HDTV antenna maker Mohu today gave cord-cutters — especially dorm room-dwellers and those with tiny studio apartments — its least expensive option for free over-the-air television content. The new Leaf Metro antenna has essentially all the same features that make all of Mohu’s other antennae so popular, except it’s $15 cheaper than the Leaf 30 (formerly Mohu’s cheapest antenna option, and the receiver of our Editors’ Choice award for its supremacy in the HDTV antenna world) and its range is 10 miles shorter, meaning it might not be able to access as many broadcast signals for those living in locations where reception is particularly difficult.
At just $25, the Leaf Metro is one of the best and downright cheapest ways for cord-cutters to access free TV content. It’s not as stylish as the antenna maker’s Curve line (Mohu has both 30- and 50-mile-range models), which is designed to be sleekly on display and not covertly tucked away like the flatter models, but it delivers 1080p HD to any digital-ready TV, it’s multi-directional, and it borrows from the same advanced U.S. military technology built into its bigger Leaf 30 and Leaf 50 ($70) siblings.
Just a few months down the road is Mohu’s much-anticipated June release of the Channels tuner, a device that — when combined with a Mohu antenna — allows users to use just one TV input to access all of their content: broadcast TV, websites — including social media — and video from streaming apps like Netflix. The tuner lets the user save any form of content, whether it’s Facebook, the AMC network, or personal movies/music/photos, as a “channel,” which can then be saved with all other “channels” into one place as your personal channel guide. Mohu’s Kickstarter campaign for Channels was wildly successful, resulting in a total pledged amount that more than quadrupled the initial funding goal.
So, urban cord-cutters will be soon be able to combine the affordable Leaf Metro with Channels for a home TV experience that rivals the much more expensive services provided by the big boy cable and satellite operators; and they won’t even need to change TV inputs.
The Leaf Metro, and all other Mohu products, are available through the company’s online store.
