In what is essentially the successor to the Harmony One, the 900 does come with a whole lot of style matched with equal amounts of substance. Considering the price of this thing, it is expected to be brilliant. And we think it is by far the best universal remote out there.

Look & Feel
While the Harmony 900 looks quite similar to the predecessor, there are subtle changes to the entire package. The display now has a cleaner look to it, with the concept of themes now added to it. While you shouldn’t expect anything major in terms of UI changes, the better display and a cleaner UI just make touchscreen navigation a while lot better. It is dressed in glossy black at the front, with a border of silver along the sides that thickens as it spills onto the front, towards the bottom. And more appreciably so on the rear panel, the part that also acts as the battery cover. The rear is also black for the rest of it, but has a rubberized finish to help with the grip. At the very top on the rear panel are the two connectors for charging via the dock. You cannot charge this remote without the dock, but we don’t think that should really be a problem. In fact, it will be safer in the cradle, and looks classy too.

Unlike the dock that the Harmony 1100i Advanced comes with, this one is a flat bed design, and we feel that is a lot safer and less prone to wear and tear. The cradle part of the dock is glossy black, with a white LED on top, illuminated to signify that the power to the dock is switched on. Flip it over, and there is a rubberized black finish, with a thin channel for the power cable to run through, without disturbing the balance of the dock.

There are transmitters at the top and the bottom of the remote. We noticed that the Harmony 900 was even less finicky about the direction of the remote when working IR controlled devices than the Harmony 1100i Advanced. And we had said that the 1100i was good, meaning the 900 is even better. As for RF, the technology itself dictates that there is no need to aim the remote directly the module for it to work, since the range is very wide.

Above the display is the tiny power off button towards the left. The business end begins once the display ends. At first glance, you may feel that there are two many buttons to handle, the placement is soothing to the eye, and easy for the finger to find without you having to look down at the remote. There are essentially three vertical rows of keys along the length of the remote. If you notice, the keys on the two outside rows have a bulge to them while that isn't always the case with the keys in the middle row. Look hard, and you will notice that the Up/Down selection key, Pause and 5 have a distinctly depressed design. This has been done specifically to help the fingers work their way around the remote’s fascia, without you having to look down on it. Even if you do, the backlighting will be of immense help.

The display is a touchscreen, which is meant to work in tandem with the keys on the remote. Unlike the Harmony 650 that is a completely key based setup or the Harmony 1100i Advanced that is largely touchscreen, the 900 needs both. For example, press Activities and you will need the touchscreen to select what activity needs to be activated. In case you need to go inside the detailed menu of a particular device, the touchscreen is needed. There are no hardware keys to help you out alternatively. On the right and left side of the display are two touch-based keys for moving between the layers of screens. Below the display are two touch-based keys that keep getting reassigned according to the activity and task - return, activity, help, device etc. All four touch based keys are illuminated by a pale white LED, and integrate well in the design.

The entire key structure has been divided into five zones, which helps increase usage speed. Each category of buttons has been designed differently, again to help with navigation based on the touch of the fingers. Even within a particular division, we see a different key design for the critical keys. For example, Play/pause, Volume and Channels have a completely different design from the others, and even within each other.

Just below the display are the Activities and Help keys. Activities have the predefined stuff - Watch TV, Watch My Videos etc. Help, in this case, has a differently done assistant. In case of a problem, you press the Help key. It throws up two options - Guided help and I Know How To Solve It. Guided Help is the same as what we have on most other Logitech Harmony remotes - a step by step guide that helps configure the gadgets as required by that activity, in case of a problem. The second one, the I Know… one is quicker method of solving the issue, provided you know which particular device is causing the problem.

The Harmony 900 adds the Red, Green, Blue and Yellow buttons to the portfolio as well, and that will be of great help with certain Blu-ray players and DTH set top boxes.

Overall, we feel that the Harmony 900 has everything going for it in terms of design, build quality and the comfort of using it. The only thing you need to be worried about is the glossy finish, and that you don’t unintentionally scratch it.

Read more about the Features and Performance of the Logitech Harmony 900 on the next page, along with our verdict...