Logitech - Harmony Smart Wireless Keyboard - Black

This is a well designed keyboard, of high quality construction. The keyboard feels good to hold, is lightweight, and provides a good grip with its rubbery outside, so it can be easily used in various conditions and be carried around in the house. The Harmony Keyboard works as both a remote control for A/V equipment, and as a text data entry device, which is very handy when you want to search or use web-based applications on your TV. It is a great keyboard, but there are a few limitations that stopped me from giving it a 5 star rating. First, contrary to my initial expectations, the Harmony keyboard is intended as a replacement, not as an add-on, to my Harmony remote - I already owned an Harmony IR version when I got the keyboard. Both can still be used to control the same equipment, but one at the time, not both simultaneously. Instead of relying on a remote, the Harmony keyboard works in conjunction with the Harmony application for smart phone or tablet, which is actually required for setting up the Harmony Keyboard. The concept is interesting, and the user experience with the Harmony app is great, but I would not try to take away that good old Harmony universal remote control from my spouse's hands, which she loves. It is still easier and more intuitive to pick-up a TV remote and press watch TV over picking-up your smartphone, finding the Harmony app, opening the Harmony app, waiting for it to connect to the hub, to finally turn the TV on. Of course, there is an activity button on the keyboard to turn the TV on and off, but using the keyboard provides a different experience that may not be as intuitive as an all-in-one remote. The Harmony keyboard text entry function can be enabled for A/V components that are either bluetooth enabled or have an extra USB port. For instance, I am an AT&T Uverse subscriber, and while I can use the Harmony keyboard as a remote control for my Uverse box, I cannot enable it for text entry (for example, to search the Uverse on-demand titles) because the Uverse box does not have any active USB port. This is a limitation of the Uverse box, not the Harmony keyboard itself. So, instead, I use my Harmony keyboard for text entry with my internet-enabled BluRay player to search and watch web-based content such as Youtube or Amazon Video. The Harmony Keyboard comes with a hub and a mini-IR blaster. This allows me to control the A/V equipment in my Living Room from pretty much anywhere in the house, including the dining room across the house, in which case the Harmony keyboard provides more reliable control than a traditional IR remote, because the couch is in the line of sight of the remote, and an IR remote must be pointed to the A/V equipment to work. The hub approach is actually one of the great benefits of the Harmony keyboard over the traditional IR universal remote. The mini IR blaster that comes with the Harmony keyboard is also an added bonus over the traditional IR remote. The mini IR blaster can be connect to the hub and its long wire allows to place it in a closed cabinet that contain A/V equipments. I placed mine inside the cabinet where my audio components are, to control my music amp and CD changer. These components are in a unit on a wall adjacent to the A/V equipment, which made it difficult to remotely control with the IR remote. With the Harmony keyboard, I can control my audio components without having to open the cabinet doors. This works extremely well. I also have the Harmony Keyboard setup for text entry on my Xbox 360, which is located in the Family room, at the back of the house. Text entry using the Smart Keyboard on a gaming console such as the Xbox is a must. In my setup, the keyboard cannot remote control that additional TV or my Xbox, because these components are too far away from the hub, but text entry still works pretty well on the Xbox with that configuration. In my case, the Harmony Keyboard was extremely easy to setup, because I already had a Logitech Harmony universal remote. During the setup, the Harmony Keyboard logged into my account and automatically downloaded devices and activities from my Harmony remote. That saved me some work, but setting up devices and activities is still pretty straightforward using the Harmony app, and very similar in nature to setting these up on an Harmony remote. I find that the Harmony app is more intuitive to use than the web site used for the Harmony remote. I am very happy with the Harmony Keyboard. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to add text entry capabilities to an existing A/V system.

Okay, first let me say that I got my Logitech smart keyboard after responding to an email asking whether I would be open to evaluating new products from Logitech. I own a Harmony 650 and a Harmony touch, which I had registered, so I guess I just got lucky when they selected me to evaluate this product. Summary: I had some bumps here and there setting up my keyboard and have not been able to get gestures working correctly on the pad. But after getting some advice from a responsive Logitech team and applying their suggestions I now use this remote exclusively and it's great when watching anything in my living room's tv (tivo, dvd, apple tv, xbmc, htpc, etc.) Especially since searching, etc requires text entry which this makes easy. Read below for my full experience: My initial impression opening the box was very good, with nice packaging and just the right amount of documents, without a lot to read in the box and just enough info to tell me that this keyboard uses RF to talk to the hub, the hub then uses bluetooth, wifi or IR to reach devices. There are additional IR blasters for devices that the hub may not reach (i.e. the TV, when you put the hub inside a closed door cabinet with your other devices and TV is outside) It also comes with 2 USB connectors for devices that don't support bluetooth. I took all the components out of the box and liked the rubberized feel of the keyboard, so you can get a good grip on it. Setting up the keyboard was not too bad, but was not as easy as I first thought it would be. The instructions have you download the Harmony app and use it for setup. You begin by setting up the HUB and connecting it to your network. I had no problems with this part of the setup which went smoothly. I got ready for a breezy setup when I saw that the setup asked me for my www.myharmony.com account, and it recognized that I had already created profiles for my previous harmony remotes. Unfortunately the app wasn't that great about downloading my devices and transferring settings and activities... it ended up downloading 26 devices (I only have 7) which I later figured out when going through the app I had tapped on both my remotes, surely more than once and ended up downloading the set of devices for each tap. I was able to easily get past this situation by deleting the extra devices and keeping only one copy of each. The Logitech team did say they are working on fixing this issue. I easily managed to find a spot where the Hub would not have a problem controlling all my devices. The IR signal does seem to bounce just about everything and reaches every one of my devices easily. I do have an open entertainment center made of a glass shelf with my devices under it and a flat panel TV hanging off the wall above it. I had a couple of issues that I resolved with help from Logitech, I had trouble paring up my Apple TV to the keyboard using bluetooth. I had paired an apple keyboard before, so un-pairing that, and resetting the devices helped me pair a few days later when I tried again. The other was that although my TV (Sony Bravia) has discrete power on and power off buttons, I had had trouble getting it to turn on reliably with activities. Logitech suggested turning off the HDMI control for the TV and this solved that issue. TiVo users like myself will find that not all the useful TiVo buttons are easy to use/find out of the box. I had to customize the clear, info and TiVo buttons to where I wanted them. This is relatively easy to do through the interface though. I am guessing that the Logitech team are more heavy Roku and streaming users rather than TiVo users. I do use my TiVo a lot. If anything, the part that I found most confusing is the Harmony app that you use to setup the keyboard. Its not very intuitive and takes a bit of getting used to. Stick with it, after a short while you will get used to it. In my opinion it needs to be clearer about the synch process. When you make changes to activities, etc., the settings need to be sent back to the Hub for storage and update, this is the "synch" process. You get to it after customizing activities etc, and when you are done, you will hit the back button a couple of times. Then the app will give you a wait timer and a message that it is synching. Just give it a few seconds here and then you will be able to continue navigating the app. I did give the guys some feedback to just put a "Save & Synch" button when done instead of hitting back. I hope they make this change. Anyway, at first I kept my previous remote around for when I had to manually turn on the TV etc, and was beginning to think that I would have to keep it around to help me when I had any problems, but after working through the issues, now I don't have to reach to it anymore. If you are new to the Logitech universal remotes, you will find that their device database is second to none, and this keyboard, once you are used to the concept of Activities and customize it to your liking you will find you don't want to put it down. The reason I gave this 4 vs 5 stars is that gestures don't work like in the app as I expected. Logitech did say that they are working on expanding gestures, that will earn them the final star from me.

**Full disclosure: Logitech provided me with the Harmony Smart Keyboard** If I can say anything about my experience with the Harmony Smart Keyboard, it is that everything was made very easy for me. The product was packaged well, was easy to set up on my entertainment center, and finally easy to set up with my current devices. This was made even easier because I already had a MyHarmony account. All of my devices and activities were already on there which saved a lot of time. The build quality of the components is excellent as I expect of Logitech, and for the right audience (as stated in the title) this is a great addition to your home. Really there are two distinct products here that each have their own merits. The actual keyboard itself and the Harmony Hub. The Harmony Hub could be used on its own entirely, using just your smart phone as a remote. This is also a standalone product from Logitech, and if you are hesitant about the Smart Keyboard, the Hub itself is a great product. All the setup and operation on the app worked flawlessly so no complaints there. The Hub itself is small and unobtrusive, with its only sign of life being a single green activity light which blinks when commands are sent. All in all the Hub is a great addition to your entertainment center, and even more so if you are in the Harmony Ecosystem already. Support for devices is excellent, with the notable omission of the PlayStation 4. I feel that this is more of an issue with Sony since their support for third party Bluetooth devices for the console is very limited right now, but the omission is still there just the same. I do know that it works with the Xbox One, but since I don't own one I can't speak for the experience there. Now of the keyboard itself. As stated above, hardware quality is excellent. The keyboard has a sort of rubberized coating which gives it a premium feel, and is sturdy enough that you won't worry about breaking it after dropping it a few times (as I have...). Typing on the keyboard was very similar to that of a high end laptop, and the touchpad was responsive and had support for multitouch gestures. Overall when using the keyboard it was an enjoyable experience. In the box there are two usb dongles that can be connected to either a game console (I know it works with a PS3), or to a home theater PC. If only using one dongle, the remaining one can be cleverly stored on the keyboard itself. Note that it is actually stored in the battery cover not the rest of the device. I struggled for a few minutes trying to figure that out. Now the usage of the keyboard depends on the devices in your living room. If you have a HTPC connected to your TV, this keyboard is an awesome way to control the computer and other components of your entertainment center. It removes the need to have a remote for the tv and sound system, and a separate wireless keyboard/touchpad for the computer. However, if you don't have a computer connected to your TV, I really don't see much usage right now for the Smart Keyboard. Interface with Smart TV's is limited (from what the instructions said; my TV doesn't have smart tv functions), and your mileage may vary when using it with a game console. It also won't do much with your TV set-top box either, as the interface on those is almost as a rule pretty horrible. Now you can if you like use the Smart Phone app to change the function of some of the keys on the keyboard, but in general you won't find yourself using any more of the functions that you will find on any TV remote. Note that this is really just based on the devices that I own. You could see more use if you have internet connected blu-ray players or devices such as the Apple TV. In summary, you should already have an idea if this product is for you. If you are looking for something that will work well with your HTPC as well as the rest of your entertainment center, then you have a winner. However if you don't have a HTPC, then you might be better off getting the Harmony Hub by itself. It is noted that the Harmony Hub also works with Logitech's other remotes, so that may be a better route to take depending on your needs.

Before I get into the review, I should first note that I have received a Harmony Smart Keyboard for the purpose of reviewing it. Before receiving it, I will admit I was very hesitant to consider a keyboard for a universal remote. It seemed awkward. The keyboard comes in an attractive box with enough information printed on it to know how to operate it before the box is even open. What’s inside is much, much better. In the box, you’ll find the keyboard, a Harmony Hub and USB RF receivers. This is all you will need for your entire entertainment setup. Just place the Hub, power it up, then download the Harmony app to your smartphone (iPhone in my case) or tablet (iPad, in this case). Start the app and it will guide you through setup. Getting the Harmony Hub to talk to all the devices in my setup was pretty easy. The Harmony app made it almost impossible to mess up. I had a Harmony universal remote beforehand, so I was able to import my old settings. Unfortunately, the TV input setting, while staying the same in the old configuration, kept trying to turn to the wrong input and changed my TV menus to Spanish, so it took minor tweaking (no input change for the TV) to correct in all of five minutes. Not an issue at all for someone tech-oriented enough to need to use this type of remote. Adding the PS3 and setting up a function for it was effortless. No keyboard customization needed, although I should look up which key is the PS button soon. Adding the keyboard to my Mac Mini took more effort but only because I hadn’t added a Bluetooth keyboard in so long. When in doubt, you’re your Harmony app. Once up and running, it controlled it all perfectly. I am a huge fan of the Harmony Hub and the keyboard. The Hub also allows me to use the iPhone and iPad as remotes for all my devices now. Love it. You can even customize what keys show up on the screen for the Harmony app. The Hub so far has held up to being jostled by a five year old and the keyboard seems pretty durable as well. I haven’t had to fend off an attacker with it yet but think the odds of it breaking short of that are pretty slim. It has a sort of rubbery texture and has been safely dropped several times. As a remote, it is not awkward, as I’d originally thought it would be. While it is a very awesome product, there are a few minor gripes I have and strongly suspect near-future software upgrades will correct. First is an intermittent issue with the PS3 not being turned off when changing inputs or just turning everything off. When only Netflix or a blu-ray has been used, it turns off fine. But if I’ve been in a game, it sometimes has problems and needs to be turned off manually. I also use a Motorola DVR. The default settings do not allow just the Return/Enter key to act as the OK button (it requires a key combination, which I won’t do for using it as a TV remote), a button near the Return/Enter button and arrow keys doesn’t seem to be set as the back button and I had to manually set the Escape button as the Exit function. In addition, the keyboard allows short and long press functions for some keys but the default functions cannot be swapped. Short press can be reassigned (to ChapterNext instead of FastForward, for me) but then I lose FastForward function on the keyboard. I know for a fact this can be corrected with software updates, and it does not impact function for me, so it’s just a minor gripe. Overall, I’m loving the Harmony Smart Keyboard. If you have an entertainment setup with a TV, receiver, cable box/DVR, gaming system and a computer (or even more), I highly recommend it. No more piles of remotes, no more pointing remotes at the devices (boo IR) and certainly no more losing the remote (keyboard FTW). If I need to set up another room with the same number of devices, it will be getting a Harmony Smart Keyboard.

The Logitech Harmony Smart Keyboard partnered with the Harmony Hub and the iOS and Android application make a powerful control center for your home AV needs. The Harmony Smart Keyboard is specially designed for to simplify text entry on internet-connected entertainment devices. Touch the “Movie” Activity button and the right devices switch to the right settings. Plus, it has integrated DVR and set-top box controls, playback and volume buttons, and a touchpad for cursor control on a PC or Mac. There are 3 one-touch activity buttons along the top of the keyboard that allow you to customize actions for both quick and long press. This made the keyboard useful but the application can do everything except the ease of typing. What brings all of this together is the Harmony Hub. The hub connects to your wifi to control devices like Smart TV's and Roku that are on the same network. Using IR, RF (radio frequency) and Bluetooth you can also controls PCs, XBox, Apple TV and a slew of home entertainment devices. They have a catalog of about 225,000 now. Pretty endless in what you can control. Remember that anything you do via the app or keyboard will have a small delay in getting to the device. You are speaking directly to the hub which then has to bounce the signal via one of the communication channels to the device itself. So some lag is expected. Harmony App turns iOS & Android smartphones into personal universal remote and does the entire setup of the system for you. In the video I show how they walk you through adding devices and then creating activities. activities are combined steps into a single click in the app or keyboard. Such as turning on the TV, setting the right input for the device and having the device go to a certain channel. You can get complex or simple in the activities. Having one click for common things is a great tool and makes ease of use. I also found I could control any device connected to the wifi from the app. Bluetooth, IR and RF devices must be in the same toom as the Harmony Hub. The app required Android 4.0 and higher and iOS 6 and higher. See the video for all the details. I did not like one of the setup steps and really did not have an IR devices to test with anymore. Everything is Bluetooh, RF or wifi.

So far I have been quite disappointed. For starters (and most importantly in my mind) even though a keyboard is bundled, you cannot program keystrokes into the "Activities" (their term for startup/shutdown macros). So even though I can set it up for the screen to come down, receiver to turn to the correct HDMI input, projector to come on, receiver to turn to correct HDMI output, it is incapable of passing along an automatic set of keystrokes to start up Plex, or iTunes, or whatever... this despite the keyboard/trackpad being paired to the computer The response is incredibly sluggish. The trackpad and keyboard both work, but are incredibly slow to respond. So slow that I still end up using an extra mouse and keyboard instead of the build in trackpad - oddly enough, those other devices are made by logitech, so I know they are capable of doing it right. This trackpad I move my thumb, wait to see where the cursor moves to, then move my thumb again, and repeat until I get it where it needs to go. They keyboard layout is funky. Little things like certain command keys only being on the left side of the keyboard, the layout of the arrows, return, slashes, etc on the right side always screw me up. Volume controls in particular scream to have an easy to find, dedicated button (again, like is present on other logitech products) - yes, the button is there, but it is tough to find. Plus I am a bit dumbfounded that there isn't a backlight on a home theater product. I wish the keyboard was a mesh of the K750 & K830, with the addition of dedicated activity and volume buttons I have trouble when two devices try to access the hub at the same time (for example, using a different device to shut down than the one used to start up) There is an artificial limitation on the number of devices (8) and number of activities (6). I have hit both limits, and could really more. With other logitech products, this is an artificial limitation to encourage you to upgrade to more expensive models. With the keyboard, I think it is just because - as far as I know, you cannot pay to unlock additional slots. I will say, the one truly great innovation is the second mouse left click button on the left side of the keyboard. Bar none, this is the best standing trackpad experience I've had, in that you can trackpad with your right thumb, click the mouse with your left. All this being said, I still use it daily. Once you have it programmed, the hub works well. I like the convenience of a single physical button push to start up the theater activities. I expected I would use the iPhone app 10%, the keyboard 90% - it is more skewed the other way. It is handier than I would have ever expected to always have a remote in my pocket, and not even needing to be in the room to shut down the theater.

The setup of the keyboard and smart hub was fairly easy especially since I already owned a harmony remote and was able to import my devices and activities. Later on I tried hooking the keyboard in another room to see how adding a new devices and activities worked. Just like setting up my harmony remote it was really easy, all I had to do was enter in the manufacturer and the model number of the product that I was entering. The keyboard works well and you don't have to worry about keeping it pointed at a particular spot because of the smart hub. I was worried that the smart hub would not be able to reach all my devices because I have things on different shelves but it was not an issue and I have not had a problem controlling any of my devices. For me where the keyboard really shines is when I'm using it to watch my Roku since I can just type my searches and don't have to mess with the onscreen keyboard. The keyboard also lets me watch a movie, Roku, or TV without having to mess with stuff to control the volume since I use a sound bar for audio. The keyboards volume button will automatically go to the sound bar while still being able to use the other keys to change the channels or pause or fast forward a movie. Another nice thing about the keyboard are the usb transmitters that it comes with that allow you to connect it to certain devices. Right now I have one connected to my Xbox 360 so that I can use it with the keyboard. The really smart thing about these connecters is that there is a spot on the back of the keyboard to store the transmitter that your not using so that you don't lose them. So far I haven't had a to replace the batteries used in the keyboard and I have forgot to switch it off a few nights so power wise its not a battery drainer. I would recommend this keyboard to anyone looking for a universal remote and needs the use of the keyboard or mouse pad for any of their activities. I would recommend the smart hub to absolutely anyone that's looking for a universal remote since it eliminates the need to keep a clear line of sight to your devices and will fit almost anywhere. I received the smart keyboard and hub for free from Logitech in exchange for reviewing the product.

Once overcoming the fear of the unknown and finding the off/on switch, I took to the Harmony Smart Keyboard rather quickly. It works as advertised and is a must have if you enter text on any smart TV. Although my Panasonic Plasma 50ST50 is not listed among the compatible TVs it is actually fully compatible and works without issue. I was unable to test it on very many devices but it did work well in combination with my Panasonic Smart TV, Samsung cable box, NAD Integrated Amp, and Sony BluRay player exactly like my Harmony 650 Remote Control but better. Set up was easier than I expected. I followed instructions and prompts and all my Harmony 650 settings were transferred to the Harmony Smart Keyboard effortlessly. It seemed as if it happened magically although I guess I should say it was intuitive, Maybe they're the same thing. The one thing I like the most is that because of it's infrared/bluetooth connectivity I don't have to point the Harmony Smart Keyboard directly at any devices to control them. This is something all remotes should be able to do. Complaints? Yes, I am not convinced that a keyboard is the most natural feeling remote control device. The size and how to hold it while seated or lying on a couch became something of a balancing act. Also, the somewhat unlabeled keyboard commands required patience to learn the keystroke combinations. But with a bit of intuition, diligence and trial and error I was able to do everything I wanted, expected and more. I wish somehow it was labeled differently or, more radically, designed less like a keyboard and more like a standard remote control. Hint Hint! Connectivity to a smart phone was easy. I was surprised at how well it worked although I have yet to actually return to my phone app to take full advantage of it. Maybe it's more than I personally need. In the end this is an excellent product with huge potential. It is well executed but might be holding on the the past (it looks too much like a computer keyboard) a bit more than it should.