Overview of the Logitech Harmony Hub

The Logitech Harmony Hub comes in the following flavors Harmony Hub, Harmony Companion, Harmony Pro, Harmony Pro. Logitech has rebranded the platform several times (the earliest version was the Harmony Smart Control) and expanded its capabilities beyond a unified remote for media to controlling the connected home.

I prefer the Harmony Companion with the simple remote because it is cheaper and easier to use. If your toddler breaks a remote or it simply wears out from over use, then it costs about $30 to buy a replacement remote. As an early adopter, I deployed Smart Control in every room so that family and guests have a similar media consumption experience no matter what room they are in.

Logitech has added IP-based smart home functionality to the Hub though it still pales compared to the Simple Control app in this regard. Notably, there is no IP control of Android TV settop boxes like the Nvidia Shield TV and Android TV TVs so you can’t do simple things like numeric input or use other keys on the Harmony remote. You can also expand the Hub’s smart home RF interoperability with the Harmony Home Extender, which adds Zigbee, Z-wave, and Z-wave Plus support.

In addition to Logitech, Apple TV, Amazon Echo, Google Home, SmartThings, and Wink all aspire to be the one platform for the connected home. None of these competitors match the Logitech Harmony for controlling all of your media devices, which works with over 270,000 devices. Conversely, the Harmony Home Hub’s aspirations are under developed both in terms of capabilities and ecosystem support. So, you are likely to need both a Harmony for our media center and an alternative solution for your connected home platform.

Voice Control

With voice control and artificial intelligence transforming user interaction with the smart home, ambient voice solutions like Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, or (eventually) Cortana become a core ingredient if not the Hub itself.

Amazon Echo

Thus far, Logitech has partnered with Amazon. By connecting the Harmony Hub with Alexa, you can start or stop Harmony activities such as “Watch TV”, “Play a Game” or “Listen to some Music”. You can also power on or off your TV, change your stereo settings, or trigger connected home activities that are controlled by the Harmony Hub. For any Harmony Hub activity, you can create a friendly name that’s easier to say. You can also tune specific channels on your cable/satellite with voice commands such as “Alexa, turn on sports”.

In mid December, Logitech released an extra, ‘custom’ skill for Alexa. This skill expands interoperability with commands such as “Alexa, tell Harmony to…” “play”, “pause”, “skip [forward/backward]”, “[raise/lower the volume]”, or “set a sleep timer”.

Instructions for pairing the Logitech Harmony with the Amazon Echo are here.

Google Home

Please read Part II,  Configuring and Using Google Home with Logitech Harmony Hub, here.

 

Updated on April 28th, 2017