1byone Folding TV Antenna (2019 version) Review

Design

This antenna is different than most “flat” antennas you typically see in stores and on Amazon. 1byone has incorporated two flaps on either side of the antenna that allows you to change the angle of a portion of the antenna and, theoretically, receive more channels that might have otherwise been missed by only having your antenna face one direction.

This does definitely seem to help. You won’t go from receiving no channels to 100 channels, but if you currently find that you have to move your current antenna to get certain channels, the 1byone Folding TV Antenna can help since it can face multiple angles.

The package includes the antenna itself, along with a USB amplifier, a USB wall charger, mounting screws, and two-sided mounting tapes.

Features

The antenna includes an amplifier that can be connected to the included USB wall adapter or to an available USB port on the back of your television. This can help weak signals come in stronger, however, you will need to experiment to see if it actually improves reception. You may find that the reception is fine without it.

Performance

The antenna performed slightly better than my existing RCA antennae, which is larger than the 1byone. I was able to receive the same stations, including my local (and far away) FOX affiliate that typically gives me trouble.

The 120-mile claim is a bit of a stretch. Indoor antennas rarely pick up stations more than 50-miles away. When shopping on Amazon, assume the maximum range of any indoor antenna to be 50 miles (and even that would be under ideal conditions, such as a house on top of a hill).

When testing the amplifier and checking the signal quality in my TV’s settings, I found that the amplifier could increase the signal quality from the 40s to the 60s (on a scale of 1-100).

It’s important to remember that this will not cure all receptions problems. Unfortunately, if you get occasional interference, the amplifier will amplify the interference and you may still get pixelation and blips from time to time.

Interestingly, I could not use the USB port on my television to power the amplifier, as it caused the signal quality to drop in the single digits. This could be because the USB port on my TV is right next to the antenna jack, therefore it might be causing interference.

You will need to do some testing to determine if the amplifier helps or not. Also, be sure to test with both a USB port on your television and the included USB wall adapter. In some cases, the amplifier might actually make things worse, especially if you are relatively close to a broadcast tower.

Important Things to Know Before Buying

• Check what stations your location can receive with these sites: TV Fool, Antenna Web
• You will not receive cable stations, such as: ESPN, The Weather Channel, CNN, FX, AMC, Discovery, HBO, etc. No antenna can receive these as they are not broadcasted over-the-air.
• You will only receive free, over-the-air broadcast stations such as: ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and FOX (and possibly some “bonus” sub-channels, such as MyTV, Laff TV, etc)
• Check out the Cut The Cord page here on Technically Well for more resources!