Description
A universal remote with a colour screen and one-click activity buttons that bring you showtime in no time. System Requirements: Windows XP Windows Vista Windows 7 or Windows 8|USB port (Type A port or adapter)|Internet access|Mac OS X 10.6 or later|N-I0003 CE DOC AGY-700-004496 Rev.001-1.pdf
From the manufacturer
Logitech Harmony 650 Infrared All in One Remote Control, Universal Remote
Brilliant and Colorful:
See icons for your favorite channels as well as the commands you need for the devices you’re using.
Click. Sit back. Enjoy:
Just select what you want to do—such as “Watch a DVD”—and Harmony 650 does the rest.*
Setup that’s a Snap:
Connect your remote to your computer. Tell us about your devices. We take care of the hard stuff.
- * Online setup required.
Additional Features
- Supports 6000+ brands: Feel confident that Harmony 650 will control the devices you have today and the ones you add tomorrow—whether it’s a new Blu-ray player or an aging VCR.
- Ever-growing device database: Your remote won’t become obsolete when manufacturers release new products or when you buy a new TV or add a Blu-ray player to your setup.
- Guided online setup: Connect the remote to your computer and tell us what equipment you have. Our online software walks you through the setup process.* * Online setup required.
Color Smart Display:
See just what you need, like icons for your favorite channels and the commands you need for the devices you’re using. The smart display provides help when you need it.
One-click Activity Buttons:
Simplify your entertainment experience. Once it’s set up, just select what you want to do and Harmony 650 does the rest.
Replaces 8 Remotes:
It’s easy to say good-bye to that jumble of remotes on the coffee table.
Intuitive Design:
Buttons are grouped by their functions, shaped to help you navigate, and backlit so you always know where you are.
Important information
Legal Disclaimer
MAIN REMOTE WITH BATTERIES ONLY-
xsvtoys –
Just bought a second one after 8 years and then wrote an epic diatribe in this reviewI originally bought and set this up in 2010 and just replaced it with the same model. It still was working fine but the Watch TV button finally started to get a little flaky. This makes sense, it’s the one that gets pressed the most. I was satisfied with 9 years of daily use and bought the same one again. The new one went right into service with no problems. I think I’ll get another one now just to keep on hand for when this new one gives up in 10 years.My setup:Yamaha receiverPanasonic plasma TVFrontier Fios cable/dvrXbox One (also used for DVD and Blu-Ray)Raspberry Pi with KodiRaspberry Pi with RetropieNintendo WiiNintendo GameCubeNintendo N64Note that the GameCube and N64 are not programmed as devices. You can’t control them with IR anyway, you have to use the game controllers and you will have to manually turn on the power switch. But you can still use the remote to set up the custom activities “Play GameCube” and “Play N64”. These activities will power up the TV, power up the receiver, and switch the receiver to whatever AV connection you are using for the game. Thus in this way you can sort of use more than 8 devices.This remote also can operate the Xbox One menus for non game stuff like watching Youatube and it also nicely runs all functions of Kodi media center on the Rasberry Pi with a Flirc controller installed. Nice!Amazingly this same remote is still in the Logitech product line all these years later, and thankfully so. This is about as good as you are going to get and the price is great compared to the far more expensive new models. It’s simple and it’s effective. It gets the job done. Just read all the reviews on those expensive new models and see if you think people are getting a better experience for hundreds of dollars more. Even after all these years and with all of the brains and technology in the world, it seems no one can solve the riddle of the universal remote. Spend all the money you want, none are perfect and there will always be frustration with the setup and operation. Some of this has to do with the zillion different things out there that need to be controlled, some has to do with the lack of comprehensive standards, and some has to do with the inherent limitations of the technology. At least with this one you won’t spend a lot of money, and in my experience it will work fine if you understand the limitations.Basically, as others have said, you simply must keep the remote pointed at your system until everything has had a chance to turn on and switch to the correct settings. This can take a few seconds, but this is an eternity for people who cannot manage the task and start waving it around as soon as they press a button. You can avoid 90% of all your problems if you simply keep that remote pointed towards the equipment until it is done! It really is as simple as that.If you mess this up, things will “get out of sync”. For example, the remote might think the tv is on when it is really off. So things won’t work right. You can press Help and the built-in wizard will extract you from your mess, MOST of the time. If not, just manually turn everything off and start over, and this time, you got it, KEEP IT POINTED RIGHT, and then it will work.Seriously, I can sit my bloated fat butt on the couch, day in and day out for months on end, using this remote hundreds and hundreds of times to watch TV, watch movies, watch YouTube, play video games, and on and on, and it will work flawlessly every single time. Then I hand it to someone else to watch TV, and after they inevitably ask me “how do I use it to watch TV?” I say “press the button that says ‘Watch TV’ (DUH) and keep it pointed at the TV until everything is on”. And they inevitably mess it up and holler “it’s not working! What do I do now?”. And why is this so? Because they did not keep it pointed at the TV, that’s why.Note that this is not a limitation of this particular remote, this is due to the inherent limitations of the technology. When you want to do something like watch TV on a full theater system, you are using a macro in the remote to accomplish this. A macro is nothing more than a series of IR commands sent out to the different parts of the system, such as: 1) turn on the tv, 2) set the tv to the correct input, 3) turn on the receiver, 4) set the receiver to the correct input. These have to be done one after the other, not all at once, in order to make everything work right. It doesn’t take long, but it still does take a few seconds, and those few seconds are just a bit too long for all those people who cannot manage the simple task of keeping the remote pointed in one direction until it is done.The other limitation of the technology is that there is no “state awareness” for the remote. All this means is this: the remote has no way to “know” if the power for your TV or other device is ON or OFF. This is true for any IR remote. In the case of the Harmony remotes, they “assume” that the power is off for everything in your system when you are telling it to turn things on, such as when you want to do something like watch TV. If the remote assumes your TV is off when you press Watch TV and it is actually turned on then it will send the power toggle command and turn your TV off. Now it’s off when it should be on, and you are scratching your head staring dumbly at it and wondering why you cannot see your American Idol. The wizard in the Logitech remotes at least tries to bail you out by using a logic tree and having you press some buttons and answer some questions so it can get everything where it should be.Even the All Off button is not guaranteed to turn everything off. Because if something is ALREADY OFF when it thinks it is ON then the All Off button will turn it ON! Got that?For anyone still reading this far, this situation is due to the common use of the single “toggle” power button, that is, the button you press on your TV, receiver, or whatever to turn the power on and to turn the power off. This translates to an IR remote code that simply toggles the power to the opposite of whatever state it is in. Now some components also use what is called “discrete” IR signals. This is a fancy way of saying there is one code to power off and a different code to power on. If the component is on and you send it a discrete on code, it simply ignores it and stays on. But if you send it a discrete off code then it turns off. This is a much more nifty way to turn things on and off with a remote, because now the All Off button could be 100% reliable to actually turn everything off, and this would give you a foolproof bailout if you mess it up (by now, you should know how you messed it up right?). If things aren’t right you could just hit the All Off button and everything would go off and then the remote would have a known starting point for you to try again. Sadly, many components don’t use the discrete power codes, only the toggle codes. Which means, if you messed up and didn’t get something turned on then when you press All Off you will actually turn that one on. Then when you press your command which will logically send the power toggle command to turn on, it will promptly turn OFF! Now, you have truly descended into madness and have thrown your remote through the TV screen.30 years of consumer electronics and we are all still stuck in this same boat. We’ll have flying cars before this gets solved.
Speed –
Has simplified my entertainment lifeI had the same problem that most people shopping for something like this have: too many complicated remotes. In my case, I had 3: TV, Receiver and DVR. The DVR remote was what I was using before to “attempt” to control all of my devices, but it simply didn’t have buttons for all of the functions I wanted to use and required manually changing inputs to control each device. The receiver remote could control the TV and Receiver, but not the DVR. The TV remote only controlled the TV. No matter which way I tried, it was a mess and my wife couldn’t stand it. She was never sure what to press, especially when it came to inputs on the receiver since we have 2 game consoles as well going through the receiver.I saw all the negative reviews about the remote resetting but decided to give it a try. I am SO glad I did. This remote can finally do everything I need so I can actually only use 1 remote! I didn’t fully realize how aggravating having multiple remotes was until I set this thing up. The most impressive part is that my wife has commented multiple times how much she loves it! She’s not too big into tech, but she does like watching TV and loves how simple it is now to press 1 button and no matter what my receiver’s last input was on, she’s watching TV and able to access all of the features of our DVR that she uses.Setting the remote up was actually fun (I like playing around with tech products) and luckily, I didn’t run into attempting to do anything that I couldn’t do.For setting up the remote, I followed the instructions for setting up an account with myharmony.com and installing the software. You connect the remote to the computer with the provided USB cable, and then you can use the website/software to customize the remote and “sync” the changes to the remote when done. I had maybe 1 time where the sync got messed up and I had to unplug the remote and try again, but other than that syncing worked fine.First off, this remove is “activity” based. In other words, when you set up your activity to watch TV, you select which devices are involved in that activity. You also set up which inputs your TV and receiver (or any other device) are on. It needs to know this to know which devices to power on/off and which inputs to select when turning on. It also assigns some key functions to the buttons that generally work for the type of setup you’re doing, like making sure the channel buttons are used for the DVR and not the TV. There is the option to go to device mode and do commands for each device, but I generally don’t use that since the remote allows you to map each button on each activity, so if I need to do anything, I have it mapped somewhere. It’s also nice to add functions that you can select on the LCD screen, so I put functions there that don’t have a button that would make sense and also for buttons I don’t use as often (like the aspect ratio setting on my TV that I change very rarely). It also works well while changing activities, only changing what it needs to. For instance, if I’m watching TV and want to switch to playing XBox, I go to More Activities, select the option I created for my XBox, and it simply changes the input on my receiver. Also, with activities, when you press the button to power off, it knows which devices it turned on and turns those off.As far as setting it up, my main challenge was my DVR. It’s a Motorola and the thing is terrible at picking up IR signals. I’m fairly certain it’s the IR emitted by my plasma TV causing issues, but the bottom line was that I couldn’t count on a single “power on” to work. I would always leave my DVR on anyway (all turning it off does is stop the video signal) so I wanted to change my Watch TV to not toggle the power. Unfortunately when I went to edit the activity, I couldn’t disable the power toggles since I had selected the DVR as part of the activity. However, I went to the settings for the DVR, and thankfully there was an option to always leave it on and not send the power commands. It would have been nice to be able to fully customize the activity to stop the power on/off, but at least I had a way to do it. First potential issue diverted.After that, the hardest thing was figuring out what buttons I wanted mapped. At first, I was messing with device settings instead of activity settings, which didn’t work as well. After reading some more reviews on how people said they only use activity and not device mode, I decided to do that and map all the functions I wanted on the activity and ignore the device options. That has worked great and simplified my setup. Now when I Watch TV, I have everything I need mapped to a button or LCD screen option.I also like the option to add favorite channels. You can add them with text or with icons. There’s a website that has icons for the major TV networks, so I used the icons in my favorites and can easily identify the channel I want to go to instead of reading the text. Both options are nice to have so you don’t have to remember channels and key in the 2-4 digit channel codes.I also like how the back-light for the buttons turns on when the remote detects that it’s picked up. As others have mentioned though, the activity buttons at the top aren’t back-lit, which doesn’t make sense and is the one main con I can think of with this remote.Another cool thing is that you can change certain settings for each device, like the delay between button presses in case it sends the commands too fast for your device to handle. In my case, the favorite channels weren’t work as well with my DVR and digits would get lost fairly often. I lowered the speed and now the favorites are more reliable.I did have a scare the other night where my remote was doing the dreaded “reset” and then thinking nothing was turned on. I decided to start with what I was hoping was the simplest fix: dead batteries. Luckily, I changed them to my Eneloop rechargeables and it’s been working fine since. The regular batteries that came with the remote lasted almost 4 months, which I think is good considering the LCD screen and how much we use it.The remote also has a help button that you can press if things get out of sync. So far in the few times that has happened to me (my TV didn’t get the power-on signal a few times), it attempted to turn everything back on and on the right input and it fixed the situation. It’s nice that it can do that so you don’t have to manually toggle power and inputs on devices with your old remotes to get things working again.Other reviews have mentioned that some people make the mistake of selecting an activity like watching TV, and then putting the remote down immediately. This can be an issue when devices are off and the activity requires the switching of inputs on something like a TV or receiver, as it has to wait a certain amount of time for the device to power on before it would be able response to the input change. The remote does show on the LCD screen that it’s still working on starting the activity, and the note goes away once it sends the final commands. While it may be confusing to some, it is necessary to do it this way so I at least give the remote props for showing that it still needs to be pointed at the devices.Overall, I love this device so much I could kick myself for not getting one sooner. Luckily I haven’t had the reset issue (besides the batteries going dead) and I’m hoping that it lasts a long time. It has made controlling my AV setup a joy instead of a pain, and for that, it gets a full 5 stars!
Marc –
Very customizable but with a learning curve******Update August 2014**********The remote still works well without problems. The battery life really depends on how much it is used. I use energizer batteries and on average they lasted about 2-3 months. I’ve had batteries last as little as 1 month and as long as 6 months. It really depends on how often the screen turns on. To give you an idea when I had to replace the batteries within a month I was watching about 4 hours a day and idly fidgeting with the remote the entire time.********************For starters this remote is not for everyone. If you have ever changed settings on a Logitech mouse then you have a basis for how the customization works. When you set up the remote I strongly advise you use a laptop if your desktop is not in the same room as the devices you want to control or you will be running back and forth.The remote feels good in my hand and best when holding the remote at the bottom. This is the perfect position for the thumb to be able to press stop/pause/play etc as well as access the directional arrows, volume and channel buttons. You can also access the number buttons but you may have to slide your hand down a little to access them easily. To use the LCD screen buttons as well as menu/exit/info/guide and power/activity buttons you will need to slide your hand up the remote or use your other hand. The top part of the remote is not as comfortable to hold but I have found that most of them time my hand is at the bottom of the remote anyways. I do have to use the upper buttons frequently but not for extended periods like the directional arrows when browsing the channel guide. The remote is kind of long so if you have small hands you may have to stretch a little or slide you hand up and down on the remote more.I have not had the remote for long so I can’t comment on the battery life. The LCD screen is bright enough to be seen easily during the day. The keys are also back-lit so you can see them in a dark room but is not overly bright. My FIOS remote’s keys are much brighter when they light up. The screen and buttons light up when the remote is tilted to the side or up and the LCD screen and keys go dark after about 7 seconds or no button presses or motion.To set up the remote you must have Microsoft silverlight installed on your computer and you do you customization on the Logitech website so this means that you need an internet connection where you are setting it up. Once you have customized the options online you make sure your remote is connected to your computer via the supplied usb cord and sync it. When I was setting up my remote I synced it many times in the first day changing options and configurations as I saw needed (hence why a laptop is recommended). The nice thing about this is that you can work on it as you use the remote and sync it when it is completed. Also the information is online so you can modify the settings anytime as long as you have access to the internet and a usb to micro usb cable.When you set up the remote for the first time it prompts you for which activity you want to use it for (you can have several activities). It prompted me for what devices would be needed for the activity. i selected the devices and it asked for the product codes of the devices. The remote is able to turn on your TV, DVD player, cable box, change inputs/channels for the TV, and even put delays in the process if some device takes time before you can change settings. It does this when you select the activity you want. The downside to this is that when you select an activity it will toggle the power for the controlled devices so if the TV is already on you may have to bury the remote under a pillow or in blankets so you don’t turn it off when you change activities. I currently only have need for one activity so this has not been an issue for me. The activities you can choose from is watch TV, watch a movie, listen to music, and custom. If you are toggling the remote between individual devices and an activity it will not toggle the power for the devices.When you have selected an activity on the remote the LCD screen has customizable buttons that you can program, 4 commands per screen and I have had as many as 20 commands at one point setting it up and hadn’t reached a cap. When setting up the commands you select which device you want to see the commands for (TV, DVD etc) and then select them. I like how the command list has all the commands the remote offers so you can assign them to buttons or the screen. In the event that a command’s name is hard to understand or is the same as that used by a different device you can rename it.In addition to selecting commands you can also set up a sequence of commands that control multiple devices. you can only set up sequences in the activity menu. Here is where the customizing really starts to show itself. When you have an activity selected on the LCD screen the remote can control multiple devices with the buttons for example for my watch TV the channel +/- controls the cable box while the volume +/- controls the TV. The LCD screen also has a menu to select an individual device to control (up to 5) and when you do that the LCD menu and buttons are just for that device. The screen will be different from the activity menu and will need to be set up as well.One feature I am disappointed about is that sequences cannot change the remote. I have s smart TV and like watching HULU but when I bring up the HULU app on my TV with the remote in the activity menu the directional arrows only control the cable box and not the TV so i have to press 2 additional buttons so that the remote only controls the TV. I could double up the buttons so that it controls both from the activity menu but that turned out to be more annoying in use. I understand that pushing 2 extra buttons isn’t much and they are even right next to each other but its the little things that matter, right?TL;DRPROS:customization done and saved onlinecomfortable to holdcommand list comes with all commands for each devicescreen and buttons light up from movement/button pressesTurns on multiple devices with one button/activityvery customizable activity and device menuscan set up sequence of commands to be executed at the press of one buttonCONS:Need internet connection to modify remoteLearning curve (the less tech savvy you are the greater the curve)Sequences won’t change LCD menu/device(s) remote is controllingselecting/toggling activities toggles device power even if the device is on already
B. S. Kimerer –
Great Remote – Stinky EULAThere are a lot of good things to say about this remote and a few minor negatives. Here are the ones that I think are espeically important.Pros1. You program it using a computer instead of putting in codes via the remote buttons. At first I did not like this idea, but after doing it I think it makes enormous sense. Some of the reasons are broken out below.2. After you have programmed it, you can see what devices you have set up in the programming application, unlike the cheaper universal remotes where you need to keep a piece of paper around to remember that. To add a function or change something, you just change it in the app and re-synch the remote. Wicked easy.3. The screen with the soft buttons in it completely removes the old problem of having a function on a device (such as eject media) that does not have an equivalent button on the remote. All of the commands for each device show up in the soft button panel. Cool.3. The activity buttons make it really simple to turn on everything you need to turn on to do what you want. It really is one-button convenience. You just have to be careful to keep pointing the remote at the devices until they all come on. That can take several seconds.4. You can set up your own, customized activities. I created one that will wake up the TV and connect it to Bart the Bowtie, our double bowtie antenna. That used to take a lot of steps with the TV remote. That is a one-button action now.5. All the codes for all the devices that you have programmed into it are available using the soft buttons on the display screen. You don’t miss out on anything (such as the DVD eject button) because there is no real button on the remote. You don’t have to reprogram a limited number of general purpose buttons on the remote. All the device functions are there.6. The screen lights up when you pick up the remote. It has an accelerometer in it, so all you have to do is pick it up and you are good to go. Sweet.7. Logictech has a huge database of devices, they claim 225,000. Since the device codes are on the net instead of in the device, it is much more likely that you will find what you are looking for. Logitech can keep the database up to date and add to it continuously, which cannot be done if the codes are stored in the device. It easily found all of my devices, including a Sony Audio Receiver that I bought in 1995.Cons1. THE REMOTE WILL NOT CONNECT THROUGH A USB 3 PORT. You must plug it into a USB2 port to make it work. I called Logitech support, and they confirmed that there is no driver for the USB 3.0 port.2. You can only program it from Windows or Macintosh. You cannot use a Linux computer.3. You have to install an application on the computer in order to program it. It would be nice if you could do that through the browser. I was told by an owner of an older version that he had programmed it using just the browser.4. The EULA for application requires you to sign off on the installation of an unspecified number of unidentified third party programs on your computer. That is a bit scary. The EULA says that the unidentified programs may grab data from your computer, and any beef you have with any of the unidentifed programs that may be installed on your computer is between you and the unidentified third party program vendors. This seems like way too much of an intrusion onto my computer. I would like to see a better explanation for exactly what it is they want to install. To be fair, I have not seen any funny business on my computer, so hopefully it was just an over-cautious legal staff at Logitech.5. According to their instructions, the only alternative to signing the EULA is to pack up the device in its original packaging and send it back to where you got it. So if you don’t want to provide Logitech with a wide open door for spamware, do not buy this remote. Also, the device comes in one of those plastic cocoons that you must destroy in order to get the device out… and to get to the instructions that then tell you to put it back into the “original packaging” to send it back. This is not cool.6. The instructions say to hook the remote to a laptop and take it to the room where all the devices are. I did that and ended up sitting on the floor, wrecking my back to no purpose. THERE IS NO NEED TO BE IN THE ROOM WITH THE DEVICES. After the initial mention of taking the laptop into the Man Cave, no use was made of the location other than to be closer to the devices to write down the model numbers. So don’t carry a laptop into the room. Write down all the device manufacturer and model information on a piece of paper ahead of time and take that to the nice, comfortable desk to type the information into the application.7. My laptop has only two USB ports to plug the remote into. One is a USB 2 and the other is a USB 3. I initially plugged the Harmony into the USB 3 because my mouse was in the USB 2. The remote was NOT detected by the programming application when plugged into the USB 3 port. I had to plug the mouse into USB 3 and the remote into USB 2 to get it to work. If your computer does not have a USB 2 port on it, you cannot program the remote.8. After I finished programming the remote, I took it to the living room and pushed all of the Activity buttons and nothing happened. Nothing worked. The “Assistant” on the tiny screen kept saying “Go ahead and try that now”, but when I did nothing happened. Bummer. But I found out how to turn off the Assistant, and I found the same Activity buttons on the soft button screen, and those worked. After I had tested all of the activities from the soft button screen, the other buttons started to work. I don’t know what happened, but it now works as advertised.
Mic –
Great Remote! Read the entire review!This has quickly proven to be a great universal remote! The software programming is great. It arrives with no instructions and I will say they are not needed. I was able to master it in no time. Oh a bit of confusion at first but quickly solved. Perhaps if you need to control many more devices a more powerful model may be needed but I would guess you may be paying for things you don’t need. I recommend it!!!!Update August 24/2015Since using the remote since August 8th I have discovered it suffers from some very, very annoying bad habits. It will always confuse programmed device inputs. As an example, if I select “Watch TV” it will turn on, select the correct devices and inputs. If I turn all off via the “All off” command and then select “Watch a Movie” It will turn on all devices correctly but select the HDMI input for the TV, not for the Blue Ray DVD player. If I correct this and then turn off this function via the “All Off” command and then reselect “Watch TV” it will then select the HDMI input for the DVD player, not the one for the Samsung set top box! Now you can use the “Help” command right! Well, when I do this to correct this issue it changes the audio input on the receiver from “Aux” to F-Aux which is a front panel Aux input on this receiver which of course is wrong! I have reprogrammed it 4 times trying different device sequencing with no change. I have carefully reviewed all sections and they are correct. It is rather easy to program the required device/input selections but and when you try to “Sync” the device it will take 2 – 3 try’s as there seems to be some software conflict between the remote and the provided Harmony programming software. This replaced a $20.00 six years old remote that was beginning to fail which never ever had this state of confusion! I have tried to call them but after a long, lonely wait gave up! I had E-mailed for technical assistance but if I do not hear back soon will return it as defective. 5 stars to one star! I write very few negative reviews! I will keep you informed.Update 09/09/2015I have been working with Logitech customer service since the last update. My contact has been a person by the name of Paul. I must say that he has been working hard to resolve this issue via about a dozen or more emails. To date, I am sorry to say the issue is yet to be resolved. The HDMI input selection remains to be an issue in that if the watch TV selection is shut down via power off the next time the Watch a Movie selection is made the TV HDMI input is incorrectly selected and visa a versa. I will nevertheless say that my contact, Paul, has been trying hard and has been quickly communicating with me on a daily basis via email. My compliments to Paul!Update 09/23/15I have continued to work with Paul at Logitech all this time and after many emails, a video, and even a photo of the OEM remote we have reached success as of this day. I was at one point ready to throw in the towel but chose to hang in with Paul. I came to view the issue as a real challenge and resolved to provide as much feedback as I could. I also have come to the conclusion that this older Dynex TV (Best Buy private label) may have been a significant contributor to the entire problem. The OEM remotes command sequence appears to have been the source and Paul, the Logitech rep had to find an atypical workaround. I am changing my rating to 5 stars to recognize Paul, the Logitech customer service rep for his dedicated effort in bringing this to a successful conclusion. Do understand that Logitech must find the thousands of command sequences for thousands of various products both new and old. I would guess this becomes an even greater issue when dealing with private label devices like my now ancient Dynex Best Buy private label TV. Hats off to Paul!!!Up Date 10/22/15Well, so far the remote seems to be working OK. However, if you accidentally select an incorrect function the remote may become stupid until you turn all devices off by selecting each device independently of the master off key. I have also observed that you need to have a large selection of new batteries. I have thus far had to replace the batteries 3 times. In my view, this is excessive even after reducing the screen turn off time to the fastest. I have found that if the battery drops to 1.37 volts vs. 1.5 at least when they are new the remote will sporadically shut down and reboot. When this occurs it will then select incorrect inputs on various devices. To correct this you may need to sync the remote again as you did the first time. While the remote works in a fashion it has continued to be less than perfect. This remote replaced one I purchased through Amazon several years ago for $20.00! That remote always performed very well but was failing after so long in use. If you have a basic system like I do I would suggest another more simplistic remote that may not cover every function but will at least turn your equipment off / on and select the correct inputs consistently. By the way, this much more expensive remote does not provide access to all the functions the original equipment remote provided by the device manufacturer.Up Date 05/30/2016Well, I just reprogrammed the remote again adding a Kinivo 3 device HDMI switch and all is working extremely well. Adding the Kinivo HDMI switch solved many problems and as of now the remote handles multiple source selections, HDMI input selections, and the Kinivo HDMI switch selections with ease and without fail! A real pleasure and a powerful remote. I intend to upgrade to the five device Kinivo HDMI switch and be able to handle a total of 7 source devices with ease!
drmoze –
BEST remote I’ve EVER owned (and I’ve been through many advanced ones)Wow, wow, wow. Wish I had purchased this years ago! I’ve been using a URC MX-500 for many years for my system with many components. Have also had and set up many other learning/programmable remotes over the years. The 650 is a dream and joy by comparison! (And I will compare the two a bit to highlight the 650’s benefits.) All I want is access to all the regular functions for my various components, and simple 1-button operation to change what I want to watch/listen to. The 650 does that beautifully.My system: Yamaha receiver with HDMI switching, Vizio smart tv, TWC DVR/cable box, bluray player, XBox, a VCR/DVD combo, Nintendo Wii, and an old music CDR burner/deck. All video goes thru the receiver, which has one HDMI cable going to the TV. The tv audio out goes to an optical AV input on the receiver. (My previous system, pre-HDMI, was more of a mess, with video switched by tv inputs and audio switched by my old receiver inputs.)First, the MX-500 (for perspective): Very bulky, lcd screen with 10 programmable buttons. Managed to get ‘activities’ working on it as programmed macros, which involved looking up many ‘direct’ command codes for devices online, using another remote to teach these to the MX-100, and tons of macro programming for 1- (or 2-) button ease-of-use. It does require programming skills and dedication to get everything working. Had to program cable box/tv transport buttons (play/stop/ff/rew/pause) to the LCD buttons so the hard transport buttons around the joypad would access the other menu/guide functions. Not for the faint of heart. And a few buttons act flaky, the lcd/button backlight died on all 3 units I’ve owned over the past 10 years, etc. Did I mention it’s bulky?Now for the Harmony 650. This remote is a beauty, stylishly thin with a smooth bulge at the base holding 2 AA batteries. Feels great in the hand. Small, decent color LCD screen with 7 buttons along sides/bottom. Buttons are fairly small but laid out exceptionally well and dimly backlit, which works great. Has just the right number of buttons for usability, including (from bottom up) number pad, transport buttons, mute/back, directional pad with volume/channel rockers to the side, ‘color’ buttons, guide/menu buttons, LCD screen/buttons, and (at the top) ‘activity’ buttons and help, with an ‘All Off’ button at the very top left. Very natural and handy layout, with some variations in button shapes.Now for the meat of the review: how easy is it to program this bad boy? Simple answer: like grade school compared to the MX-500 college-level! Detail summary: Visit harmony website (it shows up on the 650’s screen when powered up!) and download the setup program to your pc. Run the program and hook the 50 to the pc via the provided micro-usb cable.Type in your devices to add them. (The 650 handles up to 8 devices now; used to be 5.) ALL of my devices were found. (OK, not the Wii–which is rf-controlled, but more on that later.) Took about 5 minutes to add all my devices. Cakewalk!Now for the activity setup–selecting an activity on the 650 turns all the needed devices on and sets inputs appropriately. For each activity, you select what devices/inputs are used. Watching tv? TV with HDMI-1 input, cable box for channels, receiver for sound with HDMI-1 input from cable box. Done! Smart TV? TV plus receiver input AV4 for audio. Done! Watch a movie (bluray/dvd)? Bluray player, HDMI-3 input on receiver, HDMI-1 input on tv. Done! Play Xbox? HDMI-1 input on tv, HDMI-4 input on receiver. Done! Did the same for the VCR and CDR deck, both hooked up by HDMI. [I ‘fudged’ the Wii as another video game, selecting Xbox device only so I could select the Wii input on the receiver for that activity–my Wii is hooked up by HDMI.)You can rename any activity. The only minor catch is Smart TV is using the ‘listen to music’ hard button at top (music is played from the ‘Watch a Movie’ bluray/CD player). Additional activities show up on the LCD screen, which is divided into 4 squares. Pressing the button next to a screen quadrant selects that function.Everything worked as expected. Just click on the synch button in the setup program with the remote connected to the PC transfers all info to the remote (and saves settings on the pc as a backup–I believe settings are also stored on harmony’s website under your account). Want to change something? Make the changes in the program and re-synch! I even added favorites–up to 23 favorite channels can be added, just enter the channel # and a name. (The odd 23 number is for 6 screens of 4 favorites each, with one entry reserved to go back to ‘commands’ display.) Easy!One detailed tweak: the remote did not have 2 button commands to toggle through the movie and music modes on my receiver. it was easy to add these in the setup program (select device–receiver, add function and name it, point original remote at bottom of 650 and press desired button–learned!) and then add the new commands to the LCD screen for watching tv, DVD, and smart tv activities.Finally, the Help button right above the LCD screen is there for any control issues. 😉 First time up, cable box didn’t turn on. A message on-screen said to hit Help if there’s a problem. It asked if there was a problem, asked if it was fixed, asked what was not on, fixed the problem, and it’s worked since then. Easy! I shut off the Help Assistant in the setup program (and re-synched) because I know to hit the Help button if there’s a problem. Otherwise, it keeps asking when there’s no problem.Overall, this is the remote I’ve wanted for a long time. It just works, really easy to set up (with various equipment combos/connections), easy to customize the LCD screen functions, buttons feel great and are laid out well, backlight is fine, and easy for the missus to use! As a bonus, the LCD and backlight turn on when you pick up the remote, and stay off the rest of the time. In the $50-$60 price range, it’s a no-brainer. HIGHLY recommended!!!!!
Brian Smith –
Love it!I had a Logitech Harmony 670 remote for several year. So many, the silver has worn off of it and it’s black where my hands grip it. I’ve had it so long the buttons finally started to wear out and become unreliable. I love it! I have tried a couple of other fancier remotes, including an ESPN version a few years ago and a newer, higher end Harmony remote. I ended up returning any other remote I tried. Even though I am a technophile and always looking for the latest and greatest thing, I’ve found when it comes to remotes, simpler is better. When it was time to replace the old reliable 670, I looked at remote apps for my iPad and/or my IPhone, but I realized the remote is way easier to use than having to keep my iPhone or iPad around (even though they normally are) to turn them on, find the remote app, THEN, change the channel. The remote is a unitasker (to borrow a phrase from Alton Brown) that should remain a unitasker. I have the Remote app from Apple on my phone and my iPad and I rarely use it. It’s just so much easier to pick up a physical remote.So, that is the problem, now the solution. I called Logitech to ask which remote I should get to replace my trust old 670. The rep recommended a couple of their higher end remotes. Not only did I not want to shell out $250 or $300 for a remote (I can buy an iPhone for less), my experience told me I wanted the simplest remote that would get the job done. The 650 looks very much like my 670 with the main difference being a color screen to replace the black on blue LCD monochrome screen.. The 650 controls up to five devices, which is cutting it close since I have exactly five in my home entertainment system, but that ‘s all I need and all I think I’ll ever need. It controls my TV, DVD Player, Cable Box, Receiver and my Apple TV (I was pleasantly surprised when I lost my Apple TV remote to find my 670 controls it nicely).Set up of the Harmony remote is pretty straight forward. Just about every device you’re likely to have is included in their database so there’s not a lot of having to try to get it to learn other remotes’ commands. And their technical support is excellent. In the past when I had a problem, I called and they would walk me through the set up, even tweaking my customized database for me. Even better, since this remote was replacing another Harmony remote, when I plugged it in to my iMac and fired up the software, it downloaded all the old settings over to my new remote.The Harmony remotes have one button functionality that works most of the time for tasks like watching a movie (turn the DVD player on, turn the TV on, turn the receiver on, set the TV to the HDMI input for the DVD player). This requires you keep the remote pointed at your devices as it goes through sending those multiple commands. Sometimes it doesn’t work quite right and at first that freaked me out. The key though is to learn to use the intelligent help. If you get stuck trying a one command button like “Watch TV” just hit help. The remote will walk you through the problem “Is the TV on? Is the cable box on?, etc.” In about 3-4 steps it’ll figure out what is wrong and correct it for you, so even your technologically challenged spouse or your kids can now start a movie.The old remote ate AAA batteries. They wouldn’t last more than a couple of weeks. I use rechargeables and always keep a set charged in the drawer. This one uses (2) AA batteries. It’ll be interesting to see if the battery life is significantly different.If you’re in the market for a new remote, I recommend the Harmony remote. It’s cost effective and it works. I could buy three of these for the price of some of the fancier remotes, it’s reliable and easy to use.*** 3 month update***- IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM REPLACE THE BATTERIES- I’ve had the remote almost three months now and it started acting flaky on me. First I noticed the LCD screen was dim, but I thought maybe that was because the remote’s light sensor was screwed up and it thought the room was dark. Then, the remote started acting flaky. Chained events (like Watch TV which is supposed to turn on the cable, box, turn on the TV, etc.) stopped working. Then even simple things like changing the input on the TV stopped working. The remote would start the task, but the LCD screen would go dark and/or the remote would turn off before the task was completed. I thought it might be the batteries, so I pulled a pair of rechargeables out of the drawer. Same thing. Grrr… I went to call Logitech support only to find out my “setup period” had expired and they wanted me to pay a per-incident charge for support. Well, that ain’t gonna happen. So, I started looking for some troubleshooting tips. I found some in the Harmony Remote Software and the two branches of the logic tree both ended up with “Replace Batteries”. So, I pulled out another set of batteries I knew were fresh and installed those. Voila! Problem solved.As I said, the old remote ate batteries, but I did not get a low battery indication on this one. The old one would consistently warn me to replace the batteries while the remote still had enough power to function normally. Apparently, this one is supposed to have a low battery warning (judging by the help topics), but I haven’t seen one. I’m glad to find out my remote wasn’t broken after only a couple of months, but I can easily see how someone might thinks theirs is.
Bronx Drummer –
Allows me to control all of my audio equipment with one remote – very versatileUsing the Harmony Software, it was easy to connect every piece of audio equipment I have (LG TV, Xbox, Yamaha receiver, Amazon Echo, Streaming TV box), and it also allows me to customize all the buttons on the remote. I have built a nice program, where it turns everything on, and places it on the exact channel I want to watch, all with one button. The HELP on the remote does fix things if a unit didn’t go on for some reason. It’s very handy. The set-up is done on a computer – the program is very easy to use to set everything up. Complaint: The arrow and the buttons are very small, so it is easy to hit an arrow button rather than the button, which is in the middle. I’m not sure why they designed it that way, when the button is used so often. Overall, I would recommend this remote control for anyone who wants to put all their other remotes in a draw, and just use one.
Jan Strnad –
The first universal remote I’ve tried that really WORKS!I’m a veteran of the quest for a Universal Remote… one remote to rule them all, so to speak. I’ve bought a number of these over the years and they’ve never failed to disappoint.Some remotes had code numbers to enter for each device I wanted to control, and a long list of devices that somehow never included at least one component in my system. So then I’d begin the process of trying to find a compatible component with codes that would work, and I’d hit about 75% on that score with some basic function, like “power on” or “mute,” not working.I tried a couple that would “learn” remote codes by putting each original remote and the universal remote nose-to-nose and teaching the universal remote each command. Which worked, EXCEPT for the one or two commands that were “outside the range” of the universal remote, which tended to be a function that I used frequently.One by one the universal remotes were decommissioned and relegated to a cardboard box.After a decade or more of remote-juggling, I was looking at the eight(!) remotes it took to work my system and decided to jump into the universal remote pool again, maybe one last time. I saw that you could use your smartphone as a remote control, but that system was only as good as your home wi-fi and required a “hub” to translate the wi-fi signals into the infra-red signals that most remote controls use. Seemed too wonky.Luckily my research turned up the venerable Logitech Harmony 650 programmable universal remote! It’s an all-in-one solution that works as long as you can see your components (i.e. they aren’t behind a cabinet door).Basically: You log onto the internet, create an account, and download some software. This software resides on your computer, so at this point, you’re done with the internet. You log on to your software on your own PC to program the remote. You type in the model numbers of your components and add them as “devices.” You can then create “activities” such as “Watch TV” or “Play Blu-Ray” or whatever. You can name the activities anything you want (subject to a limit on the number of characters), and create as many activities as you need. There’s a limit of eight devices. You can customize the remote to add functions that aren’t part of the standard programming or to fix commands that don’t seem to work by using the nose-to-nose “learning” method.Now you use the provided USB cable to sync the remote with what’s on your computer, and you’re done.Well, of course you AREN’T done. You’ll find new activities you want to create, and you may need to do some troubleshooting. I had to call Logitech Technical Support to walk me through the customization process, but they were friendly, patient and helpful.Three buttons on the remote can be assigned a frequently used activity. They have icons for a TV, a movie, and music. There’s a button for “other activities” that you push to navigate to a menu and click through to the activity you want.Ultimately, after trying a number of universal remotes over the years, this is the first one I’ve found that WORKS!Now to get to some details.Logitech boasts a very large number of supported devices: 250,000+. I guessed, going in, that my Costco-specific Panasonic TV wouldn’t be included, and I knew for dead certain that my Monoprice HDMI switcher wouldn’t be on the list. I WAS WRONG! TV and switcher both appeared as I typed the brand and model numbers. The codes control both devices perfectly, allowing me to set up “activities” for all of my components.Here’s an example of an activity, one I call “TV/Speakers.” Once programmed, with a single press of the “Watch TV” button, the remote selects the HDMI output from my switcher, turns on the TV, turns on the cable box, turns on the receiver, selects the proper input on the receiver, and mutes the TV sound.Setting up an activity is a simple process: Name it, choose the components you’ll be using, and then answer basic questions: Which device controls the volume? Which one selects the channel? Etc. After a very few questions, you’re ready to go.If you want specialized functions, you need to program some buttons individually. You’ll be shown a picture of the Harmony remote and a list of functions, then you simply drag a function onto the button you want to program. If a function is missing or doesn’t work, you can add it with the nose-to-nose learning method where the device’s remote teaches the command to the Harmony remote.You can also add steps to any activity. For instance, muting the TV sound was an added step in the “TV/Speakers” activity. Again, easily done by selecting the device and the function you want to add.I had to call Tech Support because I didn’t quite grasp the concept of programming buttons. Turns out you need to program each activity separately, which makes sense when I think about it.There’s also an assistant on the Harmony 650 remote for when things don’t quite work–if a component doesn’t come on or doesn’t turn off, etc. I also appreciate that the LCD screen on the remote comes on when you move the remote and turns off when it’s just sitting there.You do need to point the remote at your devices and keep pointing it until everything comes on, which can be a few seconds.So far I’m very happy with the Harmony 650 and recommend it to anyone with two many devices, too many remotes, and a direct line-of-sight (no cabinet doors) to their equipment.
Ztronics901.Jr –
(Updated 2019) – Beyond my expectation..high flexibility, nice design and works great.****Updated on March, 29 2019****I was surprised it is NEW unopened, manufacturer original package, Amazon.com still stocked this Harmony 650 and sold one third of the original price back in 2013. (actually sold by Boss Treasures but fulfillment by Amazon.com)I have purchase second unit to replace the older unit. The older done great, no issues at all, but the unit is ‘half damage’ because of the battery was leaked. I left the unit more than 2 years with the AA batteries not taken away.After tried hard prying the case to clean up and self-refurbish the inside electronics pcb board, some parts got corroded by leak chemicals, but it still works after I flushed the program again. Unfortunately several main buttons were not responsive anymore. (please don’t use cheap china battery for longer period).Thanks to Amazon.com, with expedited 3-days internationally shipment via DHL, I received this second unit today. Amazon does great all the time to their international customer, the fastest and cheapest shipping on earth.Ok, this one printed as 2017 on its manual. slightly has different packaging cosmetic appearance if compared to my 2013 model.2013 unit comes with grayish packing, older Logitech logo and dual AA Duracell Alkaline battery. This one comes with dual AA GP Alkaline (Logitech tried hard to cut their cost?)The physical appearance, both are 100% same and quality feel of buttons still there.Since I do not yet program the unit so will not comment on that matter. Hopefully this one doesn’t have any drawback/ negatives.Again, thanks Amazon.com for such great services.****************************I got too skeptical for the first time, scared by those negatives comments by those peoples that too pampered and technical avoidance. I had canceled my first order due to this bad impression, many of them. Then after doing some intensive research, going out from Amazon.com, find other sources of review.. then finally I had placed the order. Arrived very fast and great packing by Amazon. Yes at the first moment we would feel likely to setting up a micro controller circuit-program and run the setup. Similarly the situation as the time when buying a new AV appliances, with many unknown buttons, but patiently we will learn that features after used several times. I found too many useful features hidden beneath its ‘messy’ initial setup. This Harmony 650 is beyond my expectation and its cool with useful interface. At first time log-in the setup, I felt to blame Logitech for their on-line web-based setup system.Yes, a little bit discomfort as we need to register at Logitech Harmony websites and then to start free downloads of the Microsoft Silverlight and Harmony device driver and software. The Logitech may assumed that every user could be connected to internet nowadays. But later I discovered that the kind of setup will help this device from dumped with thousand of unused devices list and drivers inside the memory. The internet setup will help the Harmony to select the latest updated devices, hence the selected devices, ones will be downloaded to Harmony and kept into your Logitech account for later preference or re setting a new one. This will save a lot of device memory, complexity of circuitry and absolutely lighter processing.The Harmony 650 is a very flexible remote commander that actually may replace any of the remote commander with IR system. Besides of the existing thousand of its known-devices database, we are able to add any unknown-devices as long as these devices using IR (Infra Red LEDs) commander system by having the original remote (as well as your AC, Fan or China-unknown brand appliances).You will feel how much Harmony 650 simply helps to manage all those different original remotes after completely run the required setup process. Simultaneously the Harmony 650 will switch on and off these AV appliances in a time through a special function. Also it can be modified/ customized all the buttons with the desired function regarding to our comfort. The learning IR features actually could make this remote handle more than 5 devices if we understand the tricks behind (train-register-drag-save-sync-run).It may included as a sub-remote menus but derived the IRs signal from different brand. I just did customization to embed all these Smart LED TV, Stereo (2 brands), Mini TV (china) into this Harmony-just once-touch button it will wake-up & configures the selected input/output of appliances. Let say I add an activity- Watch the DVD, the Harmony will auto-configures to wake-up all respected devices I/O ports-LEDs TV HDMI-in+DVD Players HDMI-out+Home Surround System SPDIF.. just a single button.Next step I’ll train my AC and Fans for extra activities. Great remote but need patient guy with some basic understanding how IR works (pulses of emitted IRs). The buttons are soft and high contrast color LCD display.Highly recommended!********Updated 26th NovI just successfully adding my Panasonic Inverter 1HP AC and the Harmony’s IR signal works well to control. But taken notes, it needs to be correctly learn-tuned by the following function from the original commander. The drawback to replace an AC is the Harmony will not able shows/display of AC Fan speed number, temperatures values or the timer-wake up clock. Unless the AC indoor chiller has built-in temp/status display on board.But it works fine all the way by that ‘blind’ commanding.We also able to put delays for IRs signal timing to suite with any remote system. Te be WARNED-adding the favourites channel JPEG logos/pictures will override the previous Device setting-may be this is the only design flaw that the Logitech will fix for next firmware updates.