Modern indoor TV Antennas have evolved from the charming “rabbit ears”, but are now made of near-paper thin sheets of plastic. You can mount them to walls or hide behind your TV. Clear TV HDTV Antenna is a small, USB-stick-sized antenna that features rabbit ears and extends.
It’s simple, compact and extremely affordable . You might think that this design is too good to be true. We were able to receive good reception in one area we used to check many antennas. However, it was difficult to get the same channels and consistent reception in another location where we could use larger, more powerful competitors.
Clear TV HDTV Antenna may be the right choice for you. But if it does not, you will have just spent $10 on half-functional plastic.
Design
Clear TV HDTV Antenna, as mentioned above, is extremely small. It has a coaxial cable attached. However, the black plastic device fits comfortably in your palm. It is only 3 inches high and weighs almost nothing. It has a flat base that is slightly wider to allow it to stand up straight. This is made possible by the use of a sticky peel-off surface. It was easy to move between TVs and locations, leaving no residue. However, the stickiness slowly dissipates as you move it.
Clear TV HDTV Antenna’s metal arms are a pair of flip-up bunny ears. They extend to approximately 4.5 inches. The total height of this device is just over 7 inches. Although the telescoping ears don’t have an omnidirectional function, you can point them independently from one another by folding them or standing up.
The Clear TV HDTV Antenna plugs into your TV’s back like any other detachable antenna. It also includes a coaxial connector with approximately 6.5 feet of cable. It is not an amplified antenna. This means that it does not have a separate cord to plug into a USB port or wall outlet to extend its range.
Performance
Clear TV HDTV Antenna claims a 35-mile range and is compatible with both 1080p and 4K resolution signals. The Clear TV HDTV Antenna is not compatible with 4K resolution broadcasts by American networks, so this promise can’t be fulfilled for now.
Two floors in a house located 15 miles north from downtown Chicago produced very different results. The antenna picked up 55 channels and provided strong reception on the majority of them. The results of both the direct test and the indirect test were identical.
Clear TV performed much less well downstairs in our living room. Multiple channel scans were conducted with the antenna behind TV. It was both on the stand and the back of the set. We only managed to pull in 20 channels. These channels were clear and stable, but they were only a fraction of the ones we had pulled in one floor higher.
Clear TV antenna was pulled a few feet from the TV to increase the number of channels found. However, these additional channels were inconsistent and choppy. The end result wasn’t much better. It was again possible to find more than 40 channels by placing the Clear TV antenna on a separate table 10 feet away. However, some channels were difficult to view due to poor reception.
We’ve tested many other antennas on ground floor, both amplified and standard, and we always got good results. Clear TV HDTV Antenna was unable to penetrate trees and houses, which resulted in fewer channels and lower quality pictures.
Final verdict
Clear TV HDTV Antenna is not the best choice, based on our results. We were able to receive great reception in a second-floor setting and many channels. It was also about $10 cheaper than other antennas we tested in this space.
The downsides of the compact design downstairs were obvious. It picked up fewer channels and delivered inconsistent reception for some. It’s worth a try if you live near the broadcast feed and are willing to return or exchange the product for something better.
If you are experiencing interference or live further from a source of power, you might want to consider investing in something stronger.
