Logitech Harmony Elite Review - Review 2022

Logitech'south Harmony line has been i of the biggest names in universal remotes for years, and it gets more than and more advanced with every new version. The latest and nigh powerful iteration is the Harmony Elite, a package that combines the Harmony Hub and the Harmony 950 impact-screen universal remote, replacing the Harmony Ultimate Abode ($299.99 at Logitech) packet that came earlier information technology. Information technology'southward extensively programmable and can command both abode entertainment and smart home devices. The package is expensive at $349.99, but information technology's still far less than you'd pay for a custom command organization installation. For its ability and versatility, the Harmony Elite earns our Editors' Choice.

Harmony Hub

The Harmony Hub has remained largely unchanged since information technology launched in 2022 as the Harmony Home Hub. Information technology's a glossy black puck measuring 1.0 by 4.ix past iv.two inches (HWD), about the size of a Roku Premiere+. It'due south a wide-bending IR transmitter, so you tin can just identify information technology in front of your Television or in your media console.

Two 3.5mm ports on the dorsum panel let you connect the two included IR receivers, small plastic lumps on long wires you can ready in front of any device the Hub can't accomplish (handy if you put the Hub in a cabinet and still want to control your Television receiver). The Hub gets power from a micro USB port on the dorsum with the included cablevision 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 ($319.99 at Amazon) package at $350 instead of $100 (the price of the Harmony Hub on its ain). Information technology'south a sleek, vii.4-inch blackness wand with a 2.v-inch touch screen built into the top half. The bright, colorful screen displays Devices and Activities in ii split lists past default, which lets you drill downwardly into unlike sets of controls based on the active device or the activeness running. The screen also provides access to a Settings menu, though the vast majority of adjustments must be fabricated through the Harmony app.

The touch on screen provides admission to the bulk of the arrangement'south functions and settings, but the remote notwithstanding has a welcome scattering of concrete buttons for common activities. There's a prominent direction pad flanked by volume and channel rockers on the left and right, with playback controls straight in a higher place them. Menu and four colour buttons sit below the pad, with a set of four home automation buttons and a dimmer rocker beneath them.

2 charging contacts sit down on the bottom of the remote, around a micro USB port covered by a condom door. The contacts go on the remote charged when it sits in the included cradle, a 3.1-inch-wide circular black cup it loosely but reliably fits in. The micro USB port is used to update the remote's firmware and sync information technology if you want to apply the Windows or Mac Harmony software instead of the Android or iOS apps (you need the wired connectedness for firmware updates, but everything else can be set up on the apps).

Setup

Setup is adequately easy, but it can be a bit tedious to get all of your devices and activities acting the exact fashion you want them to. To kickoff, 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 costless Harmony business relationship to manage your settings. After that, the app volition aid you connect the remote and make certain it'due south working with the Hub.

You can program your devices into the remote at any indicate later you lot set up the Hub. Enter the brand and model of your TV, media streamer, Blu-ray player, or game system and information technology will go on the list of devices the remote knows to control. TVs and other IR-controlled electronics volition piece of work automatically, but y'all might demand to take one or two extra steps for non-IR eletronics; when I added my PlayStation 4 to the remote, for example, the app directed me to become into the PS4 and add the remote as a Bluetooth keyboard.

Home automation devices are added through their own carte du jour on the app, which lets you select from a multifariousness of smart home systems including LIFX, Lutron, Nest, Philips Hue, and SmartThings. Device support isn't quite as various as it with the Flash Hub 2 ($174.99 at Amazon) , merely you lot'll find most large-name brands and products.

Once your devices are gear up up, yous can control them individually by borer on the remote's bear upon screen or on the app. The buttons on the remote directly control the active device, and the touch on screen (and app) aggrandize to offer additional options, like numbers and inputs. I got the remote controlling my Tv and PS4 flawlessly, and I could switch between them in the Devices menu.

Activities, Automation, and Alexa

A big automation depict here is Activities, remote command macros you set up in the app that activate and configure multiple devices at once. For example, a Watch TV Action can plow on the Television set and cablevision box, modify the input to the cablevision box, and set the remote to control information technology.

The home automation buttons on the remote are similarly simple to utilise. You lot configure the iv buttons to activate specific devices or perform specific tasks through the app. It took about a minute to set a button on the remote to switch my Philips Hue White Ambient lights ( at Amazon) between iv unlike scenes with a brusque tap, or to turn them all off with a long tap. That said, you can but assign one function to each button, and then you need to pick and choose wisely.

The Harmony works with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant, so if you have an Amazon Echo or other Alexa-equipped device, you tin trigger activities with voice commands. Initially, you could only starting time or stop activities using Alexa. Logitech has since added full playback and volume control to its Alexa skill, and if yous use a Roku device you can activate specific apps and live television channels with vocalism commands.

Conclusions

The Logitech Harmony Aristocracy is the most full-featured remote control you lot can get without paying for a custom organisation, which tend to cost a lot more than the Elite's $350 price tag. It's all the same expensive, but you get a powerful remote control and automation hub combo that can take over both your home entertainment system and your smart home devices. The majority of the price is in the powerful touch-screen remote, so you tin save some coin by but getting the Harmony Hub on its own, or the Harmony Hub with a button-only remote in the $150 Harmony Companion parcel. For features and polish, though, the Harmony Elite is Logitech's flagship remote, and our Editors' Choice.

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Further Reading

• Sevenhugs Smart Remote Knows What You're Pointing at
• Control Your Harmony Remote With Amazon Alexa
• New Dish Remote Comes With Touchpad, Voice Control
• Control Your House With Savant's Universal Remote
• Logitech Adds Harmony Smart Keyboard to Universal Remote Mix

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/migrated-75911-universal-remotes/14016/logitech-harmony-elite-review

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