Logitech Harmony Ultimate One Remote - Discontinued by Manufacturer

For reference, my set-up consists of an LG Smart TV, a DirecTV HR-200 receiver, a Sony soundbar/subwoofer, a Chromecast, Xbox 360, PS3 and a Wii U. I wanted to consolidate the various remotes into one and make it stone-simple for the kids (and me) to press a single button and have all the inputs and devices align themselves for use properly. TL/DR summary: this remote (and hub for the PS3/Wii U) does this easily, and I would recommend highly.Wanted to write a review to help anyone out there, that like me, wasn't too sure if this was going to be a good purchase or not. There are some significantly negative reviews, and some are probably genuine, based on user's actual experiences. However, there also seems to be more than a few that are based solely on a misunderstanding or misuse of the product. If I can help clear any of that up and provide another perspective, I hope I can do so.First of all, Logitech's legacy product naming conventions compared to the current Harmony line up (as of early 2016 on their website) can get confusing. The names "One", Ultimate", "Home" and "Touch" can become frustrating when trying to figure out what is best for your remote control needs. Case in point: I purchased this Ultimate One IR remote, knowing full well that I'd eventually need to add a hub to provide Bluetooth control for our Wii U and PS3. I ended up ordering the hub separately, only to find later that I could have ordered this  Logitech 915-000237 Harmony Ultimate Home Touch Screen Remote for 15 Home Entertainment and Automation Devices (Black)  and saved some money. Again, note that according to Logitech's current website, that package is no longer offered, but if you like this remote and think you'll need or use the hub, I'd recommend this package, as best I can tell, it is the same remote but with the addition of the hub for less then the price of the two were you to buy them individually, like I did. Oh well.Second, the Harmony compatibility site is pretty excellent. Just tell it the manufacturer and model number of your equipment and it will tell you pretty much everything you need to know. What can be controlled, what can't and which Harmony products you'll need. Comprehensive database of compatible devices, to say the least.Third, much has been said of the MyHarmony desktop software. Overall, I thought it was fine. Relatively easy to use, but you can tell it's a work in progress, as it's not quite as slick and polished as the interface on the remote itself. However, while you may end up going in a couple of circles, the software does always seem to realize what changes you've made and will ultimately guide you where you need to be. It seems smart enough to realize that some users may do things in a different order based on their specific hardware, and it "catches up" so to speak to ensure your remote and hub if you have one, are kept in sync. I don't think you need to be an expert to use it, but I could see where some on the lower end of the techno-savvy scale might not understand or have difficulty. My overall feeling though, is that if you're considering this line of products in the first place, you'll be fine with the software.Sidebar for a bit on the Harmony Home Hub.  Logitech 915-000238 Harmony Home Hub for Smartphone Control of 8 Home Entertainment and Automation Devices  The Ultimate One remote is infrared only. So, if you have any devices that require control via Bluetooth like my PS3 or Wii U, you'll need this Hub if you want to control them with the remote. (You can apparently also use the smartphone app once you have the Hub, but I haven't tried that, and don't really have any intention either. Still, nice to know it's there.) You add the Hub to your profile in the MyHarmony desktop software, and there are a couple of ways to do this, either by "upgrading" your remote with a hub, or by setting it up as a new Harmony device, but both methods will get you there. Again, the software will realize that installing the Hub as a new device, or upgrading the remote is the same thing, and will route you through the required steps regardless of how you do it. If you buy both, set up the remote first, then add the Hub. Once set up, the remote will have for example your activity named "Play PS3" and will signal the Hub to provide the Bluetooth signal to power on the PS3. Works great.Fourth, ergonomics and usability. Lot of talk about the ergos and usability of this remote. Have to say, I honestly find the negative reviews quite surprising. In use, this is one of the best pieces of consumer tech I've ever purchased. Works exactly as promised and way, way more of a pleasure to use than a number of the reviews here make it out to be. A big part of this is the operation and behavior of the screen. It's not like your smartphone's screen; prone to accidental brushes and taps. It takes an appropriately deliberate touch to activate anything, and each intentional press is confirmed by a nice little haptic feedback buzz (vibration) to let you know you what you wanted was selected.Also, and why this is rarely mentioned is beyond me, but the screen defaults to a lock screen. Meaning it lights up, but won't register a touch or press until you swipe to unlock it. In use, let's say you're watching TV and the remote is just sitting there asleep. You get up to do something or want to pause or even record to your DVR using the hardware buttons. You can absolutely use those keys without inadvertently touching something on the screen, and the screen will remain locked out. There is apparently a setting where you can turn the lock screen feature off, but I'm not sure why you would want to, as it completely removes the issue of interference by your hand. And again, it's not like an errant brush of the hand will cause an unwanted key selection anyway.On top of that, the screen features a slick "gestures" screen that slides up from the bottom and allows you to pause, play, volume up and down, fast forward and rewind simply by sweeping your finger or tapping the screen without ever having to look down. Again, this too works exceptionally well. The gestures screen will persist too, meaning if you slide it up to activate it, then set the remote down and it goes back to sleep. as soon as you pick it up again, the gestures screen is still there. I find myself leaving that screen open most of the time, as it's truly simple and intuitive to use.A lot has been made of how un-ergonomic this remote is, and I just don't get that, at all. In use it works extremely well, and I really do not think Logitech committed any massive deign errors. Rather it seems very well thought out and super clever.The Activities, as you set them up via the desktop application just plain work. It is fun to watch everything turn on and set themselves to the correct inputs. And even if for some reason they won't, the remote will guide you through how to fix them, which, when I read about that, I didn't really understand, until I saw it in action myself. First time I went to use my "Play PS3" activity, the PS3 did not power up. The remote asked if everything came on, I told it no, it asked what device didn't, I selected PS3, and it popped up a little tutorial on how to pair the Harmony Hub with the PS3. Took maybe two minutes to pair the two and then worked perfectly. Very helpful and simple.Navigating the screens is easy, and there are only a handful of them. Dedicated home, favorites, and settings keys around the screen get you back to where you want to be immediately. Spend ten minutes using it and I promise you'll have it down pat. For every Activity or mode if you will, the controls on screen and the physical buttons assume the roles of the equipment you are currently using. For example, my "Watch TV" activity means I'm controlling my DirecTV receiver and the volume through my Sony amp. Therefore, the actions available on the screen and the physical buttons assume those roles. (By the way, I find the hardware keys absolutely perfect for controlling the DirecTV receiver.) Likewise, I can choose my "Watch SmartTV" activity, and it will bring up the apps on my TV and let me select whatever app I want with the physical keys, while the touchscreen displays my SmartTV control selections. Same with PS3, Wii, Xbox, etc. As you cycle through your modes, the remote seamlessly offers you the appropriate control options. Pretty cool indeed.Fifth, I'm not sure why battery life is such a concern. It comes with a charging cradle, seems like a no-brainer to me that when you're not using the remote, just pop it in the cradle, no? Assuming most of us have to work and kids- if you have them- are in school, there has to be at least some portion of your day where you can let the remote charge up, right? When you're sleeping maybe? Just doesn't seem like this should be much of a concern. Longer term, I hope the non-removable battery lasts a good long while, but I'm not too worried about it.Finally, I've been more than pleasantly surprised by how well this works. Granted, I'm a smart remote neophyte, and as with any review take this review with a grain or two of salt, but I really and truly found this to be an exceptional product plus a fun grown up "toy" to boot. Unless you have equipment that really cannot be controlled by the Harmony products, I can't think of any major reason why I wouldn't recommend this. It's not inexpensive per se, especially if you need the Hub as well, but for as well as it works and the capability it offers, I think it's a good value.

Almost a month ago I paid over $1,000 for four hub based Harmony Logitech Remotes: Two Ultimate Home remotes (one white and one black) and one Ultimate One upgraded with the Smart Control and Ultimate Hub add-on.I have three A/V systems - in my bedroom, home gym and family room. I used the Ultimate One + Smart Control combination in my bedroom so that my wife and I could each have a remote on our side of the bed that would stay in sync with each other.I must say that the units are beautifully packaged and have a very attractive design. They feel good in the hand. I am somewhat of a techie and have had various learning/universal remotes over the years, and did not find the setup difficult. In fact, compared to past remotes in which setup involved hours of button pushing, the Harmony setup was a breeze. I was very impressed by the GUI interface - though the process of adding/editing devices and activities was agonizingly slow at times because of the sluggish slow-mo response of the iOS app during the setup stage.I was so excited to set-up and deploy these remotes in the three rooms and happy to tell my family about the new convenience we would all enjoy - no longer having to juggle multiple remotes and devices in each room.Everything seemed to work perfectly running the remotes through their paces after installation.Unfortunately the honeymoon did not last long. The first night I really used the remote to watch a movie I noticed there were times when I tried to pause or rewind the playback, and the commands did not work - the remote was frozen-up. Then, 10 to 30 seconds later the commands I had given would be executed and the movie would start executing the commands - the movie would pause, rewind, etc. Since I had pushed the buttons repeatedly the result was somewhat comical as the TV seemed spontaneously to be pausing, fast forwarding, etc. as it executed the command I had given 30 seconds ago. This problem exhibited itself with the volume control and other controls as well.The next week and a half were a nightmare dealing with first level Harmony (off-shore) tech support personnel who repeatedly ran me through time-consuming standard troubleshooting scripts involving resting and reprogramming the remotes - firmware updates, submitting logs to them - all with no result.Finally after multiple calls and many hours spent, I was firm in demanding that the matter be escalated to upper level support personnel. At first these upper level support people would not talk to me directly - until I became very insistent that I had no interest in speaking further to the "standard" support personnel. (I must say, however, that every support person I talked to - and there were many - were extremely courteous - in a uniform, scripted sort of way you might get in a nice "chain" restaurant.)I eventually found out that this is a firmware problem has existed for some time with Harmony touch-screen remotes. The upper-level Logitech Harmony engineers are well aware of the firmware bug that causes this problem - though the front line support personnel seem ignorant of the problem. See the following link on the Harmony support site which discusses the problem: http://forums.logitech.com/t5/Harmony-Hub-Based-Remotes/My-Harmony-Ultimate-is-very-slow-to-respond-when-i-tap-the/td-p/1243238 (Harmony was very reluctant to admit this problem existed so don't be surprised if the above link is taken down.)Just to be clear: this was NOT just a case of having gotten one defective unit. The freezing/delayed response problem was exhibited in all four of the remotes that I purchased. This is a universal firmware problem affecting this entire line of touch-screen remotes - and one which has been acknowledged to me by upper level Harmony engineers.The upper level support engineers had me submit my logs once again and told me that a firmware update was being worked on to fix the problem. They initially told me that the firmware update would be available in a couple of days. Then that estimate was extended to "within a week". Two weeks later, not having received notice of the update, they finally conceded that they no longer had an estimated date for the firmware fix and they would "be in contact with me" when it was available.During this saga I called in to the Harmony support line countless times. The support line is answered with a recorded greeting from the head of Harmony "customer experience" who offers his personal email address at the end of the greeting and invites callers to email him directly if their concerns are not satisfied. I started to copy this person on my email exchanges with support engineers. Then I wrote two emails directly to him outlining my frustrations, providing incident numbers, and seeking his assistance. The response was . . . crickets. It's been almost three weeks since I first reached out to this person and still I have received no response from him. So I must conclude that the invitation to contact him directly is simply marketing B.S. Who knows, maybe he is not even a real person.Of course, I returned all four remotes before the Amazon 30 day return window expired.Seeking another alternative I found that the reviews online for the Harmony 650 remote were generally very positive. Call me a glutton for punishment after all the problems I had with the touch screen Harmony remotes - but last week I purchased two of the (much cheaper) Harmony 650 remotes to try out in my bedroom.So far (knock on wood) the Harmony 650s seem to be working out very well. They are older tech and do not have all of the bells and whistles of the touch screen remotes. But so far at least they seem actually to work! I find that I prefer them ergonomically since they have "hard" number buttons which are much more convenient than the touch screen remotes which you have to swipe to unlock, then swipe a second time to access the soft number buttons.If you have any components inside a cabinet you will need to utilize an IR extender kit in order to use the Harmony 650. There are several highly rated IR extender kits available on Amazon for a modest price. And the Harmony 650 won't control your Nest thermostat or Phillips Hue lights - if you have them. But you can already control these devices from your smart phone - so this is not much of a sacrifice.Because of the good experience I have had this past few days with the Harmony 650s in my bedroom, I just ordered two more Harmony 650s to replace the Ultimate Home remotes I had tried unsuccessfully to use in my family room and home gym. My family room is a closed cabinet system so I also ordered an IR Extender kit for that location.Keep in mind that I have only had the Harmony 650s for less than a week. It is possible that problems might crop up. But if I end up having problems with the Harmony 650s I pledge to update this review with that information.I seldom write reviews and have certainly never written such an extensive one. But after all of the wasted hours and frustration these remotes caused me I felt somewhat of a civic duty to warn others of the serious problems they are likely to experience with these remotes.Update to prior review as of 1/21/2015: I have received support on this issue. There is a firmware update that Logitech has given me for the Ultimate One (4.2.48), which has for the most part fixed the delayed response/freeze-up problems that I was having previously. As of the date of this update, this firmware has not yet been released for the Ultimate One, but should be available for the Ultimate Home remote. However, if you have these problems with the Ultimate One I suspect that you can get this update from tech support. It should be widely available soon. With this fix I can recommend the remote.

Logitech continues to innovate with this remote control. Their comprehensive database of thousands of audio and video components, combined with the intuitive set-up interface / application, means that the remote control can be configured to operate, all by itself, my somewhat complex A/V system that includes a pre-amp and amplifier, DVD player, CD player, Apple TV, cable TV PVR, and TV. I am very pleased with the way the commands, buttons, and touch screen can be customized, but since most of the default settings that Logitech provides are just right, the available customization is not so much a necessity but a luxury. This remote works very well, and I highly recommend it.

Puedes programar todos los controles remotos de la casa y toma automaticamente los listados de canales de tus servicios de cable y puedes programar configuraciones de varios tipo de encendidos. En concreto te evitas el hecho de tener q andar comprando varias pilas ya que con uno solo controlas todos los equipos de la casa

Worked brilliantly. One particular appliance (stereo system) needed many adjustments to get the timing right while changing functions as it would often miss a button press, but with patience you'll get it right. Working so well for a mum in law. I would recommend adding the hub to go with it as the hub then sends the IR, instead of the remote.... prevents missed signals due to remote being put down too early while it's still sending it's commands.

Excelente opción para quien maneja varios equipos en casa

Exceptional quality and well designed. Setup was very easy and once you link up and open your Harmony account and provide your device information, everything you need is automatically downloaded for you. Not only can you operate all the functions of your device remote, you can also adjust the settings as well. I love the fact that there are no batteries to replace and the charging stand always keeps the remote fully charged. It does take some time getting used to all the swiping actions and functions and I do recommend you read and familiarize yourself with the remote first. I do find the keys a bit small and reaction time when turning on the unit a bit slow. but these really are the only negatives I have. Is the high cost justified? You do get what you pay for and here you get an awful lot for your money! I would definitely recommend the Harmony Ultimate One without hesitation. Delivery was quick and the backup and support is second to none. It truly does replace all your remotes and thus far works flawlessly.