Need Harmony Remote recommendation

[Microman]

I have the Harmony One, and it has worked great. But now the keys are not working well, and I have to push really hard to get to activities..Whats the scoop on buying a harmony remote these days? And should I consider that hub?

[Sarcany]

Harmony remotes have not impressed me. The buttons are poorly placed and prone to failure. Most of the remotes crash and need to be rebooted by pulling the battery. The apps for programming them are a mess of confusing and often redundant GUI elements.

That being said, the Harmony Hub is a nice piece of kit, entirely because once it's been programmed and tweaked and tweaked and tweaked it eventually works with an Amazon echo to provide decent voice-controls for the various components of an entertainment center. The remote that it comes with is half-baked, but you don't need it all that often.

[Will Collier]

I like the simpler models, particularly since my puppy started mistaking them for dog toys. The 650 is solid, has an intuitive layout and is and easy to find. Overpriced at retail IYAM, so I looked for used or refurbs during the Weeks Of Puppy Destruction.

[sekker]

We have several now unused or under-used Harmony remotes since we dumped cable.

But they are clearly less needed with smart remotes like the FireTV or AppleTV.

[Ombligo]

I have the hub and have not had any issues. I even like the minimal remote (just wish the keys were lite). I needed a RF remote because my media gear is in my closet behind the TV, so it needs to go through walls).

[raz]

I bought the 655 because the wife could not cope with manually changing the tv input between the satellite, the Blu-ray, the roku, and the OTA antenna.

Works fine.

Down side is the buttons are too small and there are a lot of them.

But the wife is appeased.

[Microman]

I took a toothpick... heavy duty one, with sharp tip, and was able to clear around the ACTIVITES button, and get quite a bit of trash out of the edge of the button. And it works pretty well now, when I push on the area ov the second T.

So all better, and I don't have to try and take it apart.

[sekker]

raz wrote:
I bought the 655 because the wife could not cope with manually changing the tv input between the satellite, the Blu-ray, the roku, and the OTA antenna.

Works fine.

Down side is the buttons are too small and there are a lot of them.

But the wife is appeased.

Perfect use-case for a Logitech Harmony-series remotes. We dumped our BR and have our OTA via an Amazon Recast so all of our content can be controlled by apps on a Roku/FireTV/AppleTV

[Fritz]

I bought this to replace the OEM Onkyo what had a circuit die instead of the usual IR LED. It's not great, but it does the job, and since your remote still works, you can educate a new one. And it doesn't have the Harmony price gouge.
If you're adventurous, check for teenie weenie screws that might be in place, then you can pry apart most remotes with a 1/16" flat blade and go slow around the perimeter, holding open areas as you go with a credit card or...
Dab the "circuit" pads with 70% isopropyl and the back side of the silicon keys with warm water. Let it dry and put it back together.
Better to buy a learning remote before your OEM fails, like I didn't.

[bazookaman]

Sarcany wrote:
Harmony remotes have not impressed me. The buttons are poorly placed and prone to failure. Most of the remotes crash and need to be rebooted by pulling the battery. The apps for programming them are a mess of confusing and often redundant GUI elements.

That being said, the Harmony Hub is a nice piece of kit, entirely because once it's been programmed and tweaked and tweaked and tweaked it eventually works with an Amazon echo to provide decent voice-controls for the various components of an entertainment center. The remote that it comes with is half-baked, but you don't need it all that often.

I tend to agree. Once I get one working, I try not to mess with it as that usually ends in the remote flying across the room. But out of curiosity, what would you recommend? I've been searching for a good "smart" remote for what seems like decades now and unless you want to go full on 3rd party installed and supported home automation, Harmony is pretty much the only game in town.

On the positive side, I've found that cord-cutting and switching to a media server has drastically cut the need for "one remote to control them all". Now, all I have is a Roku, a receiver, and a TV. What I REALLY want is the ability to switch to "Movie Night" and it not only switches to the appropriate inputs but also changes the lights that I now do as a separate step with Smartthings.