Logitech Harmony Elite Universal Remote Review: Control Your Entertainment and Smart Home with Ease
For those seeking a single device to manage a multitude of home entertainment and smart home gadgets, the Harmony Elite stands out. The Logitech Harmony Elite remains a top contender for universal remote control, adept at managing both entertainment systems and smart home devices. Although it's priced at $349, it eliminates the need for multiple remotes.
Design and Hardware
The Elite maintains a soft-touch finish on its bottom, providing a comfortable grip and preventing slippage. The remote features a large color touch screen and several physical buttons. The transport buttons (Play/Pause, Fast Forward, Reverse, Record, and Stop) have been relocated to the bottom of the display, enhancing usability. The Elite remote also includes programmable buttons for controlling connected home devices, such as Philips Hue lights and switches, offering tactile control without navigating touch-screen menus.
The Harmony Hub, a compact device, is integral to the setup, relaying commands from the remote to the entertainment system and connecting to the Wi-Fi network for smart home device integration. The hub can be discreetly placed in a cabinet and includes two wired IR blasters for positioning in front of the TV, stereo, or other equipment.
Simplified Setup
Logitech has streamlined the setup process with each Harmony generation. While a micro-USB port remains for computer connection, the entire setup can now be managed via an Android or iOS app, including firmware updates.
After downloading the app and creating an account, users can create "Activities," sequences of commands that configure devices to the correct settings. For instance, an "Apple TV" activity can turn on the Samsung TV, Apple TV, and Panasonic stereo to the appropriate settings. Activities can also incorporate smart home devices, such as dimming Philips Hue lights.
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Intuitive Interface
Logitech has enhanced the on-screen menu navigation. The display features two touch-sensitive buttons: "Activities" and "Devices." The former displays programmed activities like "Watch Apple TV" or "Watch DishTV," while swiping reveals favorite channels. The "Devices" button lists connected devices, including TVs, cable boxes, stereos, and smart home products, allowing for precise control over each device. For example, one can adjust the temperature of a Nest thermostat or change the brightness of Philips Hue lights. The iOS app enables color adjustments for the lights.
The "Activities" and "Devices" buttons offer improved intuitiveness compared to previous models. While the touch screen is useful, physical buttons remain essential for basic functions like changing channels and volume.
Smart Home Integration
The Elite seamlessly integrates with numerous smart home products, making it compatible with Google Home and Alexa. Voice commands can be used to issue Harmony commands via Alexa or Google Assistant. The remote also supports smart home hubs (SmartThings, Wink), thermostats (Nest, Ecobee), and lights (Lutron, Philips Hue).
The Harmony Home Extender ($99), with Z-Wave and ZigBee compatibility, expands the list of supported devices to include locks (Yale, Kwikset), additional lights (GE, Cree), and window and door sensors.
Battery Life and Charging
The Harmony Elite's battery lasts approximately two days, depending on usage. A battery life indicator is displayed on the screen. The remote includes a weighted cradle for quick charging, typically reaching over 50 percent in about 30 minutes. The battery is also replaceable.
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Harmony Pro 2400
The Harmony Pro 2400, designed for custom installation, offers similar setup and customization options as the Elite but includes additional features. This model allows installers to program systems remotely, rivaling Crestron and Control4. Compared to the Elite, the Pro offers control over more devices (30 vs. 15), a longer warranty (2-year vs. 1-year), extended RF range, six full-size wired IR outputs, and both Wi-Fi and wired connectivity. The Pro 2400 also supports power over Ethernet (PoE).
Harmony Elite: Universal Remote with Smart Home Features
The Harmony Elite Universal Remote with Harmony Hub is a valuable addition to any modern media center. It combines up to 15 different remotes into one, communicating with devices via the Harmony Hub. The Hub uses IR blasters to send commands, eliminating the need to point the remote directly at the devices.
Setting up the remote and Hub can be initially confusing, but online resources, including Logitech's support website, offer guidance. The Elite remote features a touch screen for selecting activities and displaying user-created activities, differentiating it from the Companion remote, which relies solely on physical buttons. The touch screen also allows for correcting activity mishaps and incorporates gestures for certain functions like pausing or rewinding.
Advantages of the Touchscreen
The touchscreen's primary advantage is easy access to numerous activities. Harmony remotes revolve around activities like "Watch TV" or "Play PlayStation 4," which turn on the necessary devices and switch to the correct inputs. The Elite's screen can accommodate as many activities as needed.
Another benefit is the favorites feature. Users can designate favorite TV channels, which appear as icons on the remote screen for direct access. This also applies to Roku channels, providing direct access to apps like Netflix and Amazon Instant. The screen allows for creating soft buttons for each activity, which is useful for controlling smart home devices.
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The Elite's "Devices" button allows access to every command from every device. Users can also assign commands to the remote's physical keys via the software.
Button Layout and Ergonomics
The Elite features a well-designed button layout. The transport keys are located under the screen, above the four-way cursor pad, while the smart-home keys are at the bottom. However, the button layout could be improved with dedicated fast-forward and rewind keys. The touch-sensitive "Device" and "Activity" keys can be accidentally pressed.
The Elite's full backlighting on every hard key enhances usability in dark environments. However, battery life is a concern, requiring frequent charging.
Harmony Elite as a Platform
The Logitech Harmony Elite is more than just a remote control; it's a platform. Once devices are programmed within the home network, they can be controlled via Android or iOS devices. Migrating from older Harmony remotes is easy, requiring only a login to the Harmony account to transfer devices and activities.
The Harmony Elite can discover new entertainment and home automation devices on the network, such as Rokus, Sonos, and Honeywell Wi-Fi thermostats. Setting up devices like thermostats requires authentication within the Harmony software.
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