Logitech to end manufacture of Harmony Remotes

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

Handle9

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#284269 10-Apr-2021 14:54

Logitech have announced that the are stopping production of the Harmony range. Hopefully they stay true to their word about maintaining support but I'm not hopeful.

I guess this isn't surprising. I used to use a harmony extensively but don't really bother anymore as CEC has become reasonably reliable.

https://www.engadget.com/harmony-remote-rip-020210167.html

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#2690618 10-Apr-2021 15:07

I still have a few here. Only one is in use and thats really only used to turn everything on and off now (older amp/tv).

driller2000

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#2690621 10-Apr-2021 15:10

That's disappointing.

And while CEC is fine for simple operations, it won't replace the activities I have set up which turn multiple devices on/off and select appropriate inputs etc.

Ah well - might need to buy a couple of spares at any end of line sales so I have replacements.

cshwone

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#2690622 10-Apr-2021 15:13

I wonder to what extent they are withdrawing. Hope the Harmony Hub concept (and hardware stays) but with app control.

CEC isn't really that useful with a proper home theatre setup with multiple sources.

dfnt

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#2690625 10-Apr-2021 15:37

That’s a shame, CEC is not a great alternative to turning multiple things on, changing inputs on things etc with a single button press

We use it daily

Rikkitic

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#2690629 10-Apr-2021 15:48

I still utterly depend on my Harmony One. My equipment is old but it works just fine.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

everettpsycho

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#2690630 10-Apr-2021 15:51

I had a harmony one and have been meaning to look at getting a decent one again. For our day to day use now though smart TV with arc plus CEC covers most things. The only thing I can't do easily is control the Xbox but I don't use it for media so that's fine.

I'm surprised Logitech hasn't embraced smart home tech more. From the squeezebox era of multi room audio, smart remotes they always felt like a company that was primed to be at the forefront of smart home tech but never showed up. They discontinued squeezebox, now the remotes are going and the UE line while popular doesn't really do multiroom like it could. Squeezeboxes plus harmony hubs could have been fantastic way to share your music around the house and control all your equipment from a central device.

alisam

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#2690760 11-Apr-2021 07:16

I just happen to have started looking for a new Harmony Remote. I've had plenty over the years and not all have been good after a few years use.

My primary remote is the 'Logitech Harmony Smart Control' which I have had for 5 years and looks very similar to the 'Companion' on the Logitech NZ website. My other remaining remote is the 525 which cannot control a FireTV, plus it uses the old desktop software which I think appears to be virtually unusable when I loaded it back onto my PC yesterday. Very, very slow and at times wasn't sure whether it had frozen.

The present remote doesn't have a screen and I don't really want to use my mobile phone just to control the TV etc. but decided a long time ago, I like the screen as there is no Help functionality on the remote itself (in case it gets confused switching devices on [or I do]).

I was very disappointed to see that the NZ web site only has 3 remotes and only the Elite has a screen (but the price puts me off).

So I can risk purchasing a Harmony knowing they are stopping production (and potentially support a few years down the track) or buy another brand.

Anyone recommend another brand/model?

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Dingbatt

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#2690767 11-Apr-2021 07:31

Might be time to pick up a spare I think.

I have put many hours into configuring the Harmony remotes we use so that they are simple to use for my family.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Senecio

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#2690768 11-Apr-2021 07:39

I have 2 Harmony elites in different media rooms. I’d be shattered if they discontinued support them over time.

I haven’t look at alternative universal remotes for years. Is there anything currently available that come close to a Harmoney remote?

Senecio

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#2690769 11-Apr-2021 07:43

I meant to add to my last post.

looks like 2nd prices have shot up after the announcement. If you have a Harmony remote sitting in a drawer it might be worth putting it up for sale now.

FineWine

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#2690796 11-Apr-2021 08:46

Logitech just did not really get into the whole home automation thing and they certainly did not get into the iDevices app culture.

They have the base technology within the company for home automation so it was obviously a board decision.

Just like Kodak they did not keep up with the times.

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

timmmay

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#2690799 11-Apr-2021 09:28

I got tired of the poor programming interface with the Harmony a few years ago and instead got this $25 remote from Amazon. It's not as functional, but it's fairly simple to program basic things like turn on a few devices when I hit a button and turn them off when I hit it again, send volume to the receiver, channel changes to the TV, that sort of thing.

jonathan18

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#2690804 11-Apr-2021 10:01

Handle9:

I guess this isn't surprising. I used to use a harmony extensively but don't really bother anymore as CEC has become reasonably reliable.

Very much the same in our household: we used our Ones exclusively for a number of years, never using the original remotes; but with each new device having CEC we used them less and less, to the point they were literally gathering dust, sitting in their cradle not having been used for a year or so. I sold both on here last year some time, and haven't looked back.

I really don't miss that re-programming required when changing/adding a device. What a POC that application was...

networkn

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#2690808 11-Apr-2021 10:18

Wow this is big news, Quite disappointing. Our Elite Hub is now almost exclusively controlled with our phones, but the Single Interface to control things is pretty central to our relatively complex home theatre set up.

I am surprised they couldn't spin it off into it's own business unit and sell it.

richms

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#2690809 11-Apr-2021 10:33

Bluetooth remotes on things now basically make it useless to have a universal IR one. They made something to control the PS3 and then that was it. Since bluetooth remotes are somewhat secure it must be hard for them to support so many different ones. They never really saw the product range thru past the old way of thinking about channels, inputs and settop boxes.

Now everything I do is done on either the TVs own apps (bluetooth remote works fine there) or the horrid IR one for the xbox (harmony doesnt help with its crap sensor built into the controller pairing button) I get no benifit from the harmony, and just getting it to do things like change inputs isnt really needed now since CEC takes care of that mostly for me.

Richard rich.ms

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