The exact same thing happened to me including freezing at 19%. Removing the batteries was the only thing that would wake the remote up again in bootloader mode.
I'm in a similar position. Combined with the firmware issues of inconsistent sending of signals, I'm going to set this remote aside and wait for an improved firmware release. I can't test effectively when I'm not sure signals are even being sent.
I too am used to the Logitech way but I think I see now how to handle this here for now as my receiver has a combined action of Power On and Input selection in the list of commands. I don't think that's great though when switching activities... hm.