Which harmony remote do i have

A former IT software developer for the New York City Department of Education, he started his business in after discovering that Logitech did not offer repairs. They just wanted to get their good old side-arm. The first controller Werthauer fixed was his own. But he would eventually have four or five units coming in every day, from all corners of the world: remotes with cracked LCDs, broken USB ports, nonfunctioning IR emitters, busted tactile snap-dome buttons, all in need of care. Still, Harmony flourished, notching double-digit sales growth for Logitech in Dispense with the obvious part first: The number of devices in the living room has shrunk, particularly as streaming has obviated DVD and Blu-ray players for many.

Yes, standards! But before your eyes glaze fully over, know that this part will be quick. That in turn means a single remote can get a lot more done.

Think of when you use a higher-end Roku remote, say, to turn your TV on and off, or control its volume. A version of the streamlined experience that Harmony spent so many years providing now comes built in. And while Logitech tried to diversify its Harmony line-up by adding controls for smart home devices like light bulbs and smart speakers, that remains decidedly a realm of voices, not buttons. Harmony took a stab at building Alexa directly into a remote ; it went poorly.

It also seems not to be worth the trouble. Crumbs, really. Add in its ability to control a total of 15 devices, and the U1 certainly can be set up to control multiple systems around the house. The remote communicates with the app via Bluetooth, so the first step in the setup process is to pair the two. And then you can start adding your devices; this is a straightforward process in which you can choose from a list of preloaded devices including Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Nvidia, DirecTV, and Xfinity or enter the manufacturer and device name.

SofaBaton claims its code database includes ,plus devices and 6, brands. The software automatically and wirelessly updates the remote with the proper control codes after each new device is added. I loaded all of my gear from both of my AV systems into the remote in just a few minutes, since all of my devices were in the SofaBaton database.

You can also quickly learn IR codes from your existing remote, and you can choose what you want each device to be named on the OLED screen. Overall, we found the basic setup process to be straightforward but not necessarily quick. Your time investment will depend on how precisely you want to tweak your controls. SofaBaton makes you customize every little thing yourself unlike the Harmony setup software, which figured out a lot of stuff for you.

More on this below. The good news is that all of the programming and customization has to happen only once unless you tend to upgrade your AV gear a lot.

The hard truth is, with the death of the Harmony remote line, consumers have been left with a smattering of universal-remote options that all have notable flaws. This remote requires line-of-sight to control any IR-based equipment, and you need to be deliberate in pointing the U1 at your gear rack—and keeping it pointed there until any command sequences are done. My family is accustomed to using a Wi-Fi—based system, where you can point the remote anywhere in the room and the commands will still work, so the U1 took some getting used to.

You have to select the device in question and resend the command. But you have to figure out the macro or sequence of steps and assign it to a random button. For my family, the most logical option was to program a Watch TV macro onto the power button for the Apple TV or the Google Chromecast—likewise with the Xbox for gaming. Speaking of macros, the process of creating them, though logistically simple in the app, will be more mentally taxing than some people will tolerate.

Finally, the U1 remote can pair with only one Bluetooth device at a time. If all of your devices can be controlled by infrared IR , the One For All URC Smart Control 8 is a simple, affordable remote that has all the important buttons, including activity control to group components together. With support for eight AV devices, the URC can accommodate a pretty extensive home-theater system.

The URC has all the necessary buttons we like to see, and the core functions, like volume, mute, channel, home, menu, back, exit, and navigation, are grouped together near the center. There are even a few app-shortcut buttons including a dedicated Netflix button that you can program from the device of your choosing.

Eight pre-labeled devices are listed at the top, with one device button to scroll through them all a button for each device would be faster. All of the buttons are smallish and—beyond the navigation wheel in the center—not well distinguished by shape. Add in the lack of backlighting, and we think this one will be a bit more challenging to use in a dark room. The remote requires four AAA batteries, and they are not included in the package—which is kind of obnoxious. Make sure you add a set to your shopping cart.

On the plus side, the URC does have an activity button that can scroll through five activities TV, movie, music, game, and custom. During setup, you can designate which devices should be grouped together for a certain activity, and the URC will automatically assign key buttons like volume, input, home, and navigation to control the correct device. Plus, a press-and-hold of the red power button serves as an all-off for each activity. With the SofaBaton U1, you have to program all these things yourself, so the URC is actually a little easier to set up in that respect.

As we mentioned, the URC can only control IR-based equipment, so it needs to have line-of-sight with all your gear. Nor does it support Wi-Fi—based smart-home devices, which is not at all surprising for a remote in this price range.

Yes, there is a free One For All setup app for iOS and Android, and yes, it pairs with the remote via Bluetooth and lets you add your devices by inputting the manufacturer name and model number or testing different codes. Thankfully, the printed instructions are thorough.

This process is more labor-intensive than what SofaBaton offers through its setup app. It also means you can fix commands instantly, without even having to reach for your phone to launch an app. Unlike the SofaBaton, which can be set up to control different systems around your home, the URC lets you assign only one TV device, one set-top box, one gaming console, and so forth. This one is really meant to control a single system, which is fair given its low asking price.

Finally, the One For All setup app does have one helpful feature: a remote finder. On the screen, I simply tap on the little house icon. The system can also be a bit sluggish, since everything has to be routed through the Hub. And then there are occasional snags where something might not turn on properly, forcing you to re-sync your Harmony unit, or even track down the original remote. These problems have largely abated over time, so it might simply be a matter of needing time to adjust.

Pros: Easy to setup and use, feels great in hand Cons: Expensive, voice control is iffy. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Sideclick remotes. The idea is that if you do most of your viewing on a device like an Apple TV, Roku or Fire TV, they can add additional functions like channel changing.

The Apple and Roku remotes in particular are designed to be sleek and compact, and the Sideclick attachment just completely throws that out the window. It takes a bit of padding to get a perfect fit and, once attached, the entire thing is just too wide in the hand, with the indentation where the two remotes join together feeling particularly unpleasant. Only buy one if you have larger hands and fewer devices.

Pros: Inexpensive, easy to setup Cons: Flimsy, feels awful in hand. Sign up. How to make sense of Logitech's universal remote lineup We also took a look at a model from Sideclick. Naudus