I love Logitech Harmony remotes. I bought the Harmony Ultimate to replace a Harmony 900, which replaced a Harmony 800. My only complaint is that they are expensive (especially with the RF hub), but since I have used them for about three years each, and they make my wife’s life easier, they are worth the cost to me.
The features I have liked the most about my Harmony remotes are (1) the RF hub, (2) the macros and (3) the help feature. All of these go toward making it easy to use my home entertainment system. Since I live the sitcom trope of a wife who does not want to devote her brain energy to understanding how the entertainment system works, the Harmony remotes make it possible for my wife to use the system, and it makes it easy enough for my eight-year-old to use the system. The RF means that the system doesn’t get out of sync if the remote isn’t pointed in the right direction. The macros make it easy to turn on all of the right components and switch among functions. The help feature lets me easily correct any glitches that happen. The Harmony Ultimate still keeps all these features, but there are some great upgrades from the 800 and 900.
First great upgrade is the WiFi connection. The reason this is so great is that you can change the configuration of the remote online, and then upgrade the remote without plugging it into the computer. You simply press a button on the remote to sync the remote and the change is made on the remote automatically and without plugging it into the computer. This is a huge improvement and made setup much easier. I changed buttons several times as I started to use the remote, and simply hitting the sync button without plugging it into the computer made my life much better. Once the remote is set up, this becomes less important, but it is great for setup
The second upgrade is that the setup interface is an improvement from the 900, although the interface was already pretty good for the 900. The interface for setting up the Ultimate is a little easier to navigate and more intuitive. I was able to figure out fairly easily how to assign functions to buttons. One hugely timesaving feature was that I could simply import my setup from the 900 to the new remote, so if you are upgrading from a previous Logitech remote, your life will be much easier.
The third great upgrade is that the remote is smaller. Logitech has reduced the number of buttons by allowing you to have one button do two different functions by assigning one function to a short button press and a different function to a long button press. This way you can have a short button press change the channel up, and a long button press be the page up function. This greatly simplifies the remote and reduces the number of buttons. Another way they made the remote smaller is to have the 1-10 buttons on the touch screen. Since I am not a channel surfer, I rarely use the number buttons, so that is a great space saver on the remote. These are both big improvements over the 900. The remote fits comfortably into my hand and I like the feel of it.
Another nice touch is that the remote vibrates when you press a button on the touch screen or do a long press. It is subtle feedback that lets you know your command went through. It doesn’t seem like an essential upgrade, but it is a nice touch that I appreciate.
There are several features that seem pretty cool but I doubt I will use much. (1) You can use the touch screen to swipe around and do things like swipe up to increase the volume or swipe left to change the channel. I doubt I will use this much since the buttons are right there on the remote and are more precise than the swiping motion. (2) You can set up a bunch of favorite channels and the logos appear on the touch screen and you can easily use them. Since I rarely channel surf and almost exclusively use the DVR, this isn’t of much use to me, but it would be great for channel surfers and it was easy to set up. (3) You can download the Harmony app on the iPhone and turn your iPhone (and I am guessing an Android phone, too) into a remote. This is cool, but it’s easier to use the remote than the iPhone to control everything, so I doubt I will use this much. But if you do use the iPhone as a remote, the swiping feature is probably useful since the buttons on the iPhone interface are not laid out as well as the remote layout.
The packaging copies Apple – very simple and elegant. The instructions are basically to plug in the hub and then go to the website. Very nice.
My list of cons is fairly short. First off is the price. I can’t believe that some other company isn’t looking at how much Logitech is charging for these remotes and getting in the game. Some competition would keep the price down because I imagine the profit margin on this remote is enormous. That being said, since I have gotten about three years of use out of each of my 800 and 900 and anticipate the same, I’m basically paying $10 a month for a great remote that makes it possible for my wife and kids to use the entertainment system.
The second complaint is that it comes with the IR blasters and I prefer the precision IR cables that stick the IR blaster directly onto the component. My preference is a function of how my entertainment system is set up, so the blasters might work fine for other folks. That being said, that complaint is easily corrected by buying the precision IR cables. And one nice thing about upgrading from the 900 to the Ultimate is I could simply switch the IR cable from the 900 hub to the Ultimate hub and it all worked. When upgrading from the 800 to the 900 I had to buy new IR precision cables, so I am happy Logitech stuck with the same cables when going to the Ultimate.
The third complaint is that it took a few times for the initial firmware upgrade to go through. I think it failed about four times before it worked, which meant I was restarting the upgrade process several times and it took about 20 minutes. That being said, once you have taken care of that step, as I pointed out above you’re simply updating any changes to the configuration through the WiFi, so I don’t think I will notice that problem in the future.
A fourth minor issue is that in the three weeks I have had the remote, it has crashed once. When my 900 crashed, I would take out the battery to reset it. There is no way to remove the battery from the Ultimate, so I am not quite sure how I was able to reset it. I pressed the off button for a while and that seemed to do it, but I am not sure. It hasn’t crashed since then, so that’s a good sign.
Overall, this is a GREAT remote. If you’re in the market for a universal remote, this is expensive, but you will get a lot of value out of it. I am not sure if it is worth the upgrade from the 900. The size is a definite plus over the 900. The ease of setting up and syncing is great, but if your 900 is already set up, then that isn’t an issue. If you do choose to upgrade, upgrading from the 900 is very easy. The big negative is price, but what can you do? It’s worth it to me because I could switch my 900 to another TV setup in the house, but the improvements over the 900 might not be worth $350 to you.
Here are some tips:
First of all, I got the Ultimate at the same time I upgraded my cable box. I have Xfinity and I moved up to the X1 box. If you have Xfinity, get the X1. It is light years better than what they had previously. My only complaint is it seems to crash more often. Xfinity made me pay for a technician to come to my house to install it, but it is worth it. If you have Xfinity, get the X1.
Second, on the X1 the initial setup that Logitech gives you is the channel up/down button also serves as the page up/down button, with a short press changing the channel and a long press moving the page. Since I am a DVR user more than a live TV surfer, I found that I was trying to page up and pressed the button too short and the channel up command then took me out of the menu back to live TV. This was frustrating to me until it dawned on me that I could switch the function so that a short press was the page up and a long press was the channel up. The setup interface is so easy to use that it was a quick fix, and then I simply synced the remote by pressing the sync button (and not plugging it into the computer) and my problem was solved.
Third, one thing I liked about the 900 was the 30 second skip came built in to one of the fast forward buttons (the one with the vertical line after the arrows) for my previous cable box. The Ultimate only has one fast forward button. I had to set my new X1 box to do a 30 second skip (Google it, you end up using the page up button but you have to set the right skip time), then I assigned the page up button to a short press of the fast forward button, with the fast forwarding assigned to a long press of the fast forward button (since I rarely need to fast forward but often want to do the 30 second skip). Again, assigning the function was easy, syncing was easy and the short press/long press saves on the number of buttons on the remote. However, the fast forward buttons are inconveniently located on the top of the remote, but since the 30 second skip was using the “page up” function, I am able to use the page up/channel up button on the bottom of the remote to do the 30 second skip.
Fourth, I must not have been paying attention to something, but I couldn’t figure out how to bring up the 10-digit keypad on the touch screen. Once I realized that you simply swiped left or right on the touch screen to bring up different screens, I easily found the 10-digit pad. I also found a page up/down screen on the touchscreen, which would have solved my earlier frustration with the up/down button controlling both channel changing (short press) and page changing (long press), but I actually prefer my button solution to relying on the touch screen.
One minor quibble: I can watch stuff from my computer by plugging it into an HDMI that runs through my receiver to the TV. But in setting up watching computer videos as an activity on the remote, Logitech requires a video input, so I extraneously have to say the cable box is the video input. This has zero impact on my life other than being a slight annoyance when setting up the activity.
Technical stuff on my home entertainment setup: I have a TV, a receiver, a BluRay and the cable box. The receiver does HDMI switching, so I only ever have to have my TV input set to HDMI 1. It’s a simple setup, but it’s still nice to have the remote making sure everything is set up correctly. Like I said earlier, the remote makes it so my wife and kids can use the home entertainment system, so it is essential that it works well, and the Ultimate works very well.
Add to your order
-
Coverage for accidental damage including drops, spills, and broken parts, as well as breakdowns (plans vary) -
24/7 support when you need it. -
Quick, easy, and frustration-free claims.
Cover this product:
2-Year Protection $30.99
3-Year Protection $39.99
Cover all of your eligible devices:
Asurion Complete Protect: One plan covers all eligible past and future purchases (Renews Monthly Until Cancelled) $16.99/month
Select a plan
Add to your order
- Coverage for accidental damage including drops, spills, and broken parts, as well as breakdowns (plans vary)
- 24/7 support when you need it.
- Quick, easy, and frustration-free claims.
Cover this product:
Select a plan
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Sustainability features
This product has sustainability features recognized by trusted certifications.
Carbon impact
Carbon emissions from the lifecycle of this product were measured, reduced and offset.
As certified by
Carbon Neutral Certified by SCS Global Services Carbon Neutral Certified by SCS Global Services enables companies to demonstrate carbon neutrality for their products by reducing carbon emissions throughout their operations and offsetting their remaining carbon footprint through the purchase of carbon credits. SCS Global Services is a global leader in third-party environmental and sustainability verification, certification, auditing, testing, and standards development. SCS is a chartered Benefit Corporation, reflecting its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible business practices.
Part of
Climate Pledge Friendly
Buy this product as Renewed and save $54.99 off the current New price.
Logitech Harmony Remote with Customizable Touch Screen and Closed Cabinet RF Control - Black (Renewed) $269.00 & FREE Shipping
(87)
Works and looks like new and backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee
(87)
Works and looks like new and backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card
Videos for similar products
Compare with similar items
This Item  Logitech Harmony Ultimate All in One Remote |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $323.99 | $223.00 | $14.37 | $189.99 | $283.99 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14 | Get it May 13 - 15 | Get it as soon as Sunday, May 12 | — | Get it as soon as Monday, May 13 |
| Customer Ratings | |||||
| Remote Control | |||||
| Battery life | |||||
| Touch Screen | |||||
| Volume control | |||||
| Sold By | Deals24n7 | AIM USA | Filltech | SofaBaton Remotes | Deals24n7 |
| compatible devices | Television | Television, Streaming Device | Remote | Set Top Box, Stereo System, Television, VCR, DVD/Blu-ray Player | Television |
| connectivity tech | Infrared | Infrared | Infrared | Infrared, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi | Infrared |
| maximum range | 100 feet | 10 meters | 10 meters | 40 feet | 10 meters |
| style | New | Ultimate | Rechargeable | — | — |
| battery quantity | 1 aa, 1 product specific | 1 lithium polymer, 1 lithium ion, 2 aa, 2 product specific, 2 unknown | — | 1 lithium polymer | 2 aa, 1 product specific |
| model number | 915-000201 | 915-000237 | LYSB00QXPOQ6K-ELECTRNCS | X1S | 915-000293 |
Videos
Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1
Videos for this product
1:14
Click to play video
Set Up A Hub Based Remote
Merchant Video
Videos for this product
0:55
Click to play video
One Touch Activities
Merchant Video
Videos for this product
0:40
Click to play video
Create an Activity
Merchant Video
Videos for this product
0:42
Click to play video
Add Automation Devices to Activity
Merchant Video
Sustainability features
This product has sustainability features recognized by trusted certifications.
Carbon impact
Carbon emissions from the lifecycle of this product were measured, reduced and offset.
As certified by
Carbon Neutral Certified by SCS Global Services Carbon Neutral Certified by SCS Global Services enables companies to demonstrate carbon neutrality for their products by reducing carbon emissions throughout their operations and offsetting their remaining carbon footprint through the purchase of carbon credits. SCS Global Services is a global leader in third-party environmental and sustainability verification, certification, auditing, testing, and standards development. SCS is a chartered Benefit Corporation, reflecting its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible business practices.
Part of
Climate Pledge Friendly
Reviews with images
This is a great remote! I got this when it was on ...
This is a great remote!I got this when it was on the deal of the day. Overall it is a good upgrade from the Harmony 650, and the MyHarmony software allows you to transfer your settings from an old Logitech remote to this one.Pros:-Nice sleek design.-Touch screen, good dots per inch so could be read with ease.-Ability to change Icons for activities to anything you upload through the software (Like for Kodi on my activity).-App for Android is well designed and allows some modifications to the setup.-Can link to other devices via WiFi (August, Nest, Hnoeywell, Philis Hue).-No need for direct line of sight to control devices.-The software on the PC is very flexible, and once you are past the initial setup you could edit your remote from anywhere without needing it connected to the PC (I changed somethings while on vacation in Egypt!)Cons:-The transfer from the old remote wasn't without bumps and hiccups as the remote froze twice and had to start over and didnt fully transfer.-Half way through the setup the remote notified me it needs to be in the same room with the hub and the devices it will control, so had to abort and start again in a different room.-The play/pause etc buttons are at the very top above the screen, they probably would have been better on the lower half of the remote (this might be more of a habit for me coming from the 650 which had all the buttons below the screen).-Sometimes if you make too many changes on the remote to the layout of buttons and icons it asks to sync with the hub and then ends up deleting all your changes, so need to save every few steps.
Top reviews from other countries
Alberto Cardena
Excelente control remoto para controlar todos tus dispositivos
Reviewed in Mexico on January 24, 2018JustFiona
Does a great job behind cabinet doors!
Reviewed in Canada on November 28, 2018CorLadMan
I recommend that you do not change device names
Reviewed in Canada on December 26, 2017