Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2016
First off, I rarely do reviews, so I'll try my best to be informative and thorough. Second, I want to mention this is my first Harmony Remote that I've ever had after wanting one for many years. Third, I'm far more tech savvy than 90% of most people; to give you an idea of what kind of user is reviewing this device. Finally, I'm relatively disappointed with this device; my main inspiration to write this review is in order to help people make an informed decision and know just what exactly they are purchasing (and it it's truly worth $300!).
I'll start off with what I usually appreciate in a review, pros and cons!
Pros:
- Remote does not need to be aimed anywhere
- Remote has an attractive design and charging base
- Works with Bluetooth, IR, and WiFi devices making it very powerful and versatile
- All of the buttons illuminate in the dark when the remote is picked up (also activates the screen)
- Activities are very useful for launching a set or group of devices (Eg. TV, Receiver, Gaming Console, etc.)
- Compatible with Amazon Alexa via IFTTT and other "smarthome" devices
- Works with every gaming console I've tried so far, including Windows PCs via Bluetooth
- Programmable buttons for Activities and Device settings
- The Harmony Hub can "learn" or copy IR frequencies from remotes if a command is missing from the presets (I haven't been able to get it to work yet... but I'm sure it was my fault somehow)
Cons:
- Sometimes unreliable (sometimes things work, sometimes they don't!)
- Disconnects and reconnects from Bluetooth devices (Mainly the PS3); making the remote not instantly ready to issue a command until it reconnects
- Relatively closed software; not power-user friendly (Logitech purposely stops users from doing specific, useful actions - no idea why)
- The smartphone app works, but it is miserably slow as it has to communicate with the Harmony servers for any kind of edit you do
- Minor, but adding a device requires a model number, which can be somewhat tricky and annoying to get a hold of
- Activities can be extremely annoying as they cannot be canceled without actually "Ending/Powering Down" the activity, thus, shutting down the devices it commands
- Will not turn a PS4 on via Bluetooth and will only put the PS4 in rest mode during the pre-programmed shutdown Logitech created (can only be bypassed by changing the Power Settings for the PS4, thus dropping the Harmony's responsibility for this action).
-Accidentally turning off an Activity when picking the remote up in the dark is pretty easy to do
So here's how everything works. The Harmony Hub is an IR blaster that blasts IR signals in many different directions while also including two separate IR blasters that plug into the back of the Hub that you can accurately aim if you need to. The Hub is what connects to your WiFi, shoots the IR signals, uses Bluetooth, and all that - the remote doesn't do any of that itself, so no aiming required. The Harmony Elite and Hub revolves around two things: Activities and Devices. First, you add your devices like your TV, receiver, gaming consoles, smarthome devices - you name it. After that, you can access your Devices on the remote (or app) by hitting the "Devices" touchscreen button located at the bottom right of the touchscreen, next to the "Activities" touchscreen button on the bottom left. Hitting the "Devices" touchscreen button takes you to a menu of all of the devices you have added. You scroll and press on the Device you want to become active for the remote to start controlling. Intuitive, right?
Activities - My Gripe with Them
Once you have your Devices ready, you can create "Activities." Activities are what tie Devices together. So let's say I want to turn on my TV, Receiver, and PS3. Initially, you run through the tutorial on your phone (I believe the Elite remote can connect to a PC through USB as well) to list what Devices are involved and it gets added to your list of "Activities," just like there is a list of "Devices." The main problem with "Activities," is it does not play nice with separate Device actions. Here's an example, let's say I have an activity to turn on my PS3, TV, and Receiver. I'm done playing with my PS3, so I go to Devices and change my input to my PS4. The problem with this is, the "Activity" for the PS3 is still on, and it won't go away until you "power off" the activity. What does that do? Well, it turns off the PS3, TV, and receiver. But... I'm still using the TV and the Receiver, just not the PS3. Now, the remedy for this is to create and Activity for the PS4 and it will keep the TV and Receiver on, while powering off the PS3. It's an OK remedy for those who know what they're doing, but it is somewhat annoying to be a "slave" to the "activity." If you want to be prepared to stop that from happening, you'll have to make an Activity for every kind of setup you generally use.
Tales of Unreliability
I like the remote, I really do - when it works. I've had too many instances where it fails to perform, and I find most of its performance issues to tie in with Activities. Singular Device commands seem to work perfectly. Here are some examples of what it has done: I have a Netflix Activity created that powers on my TV, Receiver, PS3, waits 30 seconds, shifts right, waits, presses X, waits, presses X. This is meant to shift through the PS3's startup menu and enter into Netflix for me. Thing is, sometimes it just stops doing the tail-end of my commands. It might go into Netflix, it might not. One day, when I powered this specific Activity off, it decided to power it all back on again. So I turned it off again. When I came home later, I came home to a TV, Receiver, and PS3 on again, since it once again decided to turn it back on. Pretty [not] cool huh? Sometimes it fails to change inputs on my receiver when it clearly can just fine when using the "Device" commands on the remote instead. And sometimes it just randomly decides to make sure my receiver is on and on the correct input - 30 minutes later when I'm watching something with subtitles. Once again, no idea why it does this (and I've found no options for whatever this setting is), but my receiver creates pop-up menus when it happens.
Update (6/30/16): I came home and started up my Netflix activity. The activity completely ignored my tail-end commands to strafe through the menus and press X and such. My review would be higher if stuff like this stopped happening. Any advice would be appreciated.
PS4 and the Stonewall Logitech
As I previously mentioned, the PS4 cannot be turned on by the Harmony Elite and Hub. This isn't actually Logitech's fault. It's Sony's. I can deal with that. However, the preset "Shut-down" of the PS4 created by Logitech is only to put it in "Rest Mode." There is no other option for it. I tried to create a little macro in the activity power down step to hold down the PS button, scroll to the bottom, and power down the system, but guess what happens? Nothing! The macro gets ignored. Even though the steps are clearly there in the app. To combat this, there is an option to release the Harmony Hub from being responsible for shutting down the PS4, and I just shut it down with the PS4 controller instead. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but a big deal since this remote is $300 and it's meant to do stuff like this.
Alexa Love
One of my favorite things about this remote is its ability to use IFTTT and have Alexa (Amazon Echo) be able to communicate with it. It's actually one of the sole reasons I think I'm keeping this. Being able to say, "Alexa," trigger 'netflix" and have the Harmony hub run through that activity while I'm making lunch is a really cool and futuristic feature. Also keep in mind that IFTTT opens doors for a lot more amazing things such as running an Activity when your phone connects to your WiFi when you get home. I personally don't use it for that, but I'm just giving an example of a great feature that the Harmony Hub can work with.
Dedicated Smarthome Buttons
On the Elite remote there are some smarthome buttons that you can connect with various smarthome devices. All I currently own are some Wemo outlets and TP-Link outlets, and unfortunately none of them work with the Smart Hub/Elite Remote as of yet. IFTTT also does not help add any compatibility for those left out.
As of 6/29/2016, here are the compatible smart devices I see compatible: Philips Hue, Hunter Douglas Powerview Hub, Nest, Smartthings, Lutron Smart Bridge, Honeywell Wi-Fi Thermostat, Ecobee Thermostat, PEQ, Rheem, August Lock, Insteon Hub, and LIFX Smart Bulbs.
Standard Run-Through of Creating/Editing an Activity.
Here's what you'll generally see in an Activity: Start Sequence, End Sequence, Customize Remote, Schedule
The "Start Sequence" lists all of the Devices involved that are powering on, and what inputs (if they require them) they will be set on. You can add delays in here, and add steps like changing the channel after everything powers on. You cannot, however, re-arrange/add your own steps in between the "power" steps. So let's say it goes: "Turn on TV > Turn on PS3 > Press X > Press X > Turn on Receiver" This is not allowed. More importantly, you cannot re-arrange the "Input" step either. For those curious out there, an input change can sometimes communicate with other devices if HDMI CEC is enabled. I'm not 100% sure on this, but I hear CEC can turn on a PS4, which would resolve the Hub not being able to power on the PS4. However, you cannot move the Input change before or into any of the power commands. It is stuck as: Device A On > Device B On > Device C On > Then whatever you want. And since the Input change is always last, "Power On PS4" always appears before the input change, and thus, you have to turn your PS4 on manually before the input change. (Even delays cannot be placed in-between "Power On," but this can be worked around in (some) individual device settings)
The "End Sequence" follows the same exact rules as above, but all of your "extra" actions have to take place before the shutdown process. No mix and matching delays and weird extra commands here either.
The "Customize Remote" under the Activity settings is actually pretty awesome. It's very straight forward and quite customizable. You can do short and long presses, and even have sequences with just one button press. I don't actually have any reason for that yet, so I haven't tried it out myself.
"Schedule" is once again straight forward. You can create a start time for the Activity to begin, and an End time all branched under a "Days" selection.
Closing Statements
*If anyone has any other particular video game console compatibility questions: I also own an Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii, and Wii U. I don't use them very often so I haven't tried using them with the Harmony yet, but if someone wants me to try them out I shall.*
TL;DR
It's fancy and works with a lot of devices. It is often unreliable. It can be frustrating even for a tech lover. It probably isn't worthwhile if you're only juggling 3 or fewer remotes. The more smarthome devices, IR devices, and Bluetooth devices you have in range of the Hub, the more useful this product becomes. I really don't think it is worth more than $100.
