Logitech Harmony 700 universal remote: Harmony One's little brother

Logitech unveiled their Harmony 700 universal remote today and I bring you this review with quite a bit of hands-on time. I've also had the pleasure of utilizing Logitech's great customer service to solve and/or find a work around for issues that will be discussed later. The Harmony 700 is the long anticipated value version of the much loved Harmony One (which I purchased on day one and absolutely adore). We'll see if it stacks up with its more seasoned, costly, and featured sibling.

So let's get right in to what it comes with and what it does.

Accessories
The accessories are pretty minimal and include a USB to Micro USB cable with an AC adapter to enable wall charging. The unit also comes with a set of rechargeable batteries. All of which are shown below.

Features
PC/Mac-based Programming
The Harmony 700 has the feature that makes most of Logitech's remotes much better than their competitors. This is the ability to connect the remote to your PC/Mac and use their Logitech Harmony Remote Software to program in your many devices. That means you don't have to fiddle with codes for each manufacturer and enter them in tediously while staring at a manual. You just need the manufacturer and the model number. Pretty much every infrared, and for some remotes RF, device is in Logitech's database. The box on the Harmony 700 claims that this includes 5,000 brands and 225,000 devices.

Activities
Many people would find it to be sufficient that they are able to find and control their devices from information contained in an online database. Well the part that makes remotes like the Harmony 700 shine is that you can also program activities. I'll give you examples from my usage. I have "Watch TV" as my first activity. When I hit the button for the activity it turns on the TV and AV receiver and changes the inputs on both as well. That only required one button press and that is by far the simplest activity a user can program. It then controls the volume through my AV receiver and changes channels through my satellite box.

A more elaborate activity involves using the Intel based HTPC that I featured in a prior HTPC Round up. The Thermaltake case used for this PC has an infrared remote so it was replaceable. The activity involves turning on the TV, computer, and AV receiver. It then changes inputs on the TV and AV receiver. Once in operation, it controls the volume through the AV receiver and the mouse and keyboard functions.

Activity Issues
However, there were some issues getting the HTPC activity to work properly. The system only has a lesser model case in the database that the software forcibly has you choose upon initial setup. You can change it after completing the initial setup if you want. Then you can teach all of the commands like I did at first. I couldn't get it to work properly though. I decided I would give Logitech's technical support a call since my issue wasn't in the FAQ section of their website. The tier 1 representative that I spoke with first admittedly had no idea what I was doing. He referred me to tier 2 support for more thorough help. The time quoted for the call back was 72 business hours. I ended up receiving a phone call without two hours though. To make a long story short, the tier 2 representative was knowledgeable and solved my problem. It turned out that the suggested device is usually the best one to go with. I chose the lesser model and it controls my system as if nothing is different. My particular HTPC model had not been entered into the database yet.

The moral of this is story is to trust the suggested device first before pulling your hair out. You will most likely walk away with your sanity intact and your devices controlled the way you want.

Color LCD Screen
This is a standard color LCD screen that displays four options, sometimes with icons, at a time and has four corresponding buttons (two on the left, two on the right). The screen is bright when in use and sleeps automatically to conserve power when not in use. It can be awaken through button press or movement of the remote (the quick tug from picking up a remote usually will suffice).

Device Control
The Harmony 700 can control up to six total devices at any given time. This is compared to its more expensive counterparts, the Harmony One and 900, that can control up to fifteen.

Functionality
The remote comes with many buttons to choose from for activities and controlling a wide array of devices. This includes the fairly popular colored buttons that you see on a Blu-ray or DirecTV remote. The colors are physical buttons on the Harmony 700 whereas they are onscreen choices on the Harmony One.

Aesthetics and Feel
I know this is a value version of the popular Harmony One remote, but I don't think it necessarily needed to come off that way. I can only guess that certain corners were cut in design and for construction materials to reduce the cost of the remote. There isn't a seamless transition between the bottom and top halves of the case. The bottom side of the remote is slightly larger than the top so it creates a small lip. This felt somewhat clunky compared to the smooth transition that the Harmony One provides as you move your hand around the case. The buttons are also smooth rubber instead of plastic. I don't take issue with either as they both feel fine. The plastic buttons tend to add that extra bit of flare that makes the Harmony One nice for me though.

As for feel and weight distribution. The Harmony 700 is a lady with a well endowed backside. If you place the remote in your hand you can feel the weight clearly pulling down towards the battery compartment whereas this is not the case in the Harmony One.

Price
$149.99 @ Crutchfield.com. It's not really a tough sell when you think about the innumerable features and the ever expanding online database for programming your remote. You could essentially buy this remote and use it until it is no longer relevant (i.e. using infrared signals), can't find rechargeable AA batteries, or it breaks. I've had my Harmony One for a good while now and it has been treated with care most of the time, lost in a couch some of the time, and fallen rarely. It still has zero scratches on it. The construction may not be as nice on the Harmony 700, but it hardly feels cheap or frail.

Conclusions
For the few complaints I've noted, I would still buy the Harmony 700 if I needed/wanted a universal remote. This would come with a few caveats. I would buy it if I only needed to control six devices or less and if I did not have or could not justify shelling out more for a higher model remote. Overall, the Harmony 700 is a solid choice just like any of the other PC/Mac programmable Logitech remotes. The price point also makes it possible for more people to afford these. This is purely subjective, but I bet the six device limit would satisfy most would be buyers. Either way, if you're in need of a remote clutter reducing device and don't need RF, the Harmony 700 is at your service.