They are now reasonably known; universal remotes. Logitech introduced a new addition to the Harmony family early this month, the Harmony Touch. Officially the successor of the Harmony One, so far the top model.
Appearance
The Logitech Harmony Touch is ergonomically designed. Unlike the mostly flat remotes, it has nice curves on the back, making it comfortable to hold. The back is also slightly roughened, for more grip. It also benefits the style of the device; less cheap appearance due to less shiny plastic. On the front is the 2.4 inch touch screen and around it a set of buttons that are illuminated, so that you can also use the remote control in the dark.
harmony touch grip
The remote control comes with a charging block and, harmony touch portrait unlike the previous versions, this is a standing block. You used to put the Harmony in it, now you put it upright. This saves you some space and makes it easier to place the block somewhere. In terms of battery time, the Harmony Touch lasts quite a long time, 8 days is about the maximum possible. In practice, you probably will not experience that often because you quickly put it back in its block. Is also nice and tidy.
Opportunities
With the Harmony Touch you can control up to 15 devices. You can set it via myharmony.com, so that all your settings are saved immediately. If you then switch devices again, you can immediately transfer the settings. During setup you can choose from over 225,000 devices from over 5,000 manufacturers. He still recognized a year 2000 Aldi DVD player from Hitecker, so the database is quite well filled. On the other hand, he did not recognize the Eminent EM8102 Web TV Box, but in such cases you can teach him the basic functions of the device. If you have all the devices set up, you can create activities and add the correct devices. I have created four activities, in use for the TV, UPC box, DVD player, media player and even the Sonos,
Je kunt 50 zenders voorprogrammeren met een eigen pictogram zodat je snel naar een kanaal kunt ‘zappen’ zonder gedoe. De Harmony Touch selecteert dan automatich alle apparaten die daarvoor aangezet moeten worden.
In het hoofdmenu kun je je activiteit kiezen. Heb je eenmaal een activiteit gekozen, dan reageren de knoppen op de Touch op die apparaten. Zo gaat mijn UPC-box automatisch op pauze als ik op de pauze-knop druk etc. Mislukt er iets bij het activeren van de activiteit dan kun je via de stipjes rechtsonder in het schermpje de instellingen voor elk apparaat vinden. Zo gaat soms mijn UPC-box niet uit als ik op ‘off’ druk en dan kun je hem dus vrij makkelijk alsnog uitzetten.
Skype
Met de Logitech TV Cam HD (die ik hier nog een andere keer ga reviewen) aangesloten op je tv kun je met de afstandsbediening ook Skype bedienen. Dus, gesprekken aannemen en ophangen, dat soort dingen. Uiteraard ga ik in die review daar dieper op in.
Conclusie
I put it off for a long time to buy a universal remote control. Because I thought they were too expensive and in an older model test I found it too much work to set everything up. Now that I have tested this I am a lot more enthusiastic. The remote control is handy, works well with all devices in the house and because you can set everything online, settings are saved and the device database is also constantly updated. The charging block is also designed differently, so that it takes up less space. The suggested retail price is 179.99 euros, which is quite pricey in itself, but there are no real downsides to the thing and it saves you from a whole stack of remote controls. I no longer needed my remote controls. Delicious!
