9.6.2018

So I've had my harmony for a day or so. Used it extensively. And after reading so many negative reviews I'm surprised to find that the harmony works really well with Alexa. The reason I bought it - for an open plan kitchen extension where hands free comes in handy to control the TV.Set-up wasn't painless. The Harmony paired to my tablet, updated its software, and logged into my logi account just fine. It found my LG TV, BT Youview box and soundbar first time. The only problem I had is that it wouldn't change the hdmi input on the TV during set-up. And I defo have the right TV selected. So I ignored that problem but once setup was complete in normal usage it changes the hdmi input.So it was only a problem in Harmony setup. I've set up favourite channels and played with the Harmony Android app - the app is great, especially having a grid of favourite channel icons that I can tap to go straight to the desired channel without using the TV guide or remembering channel numbers.Now for Alexa setup with Harmony :-). In the Alexa app I enabled the blue harmony skill (which is the better to use of the two harmony skills) linked it to my harmony account and it found my harmony Watch TV activity. Next set-up stage it had all of my TV Favourite channels listed where it allows you to choose one or more friendly names (essentially additional names for TV channels that Alexa should hear more easily) for each favourite TV channel. So for example, for TCM I added Turner Classics and Turner Classic Movies. And for my local regional BBC 1 channel I gave it the friendly name of East Midlands. And BBC 1 is reserved for BBC 1 HD. Once that's done you save your changes. Next 'discover devices' in the Alexa app , which should find your all of your favourite channels and add them and their friendly names to the Alexa Scenes section in the Smart Home section of your Alexa app. I then tried some alexa TV commands such as 'turn on tv', turn on BBC 1, turn on ITV 1 and it all worked. Marvellous.Things to remember. You cannot say 'watch' to change TV channel. It must be 'turn on' and then the channel name. And if you decide to update the friendly names for TV channels in the Alexa app, you have to disable the skill, enable it again, link accounts and repeat the process - albeit it does remember your previously configured friendly names fortunately (saving a lot of time and effort). And if you delete any friendly names, or channels, you must go to the scenes section of the Alexa app and delete them manually. Unused scenes are not removed automatically unfortunately.After extensively changing TV channels using Alexa it works most of the time. It does hiccup now and again not hearing my commands properly but that's a quirk of Alexa, for anything, not the fault of the Harmony Hub. And for any issues I changed the friendly channel names.So what can you do with Alexa TV control with Harmony. So far I can increase/decrease TV volume, channel up/down, turn on (change to) any of the TV favourite channels (max of 50), pause live TV or recordings playback on my BT Box (and resume). And of course turn the entire TV Activity on and off. Plus I have separate harmony activities to take me straight to the Netflix or Amazon Prime apps on my TV - but once in the app I have to use the remote control.With Alexa it's not perfect and that's why I'm not giving the harmony hub 5 stars. Plus I think it's a little expensive. It works though with occasional Alexa mishearing hiccups. And I'm finding I'm using Alexa to change channels before heading for the remote control. Alexa doesn't replace the remote control - I can't seem to use it for the TV Guide for example. Pros and cons but the hub is a defo worthwhile addition to an automated home.

9.12.2018

Bought around Black Friday, and I must say it was one of my best buys this year. It has breathed new life into my Harmony 950.Although you can use the Hub through the app, you will only be able to control 8 devices. By adding a Harmony 950 you can control up to 15!If you’re new to the Harmony eco-system you can configure the Hub through Logitech’s Harmony PC software or Harmony app, virtually every IR and Bluetooth device are controllable, with a searchable online database held by Logitech that you can choose from. I have obscure devices like a fan I picked up from Costco, and a pair of powered speakers a friend gave me, for which I found a compatible device and are both controllable.If by some small chance you can’t find a device, you have the ability to add IR commands from any remote, to be controllable by the Hub. Actually I had to do this with a IR controllable extension power socket, which itself is programmable and allows me to issue a separate IR command to switch on. Being able to control everything with one remote is heaven.For some though, using “Activities” can be a bit daunting and confusing at first, don’t be put off! Activities are the most powerful part of these remotes as you can press an on screen button to turn on a set of devices, change inputs, channels etc. with the ability to change or add buttons, pauses, change timings etc. and even send a combination of commands. Likewise once your finished, the Off button will turn off all of the devices in use. It’s intelligent enough to know when switching Activities which devices are on and part of the next Activity and only switch on those that are off, while switching off those that are no longer in use, changing inputs as required.Originally I had the Harmony One, which inherited the swollen battery problem, meaning I couldn’t remove the battery. Even though I had it for 8 years, Logitech replaced it Free of Charge with a Harmony 950!While the 950 is much better than the Harmony Ultimate, there were still features that I missed from the Harmony One, the main one was battery life! While I put off getting a Harmony Hub before, I wish I got one sooner. Not only can I now control Bluetooth functions for my Fire Stick, PC and even my old Wii is great, I can also control devices through the LAN like my Roku and AV AMP.The Hub converts the Harmony 950 into a full Harmony Elite (with RF communication between the Hub and 950), so not having to having to use “line of sight”, is great as everything is controlled through the Hub.As I don’t have the 950 constantly charging, when the battery dies I don’t have to dig out my old remotes. I can just pickup my phone or tablet to continue where I left off, until the 950 has fully charged. The icing on the cake is that my setup is now fully voice controllable from either Amazon Echo or Google Home Hub, which while a bit gimmicky, can be quite useful.My only two complaints are:1. There is only one IR Blaster supplied! Whereas two are supplied with the Harmony Elite. If you can afford it or can wait for a sale, get the full Harmony Elite set instead, as it will workout cheaper in the long round.2. Logitech for some reason changed the way Favourites created since the Harmony One, where you could create a favourite that applied to any Device and it would intelligently know which Activity it was part of and change inputs etc accordingly. Now you can only assign Favourites to one Device. While numerous Harmony One users have complained on the forums and Logitech haven’t reinstated that feature.To be honest these aren’t deal breakers for me, and I’m loving the extra functionality that the Hub gives me. Hopefully it will offer you the same.

5.8.2019

I've had several Logitech universal remotes. Using them is never just simple. You have to tinker and tweak to get things just the way you want them. Trust me you do...I moved to using a hub for the Alexa integration. This is pretty good, once you know what to say and how to setup the software you can control 'most' things on your TV by voice, i.e. change channels, switch it on/off, increase decrease volume, mute etc.What you can't do is navigate your TV, Navigate Netflix or Amazon video, or use any channel guides or anything. For that you have to use the Harmony app on your phone. There are no 'Alexa Up, down, left, OK, back, Menu, Guide' commands available.There is also NO WAY of configuring these commands that I can figure out without using some other intermediary server like 'Home Assistant', for which you need a computer/server/raspberry pi and to be technically minded.Firstly, you need to understand that you have 'Activities' like 'Watch TV', or 'Play Playstation', and that only 1 activity can be running at any one time.The alexa integration allows you to give your activities friendly names, i.e. Play Playstation, can be called PS4, PS, Playstation, Console and then you can tell Alexa to 'turn on' any of those friendly names and she will run the activity.The same can be setup for 'Favorite' channels on your TV. BBC1 can be given friendly names like 'The beeb, bbc uno' etc and then you can say 'Alexa, turn on the beeb' and she'll switch to that channel.My setup:LG OLED55b7V TV,Humax HDR-Fox T2 Freeview boxSony AV ReceiverPS4 (the harmony app acts as a Bluetooth keyboard for this console, harmony hub however CAN'T turn it ON)Wii UMost useful stuff I can and do say:Alexa, turn on the Tv (sets up everything for watching the humax)Alexa, turn on the PS4 (sets up everything for using the ps4, but can't actually turn ON the PS4, but I can turn it off)Alexa, turn on Amazon (switches the tv to Amazon prime video)Alexa, turn on Netflix (switches the TV to Netflix)Alexa, turn up the volume (she turns up the volume 5 notches)Alexa, turn up the volume on the Tv by 2 (she turns up the volume on the tv 2 notches)Alexa, mute the Tv (mutes the tv)Alexa, unmute the TV (unmutes the tv)Alexa, turn on CBeebies (she switches the humax to CBeebies)Alexa, turn on ITV (she switches the humax to ITV).... I've setup many other channels similarly, you can have upto 50Alexa, channel 345 on the TV (she switches to whatever is on 345 (I've no idea what that is btw))Alexa, turn off the TV (she turns everything off, even the playstation or Wii no matter what activity was running, it all goes off :))Alexa integration is great for young kids. That's one reason why I got it. They can now control the TV without learning how to switch inputs or even being able to read!My frustration comes with having a fishtank light that's IR controlled (Biorb flow). I can teach the hub all the remote commands so I can control the fishtank light from my phone (with the Harmony app). However, I wanted to be able to setup Alexa to be able to schedule switching the Fishtank light on and off at certain time, but that isn't possible. You can't configure individual remote commands to work with Alexa (as an Alexa scene) only Activities and Favorites. If I setup my fishtank as an Activity, switching it on would also switch off the TV. Bah! What it needs is activities that can be run independently OR being able to setup a 'Favorite Command' (like favorte channels) that you can then setup to be what you like. So, it's good but not perfect.

3.12.2017

Once you decide to embark on a home automation project you have some decisions to make. Foremost is - what do you want to control? For me, control of the entertainment system seemed attractive - with the promise of reducing the huge amount of remote controls that litter the sofa. Most audio visual equipment relies on infrared control, and so there is only really one game in town to control these - the Logitech Harmony hub.The hub can actually control devices via infrared, bluetooth and wifi. Set up was very clear, step by step and went smoothly. My TV, Sky box and Yamaha were already "known" to the Harmony system and so set up was really simple via the app, which I have now dedicated a separate Android phone to,to act as the primary remote for everything. Once you have devices set up, the app guides you through creating "activities", which are basically a set of instructions to a group of devices. For example the "Watch TV" activity tells the TV to switch on and tune to HDMI1, the Sky Box to switch on and tune to Sky One, and the sound bar to switch on. All with a single button press :)Where it did get a bit baffling was once I got into the Alexa integration. This involves downloading the Harmony Skill via the Alex app and then Alexa syncs with Harmony and you can start to use voice control. This part is not as slick as you would imagine, and can be frustrating at first.I'll explain some of the hurdles. Firstly it's important to know that only one "activity" can run at a time via the Harmony Hub. If you create two activities, such as Watch TV and another called Turn on the Lamp, if you first watch tv and then turn on the lamp, the TV will switch off! This took a lot of head scratching and googling but I think it is mentioned in the documentation somewhere. The implication is that for my situation, it's better to have the Harmony hub controlling the entertainment equipment and have Alexa control lights and sockets via Wifi directly. An Echo or Echo Dot will do this. Alternatively you can set up additional activities like "TV with lamp" and just "TV".The second puzzle was that once I had everything set up as per instructions, if I said "Watch TV" to Alexa I got the reply that "no video services were set up." Yet "Turn on the TV" worked to run the activity called "Watch TV" on the Harmony hub! It looks like the word "Watch" is reserved for use with video services like Netflix that have Alexa skills. Avoid using the word watch and you should be fine. I now have "Turn on the Sky TV" and "Turn on the Fire TV" working perfectly via the Alexa / Harmony interface. Once you start an activity with Alexa there are also extension commands you can use like "Volume up".All in all I'm very happy with the Harmony hub - it's easy to set up, the app makes a great configurable remote and it works reliably with Alexa once you know the tricks.One suggestion for your home automation project would be if at all possible to set up all the apps on a separate email address and password to your main one, and to connect all devices to a "guest" network on your router. The former limits damage from a hack of the cloud service Harmony provides, and the latter means that your home automation products are isolated from your "main" network. If your home automation products were hacked and gave someone access to your network, they could not mess with your computers and tablets etc. Do some googling on around the type of router you have and guest networks to see how to set one up.

5.12.2018

Thought I'd write a review as someone with a slightly different perspective. I already had a Ultimate One remote on the go, and it was all set up and working. I wanted to add a hub so I could integrate everything with Alexa, and in addition I'd recently installed a soundbar that has a habit of blocking remote commands to the TV. This was getting annoying when long activity sequences would fail, and I was frequently finding myself in the "fix it" menu.I tell you what, I really should have purchased the hub to begin with. I simply installed the hub in the optimum spot in my living room (on the opposite wall to my AV equipment) and I haven't been in the "fix it myself" menu since.I didn't even have to use the included IR blaster. It's also actually been surprising how freeing it is to not have to hold the remote up to the TV while it runs through long activities and things like that, I can press "Watch Sky" for example and not care where the remote is pointing, or whether it has line-of-sight or anything like that. The IR from the hub is also significantly faster than the IR from the remote, and navigating around Sky menus and what have you is a lot more responsive. Still not quite as good as the original remotes, but certainly an improvement.Adding the hub to my setup was incredibly easy. You simply connect the remote to MyHarmony on your computer like you normally would, go to Upgrade > Add a Hub and then follow the instructions. It will do some syncing for a few minutes and then it was ready; all of your activities and favourites are moved over to the hub. I was seriously impressed with that part.Alexa also works perfectly. I can only speak for myself but I just didn't run into any problems at all, I added the blue Alexa skill as instructed and followed the instructions and it just worked. I don't really know what else to say, I just don't have any problems with it. It is December 2018 as I write this so I can only assume Logitech have improved things over the years, but it's been flawless so far. This includes "volume", "mute", "pause" as well, all from the blue skill.One thing I will say - I still consider the remote to be essential. Why? Because you just do not want to always use your voice (or the app) to control everything. If you do not have the physical Logitech remote, and pick up an original device remote, the hub will be out of step with your setup and will start misbehaving and sending the wrong commands (because it has the wrong idea about what state your devices are in). On the other hand a connected Logitech remote will always be in sync with the hub and vice versa. I strongly suspect that this is the problem a lot of people are running into. I just don't imagine that everybody in a household can be convinced to use the app, or Alexa exclusively.I think that about sums it up. It's good, it works, Alexa integration is superb and it was easy to setup. But in reality you should really consider one of the versions with the remote. Or at least, be aware of what you're getting yourself into.

11.8.2017

Looking for a solution to controlling Sky Q from my phone I chose the Harmony Hub. I have quite a few Harmony remotes including the 1100 and all the apps for various home theatre devices in my setup but no one app that can control everything. The hub allows me to use Android and IOS apps to fulfil that requirement.The hub is very easy to set up on any reliable Wi-Fi network if you have experience setting up harmony remotes. It can take some time to get things working just as you want them too but a few hours spent getting this right if necessary pays dividends.Flaky Wi-Fi will make life difficult and people that assume their wireless network is fine because they can do a bit of web browsing may be mistaken.If you cannot stream HD and UHD video reliably via Wi-Fi without issues, assuming you have a reasonably fast broadband connection, your Wi-Fi is not fine and your experience with the hub may suffer as a result.The hub is paired to either a smart phone or a suitable IOS or Android based tablet then a Logitech account, either new or existing, provides a connection to the Logitech servers so that data for the different devices in your setup can be downloaded. Once devices are set up activities are created by choosing which devices are needed and what input settings devices may require. Activities have always been a big part of the way the harmony range of devices work and anybody that doesn't like that would be better off looking for a different solution.Once everything is working properly all sorts of things can be customised such as button positions, gesture functions, app settings, the order in which devices are switched on etc. These need to be explored over time to get the perfect setup and button layout tweaked accordingly. I chose not to have a separate activity for Netflix from my TV for example and added buttons to the Watch TV ipad app layout so I can watch Amazon, Netflix or Sky from just the one screen. You may prefer something different and that's the beauty of the hub and app approach, unlike remotes with buttons we can customise our layouts to suit us.I found that switching the phone off caused a bit of a connection delay to the hub sometimes when switching it back on again. I got around this by preventing the phone and Ipad from switching off when in remote mode and having the screen fade when the app was not busy via the harmony app settings menu.What I particularly like about the hub is how easy it is to make changes on the fly too. Unlike the remotes which have to be plugged into a PC or Mac to set them up thus making changes a bit of a faff, the hub being Wi-Fi connected is very easily adjusted from the phone or tablet apps in front of the TV.I don't use Alexa or any other such device so I cannot comment on how well or not the hub works with those devices. But as a replacement for a standard Harmony fixed button remote control the Hub is a great bit of kit.

29.1.2016

This worked with a variety of 14 year old HiFi equipment and recent smart TV and Bluray recorder. It did not work with a 2015 Rega DAC-R HiFi digital to analogue converter despite the fact that it was listed in the Harmony database. Logitech's support line answered promptly and were very helpful. They checked that the DAC-R file on my account was not corrupted and concluded that a previous customer had entered the I/R code incorrectly. They said they would try and track down the code but it might take some time. I said I would try and borrow a remote control from my supplier (a lot of Rega HiFi gear is IR enabled but not supplied with a remote). The supplier gave me a remote FOC and I used it to program the Harmony Hub.

21.12.2018

Update 23 December 2018Logitech has been forced to reverse the stupid firmware update and I have now updated the review to 4 stars to reflect this.The actual Hub is a useful way to control many things in the house and integrates (again) into the many home automation setups.My original review when Logitech decided they could upgrade firmware without warning to ruin many peoples Christmas.Well it seems that Logitech has decided that they need to close a "hole" in their firmware that many Home Automation users have been using for quite a long time. To get to the point were a hacker can even use this means they already have access to your home network so a complete waste of time.It seems Amazon in the USA and Germany are censoring 1 star reviews,

17.10.2017

I bought the Logitech Harmony Home Hub as I continue to expand my "Smart Home". Primarily I bought this device because it is compatible with Alexa - Great I thought. Unfortunately, however, there have been a few gripes which knock the overall usefulness of this product.Setup - This process was relatively straight forward. I have an open cabinet in my living room, and it sits within the cupboard with no issues. It was able to locate my devices with little pain and once I'd set them all up it ran straight away. I was able to sync the hub with my Philips Hue Hub so that I now have a "Watch TV" mode which turns my television on, dims my lights and selects the right channel.

25.8.2017

This is a lot better than I was expecting, based on other reviews. I use it to control my TV, TiVo, PS4 and Xbox one, and setup was fairly straightforward. Linking to alexa was a little more complicated because I had to do it in a browser rather than in the alexa app (which kept going in circles asking me to link the account, then when I clicked to do so, telling me that I needed to link the account).Once linked to Alexa, I haven't had too many problems with the skill, despite it only being the "red" skill. To be honest I am not really sure what the fuss is about (other than having to utter a couple of extra words "alexa ask harmony to...". I am able to issue commands such as "turn on the TV",

13.5.2019

I bought this to be able to turn my TV and stereo on and off using Alexa. I wasn't bothered about anything else it could do.It took some setting up, I had to clear and re-setup the devices a few times before I could get them to work. Part of the issue I had was that sometimes I only want the TV on and every time I switched it off it turned the stereo off too or vice versa. Eventually, I figured I had to make "activities" for each type of event I wanted to control. I have now made one for the TV only, the stereo only and the combination. The cool aspect I wasn't aware of when purchasing is you can also control the startup channel on the TV input on the stereo.

29.11.2017

I already own the Harmony touch remote contorl and have never really seen the benefit of adding a hub to it. However I invested in an Amazon Echo and heard they had improved the functionality of Alexa harmony Skill. I managed to get a good warehouse deal with 20% and OMG this thing is cool.Firstly even without Alexa and the Echo it gives me the option to add wireless plugs and lights to my network and control with my harmony remote and my phone, this is decent for quickly turning off lights and stuff around the house.Secondly, the hub itself makes the controller work so much better than it did before. The one downside of the touch controller prior to the hub was that you had to point it at the tv/

16.1.2017

You're better off buying the hub with companion remote for a little more money.https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Harmony-Companion-Remote-Control-Black/dp/B014GXQ3S4/ref=cm_cr-mr-titleHere's my review of that ...The harmony app is a little tricky to initially use, but once you've used it a few times and trial and error with other types of activities, it becomes easy. Great having one single remote for all devices now, in my case 4KTV, Amazon Fire TV, PS4, STB + Sonos playbar. A lot of people complaining (in UK) on having to say 'ask harmony' when asking Echo (Alexa) to perform activities/routines (seems UK don't get the blue harmony skill, only red one, which I've read could be the issue).

15.10.2017

I purchased specifically for controlling my home cinema setup and for use with an Echo Dot. The Harmony hub Takes a little while to setup through the app as the interface isn’t as intuitive as it could be but once done it works great and I’ve now configured multiple activities for things like gaming, movies etc... where after a little setup it’s a single button click and my TV, AV amp and Xbox will all switch on and they are all on the right inputs.The integration with Alexa whilst functional is really annoying as the commands need to be read out in the format “Alexa, tell harmony to turn on the TV” rather than simply saying “Alexa, turn on the TV” which is far more natural.

6.1.2017

Great product. Arrived yesterday and had linked the TV, Amp, DVD, Apple TV and Sky HD and added associated activities within half an hour. I'm using this with an old android tablet which now takes the place of 4 remote controls. Instructions are straight forward and the device is intuitive to use.Straight forward pairing with Amazon Echo and a combination of the native Harmony integration and IFTTT give me grouped voice control of the whole AV setup and lighting from any of our Echo Dots or the main Echo. For those wondering what the current (UK) capabilities are:- Switch on/off any combination of your AV system that you set using whatever 'friendly' voice command you choose- Add additional commands to these activities,

Logitech Harmony Hub - Reviews

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