A mini Review of Walmart’s Onn 4K Pro
I missed it when news broke, but Ben Schoon at 9to5 Google reported in early June Walmart’s Onn 4K Pro streaming box was updated to run Android 14. The update, inscrutably named URO1.250103.029.A1, also brought the April 2025 security patch.
“Users shouldn’t expect any major changes from this update, though,” Schoon said in describing the June software upgrade. “Android 14 for TVs was mainly focused on TV sets, but it should make everything feel a bit more snappy.”
As Schoon wrote, the Onn 4K Pro is a seriously great deal; as of this writing, its price is only $45, down from the usual $50. I bought one several months ago to try out of curiosity and came away very impressed. The device runs stock Google TV, offering no Walmart-branded apps or the like. The remote, while plastic, feels nice in hand and its buttons are nice to press and responsive. And the box can act as a smart speaker when you’re not watching anything. Performance-wise, the Onn 4K Pro is serviceable and does the job. As a devout Apple TV 4K user, however, Walmart’s box can’t hold a candle to Apple’s in terms of sheer power and overall fidelity. I oftentimes joke Apple TV is laughably over-engineered for its primary purpose—streaming video—but I really appreciate how performant it is when testing the competition. Say what you will about tempering expectations between a $50 box and a $130 box, but the user experience in navigating the menus, et al, are demonstrably and undeniably better on tvOS. More pertinently for my reporting, tvOS smokes Google TV in accessibility features too.
Where the Onn 4K Pro pulls ahead is in Google TV. While I generally prefer tvOS for its niceness and the amenities pertaining to the Apple ecosystem, I do have a soft spot in my heart for how Google TV makes finding stuff to watch easier—and arguably more accessible. Beyond getting the Liquid Glass treatment, tvOS 26 brings little improvement in the mechanics of the user interface. I maintain that, on screens as big as televisions, tvOS has the potential to be so much more than a static grid of icons. That the Apple TV app is a container for things you watch is backwards; the app should be the whole UI, just as on Google TV. Likewise, tvOS should integrate a live TV guide too. Every year, I hope Apple will finally give tvOS its overdue “iOS 7 moment” and do a top-to-bottom overhaul of the platform, but am always left disappointed. I’m critical because, frankly, I greatly prefer Apple design to Google’s, functionality be damned. For all its warts, tvOS simply feels nicer to use than Google TV. But, as I said, that doesn’t take away from my admiration of all Google has implemented into the system for users.
As one prime example, the YouTube TV integration is killer if you’re a subscriber.
I heartily recommend the Onn 4K Pro over Google’s own box if you wanna wade into Google TV’s waters. Again, I was pleasantly surprised (and delighted) by Walmart’s box.
My pal Jason Snell wrote up a comparison of streaming boxes back in March.
