Best TV Antenna for Cord Cutters in 2026

We’ve tested dozens of antennas in the past 10 years with the goal of finding the best performance and ease of installation for the least amount of money. Compared to A Live TV streaming serviceOTA TV has some limitations, which is that it is usually limited to one TV, and the broadcast signal from the OTA TV antenna will not work on phones or other devices. Fortunately, you can increase the volume using… OTA digital video recorder With networking capabilities and custom applications. Our favorite now is Tableau fourth generation.

When you buy a TV antenna, the two things you want most are: The largest number of channels available and the best reception or image quality. In our tests, we wanted to find antennas that were able to attract more channels than others, and that also provided stronger, clearer TV signals, even on “problematic” channels. Using the TiVo Edge as our test machine, we connected each antenna individually and tested how many total channels we could receive at our Los Angeles and New York locations. The Edge lists the signal strength for each channel, and while a signal strength reading of 70% usually means it’s watchable, we watched all of the pre-selected test channels (below) to determine signal quality. When determining the winner, we tried to find the antenna that had the best performance both with and without line of sight.

With that in mind, we tested seven indoor antennas priced from $29 to $50 (all significantly less than basic cable TV service). Here are the seven TV antennas we looked at:

While most antennas are made by “name” manufacturers, Gesobyte and Btfdreem were chosen specifically because they were best-selling antennas on Amazon, even though the latter is not currently available.

As with real estate, how well a TV antenna works depends on location, location, location. We tested the antennas in two main places: in uptown Manhattan, New York, where line of sight to a broadcast tower is six miles away, and in Reseda, California, at least 10 miles from the nearest tower (although no line of sight). Depending on your location, for example, you may receive broadcasts from multiple antennas. In addition, hills or large buildings in the way will affect the frequency range and reception of TV channels.

We placed each antenna in the same place every time and connected it to the device TiVo Edgewhich provides signal strength data as well as the total number of channels. We used two metrics to determine which TV antenna performed best. The first was a crude measure of how many channels an antenna could detect, while the second included several pre-determined “problem channels.” For this, we reviewed a list of channels selected from different forums, for both test areas, and measured how well the antennas pulled in each channel.

The list of “problematic” channels in Manhattan were WABC 7.1 (ABC), WNET 13.1 (PBS), WPIX 11.1 (CW – Manhattan only) and WNJB 58.1 (PBS – New Jersey only). Additionally, we’ve added popular channels CBS 2.1, WNBC 4 (NBC), and WNYW 5 (Fox). Meanwhile, we’ve compiled a list of channels in Los Angeles including KCBS 2.1 (CBS), KNBC 4.1 (NBC), KTLA 5.1 (CW), KABC 7.1 (ABC), KTTV 11.1 (FOX), KCOP 13.1 (MyNetwork) and KCET 28.1 (PBS).

While the result will vary depending on where you live and how far you are from TV towers, the top-performing models in our tests received the most popular channels as well as local channels, broadcast radio, and Spanish-language stations.

Most TV antennas were built on the same rectangular design, but there was one important consideration: the cable. Did the antenna have a long, high-performance coaxial cable, or better yet, a detachable cable? You’ll be sticking one of these to your window, which may be quite far from your TV, so longer is better.

It’s worth noting that some of these antennas — Btfdreem, Gesobyte, and Ultra Vizion Plus — included gain-boosting amplifiers. Based on our experiences at many locations over the years, amplifiers can affect signal strength in highly unpredictable ways. The Ultra Vizion won’t work at all with the subwoofer connected, while the others do. The numbers printed above are the best results with or without amplification. If you can’t receive your TV using an indoor antenna, a gain amplifier may not actually help you, and in other cases, it may result in poor reception. worst By overloading channels that already have a strong signal.