onn Android TV UHD review: Is this Walmart streaming device any good?
Our Verdict
The onn Android TV UHD is swell at times, only its remote and software issues get in impossible to recommend right now.
For
- Super cheap 4K streaming
- Apps get proper home screen placement
Against
- Language resetting bug
- Remote unpairs itself
- Awkward, inexpensive-feeling design
- No Dolby video standards
Tom's Guide Verdict
The onn Android TV UHD is peachy at times, but its remote and software issues make it impossible to recommend right now.
Pros
- +
Super cheap 4K streaming
- +
Apps become proper home screen placement
Cons
- -
Language resetting bug
- -
Remote unpairs itself
- -
Awkward, inexpensive-feeling design
- -
No Dolby video standards
Walmart's onn Android TV UHD Streaming Device is here to undercut the all-time streaming devices. At simply $xxx, information technology packs 4K streaming and a similar experience as the new Chromecast, just for $xx less. And did we mention that it'due south cheaper than the 4K Fire TV Stick, the perennial dirt-cheap UHD streaming device?
And so, you might inquire, what's the grab? Well, the remote has a serious trouble, and the device can change the language on you lot unless you known how to terminate it. This onn Android TV review will explicate more about what's great and not and so great about the 4K Walmart streaming device, and why it'southward non one of the best streaming devices.
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onn Android Boob tube UHD review: Price and availability
It's as if Walmart's seen how Amazon always lowers pricing on the Fire Goggle box Stick 4K and said "hold my beer." At a mere $29.99 (coming in and out of stock at the fourth dimension of publishing) the onn Android TV UHD is $20 cheaper than the Fire Television set Stick 4K and Chromecast with Google TV (both $50) and $10 cheaper than the Roku Express 4K Plus ($39.99).
That price divergence is the onn Android TV UHD's best feature, especially when people desire more than apps than their dumb or smart Television can requite them. Y'all're already (probable) paying for more services than you want, who wants to spend more money?
This Walmart streaming device came out in June 2021.
onn Android TV UHD review: Design
The bigger business organization about the onn Android TV UHD is its awkward port design.
I don't want to say that the onn Android TV UHD feels cheap, because that's mean. Merely information technology doesn't experience durable, that'southward for certain. That's not because of any flex or requite in its small matte blackness trounce. At that place's just something nigh the fabric Walmart chose that doesn't feel similar it will final. The same tin be said nigh the remote.
That said, the bigger business organisation about the onn Android TV UHD is its awkward port design. Its micro USB (for power) port is on 1 side, and its HDMI port is on the other. And since its blinking lite is on the side between those ends, it looks like you should have it on your shelf or entertainment panel, with a string coming out of either end. One colleague said it looks "like a sea brute," when the tension from the cables lifted one side slightly into the air.
That said, you don't actually need to see the Walmart streaming device, as no line of sight is needed to utilise its remote. Yous can simply chuck it behind your Idiot box (or elegantly attach it to a wall or your Tv with a velcro strap, if you're the DIY type.
That said, if the micro-USB and HDMI ports were on the same side, like y'all get with the Roku Express 4K Plus, you'd have a better state of affairs. The dangling Chromecast with Google Tv set and stick-shaped Fire TV Stick 4K accept better designs, as they won't confuse you nigh where to identify them, hiding elegantly behind your TV by default.
onn Android Television set UHD review: Remote
The onn Android Telly UHD's remote has all the buttons you could ask for at this price, but it'south undercut past one seriously annoying flaw. The onn Android TV UHD remote just randomly unpairs from the box. And the merely fix I've found is to unplug and re-plug the power adapter.
The onn Android TV UHD remote only randomly unpairs from the box. And the only fix I've found is to unplug the power adapter.
The Android Goggle box telephone app won't work at this point either, which may betoken to the device, non the remote, freezing. Walmart told Tom's Guide that is a known outcome, and that a gear up being worked on.
As for the buttons, you've got the basic navigation and TV volume buttons, plus TV power and input alter buttons, for decision-making what device is plugged into your television.
While newer sets such as my LG 55-inch C7 OLED will automatically change inputs to a device when y'all utilize its remote, my parents crumbling Hisense TV doesn't have that feature, making that input button a nice touch on since you will need fewer remotes at once.
The build quality of the Walmart streaming device'due south remote is expert enough for its buttons, which are simply equally clicky every bit those of the Chromecast with Google TV. Its shell just doesn't inspire much in the fashion of confidence, unlike the Chromecast and Roku remotes, which feel more sturdy overall.
Walmart's as well thrown in a four-pack of those branded app buttons, which reportedly earn companies tons of money. Its choices aren't that bad, though: YouTube, Netflix, Disney Plus and HBO Max. On top of all that, you also get a preferences button, a Google Assistant wake button, a bookmark button (which actually opens upwards a contextual bill of fare), and a YouTube TV button.
onn Android Boob tube UHD review: Performance
I was worried near how slow a $30 streaming device would exist, but the onn Android TV UHD's surprisingly snappy — with some exceptions. I'm not sure whether that's considering of its Amlogic S905Y2 processor being faster than its off-brand proper name suggests, or because Android TV is a lightweight Bone. We rarely think or talk about processors in streaming devices (unless we're talking about the new Apple tree Television receiver 4K), but I'll say that Walmart's impressed here.
Load times were pretty good as well: Netflix opened instantly, as did an episode of I Call back You Should Leave, then I could exist chuckling and cringing lickety-split. Disney Plus had slightly more pauses to it, merely nothing that terrible, enabling me to load up the Loki finale for a re-sentinel of the exceptional performance past an actor whose proper name I won't spoil. Load times here were on par with the Fire TV Stick, Chromecast with Google Boob tube and Roku Express 4K Plus.
The onn Android TV UHD also proved a decent Chromecast alternative. But this is where I found it freeze up a little, once requiring me unplugging and plugging the power supply back in. This is, maybe, a part of the cost y'all pay for ownership the cheapest 4K streaming device. It'due south not always perfect.
onn Android Boob tube UHD review: Software
The onn Android Telly UHD fixes my biggest complaint about the Chromecast with Google Idiot box, but information technology adds another event (that you tin thankfully fix).
The onn Android Goggle box UHD's brandish language kept irresolute to a different language.
The good news is that the row of apps on the dwelling house screen is closer to the top row, right under the banner. The Chromecast with Google Tv set, which also runs Android TV apps, puts another row of recommended content above your apps. And that might be your cup of tea, simply it tends to only make it the manner (come across the Fire TV Os for a much worse version of this). The Roku Os and Apple tvOS get things right, by putting apps first.
On the downside, though, I spent some fourth dimension toiling with a weird bug. The onn Android TV UHD's display language kept irresolute to a different linguistic communication. I thought I'd made some mistake the first time, but information technology kept resetting itself — so I knew I hadn't washed something wrong.
After figuring out how to fix it (I realized I had to look for the Globe icon to change languages) I wondered how and why this was immune to brand it through production and quality control. It'due south very much the wrong kind of experience to get through for the first days of owning a device.
The flaw is tied to a HDMI-CEC setting called "motorcar change language," nestled deep in the Walmart streaming device's settings — and it's the kind of matter you really should never demand to sympathize. (HDMI-CEC allows devices to communicate with TVs through the HDMI port, and for some reason it likewise can change the device language automatically unless you disable that setting. Walmart acknowledged to Tom's Guide that this is a known upshot.
Search could be better. I tested information technology out past using voice search commands, interpreted past Google Banana. The onn Android TV UHD plant "fast and furious movies" including where they were bachelor, just asking for movies starring Vin Diesel just got me a fix of YouTube search results related to the actor, including a parody from SNL. Asking the aforementioned of the Chromecast with Google Goggle box got me a bunch of actual movies, from the Fast and Furious to the film '30.'
onn Android Boob tube UHD review: Audio and video
When the onn Android Television UHD was working, I did savor some of my favorite shows and movies. The bar in Information technology's Always Sunny in Philly looked accurately dingy, I saw tons of detail in the sets of FX'southward Fargo, and the greens and purples of Loki's world came through looking squeamish, while Miss Minutes rendered in a correct shade of copper.
The ane downside of the onn Android Tv set UHD'south picture and audio quality is that the only pop standard it supports is Dolby Audio. That means you don't become any HDR movie quality for darker black tones, Dolby Vision or Dolby Atmos. If you know what those standards are, that will be a deal-breaker. Otherwise, yous may be in the clear.
Contrastingly, the Fire TV Stick 4K and Chromecast with Google TV take the best set of A/V perks, with HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision video standards, and the Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Atmos Audio standards. The Roku Express 4K Plus (HDR10/10+, HLG and Dolby Audio) isn't as complete.
onn Android TV UHD review: Verdict
As this onn Android Television review has shown, it's almost got things figured out. It'south the cheapest 4K streaming device on the market, and its performance is fast enough and its interface and remote both offer all the standards you need.
If only its remote didn't unpair itself and its language bug were non present, it would exist an easy call for folks. Instead, I accept to advice that you await for Walmart to figure out the bugs, or but spend the actress $20 on the Chromecast with Google Television. Yes, it's pricier, but it doesn't come with the alarm signs that the onn. Android TV UHD has. Hopefully, we'll hear back some day about a software update that fixes this.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/onn-android-tv-uhd-review-too-buggy-to-recommend
Posted by: archeranxing.blogspot.com
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