Walmart’s new 4K Google TV stick is a worthy Chromecast replacement
▼ Summary
– Walmart’s new Onn 4K streaming stick serves as a direct replacement for the Chromecast with Google TV (4K), fitting easily behind a mounted TV without the cable management issues of bulkier devices.
– The device is small, with an HDMI plug and USB-C power, and includes a short, stiff HDMI extender for tight fits, allowing quick setup within a minute.
– It runs a standard Google TV experience with Gemini support and performs faster than the older Chromecast, despite having the same 2GB RAM and 8GB storage specs.
– The streaming stick is ideal as a secondary device for occasional use, like watching YouTube, while users can upgrade to the Onn 4K Pro or Google TV Streamer for a main living room.
– Priced at $39.88, the Walmart Onn 4K streaming stick is available now in most regions and is described as the best Chromecast with Google TV replacement tried in the US.
Walmart is rolling out its new lineup of Google TV devices, and while the Pro model has generated plenty of buzz, it’s the 4K streaming stick that arrived first. As I had hoped, it delivers exactly what I’ve been looking for: a worthy Chromecast with Google TV (4K) replacement.
The original Chromecast with Google TV debuted in 2020 as a solid entry point into the platform, and it aged reasonably well. But Google took its time releasing a follow-up. The Google TV Streamer finally arrived as a major upgrade, solving the storage and performance problems that had plagued the Chromecast for years. However, it was never a direct replacement from a hardware standpoint , it served a completely different purpose.
So, even after swapping out other Chromecasts in my home for Google’s newer devices, one TV remained stuck on that older hardware. The Google TV Streamer was simply too large to fit neatly behind a mounted TV in my office. There was no space underneath for a streaming box, and I didn’t want to deal with messy cable management. I tried the Onn 4K Plus last year, along with some older Walmart streaming boxes, but the need for a full HDMI cable made everything feel clunky.
That’s why I was relieved to hear Walmart was making a 4K streaming stick , something Google TV customers have oddly been without for quite some time.
Walmart calls it the “Onn 4K Streaming Device,” a tiny stick that looks a lot like a Roku stick. One end features an HDMI plug (with a short extender included if it doesn’t fit perfectly on your TV), while the other has a USB-C port. A power adapter comes in the box, and within about a minute, I was up and running. It fit behind my TV exactly where the Chromecast did, without any added hassle. I did use the HDMI extender, but it’s so short , and importantly, stiff , that it didn’t create the clunky, messy setup you get with other devices.
Beyond the hardware, this is a pretty standard Google TV experience. Setup uses the new flow that launched last year, includes full Gemini support out of the box, and performance is solid. It’s noticeably faster than my old Chromecast, even though it only has 2GB of RAM and 8GB of storage , the same specs as that older device. If this were my main home streamer, those specs might bother me. But for my office, where I use it casually for YouTube videos, livestreams, and the like, it feels like a perfect fit for a secondary room. You can always step up to the Onn 4K Pro or Google TV Streamer for the main living room, but even then, Walmart’s new streaming stick handles the job well. I’m curious to see how it holds up over time.
The included remote is also familiar , it’s the same one Walmart has used for years, still based on one of Google’s reference designs.
The Walmart Onn 4K streaming stick is available now for $39.88 for most customers, though availability may vary by region as the launch continues. But if you’ve been searching for a proper Chromecast with Google TV replacement, this is the best I’ve tried , at least here in the States.
(Source: 9to5google.com)
