Best TV Antennas Review - Consumer Reports

The right digital antenna will get you free TV stations and make it easier to cut the cable TV cord

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TV antennas might seem like a relic of a bygone era, when the number of channels you received could be counted on one hand. But as people look for ways to trim their ever-escalating cable and streaming TV bills, digital TV antennas are making a comeback. In fact, about 20 percent of all households with broadband access now use an antenna, according to research firm Parks Associates.

Consumer Reports evaluates indoor TV antennas of all shapes and sizes. This year, we tried indoor antennas in two locations in the New York metro region. We found that both locations were able to receive dozens of free over-the-air channels. (Outdoor antennas tend to perform even better, but they’re not practical for everyone.)

That’s good news for the growing number of people who are dumping traditional cable packages but keeping streaming services such as Amazon Prime and Netflix. An antenna can supply their live TV, including local news and other broadcasts. (See more on the benefits of a TV antenna.)

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Even if you subscribe to a cable replacement service that brings you channels such as AMC and HGTV, you might still want an antenna. These services—which include DirecTV Stream, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and YouTube TV—don’t always provide local programming in all markets. An indoor TV antenna can help fill that gap.

If you live near a major TV market, you’ll probably get many local stations—ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC, plus PBS and Telemundo—using a TV antenna. And there are now dozens of digital subchannels under the primary channels, too. These offer additional programming, such as old TV shows, B movies, niche content, and hyper-local news and weather. Websites such as AntennaWeb and the Federal Communications Commission’s DTV Reception Maps page can give you an idea of which stations you can expect to receive in your area.

As a bonus, the picture quality you get from your indoor TV antenna might be better than what you get from cable. “The signals may be less compressed,” says Claudio Ciacci, the former lead television tester at Consumer Reports, who oversaw this year’s antenna evaluations.

In addition to a TV antenna, all you need to watch your local stations is a TV equipped with a digital TV tuner, something included in almost all TVs since 2007.

All antennas can receive traditional broadcast signals. But for this year’s testing, we also checked to see whether the antennas were able to pull in new "NextGen TV" signals. Technically called ATSC 3.0, these signals—which weren’t available during previous tests—are now available in about 75 percent of U.S. markets. Regardless of the antenna you use, you’ll also need a TV, or converter box, with an ATSC 3.0 tuner to watch ATSC 3.0 broadcasts.

Compared with traditional ATSC 1.0 broadcasts, NextGen TV can deliver brighter, sharper pictures; improved sound; and enhanced emergency notifications. It also allows for two-way interactivity, enabling features such as video-on-demand, the ability to pause or go back to the beginning of shows, and hyper-local content such as local sports and weather reports. Right now most of the NextGen TV broadcasts are simply simulcasts of what’s being sent via ATSC 1.0, but some networks, including CBS and NBC in New York, are now offering programming with high dynamic range (HDR), enabling brighter, more vibrant images with greater contrast and richer colors.

Before you buy a new TV, check our buying guide and full TV ratings of models from all the major brands. You’ll also find our exclusive brand reliability and satisfaction ratings based on feedback from more than 92,870 members. Every set we evaluate goes through a battery of tests, backed by expert viewing panels, to evaluate high-definition picture quality and UHD performance with 4K content.

The antennas we tested range in price from $20 to almost $100; as in previous tests, we often found little correlation between price and performance. The antenna that pulled in the most stations in our tests this time was, in fact, the priciest, but other models that cost significantly less did almost as well.

The number of channels you receive will depend on your location and environment—factors such as geography and any obstructions that could interfere with signals—as well where you place the antenna. We were able to get more, or fewer, channels when we changed the location of the antenna in a room. In one instance, when we moved an antenna from the window to a nearby chair, it picked up an additional 20 channels.

Reception can even vary over time. Over years of testing, we’ve found that the antenna that works best in one location may not be the top performer somewhere else. That means you may need to try several models before finding the best antenna for your needs. That’s why we strongly recommend purchasing from a retailer with a no-hassle return policy.

We included some amplified TV antennas in our review. These models have the potential to boost signal strength to help pull in stations that might otherwise be on the fringe. But our tests show that amplified antennas aren’t always more effective than nonamplified models—they can also amplify noise and distortion, and overpower reception from closer stations. Some amplified models actually did better with the amplifier turned off.

Also, it’s a good idea to regularly rescan for channels because you might have missed some the last time you scanned. And use our tips on where to place your antenna to get the best reception.

For this year’s project, Consumer Reports tried each antenna in two locations. The first was in an apartment in Riverdale, N.Y., a Bronx neighborhood about 12 miles north of the heart of Manhattan. At this location, which has an unobstructed view to the south where the city’s broadcast towers are placed, we found little difference among the antennas. All were able to pull in between 90 and 100 primary and digital subchannels.

Next, we moved our tests about 20 miles further north to an apartment in White Plains, a city in Westchester County, N.Y., where we did find reception differences among the antennas. We attached the flat antennas to a window on clear days. (One model with a different design was placed on the windowsill.) Signal strength typically is stronger near a window, and that’s the result we used when calculating our rankings. We also put each antenna outside the window on a balcony to see whether reception improved, although only one model is actually rated for outdoor use. But as you’ll see below, the results were overwhelmingly better outside for every antenna, so you might consider using an indoor/outdoor model if you are able to place or mount it outside. In general, we advise trying a few locations to see whether reception improves.

All the antennas we tested pulled in both VHF (channels 2 to 13) and UHF (14 to 51) signals.

“Unlike the old days, when tuning to a station yielded only one channel, many stations now offer multiple subchannels that provide a greater variety of programming,” Ciacci says. Such subchannels often include a mix of vintage TV shows, nature programs, local weather and sports, and foreign-language programming.

Most, but not all, of the antennas were able to receive at least some NextGen TV channels, which mainly use the UHF band. (A total of 11 NextGen TV channels are currently available in our New York area.)

To earn a mark for reception, a station had to have a relatively stable, viewable TV picture. The amplified models in this group were tested both with the amplifier turned on and shut off. We gave credit to those models that had marginal reception if they were able to provide a more stable, viewable picture at another time during the test.

In the rankings below, you’ll see three figures: the number of VHF channels received, the number of UHF channels pulled in, and the number of NextGen TV channels the antenna could get. The numbers were all recorded at the White Plains location. The first two numbers include both the primary broadcast channels—such as the local ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC stations—plus the digital subchannels. Anytime a new UHF or VHF channel was found during a given scan, it was added to the total number available.

Back in the early analog TV signal days, most major broadcast channels were in the lower-frequency VHF band—channels 2 through 13. Now they’re scattered across both bands, so it’s important to buy an antenna that does well across the board.

Our test results should be useful for pointing you in the right direction to models you might consider, but there are a number of variables that can affect antenna performance in your home.

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