Works With Your Entire Universe - From your TV, cable and gaming console, to your AV receiver and Roku media player-all the way to your smart lights, locks, thermostats, even your Alexa
Unlimited Activities - Lower the blinds, dim the lights, fire-up the TV for movie night-all with a tap of the finger.
Harmony Hub - Centralizes command of all your devices by controlling them with IR, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth wireless signals
Harmony App - Turn your smartphone or tablet into a universal remote (iOS /Android only). Change channels and volume, set up to 50 channel favourites, or trigger multi-device Activities
Leave the chaos of multiple apps and remotes behind, and let peace reign supreme.
All comments (32)
tii
18 Sep 17#1
Heat and ordered
da1em
18 Sep 17#2
Looks like a good deal - hot
A question though for those in the know...
I have Alexa, (a dot), and also smart home devices - lights / plugs etc. Is there any difference in what this would be able to control compared to the Elite model?
Also, all my satellite boxes and other inputs are in a cupboard under the stairs with cables, (including an IR receiver), running through the walls - would I need to position this hub in sight of the tv so it can turn that on, or under the stairs so it can talk to everything else?
I appreciate that's a lot of infor, but if anyone can help.. thanks in advance :smile:
Vortal
18 Sep 17#3
Good question, the Ultimate bundle is down to £109.99 on Amazon as well at the moment so wondering if the extra £40 for the LCD screen is worth it or not?
b1g1an to Vortal
18 Sep 17#5
If you can't wait for an offer on the Elite, definitely but the 950 is a vastly nicer remote to use, I went from a Touch which is basically the same thing to the 950 as part of the Elite. The proper remotes allow you to control everything.
In fact the Ultimate deal makes this one look a bit average.
GreatBallsofFire to Vortal
18 Sep 17#21
I have two hubs - one with just the 'simple' remote (this offer) and the other with both a simple remote and the old 'Touch' (the one with the touchscreen) paired up too.
If you have lots of devices and therefore lots of activities, then the touchscreen is worth having - there are only six activities that you can initiate from the 'simple' remote and to be honest it's a bit of a pain having to continuously use the mobile app to access other ones. Also, you can directly emulate the native remote control of any device from the Touch whereas the simple control can only be used in 'activity' mode (and again, you'd need to use the mobile app to get access to all the native keys).
On the other hand, the simple control is really nice to use, completely 'physical button' based and a very nice tactile feedback and profile in the hand. I often find myself launching an activity using the Touch but then swapping to the simple remote as it's nicer to use. You can pair multiple controls to a hub as well as pair multiple mobile devices with the app.
b1g1an
18 Sep 17#4
The remote with this is just less functional due to the loss of the screen which gives full access to all your activities and buttons for all your devices. The app can do everything, it's just a bit crap as all phone based remotes are and in this instance is actually a bit worse as if your device isn't connected to 2.4Ghz it talks over the cloud!
Don't know about this remote but the 950 in the Elite pack has the option to do all controls via the hub, they talk over your network, or you can set some or all of your devices to be controlled by IR directly from the remote.
If you like a proper remote the Elite is worth either coughing up the extra (ouch!) or waiting for it to pop up as a deal which it often does at around the £110 to £130 mark which is less than the price of the remote on its own. It has been on offer on all the big 'sale' events, ie Black Friday, Prime Day etc.
da1em
18 Sep 17#6
I thought I would try not to be lazy and do my own research...!
Just phoned Logitech, and they confirmed that this remote DOES NOT have IR built it - although like b1g1an said the Elite pack does.
I'm thinking now about the following - position the Hub in the living room, where only the tv is situated. However stuck to the tv is an infra-red receiver which links back to some infra red blasters in the cupboard where all my AV equipment is. Logitech wouldn't confirm this, (and I didn't expect them to), but I'm thinking surely the IR from the hub would go through my current set up just as 'normal' IR commands do and then be able to control both my TV in one room and Sky, DVD, Android Box etc in the cupboard tucked away under the stairs?
Or.... as you say cough up for the nice and shiny Elite and all those problems go away! (But another problem comes when I get questioned on "how much did all this cost?" again!)
b1g1an to da1em
18 Sep 17#9
Don't see why it shouldn't work, the hub comes with two blasters and they're very strong so no need to stick it to the TV. In fact I have mine shut up in the cupboards with frosted glass fronts under the TV and enough IR escapes to trigger the TV without problem even though the blasters have no direct line of sight out of the cupboards.
Jimmyboy to b1g1an
18 Sep 17#18
I agree regarding the IR blasters. I have mine underneath my AV receiver and it often gets knocked backwards and even fell down the back of my AV unit. All the while it worked perfectly. I remember previous IR remotes I used to have to point directly at the Sky box when the sun was shining in the room but this seems to work all the time with no issues. Even in its proper position it never has line of sight with any of my devices so is bouncing off all the walls and furniture.
5Rivers79
18 Sep 17#7
So is the Ulimate bundle as good as the elite?
b1g1an to 5Rivers79
18 Sep 17#10
Nope, but it will control most things just the same.
rollmesome
18 Sep 17#8
could someone explain how this works? what do you connect the main logitech box to? if i have a tv and fire tv box how would i switch between what the controller sends signals to?
b1g1an to rollmesome
18 Sep 17#11
With the greatest respect, go to logitech.com and they do a good job of explaining it. Just remember, Harmony is all about Activities, not individual device control like other universal remotes.
rollmesome to b1g1an
18 Sep 17#12
okay. this seems more like a control for a smart home rather than just a universal remote which i require. thanks !
b1g1an to rollmesome
18 Sep 17#14
Sorry if it gave that impression, it is exactly a universal remote that can control some 'smart' devices, it usp is the way it brings them together as activities. To use your example, you'd press 'Watch FireTV' and it would automatically switch the TV on and to the right input along with anything else you like on at the same time, and the buttons on the remote will be set to control the right functions for those components, ie volume on the TV and Play, Pause etc on the FireTv and when you switch to another activity it will change everything to suit that and turn off what you no longer need. That's quite a simple example but if you have a lot of devices and some imagine they almost become impossible to live without...if you know what I mean.
Jimmyboy
18 Sep 17#13
This is the best Harmony I've owned. Had it 4 months or so and still haven't changed the battery. Had the Harmony Touch before which had an awful screen (think of an early touchscreen mobile, or a kids toy with a touchscreen) and the battery would last a couple of days. The only thing I find frustrating with this is it can't be used to replace the remote on the Fire TV. I know you can use the app for this but would prefer to use this remote. Surely it could be done as the hub can connect to the Fire TV and could just relay the commands on just as it does when using the app.
b1g1an to Jimmyboy
18 Sep 17#15
Fairly sure the Touch can still be connected to the hub although they stopped mentioning this when they bought out the Ultimate and because that is a full fat Harmony you should be able to control the FireTV. The touchscreen is one of things that is massively improved with the 950 :smile:
Battery life comment is a bit odd as it comes with a charging stand to put it in at night to charge up, as long as it lasts a day it's more than doing it's job!
Jimmyboy to b1g1an
18 Sep 17#16
Yeah the charger etc is handy and even better they used the normal micro usb which is the same as my phone too but here's one example where that became inconvenient.....I had forgot to charge the Harmony Touch and the battery gave little warning it was about to go. I went out for the evening leaving the in-laws to babysit. Within 5 minutes of us leaving the battery died and they had no clue how to charge it so were stuck on that channel all evening. I know they could have manually changed it using the buttons on the Sky box etc but were not very tech savy. Anyway the companion remote with just a CR2032 battery is much more convenient. The Harmony app can control the Fire TV once you have connected the hub to the Fire TV by Bluetooth, just seems an oversight not to let you use the remote to control it rather than having to use the app. In the end I just use the Fire tv remote so have two remotes instead the potential of only one. I use the activity action still for Fire TV. Harmony remote are really useful, I think it would be good if another manufacturer came in and offered up some competition though as there really isn't anything else on the market to compare is there?
b1g1an to Jimmyboy
18 Sep 17#19
But if you put it in the cradle when you went to bed each evening as intended it would've been fine :smile:
There was a lot of competition in the remote market when I got my first Harmony 20 odd years ago but they all seem to have given up other than a few cheap just universal remotes but I think the big thing is the databases and people they'd need to them keep up to date that makes it unlikely anyone will ever bother to compete.
Jimmyboy to b1g1an
18 Sep 17#20
Yes very true. I'm not a fan of leaving things charging overnight though. To be fair it never took very long to charge anyway but just hadn't noticed the battery was low. Yes those universal remotes I never managed to successfully get one to work. I'd always manage to make it work for one device but there would always be something they wouldn't work with despite supposedly being able to "learn" from the original remote. I can remember the Casio watch with the built in remote. A friend of mine had lots of fun at school making the tv in class appear to have mind of its own!
GreatBallsofFire to b1g1an
18 Sep 17#22
I don't know if they've improved it with the newer touchscreen remotes but my old 'Harmony Touch' (which I've paired with a hub) is pretty temperamental with the charging cradle. It insists it's fully charged even if it isn't - though it does charge - and sometimes repeatedly flashes the screen on and off when it has charged and is sitting in the cradle.
Charging cradles have long been a weak point of Logitech devices. My pre-hub harmony remotes all had issues with charging from the cradle, typically randomly failing to connect and take a charge.
b1g1an to GreatBallsofFire
18 Sep 17#23
Not had any problems with Touch or 950 personally, noticed they do give instructions how to change the rechargable batteries now though. The Touch always looked fancy but I always thought it was a bit low rent, like a lot of Harmony's after Logitech took over, but the 950 feels quality and the touchscreen is loads better.
Jimmyboy to GreatBallsofFire
18 Sep 17#24
I ditched the charging cradle and found you can charge it just using the cable port under the little rubber flap.
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Opening post
All comments (32)
A question though for those in the know...
I have Alexa, (a dot), and also smart home devices - lights / plugs etc. Is there any difference in what this would be able to control compared to the Elite model?
Also, all my satellite boxes and other inputs are in a cupboard under the stairs with cables, (including an IR receiver), running through the walls - would I need to position this hub in sight of the tv so it can turn that on, or under the stairs so it can talk to everything else?
I appreciate that's a lot of infor, but if anyone can help.. thanks in advance :smile:
In fact the Ultimate deal makes this one look a bit average.
If you have lots of devices and therefore lots of activities, then the touchscreen is worth having - there are only six activities that you can initiate from the 'simple' remote and to be honest it's a bit of a pain having to continuously use the mobile app to access other ones. Also, you can directly emulate the native remote control of any device from the Touch whereas the simple control can only be used in 'activity' mode (and again, you'd need to use the mobile app to get access to all the native keys).
On the other hand, the simple control is really nice to use, completely 'physical button' based and a very nice tactile feedback and profile in the hand. I often find myself launching an activity using the Touch but then swapping to the simple remote as it's nicer to use. You can pair multiple controls to a hub as well as pair multiple mobile devices with the app.
Don't know about this remote but the 950 in the Elite pack has the option to do all controls via the hub, they talk over your network, or you can set some or all of your devices to be controlled by IR directly from the remote.
If you like a proper remote the Elite is worth either coughing up the extra (ouch!) or waiting for it to pop up as a deal which it often does at around the £110 to £130 mark which is less than the price of the remote on its own. It has been on offer on all the big 'sale' events, ie Black Friday, Prime Day etc.
Just phoned Logitech, and they confirmed that this remote DOES NOT have IR built it - although like b1g1an said the Elite pack does.
I'm thinking now about the following - position the Hub in the living room, where only the tv is situated. However stuck to the tv is an infra-red receiver which links back to some infra red blasters in the cupboard where all my AV equipment is.
Logitech wouldn't confirm this, (and I didn't expect them to), but I'm thinking surely the IR from the hub would go through my current set up just as 'normal' IR commands do and then be able to control both my TV in one room and Sky, DVD, Android Box etc in the cupboard tucked away under the stairs?
Or.... as you say cough up for the nice and shiny Elite and all those problems go away! (But another problem comes when I get questioned on "how much did all this cost?" again!)
Even in its proper position it never has line of sight with any of my devices so is bouncing off all the walls and furniture.
The only thing I find frustrating with this is it can't be used to replace the remote on the Fire TV. I know you can use the app for this but would prefer to use this remote. Surely it could be done as the hub can connect to the Fire TV and could just relay the commands on just as it does when using the app.
Battery life comment is a bit odd as it comes with a charging stand to put it in at night to charge up, as long as it lasts a day it's more than doing it's job!
The Harmony app can control the Fire TV once you have connected the hub to the Fire TV by Bluetooth, just seems an oversight not to let you use the remote to control it rather than having to use the app. In the end I just use the Fire tv remote so have two remotes instead the potential of only one. I use the activity action still for Fire TV.
Harmony remote are really useful, I think it would be good if another manufacturer came in and offered up some competition though as there really isn't anything else on the market to compare is there?
There was a lot of competition in the remote market when I got my first Harmony 20 odd years ago but they all seem to have given up other than a few cheap just universal remotes but I think the big thing is the databases and people they'd need to them keep up to date that makes it unlikely anyone will ever bother to compete.
Charging cradles have long been a weak point of Logitech devices. My pre-hub harmony remotes all had issues with charging from the cradle, typically randomly failing to connect and take a charge.