Logitech to end manufacture of Harmony Remotes

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Logitech to end manufacture of Harmony Remotes

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

646 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2696053 21-Apr-2021 12:38

networkn:

The Elite Hubs are the way forward. No remotes to manufacture, just connect with your smartphone.

i still vastly prefer changing channels and volume level with a physical remote with buttons that my thumb just knows.

our harmony retired when we ended our sky sub - no more stb. at the momen, hdmi-cec is sufficient.

however, with devices increasingly having an app for control, i wouldn't be surprised if someday, these universal remotes will simply be a smartphone app.

networkn

Networkn
32246 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2696056 21-Apr-2021 12:41

nitro:

networkn:

The Elite Hubs are the way forward. No remotes to manufacture, just connect with your smartphone.

i still vastly prefer changing channels and volume level with a physical remote with buttons that my thumb just knows.

our harmony retired when we ended our sky sub - no more stb. at the momen, hdmi-cec is sufficient.

however, with devices increasingly having an app for control, i wouldn't be surprised if someday, these universal remotes will simply be a smartphone app.

The issue with my Elite remote is that it's almost always flat. It has atrocious battery life. I also prefer physical buttons, but since I have my phone on me at all times, and it's never flat, I usually end up using the smart phone app, except if I am watching sport, where I do a lot of rewinding and FFWD.

Changeover

45 posts

Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2696081 21-Apr-2021 13:37

nitro:

neb: There's no other device I know of that you can give an 80-year-old and say "press this single button to turn on the TV, select DVD input, turn on the DVD player, and play the DVD", "press this single button to turn on the TV, turn on the FreeView decoder, select the appropriate input on the TV for it, and set it to TV1 for the news", etc.

they keep the disc in the player? ;)

this was the use case for programmable remotes. as the world moves (moved?) into smart TVs and streaming services, that use case is quickly evaporating. a smart tv does all that and provides a much larger option for entertainment, without having to get up and change discs - or buying/borrowing new discs.

The 80-year-old would be unlikely to find their favourite movies on streaming!

Paul1977

5007 posts

Uber Geek

#2705961 11-May-2021 13:57

I'm a bit late to the thread, only found out about Logitech discontinuing Harmony in the weekend.

I think this sucks. I have two Ultimates, one in living room and one in media room, and it would be horrible to lose them.

I don't think those who say they've been using the Harmony less and less over the past few years had them set up as well as they could have been. I'd have to go on a hunting expedition to even find my OEM remotes, as with a properly set up Harmony one remote truly does do everything and you just don't need them.

In fairness, I did have to customize certain activities with additional steps and delays to make everything work perfectly - but once done it all just works.

In the media room I have an LG TV, Yamaha Receiver, PS5 (with PDP IR to Bluetooth adapter), and an Xbox Series X - and my Harmony controls them all without issue and gives me one touch changing of activities and on/off of all devices. In the living room I have an LG TV, Bose Soundbar, and an Xbox One X - this is a simpler setup, but I like having the same type of remote in each room. And with no line-of-sight required I can have all my devices hidden away.

Occasionally if I forget to charge the Harmony and the battery goes flat I HATE using the app on my phone. It's nothing like using a proper remote control, and using an app is an inferior substitute.

I just replaced the batteries in both of them, but won't be buying any spare remotes as (regardless of what Logitech says) I doubt they'll continue maintaining or updating their servers past a couple of years at the most. I also highly doubt they'll keep making and selling the Hub on its own.

It wasn't a money maker for them for two reason: the hub based remotes were too expensive for most people, and they didn't innovate to get repeat customers. The Ultimate (first one with a hub) was released in 2013, and only superseded by the Elite in 2016/17 - but the Elite didn't really offer anything new, it was really just a changed form factor. So they hadn't really come out with anything new since 2013.

I really hope another company steps up and fills this gap, but also keeps innovating so it can be a sustainable business.

networkn

Networkn
32246 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2705962 11-May-2021 14:01

Given the attention it gained elsewhere, I suspect either Logitech will reconsider, or it will be sold to an interested third party. The *vast* majority of what I've seen online is people upset about it. I think if sold it and the new company introduced a $15 a year support contract to keep getting product updates, that would give them a pretty decent additional stream of income. It's small enough most people who value the system would pay it, and would help keep the innovation coming (though, honestly, it just works, so I really want them to keep producing what they have been, ideally with better batteries :)

I saw some unsubstantiated commentary that a number of the developers and support staff were looking to take it on.

Paul1977

5007 posts

Uber Geek

#2706065 11-May-2021 14:33

networkn:

Given the attention it gained elsewhere, I suspect either Logitech will reconsider, or it will be sold to an interested third party. The *vast* majority of what I've seen online is people upset about it. I think if sold it and the new company introduced a $15 a year support contract to keep getting product updates, that would give them a pretty decent additional stream of income. It's small enough most people who value the system would pay it, and would help keep the innovation coming (though, honestly, it just works, so I really want them to keep producing what they have been, ideally with better batteries :)

I saw some unsubstantiated commentary that a number of the developers and support staff were looking to take it on.

That would be good if it happens.

I feel like Logitech leaned too far into "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". When they released the Ultimate with the hub that was amazing and blew the previous champ out of the water (2007's Harmony One). But nothing substantial since then. Sure, the newer Elite has better button placement than the Ultimate - but wasn't worth the upgrade cost if you already had the Ultimate.

There's still plenty of innovation that could happen to improve the remotes, Logitech just weren't interest in doing it. Apart from adding new devices to the database they really haven't done anything in years. They could add a proper accelerometer to make it work like an LG Magic Remote, add microphones to the remote and hub for inbuilt voice control, native Apple Homekit support, improved battery life, etc.

Rikkitic

Awrrr
18604 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2706077 11-May-2021 14:54

I still happily use the Harmony One, which meets my needs perfectly, and would gladly pay an annual subscription fee to keep it going. Some of the remotes it replaces don't even work anymore, and were horrible to use when they did.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Tradepub

Free professional, reference and technical white papers (affiliate link).

Handle9

11267 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2706082 11-May-2021 15:07

networkn:

Given the attention it gained elsewhere, I suspect either Logitech will reconsider, or it will be sold to an interested third party. The *vast* majority of what I've seen online is people upset about it. I think if sold it and the new company introduced a $15 a year support contract to keep getting product updates, that would give them a pretty decent additional stream of income. It's small enough most people who value the system would pay it, and would help keep the innovation coming (though, honestly, it just works, so I really want them to keep producing what they have been, ideally with better batteries :)

I saw some unsubstantiated commentary that a number of the developers and support staff were looking to take it on.

The people are more valuable to Logitech than the product. They have had ~60% sales growth in the last year so can use the people more productively in other areas. They may find someone to buy the IP but it's more likely to just get shut down.

Handle9

11267 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2706083 11-May-2021 15:09

Paul1977:

I don't think those who say they've been using the Harmony less and less over the past few years had them set up as well as they could have been. I'd have to go on a hunting expedition to even find my OEM remotes, as with a properly set up Harmony one remote truly does do everything and you just don't need them.

Mine's setup perfectly, it just doesn't offer that much value anymore. The test is what remote do my kids default to? It's not the Harmony.

networkn

Networkn
32246 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2706086 11-May-2021 15:18

Handle9:

The people are more valuable to Logitech than the product. They have had ~60% sales growth in the last year so can use the people more productively in other areas. They may find someone to buy the IP but it's more likely to just get shut down.

The sales are artificially inflated due to COVID and the move to work from home. Once that is done, sales will return to slightly better than prior to C19, but they will return to 'normal' levels.

As for whether it gets shut down, sold or released to the community, I guess we will see, but my feeling is it will not be shut down.

Handle9

11267 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2706098 11-May-2021 15:26

networkn:
Handle9:

The people are more valuable to Logitech than the product. They have had ~60% sales growth in the last year so can use the people more productively in other areas. They may find someone to buy the IP but it's more likely to just get shut down.

The sales are artificially inflated due to COVID and the move to work from home. Once that is done, sales will return to slightly better than prior to C19, but they will return to 'normal' levels.

As for whether it gets shut down, sold or released to the community, I guess we will see, but my feeling is it will not be shut down.

The numbers are inflated a bit but aren't going away anytime soon. They've had very strong year on year growth for the last 5 years or so.

I'd guess all the R&D people are redeployed already and there's a skeleton maintenance team for the products.

Paul1977

5007 posts

Uber Geek

#2706105 11-May-2021 15:42

Handle9:

Mine's setup perfectly, it just doesn't offer that much value anymore. The test is what remote do my kids default to? It's not the Harmony.

My test is what single remote can do absolutely everything I need it to with as little effort as possible. For me that's been the Harmony. Even needing two remotes is one too many, and I never have to tell the missus "no, to do X you have to be on input Y".

I don't have kids, but if I did they'd use the Harmony because all the OEM remotes are packed away God knows where!

networkn

Networkn
32246 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2706106 11-May-2021 15:45

My kids use either the Harmony, but increasingly they say 'alexa, turn on the TV', or 'alexa I want to watch a movie', 'alexa let's watch Netflix kids' which uses the Harmony system.

Handle9

11267 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2706107 11-May-2021 15:48

Paul1977:

I never have to tell the missus "no, to do X you have to be on input Y".

Neither do I. CEC takes care of that problem.

Paul1977

5007 posts

Uber Geek

#2706116 11-May-2021 15:58

Handle9:

Neither do I. CEC takes care of that problem.

Fair enough, but it's never been as straight forward as that for me - there's always something that doesn't behave quite how I'd like it to.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5