Logitech 915-000256 Harmony Elite Touch Screen Universal Remote and Hub User Review

Logitech'southward Harmony line has been ane of the biggest names in universal remotes for years, and it gets more and more than advanced with every new version. The latest and nearly powerful iteration is the Harmony Elite, a package that combines the Harmony Hub and the Harmony 950 affect-screen universal remote, replacing the Harmony Ultimate Habitation ($299.99 at Logitech UK) package that came before it. It's extensively programmable and can control both home entertainment and smart home devices. The packet is expensive at $349.99, merely information technology'southward still far less than you'd pay for a custom control system installation. For its ability and versatility, the Harmony Elite earns our Editors' Pick.

Harmony Hub

The Harmony Hub has remained largely unchanged since it launched in 2014 equally the Harmony Home Hub. It's a glossy black puck measuring one.0 by iv.9 by 4.2 inches (HWD), about the size of a Roku Premiere+. Information technology's a broad-angle IR transmitter, so you lot tin simply place it in front of your TV or in your media console.

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Two three.5mm ports on the dorsum panel permit you connect the two included IR receivers, small plastic lumps on long wires you can set in front of any device the Hub can't reach (handy if y'all put the Hub in a cabinet and still want to control your TV). The Hub gets power from a micro USB port on the dorsum with the included cable and wall adapter. The back also holds a pairing/reset button.

Remote

The remote is the star of the show, and what puts the Harmony Elite ($299.99 at Logitech Great britain) bundle at $350 instead of $100 (the toll of the Harmony Hub on its own). Information technology's a sleek, 7.4-inch black wand with a 2.five-inch impact screen built into the elevation half. The bright, colorful screen displays Devices and Activities in two split up lists by default, which lets you drill downward into different sets of controls based on the agile device or the activeness running. The screen also provides admission to a Settings menu, though the vast bulk of adjustments must be made through the Harmony app.

The bear upon screen provides access to the bulk of the system's functions and settings, but the remote nevertheless has a welcome handful of physical buttons for common activities. There'south a prominent direction pad flanked past volume and channel rockers on the left and right, with playback controls straight in a higher place them. Card and four colour buttons sit down below the pad, with a fix of four home automation buttons and a dimmer rocker beneath them.

2 charging contacts sit on the bottom of the remote, around a micro USB port covered past a rubber door. The contacts continue the remote charged when it sits in the included cradle, a 3.ane-inch-wide round black loving cup it loosely but reliably fits in. The micro USB port is used to update the remote'south firmware and sync it if y'all want to employ the Windows or Mac Harmony software instead of the Android or iOS apps (you need the wired connection for firmware updates, merely everything else can be prepare on the apps).

Setup

Setup is fairly easy, but it can be a fleck dull to get all of your devices and activities acting the exact way you want them to. To start, plug in the Harmony Hub and install the Harmony app on your mobile device. The app will walk you through connecting the Hub to your Wi-Fi network and creating a free Harmony account to manage your settings. After that, the app will help you connect the remote and make sure it's working with the Hub.

You can program your devices into the remote at any betoken after you prepare upwards the Hub. Enter the make and model of your Tv set, media streamer, Blu-ray player, or game system and it will go on the list of devices the remote knows to control. TVs and other IR-controlled electronics will work automatically, but you might need to take one or two extra steps for non-IR eletronics; when I added my PlayStation iv to the remote, for instance, the app directed me to go into the PS4 and add the remote equally a Bluetooth keyboard.

Home automation devices are added through their own menu on the app, which lets you select from a diverseness of smart home systems including LIFX, Lutron, Nest, Philips Hue, and SmartThings. Device support isn't quite equally various every bit information technology with the Wink Hub 2 ($299.99 at Logitech UK) , but you'll notice nearly big-proper name brands and products.

Once your devices are fix, you can command them individually by tapping on the remote's bear upon screen or on the app. The buttons on the remote directly control the agile device, and the affect screen (and app) expand to offer additional options, like numbers and inputs. I got the remote controlling my Telly and PS4 flawlessly, and I could switch betwixt them in the Devices card.

Activities, Automation, and Alexa

A big automation draw here is Activities, remote control macros you set up in the app that activate and configure multiple devices at one time. For instance, a Sentry TV Activity tin can turn on the TV and cable box, modify the input to the cable box, and set the remote to command it.

The home automation buttons on the remote are similarly simple to employ. Yous configure the four buttons to activate specific devices or perform specific tasks through the app. It took about a minute to gear up a button on the remote to switch my Philips Hue White Ambience lights ($299.99 at Logitech UK) between four dissimilar scenes with a brusk tap, or to turn them all off with a long tap. That said, you tin can only assign ane function to each button, and so you demand to pick and choose wisely.

The Harmony works with Amazon'due south Alexa vocalism assistant, so if yous take an Amazon Echo ($299.99 at Logitech U.k.) or other Alexa-equipped device, you lot tin trigger activities with voice commands. Initially, you could only beginning or stop activities using Alexa. Logitech has since added total playback and volume control to its Alexa skill, and if you use a Roku device you can activate specific apps and live idiot box channels with voice commands.

Conclusions

The Logitech Harmony Elite is the virtually full-featured remote control yous tin get without paying for a custom system, which tend to cost a lot more than the Elite's $350 price tag. It's nevertheless expensive, but you go a powerful remote control and automation hub combo that tin take over both your abode entertainment system and your smart abode devices. The bulk of the price is in the powerful touch-screen remote, so you tin can save some money by but getting the Harmony Hub on its own, or the Harmony Hub with a push-but remote in the $150 Harmony Companion packet. For features and polish, though, the Harmony Elite is Logitech's flagship remote, and our Editors' Pick.

Logitech Harmony Elite

The Bottom Line

The Logitech Harmony Elite is the well-nigh avant-garde universal remote you can purchase without a custom installation, and comes with a hub that tin can control most of your smart home devices.

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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/logitech-harmony-elite

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