Logitech Harmony One Universal Remote with Color Touch Screen
by Logitech
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Harmony One Universal Remote with Color Touch Screen
Customer Review: Logitech's Best Remote Yet
Summary: 5 Stars
In recent years Logitech has issued a series of universal remotes under the Harmony name. These share a number of common traits and features: 1) An extensive online library of remote codes for nearly any device imaginable that uses an infrared remote; 2) Software that runs on your Mac or PC to set up the remote for your devices, download the appropriate remote codes for them, and allow you to customize the buttons, settings and behavior of the remote, all via a USB cable; 3) Learning ability, in case you have an exotic device that Logitech doesn't already know about, or you need to add a code for a special button, or one or more of the buttons for a device doesn't work as you expect. (One example in my case: my Logitech 670 remote -- which I bought the Harmony One to replace -- would "press" the arrow keys on my DVD player twice with every button press, making menus hard to navigate. This was easily corrected by having the remote re-learn the codes for those buttons from the original DVD remote.)
The Harmony One combines these positive features with an ideal marriage of a touchscreen remote and a traditional button remote. Touchscreens are infinitely flexible as well as attractive, but require looking at to be used. The Harmony One uses the touchscreen for selecting which activity or device the remote will be used to control, and, once there, for any custom buttons or macros you might want to have beyond the basic controls. However, all of the common everyday functions are provided on beautifully-designed physical buttons that feel nice to operate, and are laid out in such a way -- and given distinctive shapes -- that you can operate all of them by feel. The sculpted underside of the remote both feels comfortable in your hand, and helps your hand and fingers locate each area of buttons. And when you do look at the remote, the buttons are subtly but clearly backlit.
It would be hard to say too much about the appearance and design of the Harmony One. The first words of all of my family members were, "Wow, that's a gorgeous remote."
Another thing that the Harmony One has that some earlier models (such as my old 670) lacked is: a rechargeable battery and charging cradle. Considering the 670's appetite for batteries, this feature alone is golden in my view. The remote rests easily and snugly in the cradle, which also has a pilot light with adjustable brightness so that it is easily found in the dark, a thoughtful touch. The Harmony One also has a motion sensor, turning on and lighting up as soon as it is picked up or moved. This is a simple-sounding feature, but one you will appreciate with every use, since you never have to worry about what button you can safely press to make the keys light up. (This again is an improvement over the 670, which had a "Glow" button -- if you could remember where.)
Logitech's Harmony remotes work around the concepts of "Devices" and "Activities." You set up your devices by brand and model number -- Sony Receiver, Samsung TV, Pioneer DVD, Scientific Atlanta cable box, whatever -- and then add the appropriate devices to activities: Watch TV, Watch Movie, Listen to CD, etc. The software guides you through the process, asking you which device you use to change channels, or adjust the volume, what inputs your TV and receiver need to be on, and so on. Thereafter, when you select a given activity, the remote attempts to turn on all the needed devices, change them to the correct inputs, and otherwise get the activity started. (If you want, you can even have the remote finish by pressing play for you, or selecting a favorite channel or radio station, but I prefer to do that myself.)
Sometimes setting up an Activity doesn't work because one of the devices doesn't hear a command, or things are not as the Harmony thinks they are when it starts off. In that case, you can simply press Help and the remote will ask you what's wrong and try to fix it. "Is your TV on? Is your receiver on? Is the receiver set to input 'TV'? Did that fix the problem?" etc. The long series of questions can get annoying, but it does work.
You also have the option of switching the Harmony One to Devices mode. In that mode, the touchscreen offers you a menu of all your devices, and you can choose one to operate manually. (This is more the way a normal "dumb" universal remote would operate.) The Harmony One's touchscreen makes this much clearer and easier than with Logitech's earlier models, since the color background on the screen actually changes when in Devices mode, making it always immediately obvious which mode you're in.
Note that the setup software requires an internet connection, and you have to sign up on Logitech's web site and give yourself a unique username. The software expects to be able to check for updates every time it is used, and it seems to store part of your remote configuration online. Depending on how consistent your connection is (or, perhaps, how paranoid you are about personal data) that might be something to weigh when considering this product. Also, for some reason, each user account can only be associated with ONE remote. If you lose or break a Logitech remote and replace it with a new one, you can tell the software to transfer your existing configuration into the new unit, but you can't move or copy data between two current, active remotes; each additional remote needs a separate username.
On the other hand, if you are the technogeek sort who likes to customize things and tweak settings, you can have hours of fun with the Harmony software just re-arranging and customizing the layout and function of the touchscreen buttons. It's even possible to load custom graphics to display on the touchscreen as a screen saver.
The only feature that the Harmony One lacks that some other Logitech remotes offer (i.e. the 890, the 1000) is RF transmission, to allow the remote to be used without line-of-sight. (Nor, or course, is it able to replace Bluetooth-based remotes such as for the Wii or PS3.) But if the RF feature isn't important to you, there is no reason to hesitate about the Harmony One. It is a joy to look at, a joy to use for both the geek and the technophobe in your family, and has no noticeable drawbacks other than being moderately expensive. Highly recommended.
Customer Review: My opinion: This is absolutely the best universal remote available!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a long review, intended to provide more current information and ideally give some insight about using this remote in real life circumstances.
I don't agree with the few folks who gave this a poor review and rating. Of course, they were representing their opinions, as entitled, and I am doing so here. Sometimes people review similar but different models or brands, and to be clear, I am giving my opinion of the Harmony One universal remote. This is an amazing set of technology, and clearly the best universal remote I have evaluated, used and owned throughout the years. Sure, one can usually find some negatives if determined to do so. For me, there are none. Yes, it would be great if it did Bluetooth in addition to IR so I wouldn't have to manually press the power button on my PS3/Blu-ray console, but it doesn't and I knew that before I bought it. And, as of this writing, I am not aware of any reasonably priced consumer universals that do both.
To the person's review that recommended waiting for some "rev 2" of the Harmony One, I added the following comment:
"You may have received one that was produced very early in the manufacturing process. I got mine in February and have zero problems with accurate programming for my Yamaha RX-V3800, Sony KDS-60A2020, Toshiba HD-A20, Audiovox Sirius, XM Mini-tuner, Sony PS3/Blu-ray, and Nintendo Wii. I also have experienced no problems with the IR--in fact I can aim it anywhere in my 13 x 24 room, even at the rear corners, the ceiling, floor--anywhere, and everything powers on/off as programmed.
Folks, you don't need to wait for any "rev 2", just let it download and install the most current firmware and software. It's amazing how great, and intuitive this Harmony One is. And no, I am not affiliated with Logitech or any of its suppliers. I'm just a consumer who appreciates a well-engineered product that meets or exceeds expectations based on what it claims to do."
3/4/2008 update: In addition to the gear listed above, last night I installed my new Yamaha YDS-10 iPod dock that's paired with my Yamaha RX-V3800 receiver. This dock has no remote (nor does my XM mini-tuner) and it took me a just few minutes to figure out how to control it with my One, emulating my receiver's remote.
I also saw someone who complained that this remote is "huge".
In my opinion the size is perfect for me. It's about the size of the remote that came with the Scientific-American 8380HD cable DVR except the One is noticeably thinner, about the same size and thickness as the remote that came with my Toshiba HD-A20, and a great deal smaller than the remotes that came with my Yamaha RX-V3800 receiver and my Sony KDS-60A2020 RPTV.
I also like the size and layout options for the touch screen. You can change the physical buttons to do almost anything your equipment is capable of being controlled to do. For example, my HDTV has a button that cycles through the screen sizes, such as zoom, expanded zoom, etc. I changed the One's "E" button on the lower right to do this when I'm using the "Watch TV" activity. The physical buttons can be set to different functions for each activity if you want, or they can be set to the default for the specific make and model of your device for every activity. You can also create as many screens of functions (visually represented as icons) as needed to do simple, expanded or highly complex tasks. You can revise the layouts, reorder the icon displays, rename activities, on and on. Notice I said "you can" a lot, since you don't need to customize or create anything complex to do basic remote activities and functions unless you want to.
I started out easy by adding each of my devices (all of mine were found in the Logitech database just fine), then activities such as "Watch TV", "Play HD-DVD", "Listen to Sirius", etc. These activities power on all needed devices for the activity, and make sure all others are powered off. This was great for my wife, who only needs to pick up the remote (the backlight automatically illuminates) and touch "Watch TV". She shuttered every time she previously had to do that with all the devices' individual remotes, and sometimes needed to call on me to get things "unstuck". Admittedly, this was sometimes difficult for me too, especially when I bought my new A/V receiver.
Now I've been adding more customizations and more complex combinations and functions iteratively. As I use this remote I'll think of some other button or function I'd like to have and add that to a list, then every few days I'll add a bunch of them at one time. For me, this is fun.
I haven't had to read any manuals, although I did use the built-in Help button to resolve an operator error (I had specified the wrong function), which it did very effectively and intuitively. The PC software for programming the remote is top notch. I do have recommendations for making this a bit more user friendly, which I will be sharing with Logitech's customer support. I'll list one of them so you don't get nailed like I did: when customizing buttons and doing a lot of setup activities, beware that the application (into which you must logon) times out. When it does, you will lose every change you made since your last save. So, make several changes, save and keep going. None of my recommended software enhancements are critical, nor would any of them have prevented me from buying this. And none of them were cause to not give this my five-star rating.
Customer Review: Awesome Universal Remote
Summary: 5 Stars
There are some people that will look at the price tag for this remote, gaffe at the price, and continue on with their date, possibly noting to someone else that they just saw a $200 remote. I will be the first to tell you that yes, this remote is expensive. Very expensive, in fact, for just a remote. Don't let that deter you! This remote, while expensive, is very, very good. It will save you a lot of headaches when friends and family come over and want to watch TV on your complicated home entertainment setup.
A word of caution though: if all you have is a TV and a DVD/VCR/blu-ray player, then you're probably better off just using the remotes that came with it (if you have them).
What's great about the Logitech Harmony line (and this remote in particular) is that it works for pretty much everything. If you have a device that has, or once had an IR (Infrared) remote, you can control it with this remote. If you've got a complicated set up at home, possibly involving an A/V receiver with surround sound, a tv, a dvd player, an xbox 360, a cd changer, and other things, you can control all of them with this single remote without any difficulty. If you've got a PS3, you can buy an add-on to control that as well. Maybe you've got remote controlled lighting? This remote (possibly with an add on) can control that as well. Maybe you've got some super obscure, possibly homemade IR device? It can even control that.
What separates this line from other universal remote lines, however, is the level of control offered, combined with the ease of use. You don't need to remember all of the commands and the order of the devices you need to use. You don't need to remember to switch back to your receiver to adjust the volume, and then back to the cable box to change the channel. The remote handles all of that seamlessly. All you (or more importantly, anyone using your system) needs to know is to press the "watch TV" button, or the "watch a DVD" button.
If your home entertainment system consists of 3 or more devices with separate controls each product, then you really don't need to look any further. Grab a harmony remote, and stop having to put up with the hassle and clutter of multiple remotes.
Which Harmony remote to get is a tougher question. If this would be your first harmony remote, and you really aren't sure if it's worth it (it is worth it), then I'd recommend getting the Harmony 550, or similar remote, which can be found for about $50 refurbished, or on sale. The feature set is similar enough for you to find out if you'll like it. If you already know you want a harmony remote, here's how the One compares with other remotes in it's line:
* As mentioned, all of these remotes have a similar feature set that control a large number of devices, in the neighborhood of 20 devices. This remote is no different.
* Compared to many of these remotes, this remote feels far more comfortable to hold. It's very ergonomic, with nice curves.
* Compared to the 800 line (880 in particular), it is much easier to find the right button in the dark, and it's easier to tell if you're holding the remote backwards.
* Compared to the 800 and 600 lines, the button responses feel much better. You know when you've actually pressed a button.
* Compared to the 880 in particular, this remote charges much easier (no fiddling with placement on the charger), and seems to hold a charge better. I had a poor 880 though, so your mileage may vary here.
* Compared with the 500 and 600 lines, this phone has a rechargeable battery built in, along with a charging station that helps prevent the remote from being lost (as default behavior is to put the remote back on the charger when finished). This is both a positive and negative, depending on your behavior.
* Compared to practically all other lines, this remote features a touch screen system as well.
* The touch screen is a little slower than it's button controlled counterparts (but it's also a little more intuitive)
* Compared to the 500 line, the screen area is much brighter and in full color.
Ultimately, what sold me on this remote were several factors: The 880's charger wasn't any good, and I didn't like the button layout on that line. The 550, although a solid remote, has a dim LCD screen that makes it difficult to use. The 670 had very uncomfortable buttons. The Harmony One corrected all of these issues at a reasonable price (when compared to the 890 and the 1000). It featured buttons that were comfortable to use and had a more physical response when used. I would highly recommend the Harmony One to anyone that was considering an advanced universal remote, with 2 caveats:
1. They MUST have a computer. There is software involved with this remote that requires a Windows or Mac operating system.
2. They MUST have an internet connection, at least during the initial set up. For some unknown reason, Logitech created an account based system to use the remote, and needs to receive updates from a central server for new devices. After this set up, the remote operates just fine without an internet connection, but updates and adjustments probably require these as well.
Customer Review: Can't program individual buttons oops yes you can!
Summary: 5 Stars
My wife and daughter love this remote. I've lived with the softkeys of the Marantz 'remote of the gods' for more years than I can remember. The coolest thing about that remote was that every single button on the remote could be programmed for an individual device, plus 4 pages with 10 softkeys per page.
It took a lot of time to program each button on the old Marantz. It took even more time to program each macro. But when you had it almost set up right, you knew what little things you still had to reprogram and you could do just that.
But once you were done, you were the only one who knew how to use the thing, unless you engaged in continual spousal training.
I'm convinced that remote was designed by a man who wanted a great excuse to hog the remote.
The H1, like all the Harmony task-based remotes, auto-programs its macros according to tasks you give it. you can also give it more advanced tasks, like switching your receiver's DSP input from coax to optical when going from DVR box to DVD player, and vice versa. You can program those steps right into the "watch a DVD" or "watch TV" macros. With the Marantz, you could program dozens of macros into the thing, but except for macros 1, 2, 3 and 4, only you knew the supersecret locations of the macros and how to run them. Plus, who besides you knew that the big '1' button powered up the whole system for TV, and the big '4' button powered it all down, with '2' and '3' serving to switch between dvd and TV?
Even a gadget freak like me can draw the line at multiple thousands of dollars for a TV. I intend to go on using my good ol' Panasonic Superflat 36 incher until the day it dies. I'm much more about the sound than the picture. My receiver is the third big Marantz that has driven my 5 KEF Reference satellites. No puny little eggs here: the speakers mounted at the corners of my 5.i system were each over $600 when new. The center channel was more. I want that room to sound good.
When the Panny gives up the ghost I'll be able to use those fancy HDMI thingies on the back of the receiver with a real live Blu-Ray player and HD DirecTV, and either a really good projector and screen or a very large direct view HDTV. For now, it's DVD and standard def.
The H1 works very well for almost all of it--except for one major hole that irks me in my system.
When I want to control basic TV functions like subtitles, the up-down-left-right buttons on the Harmony 1 work fine--but the center 'select' button does not work. If the remote were programmable like the old Marantz, you could just make that center button memorize its function in TV mode. But with Harmony you're stuck with whatever the Mother Ship does. And Logitech has decided to place the 'select' button up in the touchscreen and call it 'action.' So every time you want to do something that ought to be intuitive, you have to search the screen for that action button before you can do it. And since this type of action requires multiple presses of that button, that means multiple chances for error on the touchscreen. You might accidentally press the page turn softkey or the "activities" softkey, both of which will then require you to page back to the screen you need just to press that damn action button.
It's annoying in the extreme, and though it doesn't ruin the experience it makes it unpleasant.
I'm sure I'll put up with it until I switch TVs. If it happens with a different TV I'll be back to reduce my rating from 4 stars to 3. The thing is supposed to work, isn't it?
Of course, with a function list as deep as a Marantz home theater receiver, you can't expect the H1 to be able to completely mimic the remote that came with the device. Thankfully Marantz has placed most of the receiver's functions in onscreen menus, which the H1 navigates with ease. And unlike with the Panny, with the Marantz receiver the "select" button actually "selects" what you click on, thank God.
It also does a very good job of mimicking the DirecTV DVR remotes. I still prefer tactile buttons for red, yellow, blue and green. But there's nothing that can be done about that with a universal remote. This one goes about the solution quite elegantly, with full color buttons on the touchscreen. Way to go, Logitech. The other buttons do what you hope and expect them to do. As remote control technology advances, a lexicon is slowly developing for remote functions that hopefully soon will become more of an 'industry standard' cross-platform programming language. If and when that develops more fully, universal remotes like the H1 will become even more powerful devices that will mesh more completely with the equipment they're designed to control.
(March 2010) I take it all back! Found the functionality in the software for customizing the buttons. Of course it was there all along, and Your Reviewer is an idiot.
Customer Review: Remote is great, desktop software could use improvement
Summary: 5 Stars
In summary, the remote and hardware is great, the desktop configuration software is passable but annoying sometimes.
The Harmony One hardware is fantastic. The remote is well balanced, the buttons are well placed, and it are easy to distinguish by feel alone. I don't particularly like touch-screens, but it is possible to assign the vast majority of the functions to physical buttons and minimize touchscreen usage. The touchscreen itself is plenty bright, the keys are all backlit, and the remote is motion sensitive to trigger both of those features. Personally, I would prefer physical buttons even there (I upgraded from a Harmony 550, more on that later, so I was used to having them). The charging cradle is nice, and it has the nice ability to tune how bright the charger's LED is (High, low, off).
The Logitech desktop software needs a serious refresh. First of all, it has trouble working on MacOSX. Sometimes it comes up, and sometimes it just gives a blank screen. Sometimes the text fields don't work, and it's often slow. Luckily, I also have a Windows box, and it works better there, but is still clunky. They use a "wizard" motif throughout the whole setup process, which is OK, but necessitates You have to create a login to store your remote's data and configuration. The login is only able to handle one remote at a time, so if you buy another Harmony remote, you're given two choices:
1. Replace your old remote with the new one. You will be unable to update the old remote anymore if you need to change configuration (add/replace a component, reconfigure a button, etc). You may also need to re-do some customizations.
2. Create a new login and configure everything from scratch.
I tried doing the latter, but was frustrated and ended up doing the former.
In the software, your first step is to add your components. Most components are already in their database, but you can set it up to learn new IR codes from unknown components. Once you get your components added to the system, the software does a pretty good job of self configuration and setting up logical "Activities" for your components. E.g. mine automatically set up activities for Watch TV, Watch DVD, Play Music, Play Video Games, Show Computer, and Listen to Radio. The most annoying thing is to customize the "additional" buttons on the touchscreen. Moving around those custom buttons is quite tedious and requires many, many clicks of the mouse to get them correct. It would be much nicer if they had a "drag and drop" interface there. For example, in my "Watch a DVD" activity, it had buttons for Disk 1, Disk 2, ..., Disk 5, but my DVD player is a single disk model. Those buttons took up space, but removing them required individually clicking on each button, hitting the delete key, and then manually moving each lower button into the vacated spaces. For those of you familiar with computer science, it's like manually doing a bubble sort.
Once you have everything configured, the remote itself works great, and the activities really work well. I control my TiVo, HDTV, DVD, receiver, and Mac with it and it works nicely. For components that don't have IR remotes (like my Wii), it will set up the activities but not control them. One other minor niggle about the remote itself is that it's not quite as responsive as the native TiVo remote. TiVo's remotes are noted for their quick response and the Harmony One just doesn't send the IR codes as quickly. In the rare instances when I'm trying to enter more than a few words of text on the TiVo, I consider getting out the native remote.
With this activity-oriented setup, sometimes the remote and the components get out of sync (e.g. if someone manually turns off the receiver). Logitech has an on-remote "help" button that will step through possible problems and get things set up again. This is quite useful, and it even works with the thoughtful, global "turn everything off" button at the top of the remote. A related minor niggle with the whole setup is that it's unable to gracefully handle components with a "sleep" mode (i.e. a timed auto-power off) unless you later use the "help" feature to recover. I would suggest to Logitech that they implement a timer feature on the remote itself for it to send the "off" codes after a delay. The touchscreen displays a clock, albeit one that does not keep good time, so it would be possible to implement such a feature.
All in all, this is an excellent remote that is slightly hampered by somewhat annoying desktop configuration software. Luckily, once you get everything set up, it works great and you won't need to reconfigure things with any frequency.