AmazonBasics Ultra Thin Indoor TV Antenna Review

Michael Iaboni Avatar

Written by:

Updated 11:21 pm

Expert Rating

90

If you’re on the fence about whether to cancel your cable and you’re shopping around for the Best TV Antenna, you would do well to narrow your search down to the Best Indoor TV Antenna and check out the AmazonBasics Ultra Thin Indoor TV Antenna. The money you save on your cable is more than enough for you to pay for it, and it’s 35 mile range is higher than average for a starter antenna.

Why We Like It – AmazonBasics Ultra Thin Indoor TV Antenna

The AmazonBasics Ultra Thin Indoor TV Antenna is a good choice if you’re looking to dip your toes in the water of the TV antenna world. It can pick up around 40 channels at a time, give or take, and set-up is as easy as sticking it to a wall and plugging in the coaxial cable.

Pros
  • Can Play About 75% of the Channels it Pulls in High-Quality
  • Good For Cities
  • Good Customer Reviews
Cons
  • 10 Foot Coaxial Cable
  • Not so Great for Urban Areas
  • No Amplifier

Performance

The manufacturer AmazonBasics has made a fairly impressive indoor antenna. In city tests, it was able to pull in about 43 stations. Of those, about 31 were consistently watchable. These stations included local feeds as well as major networks like NBC and community-access channels like PBS. It has about a 75% success rate, which isn’t too bad. But you can check out the FLATenna 35 for something similar.

Ease of Install

Set-up of the AmazonBasics Ultra Thin Indoor HDTV Antenna is pretty much the same as most other indoor antennas. It comes with the usual push pins for sticking it to a plaster or wood wall and stickers that are used to stick it to a window if that’s what you prefer. However, if you don’t plan, or don’t want, to stick it to a wall or window, there’s the tower option of the ANTOP HD Smart Bar Amplified TV Antenna. There are also plug-and-play TV antennas like the GE Indoor Antenna that you can settle for if you want quick and easy installation.

Durability

The AmazonBasics TV Antenna is white on one side and black on the other to accommodate different aesthetics. This is pretty much universal when it comes to TV antennas. It comes with a 10 foot coax cable, which is fine, but may be just a little too short in bigger houses or if you plan to place it farther away from the TV. Be sure to consider this before buying.

Range

The 35 mile range is a little above average when it comes to entry-level TV antennas. You should be able to pick up signals from broadcast towers and shouldn’t have a problem loading them if you’re a city-dweller. However, moral rural buyers may experience problems considering 35 miles just won’t cut it out there. If this is you, try the U MUST HAVE Amplified HD Digital TV Antenna.

Value

Customer reviews on Amazon for the TV Antenna are pretty good. Scoring 4/5 stars based on 2,658 reviews, it’s always a little comforting to know many people enjoy a product. It’s unavailable right now, unfortunately, but it usually runs for about $19.00, which is a very affordable price. Unfortunately, there’s no amplifier so you’ll be stuck with the 35 mile range.

AmazonBasics Ultra Thin Indoor TV Antenna Wrap Up

Rural residents should still be able to find some use for the AmazonBasics Ultra Thin Indoor TV Antenna, just not as much as city-dwellers, unfortunately. But for an entry-level antenna the AmazonBasics has some pretty good range, an easy set-up, and a high success rate for playing high-quality television.

Michael Iaboni Avatar