Digital Trends

Harmony 688 December 7th, 2004 | by Yongki Go

Introduction

The role of a remote control as part of a home theater system has evolved quite significantly over the past decade. A remote control used to be just an after-thought supplementary component. But nowadays, a remote control, especially the universal one, is considered an essential component of a home theater system. It potentially makes or breaks the ease of operation of a system, which in turn affects the level of enjoyment that the system can deliver. Can you imagine the nightmare of having to go through a dozen of different remote controls to operate a system?

The Harmony 688 Remote Control

A good universal remote control could simplify a great deal the operation of an otherwise complex system by replacing the functions of all your component remotes. But simplifying the operation of a system is not the only requirement for a universal remote control. The remote control itself has to be easy to setup and comfortable to use. Currently, your choice for a programmable universal remote is relatively abundance. On one hand, the availability of options is good, but on the other hand, this means that one has to do some homework in order to come with a proper choice for his/her situation.

Most of the universal remotes in the market today are programmed by inserting codes based on brands or by learning the commands from another remote directly. But the family of remotes from Logitech Harmony is programmed in a different way: by utilizing the power of the internet. The one reviewed here is the Logitech Harmony 688, which has an MSRP of $249.95. The review sample comes in metallic silver finish, but gun-metal black finish is also available.

The Harmony 688 remote is sleek and has a modern look. It could fit nicely in an average adult hand and quite comfortable to be operated one hand. It employs a unique curvy button layout as can be seen from the picture. In such a layout, no two buttons are the same. They might be mirror image to each other, but none is exactly the same. Its buttons and LCD display are all backlit.