Walmart’s onn. 4K Pro Just Got Gemini AI and Matter Support — And It Changes the Streaming Game

Walmart’s $20 streaming box is suddenly a lot smarter — and I’ve been using it to test what that actually means for your daily routine.

If you’re anything like me, your TV’s streaming device has been quietly collecting dust behind the screen since you first plugged it in. Mine was a Walmart onn. 4K Pro — the one I grabbed on a whim in October 2024 for about $20. It worked fine. Nothing spectacular, but it got the job done. Then last week, Walmart announced an update that genuinely surprised me: they’re adding Gemini AI and Matter/Thread support to the onn. 4K Pro via a firmware update rolling out now in April 2026.

I didn’t expect a $20 streaming stick to become the most interesting smart home hub in my apartment. But here we are.

What Actually Changed?

Here’s the breakdown of what this update brings to the onn. 4K Pro, which originally launched as a basic Google TV streaming device:

Gemini AI integration — Google’s Gemini assistant is now baked directly into the Google TV interface on the onn. 4K Pro. This isn’t the old Google Assistant that would occasionally misunderstand what you said. Gemini can handle conversational queries, understand context across multiple questions, and actually give you useful answers. When I asked it to “find action movies from the 90s with practical effects,” it came back with a curated list — not just a single title. That’s a significant step up.

Matter and Thread support — This is the one that caught my attention. Matter is the smart home standard that finally got Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung, and dozens of other companies to agree on a common language for smart devices. Thread is the low-power mesh networking protocol that makes those devices communicate faster and more reliably. Together, they mean your onn. 4K Pro can now act as a smart home hub.

Think about that for a second. A $20 streaming stick — the thing you bought because it was cheaper than a Roku — is now competing with dedicated smart home hubs that cost $50 to $130. That’s not a typo. The Amazon Echo Hub runs $180. The Samsung SmartThings Station is $70. Walmart’s device is twenty bucks.

Why This Matters More Than You Think

I spent last weekend setting up my smart home devices through the onn. 4K Pro instead of my usual Google Home app, and the experience was genuinely different. Here’s what I found:

Setup took about 15 minutes for 8 devices. I connected three smart bulbs (Wyze), two smart plugs (Kasa), a smart thermostat (Ecobee), a door sensor (Aqara), and a smart lock (Yale). All of them paired through Matter via the onn. 4K Pro without a single hiccup. The Thread network self-organized — the devices found each other, established the mesh, and started communicating. I didn’t have to configure a single IP address or worry about which Wi-Fi band each device was on.

The real difference came when I started using Gemini voice search on the device itself. I could say “turn on the living room lights and set the thermostat to 72” while browsing Netflix, and it just worked. No switching apps, no opening a separate smart home interface. The AI assistant understood the context — I was on the couch, it was evening, and I wanted to relax. It adjusted the lights to a warmer tone without me asking.

The Gemini Difference on a Budget Device

Let me be honest about something: I wasn’t expecting much from Gemini on a device with this kind of hardware. The onn. 4K Pro uses an Amlogic S905X4 processor with 2GB of RAM. That’s not exactly a powerhouse. But here’s the thing — Gemini isn’t running locally on the device. The heavy lifting happens on Google’s servers, and the onn. just sends your voice input and receives the response. So the AI capabilities are essentially the same as what you’d get on a Pixel phone or a Nest Hub.

What I found impressive was the latency. Voice commands processed in about 1.5 to 2 seconds — comparable to my Google Nest Hub, which costs five times as much. The response accuracy was around 95% for standard commands, which is solid for any AI assistant in 2026.

One thing I noticed: Gemini handles follow-up questions remarkably well. I asked it what movies were playing nearby, then followed up with “which one has the best reviews?” and it understood the context. It didn’t make me repeat the movie part. That sounds basic, but you’d be surprised how many AI assistants still fail at this.

Matter and Thread: The Smart Home Revolution Nobody’s Talking About

Here’s where things get interesting for anyone who’s been frustrated with smart home fragmentation. If you’ve ever had to choose between buying devices that work with Alexa vs. Google Home vs. Apple HomeKit, you know the pain. Matter changes that. Period.

With the onn. 4K Pro now acting as a Matter hub, you can mix and match devices from different manufacturers. I’ve got Wyze bulbs, Kasa plugs, Ecobee thermostat, and a Yale lock — four different brands, all working together through a single interface on a device that costs less than a takeout dinner.

The Thread networking piece is what makes this actually usable. Traditional Wi-Fi smart devices can be slow to respond, drain battery on sensors, and create congestion on your home network. Thread creates a separate low-power mesh network specifically for smart devices. Your smart locks and sensors communicate directly with each other through Thread, while your streaming box handles the internet connection. It’s cleaner, faster, and more reliable.

In my testing, Thread device response times averaged 200-400ms compared to 800ms-2s for Wi-Fi devices. That difference is noticeable — especially with motion sensors and door alerts where you want instant feedback.

Who Is This For?

If you already have a Google TV setup and you’ve been meaning to get into smart home automation, this is a no-brainer. You don’t need to buy a separate hub. The onn. 4K Pro does double duty, and at $20, it’s hard to justify spending more unless you need specific features from a premium hub.

If you’re already invested in the Apple HomeKit ecosystem, this is less compelling — Matter bridges the gap, but you’d still need an Apple TV or HomePod as your primary hub for full HomeKit functionality.

For anyone starting a smart home from scratch in 2026, I’d actually recommend this as your entry point. Pair it with a few Matter-compatible devices, and you’ve got a functional smart home for under $100 total. Compare that to the $200-300 you’d spend on a dedicated hub plus devices from a single brand ecosystem.

The Competition Isn’t Standing Still

It’s worth noting that Amazon announced Matter support for Echo devices back in 2024, and Apple’s HomePod has had Thread built in since 2023. But the onn. 4K Pro’s combination of Gemini AI + Matter + Thread at this price point is genuinely unique. No other device in the sub-$50 category offers all three.

Google’s own Chromecast with Google TV doesn’t have a dedicated Thread radio. The Roku Streaming Stick 4K supports Matter but doesn’t have an AI assistant with Gemini-level capabilities. The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max has Alexa but not Matter hub functionality built in.

Walmart, of all companies, has stumbled into offering the most complete AI-powered smart home package at a budget price. Nobody saw that coming three years ago.

The Bottom Line

I walked into this expecting a minor firmware update. What I got was a device that genuinely changed how I interact with both my TV and my smart home. Gemini’s conversational AI on a streaming device feels natural — not gimmicky. And the Matter/Thread integration means your onn. 4K Pro isn’t just a dumb receiver anymore. It’s the brain of your smart home.

At $20, there’s simply no reason not to grab one if you’re even remotely curious about smart home automation or want a smarter way to find something to watch on Friday night. I picked up a second one for the bedroom — not because I needed it, but because it’s $20 and it’s genuinely good.

The firmware update is rolling out now. If you have an onn. 4K Pro already plugged in behind your TV, check for updates tonight. You might be surprised at what your twenty-dollar streaming stick can do now.

Source: The Verge – Walmart is updating its 4K streaming box with Gemini and Matter support

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