Onn 4K pro Gets Gemini Support In Update
Luke Bouma at Cord Cutters News reported last week Walmart’s Google TV-powered Onn 4K Pro streaming box recently received a software update which added support for Gemini. The news fulfills a promise by Google that Gemini would be rolling out to more devices by the end of 2025. Google’s own Google TV Streamer got Gemini last month.
“The core of the upgrade centers on an evolved version of Google’s Gemini AI, which has been fine-tuned for more intuitive voice interactions and contextual understanding. Users will notice immediate improvements in voice search, where the AI now processes natural language queries with greater accuracy and speed,” Bouma wrote. “For instance, a simple request like ‘find me comedies from the ‘90s with strong female leads’ yields personalized recommendations drawn from vast libraries across Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube, factoring in viewing history and even real-time mood detection via on-device microphones. This represents a significant leap from the previous Google Assistant integration, which often required more precise phrasing to avoid misfires.”
TCL’s mini-LED QM9K TV was amongst the first devices to get Gemini on Google TV.
Back in early August, I posted a brief review of the aforementioned Onn 4K Pro. Bouma is correct is his assertion the addition of Gemini further buoys the value proposition of the $50 box; indeed, I wrote over the summer there’s a lot to like about Google TV’s content-centric design, especially its YouTube TV integration. Apple could learn a lot from its peer in adapting ideas to improve tvOS and the corresponding Apple TV 4K. Nonetheless, I also wrote tvOS is infinitely more performant than Google TV on the Onn 4K Pro, as the A15 chip in the “current” model smokes whatever off-the-shelf processor runs the Onn product. That, and the Apple ecosystem amenities, are what ultimately keeps me from switching my home theater allegiances. I dusted off my Onn 4k Pro over the weekend to install the Gemini update—and an accompanying update to the remote!—but was disappointed with my inability to summon it anywhere; all I could use was the stock Google Assistant. At any rate, my brief time revisiting the Onn box reminded me how technically inferior it is compared to my Apple TV. Say what you will about the apples-to-oranges comparison between a $50 box and a $130 box, and I still do chuckle at the Apple TV arguably being laughably over-engineered for its raison d'être, but it’s that performance prowess that, in the end, makes the Apple TV the crème de la crème of streaming devices. Walmart and Apple are decidedly not the same, as the kids say now.
I disagree with Bouma’s contention in his story that the now-with-Gemini Onn 4K Pro makes Walmart a disruptor when it comes to technological innovation—if anything, the retailer is opportunistic by leaning into the openness of Google TV/Android—but it nonetheless doesn’t take away the fact the Onn 4K Pro is a damn nice product for the price. If tvOS were to go away tomorrow, I’d switch to the Onn box without a second thought over Roku or Fire TV. As it stands, the Onn 4K Pro is a nice, good enough option—made even better with Gemini’s capabilities—for those who may want more than their TV’s built-in operating system yet can’t afford the premium price of the Apple TV 4K.
