Logitech Harmony for Xbox 360

When it comes to the universal remote control market, Logitech has always been on the forefront of design and functionality, bringing high-tech universal remote technology to home users at an affordable price. With the Harmony Remote for Xbox 360 it has completely reconfigured the design adding Xbox 360 specific buttons and downgrading features from the previous Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote. The full-colour screen is now a monochrome LCD and the rechargeable battery has been reverted to the older dual AAA battery system. Apart from these features, the functionality very similar. Without a doubt, Logitech make some of the most attractive units on the market, designed to work with any device you can imagine.

The basic and most pressing function of any universal remote is that it has to work with all of the devices in you home. In this, Logitech has all its bases covered. In addition to the thousands of preset manufacturers out of the box you can also point a remote control at it and have it learn the commands of any remote control in your home. Setting up the remote is a little time consuming but once you have invested the time to set it up just the way you like it, you'll never have to do it again.

Setup is done via the provided remote control software. Each device that needs to be controlled is selected from the list of thousands of supported devices, or manually calibrated via the "learn" function. Once all your devices are entered into the software, they are stored online by Logitech so you can log in at any time and update your remote. When we say you never have to program it again, we mean it. If you decide to upgrade your remote to a newer model somewhere down the line, all the settings can easily be uploaded to the new remote since they are stored by Logitech.

Once your devices are entered and you have calibrated each device to show the most important buttons on screen, it's time to set up the activities. Activities are macros that are designed to be a one-touch way to turn on your equipment, based on how you want to use it. For example, if you want to watch a DVD on your Xbox 360, all you need to do is program the remote (via a very simple process) to turn on your TV, along with your home theatre system and your Xbox 360. Then when you want to watch a DVD, press the "Watch DVD" activity and all your devices are turned on at the same time, ready for you to use. Only four activities can be displayed on the screen at one time but you can store as many as you want. If there are more than four, the excess will need to be scrolled to via the navigation buttons.

The difference between the Harmony for Xbox 360 and other Harmony products is the inclusion of the four coloured Xbox buttons and automatic support for Xbox 360 remote controls. The design of the remote is also in keeping with the white and grey Xbox 360 aesthetic. The screen is a monochrome LCD panel and the remote is powered by two AAA batteries, instead of a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery. Apart from these things, there isn't much else that separates it from other Harmony remotes, especially from a functionality standpoint.

Even though the price point for the Harmony for Xbox 360 is lower than the other remotes in the product range, we're pleased that functionality wasn't sacrificed to achieve it. It's still a top-notch product and one that will definitely appeal to Xbox 360 owners. If you've never used a universal remote control before, you're in for a treat as it's easy to set up, simple to use and will happily replace your cluttered remote control collection.