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You'd be forgiven for thinking that the days of the best indoor TV aerials are numbered. We rely so heavily on the streaming and catch-up services available on smart TVs that aerials are an afterthought for most.
But for some, an indoor TV aerial remains an essential purchase. If you're yet to join the smart revolution and prefer watching terrestrial telly live, there are a number of situations in which an indoor aerial is your only option.
Perhaps there’s nowhere to attach an external antenna, or you might live in rented accommodation where you’re not permitted to fit one. Or you might simply be looking for a temporary replacement while your rooftop aerial is down.
Indoor TV aerials used to be a joke, struggling to hold onto the old analogue broadcasts and requiring constant adjustment, but with innovative designs and materials, the best indoor aerials of today are highly effective – and some are even bordering on being stylish!
The best indoor TV aerial can help you access a good range of Freeview digital channels – and even the more challenging HD channels – and there’s no need to climb up a ladder or pay a professional to do it for you.
But with various options out there from different brands, picking the right one can be tricky. The guide below will arm you with all the information you need to make an informed purchased and we've also provided our pick of the best indoor aerials on the market.
There are four main types of indoor TV aerial to choose from; which one’s right for you will depend on your proximity to the transmitter and how you want to situate the aerial in your home.
Log periodic aerials are similar to your classic rooftop aerial, with the elements attached or etched into a plastic, fan-like structure. These are good at picking up weaker signals over long distances, but need to be positioned with care and pointed towards the transmitter.
Monopole aerials use a single, chunky pole-shaped antenna, usually attached to a round base (which may be magnetic, for easy attachment to a metal window-frame or radiator). These are normally omnidirectional, so you don’t need to worry too much about positioning, but they may need to be aligned horizontally or vertically.
Loop aerials sit on top of the TV, with the receiving elements wound into a circle or rounded rectangular shape. They’re omnidirectional but may struggle with weak signals.
Finally, flat-panel aerials fold the receiving elements into a slimline, lightweight panel, which can be held by a stand or attached to a wall or window. Flat-panel aerials are omnidirectional and don’t need to be aligned, but you still need to position them carefully to get the best result.
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You can buy a good indoor aerial for under £20 – or you might choose to pay more for a model with a built-in signal amplifier, which will typically cost you somewhere between £20 and £40.
If you’re a long way from the transmitter, or if there are a lot of obstructions in your area, an amplifier can help you pick up channels that you’d otherwise miss out on, and ensure you get a clear picture and audio, free of blocky artefacts and glitches. However, if there’s a source of interference nearby, this can get amplified too: the boosted signal might not be any better and could even, in some cases, be worse.
Check the length of the cable: if it’s short, that will greatly limit your options for where you can mount the aerial, which could affect the quality of your reception (you can buy an aerial extension cable if needed, though).
Check the fixtures too: some aerials come with an optional stand, while others feature adhesive pads or mountings. If you want an amplifier, think about getting a standalone one, rather than one that’s built directly into the aerial. This makes the aerial lighter and easier to locate, and if the amplifier doesn’t improve your picture you can simply remove it.
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Price: £17 | Buy now from Amazon
This diminutive flat-panel aerial is about as unobtrusive as they come. It’s incredibly light and impossibly thin, and you can lie it flat on your TV cabinet, hang it behind the TV or attach it to a wall/window.
In fact, the only limit to your options is the 4m cable – though this should be long enough for you to find a spot with good reception. Location is important with this aerial - we found that Freeview HD reception was temperamental with the aerial sitting on the TV cabinet, but moving it to the wall behind gave us a full, glitch-free complement of 96 TV channels and 32 radio channels. If you don’t mind a little experimenting with the positioning, this is a great aerial for good-to-medium signal areas and is very affordable.
Key specs – Type: Flat-panel aerial; Amplified: No; Cable length: 4m; Extras: 3m double-sided tape; Dimensions: 238 x 138 x 7mm; Weight: 99g
Price: £15 | Buy now from Amazon
The August DT240 High Gain TV aerial has a compact, monopole design, with a magnetic stand that will clamp onto a wide range of metallic surfaces, including radiators. It’ll also attach to the roof of a vehicle, which makes it a good choice for travelling – but note that it’s not weatherproof in any way, so you’ll need to keep an eye on the sky if you want to use it in the great outdoors.
Given this aerial’s small size and design, we were braced for poor performance, but the August actually picked up the same set of channels as the 1byone aerial and was slightly less fussy about positioning. Freeview HD channels did seem a little more prone to blocky artefacts, however, so you may need to be careful in weak signal areas – and watch out for the short 1.5m cable.
Key specs – Type: Monopole aerial; Amplified: No; Cable length: 1.5m; Extras: None; Dimensions: 158 x 140 x 70mm; Weight: 231g
Price: £20 | Buy now from Amazon
You’ll struggle to find an indoor aerial more discreet than the SLx 27806R. Wrapped in grey fabric, this compact pillar-style effort is roughly the size of a drink can and looks more like a smart speaker than a TV aerial. You can just plug it in, leave it next to the TV and enjoy your favourite shows.
In strong signal areas, you’re laughing, but weaker areas might not share the mirth. Unamplified, we had to place the pillar on a shelf to get any channels whatsoever, and even then, HD channels were hit hard by signal drops and blocky artefacts. Reaching the shelf was also tricky as there was only 1.5m of cable to work with.
Even when amplified, the performance wasn’t glitch-free. If you live in an area with good signal, this is the least obtrusive indoor aerial we’ve ever tested. If not, you need one with a bit more oomph.
Key specs – Type: N/S; Amplified: No; Cable length: 1.5m; Extras: None; Dimensions: 65 x 65 x 158mm; Weight: 270g
Price: £35 | Buy now from Amazon
If you’re struggling with poor reception, the RG Tech Monarch 50 could be the aerial for you. It’s just 8mm thick, with two rectangular wings going in either direction from the central cable. It comes in black or in a mesh “transparent” version for attaching to a window, and you can mount it there, on a wall or on a TV stand or table, with a 4.5m cable that gives you plenty of scope for moving it around.
You’ll need to experiment a bit to get the best position, but once you find it you can expect excellent reception. Many users in weak signal areas report that the Monarch 50 has helped them get more channels or more HD channels than before, so if you’re not getting all the entertainment you deserve, this aerial’s worth a try.
Key specs – Type: Flat-panel; Amplified: No; Cable length: 4.5m; Extras: 3 adhesive pads, stand; Dimensions: 400 x 180 x 8mm; Weight: 340g
Price: £32 | Buy now from Amazon
It’s not quite as slimline as a flat-panel model, but this tasteful free-standing aerial nestles nicely among your AV equipment. Its built-in amplifier features a filter to block out interference from 4G signals, and the design is very forgiving when it comes to positioning and angle.
It works well too. We found the One for All picked up all the channels available in our area, with more consistent HD reception than the cheaper, unamplified models. The shortish cable might be a pain if your TV is wall-mounted, though, and you’ll need to keep the power supply plugged in because reception with the amplifier switched off is close to non-existent.
Key specs – Type: Flat-panel; Amplified: Yes; Cable length: 1.5m; Extras: None; Dimensions: 240 x 48 x 48mm; Weight: 499g
Price: £88 | Buy now from Currys PC World
One for All’s SV9494 might be pricey, but then it’s no ordinary indoor aerial. It’s housed in a flat-bottomed sphere that you can place on a shelf or your TV table, where it will look more like a mysterious new gadget than what it actually is.
The LED bar on the front grows as you move it around to show where you’ll get the strongest signal, and the top half of the sphere rotates to change the aerial’s direction, giving you a little more scope to optimise. It’s something you’ll appreciate if you’ve ever wasted hours twisting an old-school coat hanger aerial around, desperately trying to get a decent picture.
It has a built-in amplifier, but this won’t work miracles, and if you’re a long way from the transmitter you might still want to go for the RGTech Monarch 50, which seems to squeeze a little more from a weak signal. It’s a strong performer, though, with a built-in 3G/4G filter, and it couldn’t be easier to set up and use.
True, One for All’s own SV9430 will give you similar results for a lot less, but the SV9494 is about as cool and high-tech as an aerial can get.
Key specs – Type: N/S; Amplified: Yes; Cable length: 3m; Extras: None; Dimensions: 168 x 168 x 141mm; Weight: 770g
Buy now from Currys PC World
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