The Mohu Chroma Amplified indoor antenna is Mohu’s newest entry in the home antenna market. It is a sleek new model sporting a variety of color palates to fit the fashion of users home. The multi-directional device has a 65-mile range and is optimized to receive HF and UHF signals clearly. Its amplifier delivers the channels with as little pixelation as possible. And since it’s in the news lately we feel we should mention that it is capable of receiving both the ATSC 1.0 and the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard going forward. The Streaming Advisor had a chance to check it out.
Longbow design
Mohu and most other antenna manufacturers long abandoned the old-fashioned rabbit ear look for antennas in favor of square or rectangular shaped antennas that can be hung on a wall. The Mohu Chroma continues this trend. The product measures 25 by 7 inches. So it’s a little more than two feet wide which is a departure from the legal pad shaped entries of the past. Another new physical feature is that it offers a different color combination than others have. Instead of a choice between black and white, the Mohu Chroma offers Blue/Midnight Black and Tranquil Grey/Easy Beige models.
What you get in the box
The chroma ships with accessories including two mounting options. The options are stylish push pin tacks as well as adhesive strips lined with velcro. Both are meant to be used to attach the product to a wall. The Chroma also ships with a 16-foot coax cable so that the user will have a bit of range to work with. The product also includes a USB power adapter for the amplifier, if the user does not have a USB port open to power the amp.
Mohu Chroma Performance
We set the Mohu Chroma up on our LG UJ6300 and ran the automatic channel scan. Our initial scan was done inside on the ground floor level of our home. The antenna returned 17 channels. This was a little disappointing. Only because we had already been able to receive 17 channels from the Leaf 50-mile range amplified antenna. After performing a scan inside we actually tried a scan with the antenna placed outside and propped it up on a light fixture to give it more height. It returned the same result, 17 channels.
It likely does not matter what kind of HD/4kTV you install this product but we mention it because people ask us about the equipment we use for reviews from time to time. The quality of your tuner can affect the performance of any antenna. In order to get a better perspective we attached the antenna to another TV upstairs, one floor up. This time we set up on an Element Amazon Fire TV powered 4k TV. Again we received 17 channels. Our final test was to put the antenna in an open window to see again if the lack of walls would impact its performance. It did not.
The channels we did receive came in crystal clear. In none of the ones, we tested showed any pixelation. To be fair though it was a sunny clear day in Raleigh that day. So we can’t comment as to how well the scan would have gone during say the blizzard of 18.
Perception VS Reality
Antennas are only as good as their factors. Distance from transmitters is really only part of the equation when accessing how well an antenna will perform. Other things you must factor in include, how high up your antenna is going to be, the number of trees in your area, hills, mountains, weather etc. For instance, the same Leaf 50 that brings in 17 channels at our current location snared 35.when we lived in a 3rd-floor apartment in a more centralized location of Raleigh NC.
So, even though we still live in the same city a 10 mile or so distance and change in topography cut the performance in half. Mohu’s antenna recommendation tool says that the chroma, when set up at our specific address should receive up to 48 channels. A similar test on Antenna Web suggested a similar 39 channels should be received. Antenna manufacturers and sellers would do well to under promise in the hopes of over delivering.
Would I recommend this antenna?
Certainly. The Mohu Chroma definitely performs its function and does so without any sign of signal interference. The fact that it was able to receive the same number of stations upstairs, downstairs outside and inside shows that the product performs its duties as it is designed to. Users will not feel the need to rig it up outside in order to get the most from it. I always believe that you get the value from getting the strongest possible product for a good price and at a one time cost $65.00 for the ability to receive all major network broadcasts in full HD it can’t be beaten. Just understand that no company or engineering can make up for living in a place where antennas are not optimal.
