A Comparative Study of RTL-SDR Dongles from the Perspective of the Final Consumer

Electronic low-cost devices are an important part of the market nowadays. This trend has reached several products, that in the past just were available for academic institutions or the industry. In this regard, software-defined radio (SDR) is an important part of them. A clear example of the last statement is the consumption of RTL-SDR dongles. These electronic devices are an option for receiving an RF signal on a computer or a cell phone for around $20 USD. However, the manufacturers of RTL-SDR dongles do not provide a complete description or a data sheet for their products, causing uncertainty among the consumers. In this work, we make a comparative study of some RTL-SDR dongles to provide insightful information about the real behavior of these devices. Our results show how some dongles are more sensible for perceiving signals on some bands than others, especially those with metal enclosures. Also, it is shown how dongles of a known manufacturer have an average cost and are well supported. Nevertheless, one can be able to obtain good results with generic dongles at a lower price.