Is there more than one model of Harmony hub or are the hubs all the same but just packaged with different remotes?
Which package is the best value in your opinion? I don’t know if it’s possible, but I’m looking to control a scene with my lighting and A/V equipment using an Inovelli scene enabled wall switch.
Hurry up, Best Buy still has some Ultimate Home remotes left in stock for 99. The hub is the same on all home automation remotes and is 99 on its own. Your next choice is Companion (currently 119, regular 149) - no screen. If you want a screen, then you have Elite (currently 299, regular 349).
Purchased! Thanks!
Looks like the Ultimate does have a screen. Maybe the Elite is a little more fancy?
Ultimate was the model before the Elite was released. It is no longer available. Its major design flaw is that they forgot to put physical smart home buttons on the remote. Also the Elite has a more refined UI and is thinner.
Yeah, I realized this after I ordered and just canceled the order and ordered the Elite instead.
If you bought it from Best Buy, cancel it again and head to Amazon you save $50 today lol. But, yeah, I didn’t know your budget. Elite is a whole lot better…I have one of each of the 3 smart home remotes and Elite is by far my favorite.
I negotiated with Best Buy and got 125 off. They had me on hold for an hour when I called to cancel the Ultimate. The automated system told me 15 minutes and it ended up being an hour. The representative gave me 125 off the Elite.
Do you have multiple hubs with all your Harmony remotes? How are they set up?
Yes, each remote has its own hub. Logitech’s engineering simplicity is annoying at times. They love their one to one relationship. One hub controls one remote, one activity can run at one time, etc. SmartThings handles well multiple remotes, but Alexa or Google Home not so much. You can however integrate Hue or Nest with each hub…
Didn’t know that they stop making the Ultimate…
I thought the Harmony Hub comes in 5 versions
All with increasing price points.
Was talking about the smart home remotes. There are only two listed on Logitech website. The Companion and Elite. They don’t seem to be making the Ultimate, thus the low price on Best Buy - they are definitely trying to get rid of them. The Ultimate is definitely a step up from the Companion. The hub itself is not a remote. They have other universal remotes, but those are not capable of operating lights.
Yeah, I don’t even see the one with the basic remote…Also see they have a “Pro” which looks like an Elite but only installed by a Professional.
At $99, the Ultimate is a steal. The Elite is pricy but definitely a great investment.
The Ultimate remote is the Harmony Touch remote as is the Elite remote the Harmony 950 remote.
In short, get the Elite if it’s in your budget otherwise, the Ultimate/Touch remote really isn’t as bad as everyone makes out to be, it is a little annoying that some of the buttons are above the screen but really, it’s completely liveable and I managed to pick up a Harmony Hub, Harmony Touch combo for ~$120.
If buying new all the Harmony hubs are all the same across the packages, just be careful with older/used hubs as there WAS a difference and may not work.
I own both the Harmony Touch and the Harmony Ultimate remotes, they are in fact different though the differences are minor. The Ultimate weighs about 20% less and it is contoured differently on the bottom with a ridge near the center which makes it better balanced to hold. It has haptic feedback which the Touch does not have and seems to have better battery life. It also has a motion sensor that wakes the remote when you pick it up; with the Touch you have to hit a button or touch the screen to activate it. Functionally though the Touch and the Ultimate are the same.
Told myself I was a damn fool for not jumping on this. I went back today to pick up one and price is back up to $179…Snooze you lose.
@rontalley
Costco has it in store for $99.
So I received the Harmony Elite Hub and I’m in the setup process but stuck.
I added all the devices including Smartthings Hub and when I go back into the app to complete the setup, the app finds the Harmony Hub but when I click on it, it the wheel spins and nothing happens. So it finds the hub on the network but the app won’t connect to it.
I’ve tried over and over. I’ve rebooted it. Not sure what is going on. Any tips?
I finally got the app to connect. I’m totally confused on the controls. Why on earth does the Harmony app understand what up, left, right, down is on the Xbox but the Harmony remote doesn’t? Do I seriously have to go in and program every single button on this thing to be able to do anything?
So there HAS to be a difference between the hubs. The Elite’s Hub can connect 15 devices while the others only support 8. I know this thread is old but it’s the most relevant one I was able to find.
Backstory: (Feel Free To Skip)
I just got my 3rd Harmony hub, I’ve picked up each of them used for $20 or less. My 1st was just the hub, that originally had a Smart Control remote but it was lost & the guy sold it for $8 because he thought it was only usable if someone had a remote & a broken or missing hub. I used it mostly through home automation, but didn’t get a whole lot of use out of it, but found it at least worth more than I paid. I then acquired a harmony keyboard for $15 that was actually new in box. The older gentleman in a rich neighborhood had bought it apparently a while before & his son told him it wouldn’t work for him because he didn’t have a hub & it was just an add-on. Being a rich person he apparently didn’t bother returning it to get his money back & eventually I got it for a great price. At that point I just saved a few searches in OfferUp for “Harmony” & “Logitech” with a maximum of $30. So every time something gets posted in my area I get a notification. The Keyboard was great, so nice to be able to pause my FireStick & turn up & down the volume on the TV from the keyboard I’m using on my computer. I then acquired a Hub with a Smart Control remote for our common room for $10, & just a couple days ago purchased my latest, a Companion with a Hub, for $20. With this new one I noticed it looks different than the others, the Hub says “Logitech” on it instead of “Harmony” so I was wondering if it was different in some way. I looked it up but found very little information. I did discover that the Harmony Elite hub is capable of controlling 15 devices as opposed to the other’s 8. As all of mine are secondhand I have no way of knowing which remote they originated with, & which hub is which.
My contribution & Request:
Both of the older ones had all the same numbers M/N, FCC-ID, IC, P/N, But the new one, labeled “Logitech” instead of “Harmony” has a different Part Number, 815-000101 for the “Harmony” ones, 815-000118 for the “Logitech” one. I don’t know if they are different editions, most likely the 1st 2 were released with the same remote, the Smart Control, while the different one was probably released with the Companion remote, & the P/N might just be for the different release of the exact same device. So, since there are at least 2 different versions of the hub, 1 or more that control only 8 devices, & the one that controls 15 devices that comes with the Elite (& possibly the Ultimate, the information I’ve found is inconsistent) It would be nice to get some information on the different ones which people who have commented here have & most likely others who comment here will have.
Here are mine (If anyone else lists theirs Don’t include the S/N or MAC (In the white boxes with a QR Code) because those are unique to each device
#1: Labeled “Harmony” on Top
• M/N: O-R0004
• FCC ID: JNZOR004
• Rating: 5.15V 1A
• IC: 4418A-OR0004
• P/N: 815-000101
• Paired with Smart Control Remote
#2: Labeled “Harmony” on Top
• M/N: O-R0004
• FCC ID: JNZOR004
• Rating: 5.15V 1A
• IC: 4418A-OR0004
• P/N: 815-000101
• Paired with Smart Control In Menu, with Keyboard & Companion Added by user
#3: Labeled “Logitech” on Top
• M/N: O-R0004
• FCC ID: JNZOR004
• Rating: 5.15V 1A
• IC: 4418A-OR0004
• ***P/N: 815-000118
• Paired with Companion when I got it (Now moved to #2)
Another interesting point of note: Harmony says each hub can be paired with only 1 dumb remote & 1 touch remote at a time. I was expecting #2 to remove the Smart Control remote from the list & replace it with the Companion remote, but when I paired the Companion with the Hub it just added the Companion. So now in my menu I have the option of editing 3 different remote buttons now, the Smart Control which I don’t have, the Keyboard, & the Companion. I can’t verify if the original Smart Control will work as well alongside the companion, but I am able to assign it’s buttons with commands so I assume so. Just in case anyone wants to have 2 dumb remotes linked to a single hub, having 1 of each might be your best option
From my experience, the various Hubs have the same “potential” functionality no matter which remote you have. The more expensive remotes such as the elite and ultimate just unlocks the extra devices. I’ve paired an Elite remote with an old (no remote) hub and it gave me all the available device slots.
I strongly believe the limits are in the software and not the Hub itself. You having the ability to have multiple remotes paired to one Hub might just be a glitch.
I rarely even touch my remotes now as most of the activities are automated through ST!
