Logitech - Harmony Ultimate 15-Device Remote - Black

I have been using this remote for three months. Since we were coming out of Harmony 900 (which had some serious issues with RF signal range) set up was not too hard. Once set up the remote would intermittently lock up. Several calls to Harmony (I love doing tech support with someone that speaks English as a hobby) and several visits from "The Geek Squad:" yielded nothing. Since I bought the warranty Best Buy replaced the remote and ultimately the base as well. Even now once or twice a day is locks out most of the functions. The Geek Squad sent one of their "top technician" (he was actually the best one we had and knew his stuff) to fine tune the color on the TV (a 4k TV was also part of this purchase). His opinion was that the remote does not have a dedicated IP address on the WIFI system (we have latest dual channel Net Gear high end router), so every now and again the network reassigns a new number to the remote. The remote doesn't have the ability to adjust and locks up. He had several suggestions, none of which included this remote. Who knows, I know that after two remotes I still need to reboot the remote one to two times a day. The only thing that is "Ultimate'" about this remote is that is an Ultimate pain in the butt. Additionally, the ergonomics are terrible. When you hold the remote naturally it is unbalanced and the volume and channel buttons are to low to reach with your thumb (see picture). AND another thing, why doesn't every remote now come with a button that you can attach to the TV that sounds a locator on the remote when pushed. With two kids looking for the remote is a past time.

Logitech finally hit one out of the park with this one! This is a great remote and the smart phone app makes it even better! For me, the best feature is the phone app and the way it ties into the WiFi of my house. We entertain at our house often and the smart phone app makes it nice. When we are sitting outside on the patio, it's easy enough through the app to turn the music up or down, change songs and whatever else I need to do without having to actually go into the house to make changes. I only have music set up out back, but for those of you who have TV's set up, this would be a set up for you! You can keep the remote inside and work it from your phone. I can't say enough good things about this remote. Enough of the rambling. A complaint on some of the reviews is that when your phone goes to sleep (I have the iPhone 5), upon waking the phone up, it takes 4-5 minutes for your input to actually register. This use to be the case. Logitech did an update that corrected this issue...at least for me it corrected the issue. I've never had a problem waking my phone up and using the app right away since the update. My main two dislikes with the remote control itself. I agree with a lot of the other reviews you see online...the touchscreen is not as sensitive as it could be, but does work. My second issue is the layout of the DVR/DVD buttons (play, pause, rewind, etc...). They are installed at the top of the controller and with the way it is set up makes it a little difficult to go from the buttons on the bottom of the remote to the DVR buttons up top. I'm a big at 6'4" tall. So I have fairly big hands and it's a pain sometimes to go from the bottom of the remote to the top. But, it's not a huge deal. I've learned to live with it. OK, a third issue, but just me being nit-picky. All the buttons now feel the same. The automatic screen turns on like it's supposed to, but a lot of times I'm not looking down at it and just pressing buttons by feel. Now there's no real distinguishing feature among the buttons so it's easy to press the wrong button if you're not paying attention. Still, like I said, no big issue for me. The smart phone app to me makes up for the inefficiencies I've come across. Don't get me wrong, when I'm indoors, I use the remote about 99.5% of the time. Outside is when I use the app the most. The issues are issues I have with the remote and really are more gripes then anything else...with the exception of the touchscreen sensitivity. The money that we pay for this remote, Logitech could have done better in this area. But, it's still an awesome remote and I would refer anyone to it. Like any remote, give it a few days to get use to it. If I separated my review, I would give Price 3-4 stars. Although still a great product. I would give the remote 4 stars because of the touchscreen not being as sensitive as it could be for the price and 5 stars for the phone app now that they fixed the sleep issue with it. Sorry for rambling...hope this helps you all with your decision.

I was very hesitant to purchase this remote as the Harmony One has been a favorite for quite some time now. That remote is getting pushed away and everything is going touch for the most part. This remote works very well and the range has been excellent. We have a TV setup on the 1st floor above a fireplace and a Comcast cable box located in the basement (network/AV closet) to ensure a clean setup. We needed a remote with radio or bluetooth functionality, and that's what prompted this purchase. The remote communicates with the TV via IR and with the cable box via bluetooth signal using the Hub that comes bundled with the remote. I was afraid this wouldn't work at first (and it didn't when the initial setup was done), but you have to go into the software again and choose how the remote communicates with each device (you can choose Hub or IR). I also love the fact that the software is all online and you can now add multiple remotes to your Logitech account unlike in the past. Another nice surprise was the fact that you can search for your Cable/Satellite service and it tries to find a close match online using the myharmony website. It will then, in turn, let you setup favorite channels and even have icons for most of the popular ones. Getting channel icons used to be a big pain. The lack of buttons can be frustrating, but the remote is very easy to use. Some commands need several page swipes to access, but you can customize the screen and what gets displayed. We have a smart TV with Netflix and other apps, so we have to put the remote into "control a device mode" to control just the TV. The lack of physical buttons can frustrate a little here, but it's not that bad. The price is the only other drawback. It's not completely unreasonable for what you get, but it is a little more pricey than I'd like. Overall, I think it is a very solid remote with lots of functionality. Using an iPhone as a remote is another nice added bonus (which I haven't really tried or tested yet). The included Hub gets put on your wifi and that's how the phone communicates with it. If any of your devices need a physical IR signal for them to work and the Hub can't see them (like in my case since the Hub is located in the basement away from the TV), I don't think you can use the iPhone app.

I have only had this remote for a little over 30 hours. I've had to do a complete reset on it twice due to a slow down on the remote (not sure yet if this was due to error on my part). The instructions are VERY vague and you have to do a lot of learning by trial and error (hey, us older folks need rather specific instructions ;) ). It is getting easier to understand (as some time goes by) to be able to set up specific "macros" (I am possibly trying to do some things the average person would not be doing though). I truly believe that as I learn more about it, the Ultimate will live up to its name. I know from reading reviews that the Harmony remotes are not always the easiest things to set up but I am stubborn and I think this will be a good experience in the end. I have been watching the Harmony line for a few years and the Ultimate seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. So far, I have six different activities arranged and it is working great right now. I did have an issue with one of the PS3's randomly turning back on after shutting it off (again.....not sure if this has been an error on my part yet) but it seems to have corrected itself over the past couple hours. This is the first Harmony remote I have purchased and I am using it to replace a total of six remotes (all of which have been used daily for several years (some have the labels completely removed from thumbs rubbing them off over the years)). I truly believe that in the next few days I will have it set up properly enough that I can remove the batteries and put all the other remotes behind a door of the entertainment center for use in an emergency situation. I have used quite a few "all in one" and "universal" remotes over the years and have not been satisfied with them. It may be the first, but this will not be the last Harmony remote that I buy! I will give this another review in a few months once I have had some time to really learn its capabilities and whether or not I have truly been able to keep the other remotes in storage.

Take it from me, I have owned several Logitech Harmony remotes from the 300 to the 700 to the One to my last remote the 900. Logitech makes a fine product and it blows away any Universal Remote I have ever owned or will own. I did not elect to pass up my 900 for the Touch but I did feel it was time to upgrade the 900 to the Ultimate. The 900 and the One are excellent remotes and will always be great remotes to use with any home theater system. They never failed me and worked great with every type of system set up I had. The 900 was a great device to go through cabinets with RF signal etc. However I always thought something was behind with both versions. It was strange to have to plug the remote into the computer to upgrade, the software was behind and sloppy and the touch screen was not advanced, plus the remote felt like it was behind the times with buttons etc. Hence the reason to upgrade. The set up for the Ultimate could not have been simpler. Plus Harmony now has software 100% online instead of downloading onto your system which is a huge leap. I removed the remote and instantly added my WiFi network, another huge leap forward and copied all the info over from my 900. What I noticed on the Touch is the slight vibration when you touch a button to let you know it worked. Like the 900 the RF blasters sit close to devices and the Hub as it is called sits integrated into the home theater set up. The touch screen was smooth, a lot smoother than the 900 and One and being able to edit directly on the remote was just awesome. You can edit menus, set ups and everything you would do on the software directly on the remote. Plus favorite channels are all over the touch screen labeled based on your cable company which is cool. The lack of buttons on the remote was something to get used to and the swipe controls from side to side to forward or reverse etc was a bit strange and I would have to have more time with it. The big issue I see with this and I can see where they were going is the Play and forward and reverse physical buttons on the remote. They are way at the top and you have to now use your index fingers to forward or reverse anything. Now since I do live in DVR land, this is something I will have to get used to big time. It is very weird to move your finger all the way to the top to forward through commercials on the DVR. However if this is the only flaw, I think it will be okay. The one thing I do like is the remote is small in size and almost fits in your hand and any changes you make to the actual remote update on your software via WiFi. You also are able to use your iPhone via an app to control your devices as well but I don't tend to like this since I like to separate iPhone and TV etc. Other than that, this is a very cool device and I do love Logitech remotes and I am glad they kept things relatively the same, help buttons etc. In time I think I till like this more than the 900 and One. Time will tell.

This remote is a perfect blend of a new smartphone based control app and dedicated traditional remote control. The physical remote is completely customizable through the Logitech configuration software. Physical buttons can be remapped, and soft buttons can be created as you like per activity or device. This remote also provides vibration feedback whenever a soft button is pressed. This tactile feedback gives the user an experience more like a traditional remote, which is one of my complaints about all other touchscreen and app based controls I've used. The app based screen layout and channel favorite icons are also a very nice and intuitive approach. The iPhone app syncs with the changes made to the physical remote which is nice. It also allows you to remap certain button layouts. Overall I like this app. However there are a few things that I'd like to see improved. 1) Provide better feedback as to whether or not the app is connected to the remote. The Harmony Link was better at this. 2) Allow an easier transition between the various Harmony Link and Harmony ultimate devices in the home. Since this is on a smartphone, it will be used in every room where these devices are installed. The current method of connecting is cumbersome and should be replaced by a room based screen or other method of selection. Treat this like a whole house controller rather than a remote that that you may move between rooms. This is even more important now that the remote can control certain lighting devices, and possibly more in the future. 3) Please deliver a native iPad app that is as good as the app for iPhone. The app for the Harmony Link was not able to me customized which makes it challenging to use. Overall this is an excellent product that I would highly recommend.

This replaces an earlier Logitech Touch remote that became unstable and unresponsive after a number of years. We only need line-of-sight IR because our main components all are exposed and are within eyesight of the seating position. For that reason, this remote, which operates by default with IR emitters over wifi rather than direct IR, is really overkill. However, my wife likes the ability to scroll through the favorites listing on the touchscreen, which is why I bought this particular unit. (It can display dozens of channel icons, many more than on less-expensive Harmony remotes). Setup and setup modification always require the user to use the provided hub over wifi, Once you've completed setup, however, you can then switch from the default and address each component by direct IR signals rather than those transmitted to the IR emitters over wifi. The unit works flawlessly in that mode, with one exception: Sometimes the direct number input keypad doesn't seem to transmit the right numbers to the TV. However, that's an intermittent issue and the numeric keypad most often works just fine. Finally, I just bought an Amazon Fire TV Stick, which can be addressed only by Bluetooth. Even though the Fire TV Stick does not show up as a supported component, selecting "Amazon Fire TV" as an alternative works fine. All told, we barely scratch the surface of this unit's capabilities, but enjoy it greatly thus far. It feels good in the hand, generally works without a hitch, and could power much more complex home entertainment systems than ours.

I purchased this RF remote because I just installed all of my A/V components in a fully enclosed closet under the stairs. I wanted to control all the devices with one remote (I have a receiver, PS3/blue ray player, XBOX 360, and cable set top box). This remote fit that bill beautifully. It controls the XBOX and PS3 via Bluetooth, and receiver plus set top box via IR. there are two additional mini IR repeaters to control IR devices on different shelves or in different places. For example, the TV on the living room wall is controlled by one mini repeater mounted just above the closet door where all the components are located. I was hesitant at first; expecting that it would be very time consuming and difficult to setup, that it might not do EVERYTHING, and it was a little pricey. This thing quickly put all that to rest. Extremely easy and intuitive to setup, a very helpful website that stores your setup info for future mods or tweaks, and very little test and tune to enjoy full functionality. It truly can boast one button control. I can control my dual zone in home sound system, switch to TV, or gaming, or movies with tap on the touch screen. The remote is sleek, attractive, small, and lasts quite a while on a single charge. I can add my iphone as another remote (cool), but why bother? This thing rocks. Wish I had it way sooner. You fully customize your setup with very simple, intuitive controls. This thing could be programmed to take over the Western Hemisphere, I bet. I'd definitely buy it again.