There’s a definite sense that the Logitech Harmony series is treading water with these newer remotes. There’s an accelerometer on-board that makes the remote turn on when picked-up, but this also has the initially unnerving effect of making it rattle when shaken, sure to convince a few buyers that some part of something very important inside has broken off. A software limitation, the five-gadget barrier helps to differentiate between the 650 and the more expensive Harmony One, now that mid-range units like this offer colour screens. It would seem this figure has been purposefully laid upon this product too. The previous Harmony 555 supported 15 devices at once, and while many will be just dandy with a limit of five, that figure will soon be eaten up if you use additional intermediary bits of tech like IR-enabled HDMI switches or want to use the Harmony 650 across multiple rooms. ![]() This is a remote for those with a serious home setup, which makes it all the more disappointing that it only supports five devices. Curiously, Logitech has added four physical buttons for the key activities of watching movies, listening to music and watching TV although these activities can also comfortably be relayed using the colour screen. Held with the butt of the remote in your palm, even the long-fingered won’t be able to reach the screen and activity controls at other end of the remote – and these are the main hotspots of activity if you’re using the remote to its full potential. Where the 555 was economic and slim, the Harmony 650 is curvaceous and a little chunky, but ultimately it’s more comfortable in-hand. The Harmony 650 is roughly comparable to the previous 555 price-wise, and ergonomics have improved since then. The latest round of Harmony-series remotes is more curvy, and larger, than its predecessors. There’s a built-in troubleshooter that you can use to fix problems after an activity has been executed, but getting settings perfect still requires significant tweaking. If you don’t always use the Harmony 650 to switch devices on and off for instance, you’ll come unstuck if a gadget uses a power on/off toggle rather than two separate commands. Optimising these macros takes time and patience, and will likely require you to change the way you use your equipment. Each command is separated by a gap of so many milliseconds, to allow for devices to finish tasks properly – you can’t usually tell a TV to switch to an HDMI input half a second before telling it to come out of standby, for example. It’s during the macro-making process that the real headaches can start though. The software tries to make the process as accessible as possible, formulating each macro through a series of simple questions, such as “will you use your TV or PVR to control volume when watching television?” These macros plug together a series of commands, to give you a one-button way to turn on your TV, home cinema and Blu-ray player, for example, and get them all prepped with the right settings. Once all the devices have been inputted, you can let the software add activity macros automatically, or pick your own selection. This process is laborious, but only has to be done the once, as long as you don’t muck it up the first time. ![]() We plugged in around a dozen bits of a kit into the remote – although only five at a time, in-line with the 650’s five-device limit – and came up with a single gap, the rather niche Niro 6.1 TWO home cinema system from 2004.Īny remote controller not included from the off can be “learned” by pointing the original remote at the Harmony 650’s IR sensor and mapping its functions key-by-key. ![]() The software’s wizard-based, and functions more-or-less the same no matter which of the Harmony remotes you use.įirst off, you input the names of all your kit, to check that they’re present and correct within Logitech’s database. Switch the 650 on and it’ll prompt you to connect it using microUSB – unlike some rivals you can’t do everything directly from the remote itself. The Logitech Harmony series needs to be setup using a computer. ![]() There’ll be pain, you’ll hit the wall and think you can’t go on, but there’s an enormous feeling of satisfaction once it’s over – and you can collapse guilt-free into a gasping heap. Setting up one of these remotes is like running a marathon. This remote’s primary function is to save time, but there’s plenty of work to be done before you get to that point. This won’t be a drawback for all though, especially now that you can buy long-lasting rechargeable batteries like Sanyo’s Eneloops. It’s powered by two AA batteries – one of the main differentiators between the 650 and the 700, one step up the series, is the use of a rechargeable battery in the more expensive model.
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