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Bottom Line The Griffin Beacon is one of the most powerful and least expensive ways we've seen to turn your iOS device into a remote control.

Adding A/V components on the Beacon was easier than on the other products we tested. Once set up, it operated flawlessly, and switching between components was as easy as a vertical swipe of the screen.

While the $79 Griffin Beacon is $20 less expensive than the Peel, we prefer the latter because it improves upon the channel-surfing experience, instead of merely replicating what you can already get through your cable box. Also, the Dijit app has a few quirks that need ironing out.

While the Beacon and Dijit software combination isn’t the perfect iOS universal remote control solution, Griffin’s $80 price tag and generally well-designed accessory are good enough to merit our strong general recommendation, regardless.

After a bit of fine tuning, the Griffin Beacon for Android worked brilliantly. It's an interesting-looking gadget with a lot of uses.

Without a doubt, we absolutely love that the Griffin Beacon is a useful convergence device that organizes our eclectic remotes into one – while giving us complete control of the complete home theater experience as well.

To conclude, the Griffin Beacon paired with the Dijit app is a functional universal remote control system, if you are prepared to spend some time setting it up. Unless you are much luckier than I was, you’ll have to teach the system every button push you want to use on every remote you have.