Walmart's New $15 Onn Streaming Stick Runs Google TV but is 1080p only - Full Review

[@christinemurphy7683]

I have this boombox thing that has a TV, radio, DVD/CD player, and it also has an HDMI port for a streaming device. I bought one of these sticks for that, and it's decent. I would not want this for the 4K TV in my living room, but for regular HD, it's fine. Nice inexpensive device for portable TVs like I have, for travel, and maybe for a kids' room TV. Easy enough to set up with the Google Home app. If you're on a strict budget and don't have a fancy TV, you really can't go wrong with this device.

[@benstandard]

A modern boombox with a TV and HDMI port in it? How long ago did you get it and from where?

[@IssanCaliRefugee]

Yup. I've got an old 19" in the car I plan on using this for.

[@ozmond]

I have 1080p TV in the garage, and this stick has been perfect for it

[@ClearGalaxies]

I'm glad you made this video. Thanks

[@EddiePepper]

That was a very nice and informative review, thank you so much!!!

[@MSDOGS1976]

I paid $5 more for the 4k one and it’s great. 👍

[@JimmerzzOfficial]

Why does this and chromecast for google tv seem to hate a dedicated play/pause button? It is soooo nice to have a button you know will ALWAYS play and pause no matter where you are in the overlay.

[@CommodoreFan64]

I've personally not found that an issue, as you bump the middle click button to bring up the menu, and most of the time it's already on the play/pause icon, so you just bump it again. One of the things I do find frustrating is some apps not being on par with their Android versions for phones/tablets, or even Roku, and one of the biggest examples is TuneIn being so barebones basic on the ONN/Chromecast devices it's unusable unless you're casting from your phone already logged in, where as the Roku version is full featured, easy to navigate with the remote, search for stations, and even login to your Tunein account, along with a few other missing apps such as Shoutcast. Otherwise if you can work around that, the ONN 4K boxes for 5 bucks more than the sticks are a good value.

[@JimmerzzOfficial]

@@CommodoreFan64 surely you can see how having to double press a button and if it happens to be on a different part of the ui it doesn’t pause. It’s just silly. Give me a pause and play button. It’s one of the most common things I want to do.

[@cjosephbornefilms]

@@JimmerzzOfficial it's a slight annoyance, not because it doesn't work, but because other people using it don't know how to pause it. The play/pause icons are universally known at this point.

[@CommodoreFan64]

@@JimmerzzOfficial Honestly I've been a long time cord cutter since the Wii era of streaming online, and have used a lot of different streaming boxes over the years, and having a pause/play button, or not does not bother me one bit. As I've said the biggest things for me are the apps there I need fully working, and I'll add is the UI easy to use without lag, stuttering, crashing, etc..., does it has good software update support for long life, and it does not cost me a kidney to afford to buy, or when it's time to upgrade to a new version of the box/stick. So Roku, official Chromecast, and ONN streaming players have shown me this.

[@Metal-Josh]

I had no idea Walmart was into tv boxes. And at that, suck a good price point. That’s worth trying at the price

[@CommodoreFan64]

I've had both the ONN sticks/boxes now for a few years, and I find it's better to go with their 4K boxes for an extra $5 for the better performance, just make sure it's the latest model, as some of the older boxes do have WiFi connection issues where say if you have it on a guest room TV let it sit idle for a few days it drops the WiFi, and you have to manually go into settings, and make it connect again then wait for it update the home screen, etc..

[@FrancoisRoy]

Walmart is heavily subsidizing these things because they need something to fight back Amazon.

[@cyberhard]

Can the installed apps be uninstalled? Does it support pairing to bluetooth speakers?

[@cr-pol]

remote, power and extension cables included , and still only $15 ?

[@juanortega2403]

So do we have to have all these streaming services already, or we just pay for the stick and that's it??

[@asan1050]

Thank you for posting.

[@Daniel-z7q6f]

Can you use this with a monitor with speakers?

[@bikeny]

I have never had any of these sticks so please excuse my ignorance with my question: do ads pop up while you are watching actual content or even just scrolling through the guide? Sure, a given streaming service might ruin their own stuff with ads (I'm looking at you amazon prime that likes to try and stuff promos before the content starts and I think paramount+ also does it [I think my adblockers stop them, but I have to hit the play button 3 times before a movie or tv show starts]), but I don't want to see any ads from this stick device (or even that 4K one that was mentioned). Thanks. I am going to subscribe now since you presented good information and you did it without playing any music during your presentation.

[@JeskidoYT]

Only through home screen that's it

[@SpaceJazz3K]

Surprised Roku doesn’t come up in these videos. For iPhone users, having airplay available without the cost of an Apple TV is pretty fantastic. We play games streamed over WiFi and latency isn’t that bad.

[@ozmond]

The Apple TV app is available on this device

[@WilliamHaze-r7o]

Fyi, you can connect wireless earbuds to it for private watching

[@IssanCaliRefugee]

I've been to 3 Walmarts around the Boise area here in Idaho. We don't got it yet.

[@kavi995]

For training point, can install VPNs much easier

[@biggary9602]

When is Lon going to address Plex's latest oops-we-stepped-in-it thing?

[@therumbler]

What specific oops-we-stepped-in-it thing?

[@Code7Unltd]

@@therumbler Plex appears to be making steps to discourage personal hosting because of issues with certain users operating server nodes on Hetzner. What most people aren't familiar about Plex is that they're trying to further their reach and encourage users to stream from their AVOD catalogue. Whether this is just an attempt to please the Motion Picture Association or shirk off the 'pirate' rebuke, I'm unsure.

[@GeorgeN-ATX]

​@@therumblerI think they're likely referring to Plex's automatic, opt-opt only, we're going to send all your friends what it is you're watching (been watching?).

[@GeorgeN-ATX]

@Code7Unltd I hadn't heard about that but yeah, in general terms, discouraging piracy or personal hosting was a bit inevitable for such a large company. (Not to say that any current or specific actions were inevitable.)

[@SpaceJazz3K]

He has regular sponsored videos so I would be surprised if it comes up.

[@thelastgreatmanintheuniverse]

How good does kodi work

[@kumarp3074]

I assume you can side load stuff just like you can on a Google Chromecast with Google TV.

[@gstar7686]

Yep

[@LonSeidman]

yes within the scope of limitations you have with the storage and RAM.

[@kumarp3074]

@@LonSeidman That's always been the case with these streaming devices. I had the original Fire TV (2014) and it came with 2 GB RAM and 8 GB of Storage. The newest Fire TV 4K stick comes with 2 GB RAM and 8 GB of Storage.

[@justanotherstanczyk]

I've been worried that Amazon would force an upgrade to my firestick 4k max 2022 to their new OS. It's a relief to know I have other options for my Mythtv frontend.

[@stephensavage1107]

Curious to know if you can side load apps as you can with the Firestick?

[@brockbreacher]

almost every android tv/google tv box can do that

[@dennyhiett6271]

Since the update it doesn't allow you the option to activate the airel screensaver after a certain time of inactivity. The only option is ambient mode which allows you to use only Google photos. You can manually activate it but can't set a time for it to start after certain amount of time. Do you know a fix?

[@drallersouldust3054]

How's the picture quality? especially the dark areas was it clear like amazon fire stick? , I have tried xiaomi and redmi but the picture quality looks like from a crt tv,

[@Badusername2000]

this is the one i have, i have an older tv so i have no need for a super ultra hd stick, its great for what i use it for

[@ryanwooten2042]

The chromecast doesn't pop up when I go to cast is there a way around it?

[@TacticalPower88]

When just $5 more makes a whole lot of difference.

[@twlsaturn08]

Is this remote compatible with Chromecast 4K ? $15 for a replacement remote sounds good to me!

[@CommodoreFan64]

I have both official Google 4k/HD dongles, and ONN 4K boxes/HD dongles, and I tried just to see what would happen, and while the ONN remote pairs with my 4K Chromescast dongle after using the original remote to navigate to the pairing menu, it won't do anything afterwards, so looks like you might just have to end up buying a new Chromecast, or ONN 4K box for $20 if you can't find a remote off eBay, or someplace else. Far as the older ONN remotes they will pair just fine with newer ONN devices and vice versa, just don't have 2 paired at the same time as older HD dongle tended to get confused, and freaked out on me causing a lockup of the Dongle itself.

[@HectorRodriguez-u6y]

How can you sideload StreamEast and Methstream on the Onn

[@LarryKapp1]

would this work on a monitor that has an hdmi port ?

[@CommodoreFan64]

as long as it has speakers, and it can display a 60Hz NTSC(59.96Hz to be more exact) signal than it should, just don't expect CEC power, input select, or volume from the controller to work, as that's how it was on my 24in Sceptre monitor in my home office, and that goes for all I've tried, Roku, official Chromecast dongles both 4K/HD, and ONN Streaming boxes/sticks.

[@LarryKapp1]

@@CommodoreFan64 Thanks - yeah I didn't think about speakers !

[@delresearch5416]

Yea I'd buy the 20 dollar one it is slightly better faster menu bring up etc. And if you buy a 4k. I got 2 of the 4k at my sisters house. There just as snappy as my n vodka shield but don't Olay games half as well.

[@ozmond]

N Vodka Shield

[@PayneWewton]

This dude got an A in English.

[@CarlosAvila-d4n]

Can you get KZbin with this stick on Roku TV's.

[@andrewmartinez9992]

Does it have the xfinity stream app?

[@mrkarolchilinski4960]

Maybe I should buy the 4k version of it because it costs $5 more.

[@CommodoreFan64]

Yes, you will get better performance, and stronger WiFi, I don't know why Walmart even makes this version, and just does not pump out more of the 4K boxes that always seem to sell out fast online, and in stores when they release.

[@JeskidoYT]

​@@CommodoreFan64so that it can go on sale easily

[@CommodoreFan64]

@@JeskidoYT No, I've never seen them on clearance, as I've said the PNN players tend to sell out fast, so there is no need for Walmart to have a sale.

[@luthersmen]

Ive had a hard time signing into hotel wifi with the 4k version. Firetv and Apple tv are great for a hotel.

[@CommodoreFan64]

I've found a cheap Roku express works as well, but I personally found it best if I travel for work alone, to just carry my Android tablet with all the apps I want to watch on it, so I have them no matter where I'm at, plus I can get some work done at the same time if need be, as I can manage my workflow fine with one along with a bluetooth keyboard, and trackball.

[@Malcontent-]

Do you need a cell phone to set this up?

[@CommodoreFan64]

Yes, and just a real Chromecast the experience seems to be better using an Android phone.

[@cjosephbornefilms]

Does the remote have an IR blaster like the previous generation for older TVs without CEC?

[@CommodoreFan64]

I bought one the 2023 ONN 4K boxes earlier this year, and it has IR, so it looks like all the newer ONN boxes/sticks are still using the same remotes, the only thing that's changed is the shortcut buttons just like Roku remotes do, and I don't see that changing anytime soon, as they also use the IR for controlling some soundbars, and surround sound setups that the boxes/sticks support.

[@cjosephbornefilms]

@@CommodoreFan64 that's good to know, I love being able to turn on the TV with the onn remote. I can't use it to change inputs, but that's more due to how the TV's input menu works.

[@CommodoreFan64]

@@cjosephbornefilms Same with my main setup in my gameroom far as input, and on my Den TV for the kids which is my older Samsung 1080p 47in, it won't control the soundbar sadly, so we had to trick it by turning off CEC, and let the box turn down it's own internal volume setting, and manually set the sound bar so they only have one remote, and don't lose the tiny remote that came with the sound bar LOL!

[@IraQNid]

Can programs be stored and access from an external USB Flash Drive using that dongle you were showing? I'd like to see how well it performs with the dongle for wired Ethernet performance while running it through its paces. Is there a way to enable it to surf the web in addition to using it for streaming videos and music, checking the weather, and other lightweight uses? I'd like to see Firefox install on it so that people could download and install Ad Block+ to keep Google from bombarding us with advertisements. Since this is a small Linux PC, is it possible to replace the OS that is on there with something else? I have access to a streaming TV at work, but there seems to be no way to skip online ads while watching something. At least from my home PC, I run Firefox with Ad Block+ to get rid of stuff I don't want to see. It looks like this streaming stick can be powered off a USB battery bank. Can you log in to various service accounts on your smartphone without having to use the super unsafe Wi-Fi method? You mentioned the dongle which permits the use of external storage, so I was wondering what is the maximum capacity of storage that can be used? Does it have to be off a USB powered drive like Flash storage, or can it also use a HDD / SDD that may require its own power adapter? Any drivers available for attaching optical disc drives? That would be super cool to use a DVD/Blu-ray DVD drive off this little PC. Does the dongle allow you to bypass the hardwired USB cable in the event it breaks? It looks like you could plug in a Type-A to micro USB 2 cable into any of the three USB 2 ports as a workaround for a broken cable on the dongle. But what would be really cool is using one dongle to provide more than 3 USB ports to a supported streaming stick. So, can the dongle be used with other USB 2 or 3 hubs to offer many more USB 2 speed ports?

[@ozmond]

lol

[@HumzahHassam]

You can use any storage volume, HDD, SSD, Flashdrive, etc. I don't think you could play a dvd or blue ray video though….

[@jameswubbolt7787]

Sounds like good bargain. Thanks.

[@CommodoreFan64]

for $5 more just get the 4k box for better performance, and stronger WiFi.

[@pongchannel.]

​@@CommodoreFan64as someone who does a lot of sideloading I'm glad I went with the 4k variant lol. Downloading a launcher helped a lot with performance as well

[@reticularimus]

The lon guy says that this new onn stick is not so great for locally executed games. He also says that this new onn stick has basically identical processor and ram amount as the chromecast hd (boreal). But in the lon guy's review of the chromecast hd version, he shows locally executed android games, and he says they run great. What explains the difference?

[@TacticalPower88]

Software, google is probably going to be better at maintaining their firmware than walmart is. I think hes thinking about the fact that the more powerful 4k capable upgrade is only $5 more tho.

[@flynhyer4445]

I dont see the link for the ethernet adapter ?

[@LonSeidman]

Oops forgot to post that: lon.tv/smays

[@turdferguson1819]

I bought one these years ago and I really enjoyed it for what it was. It worked great....until it didn't.

[@mikecarrington4297]

You can’t beat the price

[@CommodoreFan64]

If you're not expecting the world from one of these for a basic streaming player, then they are really are hard to beat, just go with the 4K box for a few more bucks for better performance, and better WiFi.

[@jamescaso7505]

Which is better i been using the onn boxes an there great hows the onn sticks are there slow same as box .

[@techbulb3440]

I wonder why they don’t sell these in Canada?

[@CommodoreFan64]

I've tried to reply to you several times, but it keeps deleting my comments, so I kept it more brief in hope it sticks, but it's US only content shown on the home screen is my best guess.

[@timotomoto7360]

I can only handle GoogleTV in apps only mode. Way too much crapola on the normal screen.

[@saturnotaku]

Does anyone know of a USB-C hub with Ethernet and power pass-through that would work with modern Chromecast devices? My parents cut the cord, and I've tried a couple hubs so they can have a wired network connection to their non-smart TV, and nothing has worked so far.

[@Mr01dschool]

I have a UtechSmart UCN3273 USB C hub working with my Chromecast with Google TV 4k. It has a built-in Gigabit Ethernet port plus 3 USB 3.0 A ports and a USB C port for power delivery. The Gigabit Ethernet port works fine. I have a USB 3.0 128 GB flash drive connected to be used as expandable storage.

[@SusanGiles-ie4kh]

Do you have to have internet

[@ozmond]

Of course you do

[@JeskidoYT]

Much much better than fire sticks

[@toddjennings42369]

I have the stick and the box

[@Umuhozaaline3]

My remote keeps dying…

[@kidcapel3698]

Connection is crappy 😢

[@kidcapel3698]

It needs to be very close to your wifi roku is way better

[@AlfredRiggott-j8h]

Thompson Parkways

[@dimo1750]

Does anyone know if this was discontinued? Id love it for travel but cant find it on any walmart

[@LonSeidman]

They just came out with a new one:kzbin.info/www/bejne/opyWeZyLbMaSq68si=0qtaq0pVe1LL0-SY

[@jamesm568]

Definitely a nice device, but it is not supported directly from Google so you don't have the latest software available on it yet.

[@FredMcIntyre]

😃👍🏼👊🏼

[@hectormanuel8360]

$15 and expect it to go lower than that

[@CommodoreFan64]

unless you find one in the clearance aisle at a Walmart for some reason, don't expect a price drop, as Walmart has not done it on any of their other ONN streaming devices from what I've seen, and they also tend to sell out fast online, and in stores, so I also think they are limiting the stock on these, so they don't have excess, and have have to put them on clearance.

[@mfinite689]

Micro USB and 1080p only. 🙃 Just spend the $5 more and get the 4K version. This future ewaste product should not exist.

[@racea.t6531]

I disagree, i have a FHD/1080p monitor and this would be perfect for it. In case's like mine it's perfect 👍🏼

[@animalhouse8849]

Zero reason to buy this over the $20 Onn 4k Box.

[@CommodoreFan64]

Unless this is all someone can afford, or it's going on say a guest room TV where it's seldom used, or say a public space TV like a say a rec center, church, etc.. to be use for very basic streaming needs, then I agree 100%, it's better to spend the extra $5 for the better performance of the 4K box even if you only have a 720p, or 1080p display.

[@IssanCaliRefugee]

I got a 19" 720p mounted in the back of my station wagon. The $20 box would give me an extra box and cabling to mount. This guy just plugs into the TV for a simpler setup, and I can't use the 4k. This is perfect.

[@conservakid85]

Depends. If you have a 1080p or even 720p TV that isn't a smart TV that you are just looking to add something to stream to this would work fine. Once you would go to upgrade that TV it's more than likely you are going to do so with a Smart TV anyway and you won't really need the stick anymore. So you essentially paid $5 more for nothing.