I'm old enough to remember when battery-powered TVs ran on disposable batteries, and if a hurricane was coming and you would likely lose power for days, you could continue to watch the TV coverage for however long your stockpile of batteries lasted.

But since TV went digital in the USA, now all the battery-powered TVs have non-removable lithium ion batteries that hold about 4 hours of charge, max, and once that runs out you are stuck with your disposable-battery- or crank-rechargeable- radio until the power comes back on, probably getting more Sean Hannity than local storm coverage.

A couple of months ago I got a new Motorola Moto G Power phone, primarily because of the positive reviews of its multi-day battery life, and I thought to myself, "Self, I wonder if anyone makes an Android TV tuner, and would that, and maybe one or two lithium ion 'power bank' phone rechargers be enough to get me through a long hurricane power outage?" The google led me here to this $25 dongle.

I bought the PT682C model with the USB-C interface, and I am happy to report that this little thing is pretty neat. It comes with two antennas: (1) a pocket-friendly wire loop that receives a handful of channels, and (2) a comically-small rabbit ears antenna that receives about 90 channels, including all 4 major network affiliates that I might want to watch during a weather emergency (I am in Houston, the West Gray area, in a 2nd floor apartment).

But anyway, in addition to the tuner, you need to install the free PadTV HD app from the Google Play store, and my experience was smooth. I installed the software first, then plugged in the tuner, and the app woke up and asked me to associate it with the tuner, pick my country, scan for channels, and boom, I'm watching live TV on my phone.

Now, as to whether this $25 dongle, my phone, and some power banks can get me through a prolonged power outage? I think probably so! For testing purposes, I put my 2021 Moto G Power phone into airplane mode, dimmed the display, and started the tuner. With those settings it drains the battery at a rate of about 10% an hour. So with my brand-new, beefy-battery phone, fully-charged and doing nothing but running the TV tuner, it looks like I could get about 10 hours of usage. I also bought an adapter so I could use it with my older phones that are otherwise just sitting in a drawer (search for "USB-C to micro-USB adapter", and, IMPORTANT! it also needs to be "OTG" compatible). With my 2018-ish Moto E5 Cruise, airplane mode and dimmed display, it ran for 3 hours. With my 2013-ish Nexus 5 - 1.5 hours.

Finally, the description up yonder says "Rewind & Fast Forward Live TV Shows w/Time-Shift Recording" but I haven't found that functionality in the app. There is a "record" button, but I have not been able to successfully record and playback whatever program I am watching on my phone. So if you are hoping to turn your phone or tablet into a DVR, I can't report any success in doing that. But if you just want the ability to watch live over-the-air TV on your Android device, this tuner, app, and comically-small rabbit ears antenna has exceeded my expectations.

Edit 3/15/2022 -- The comically-small rabbit ears antenna that comes with this tuner has now replaced the big, clunky death-ray antenna that was previously the only antenna I had found that would receive all the local broadcast channels on my TV in an inner-loop Houston apartment. (Here's my glowing review of that antenna from a couple of years ago: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3IKFYZRYS7XZW?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_srp) ... the comically-small antenna requires TWO, yes, TWO adapters before it can mate it to my TV's antenna input (approx $11 bucks), but it's totally worth it.

1. The connector need to be longer, it will not plug into my phone when I have my case on. Or include a short extension cable.
2. The channels should be sorted by Virtual channel, not by RF channel
3. I have a rotor, so it sucks to have to do a complete re-scan every-time I change directions of my antenna, it needs to have a way to ADD channels to the existing list.
4. The audio and a small video screen should continue to let me watch when I am looking at the guide.
5. Many stations do not transmit a program guide, a way for it to check the internet to add guide info would be great.
6. A "Spectrum Analyzer" feature would be awesome.
7. A signal strength meter please.
8. Show actual RF channels as well as virtual please.
9. It should come with an adapter to USB A and software to run on Windows.
Thanks!

You need an Android phone or tablet with a USB C port to use this, does not work on iPhone or iPad.

That said, it's pretty cool. I use it to watch TV during power failures or internet outages.

Pros:
Pulls in a surprising amount of channels, about 20, and I'm not close to the broadcasters antennas
Easy to setup and use.

Cons:
Needs to work with USB C Apple iPhone and iPad.
App needs work, not polished at all. This is the sole reason I rated it a 4 instead of a 5

Best used outdoors if you live a non-urban area or have weak reception. Works great if you use with item below and connect to an external or internal amplified antenna. ----
DHT Electronics 2PCS RF coaxial Coax Cable Assembly MCX Male to F Female 6''

I like this item. The link provided by the company does not work and asks for a decryption key. Can someone help?