn on the new devices, and then turn off the devices no longer in use, like the DVR.
The remote itself does not blast out IR signals. Instead, it sends a signal to your Harmony Hub which then acts as a large IR blaster, sending out commands to their respected device. The Hub also uses built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth so that you can control things like Bluetooth controlled speakers, Wi-Fi enabled Thermostats, Lights, Coffee makers, etc. I mostly stuck to using the IR blaster of the Hub and what I found over time was that sometimes there was a very slight delay. Since you need to press the remote’s button, which is then beamed to the Hub, then again beamed to the selected device, you will notice about a 0.5 – 1 second delay for your action. It wasn’t awful, but can be noticeable.
If your entertainment system happens to be located in a credenza and the Hub is having difficultly sending an IR blast to that device, Logitech includes two mini IR blasters that can be positioned in different locations, making it so all devices receive a signal.
Recall the touch screen and the fact that Logitech uses a plastic face on the remote. Although the touch screen on the remote has a plastic face, the design team at Logitech showed genius in making a touch screen that only responds to fingers, but is resistant to fingerprints. Every day it looks like it just arrived out of the box. What they weren’t so smart about was the design of the case and the way it rests on a table. Although I mentioned it fits in your hand really well, when placed on a table, it does like to rock back and forth quite a bit and makes it nearly impossible to use the remote if it’s just sitting on the table. Sorry, but you’ll be forced to use it in your hands.
For those who are always tied to their smartphones, you can opt to use the Harmony app for Android or iOS, and via Wi-Fi you can control the Harmony Hub. You receive all of the same commands found on the remote, but in a touch form. Moreover, you can also use the phone and Hub to adjust your air conditioning, room lighting, and curtains, assuming those items are connected to the Hub via a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi signal.
Finally, there is the overall functionality of the unit. Even for those who have little to no computer knowledge, you can easily wield this magnificent device. Its user interface is very user friendly and the simplistic design makes it stand out against the competition. You won’t find a better remote that does what this one has to offer.
My Final Thoughts
I’ve been using this remote for quite a while now and I have come to enjoy every single moment of it. Not only does it simplify the process of watching TV, playing a game, or listening to music, but it allows you to hide all of those remotes that only control one device. This is an outstanding product that doesn’t get enough publicity and is a must have item for anybody who seeks a modern entertainment system. Priced at $349, the Logitech Harmony Ultimate Home really does live up to the claim of “Make it Home” and you certainly will not be disappointed.
Buy it Now:
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