Tom's Guide Verdict
With a grey fabric facade and compact design, the Mohu Vibe suits a variety of decors and delivers solid performance.
Pros
- +
Distinguished styling
- +
Excellent performance
- +
Long cable
Cons
- -
Not stand for tabletops
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Mohu Vibe Amplified Antenna: SPECS
Range: 50 Miles
Channels Received: 52
Amplified: Yes
1080p Reception: Yes
Cable Length: 12 Feet
Size: 11.75 x 3.6 x 0.5 inches
Arguably the most elegant indoor TV antenna we've tested, the Mohu Vibe Amplified antenna is also one of our top performers. With a grey fabric covering, the flat antenna is comfortable with Danish modern furniture or in a contemporary grey furniture setting and is modestly priced at just $25.
Better still, you don't give up performance for style with the Mohu Vibe. Compared to the Channel Master FLATenna or Mohu Leaf Supreme Pro, it didn't quite match the number of stations those models could capture — but it's much more inconspicuous and liable to be a welcome addition to any living room, apartment, or dorm.
Read on to find out why it's one of the best TV antennas you can buy.
Mohu Vibe Amplified Antenna: Design
With a grey plastic frame and cross-hatched grey cloth facade, the Mohu Vibe is just a little over 3 and a half inches wide and less than a foot tall, making it one of the smallest models we've tested. It's just about half an inch thick and is designed to hang on a wall using a supplied wall screw and anchor.
Mohu includes an in-line Jolt amplifier that can be turned off if necessary. The company says the antenna has a 50-mile radius range and is NextGen TV compatible, so we tested it with the Hisense U8 that has a built-in NextGen TV tuner.
Mohu Vibe Amplified Antenna: Setup
While it's not designed for a tabletop, the Mohu Vibe is straightforward to install. It includes a 12-foot coaxial cable, so you've got options when it comes to wall placement. And because it has a solid frame, you can also decide to just lean against a window sill or on a book shelf.
The amplification part is supplied by a little in-line module Mohu calls a Jolt Switch amp. It includes a USB power cable, but no AC power plug. So you can plug it into a powered USB port on your TV or into a USB power adapter of your own to give the signals an extra boost.
Before you mark up a wall with the wall anchor for the Vibe antenna, we recommend checking to see what local over-the-air stations are available in your area by visiting a site such as Antennaweb.org. You should also try different locations for the antenna before deciding on permanent placement.
Mohu Vibe Amplified Antenna: Performance
After we finished setting up the Mohu Vibe, our scans with the Hisense U8 Series TV indicated that it had found 55 channels in our area. Given the modest size of the antenna, we were surprised by the result so we auditioned each station, as we always do.
The Mohu Vibe tuned in the major network affiliates with very strong signals. CBS's picture was crystal clear, as were the NBC and the Fox stations. Furthermore, the upper stations such as Telemundo, came in quite clearly. Ultimately, only 3 out of the 55 channels turned out to be unwatchable — a very impressive result. In fact, we were so surprised at how well the Mohu Vibe performed that we went through all the stations several more times.
Are there better performers? Yes, but those antennas, like the Channel Master FLATenna and Mohu's own Leaf Amplified, are bigger and thus more awkward to install.
Mohu Vibe Amplified Antenna: Verdict
Simple, elegant, and unobtrusive, the Mohu Vibe will suit many different decors. It's also one of the best indoor antennas we've tested, so you should be able to receive nearby broadcasts in most cities and suburbs.
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