Google TV update rolling out to Walmart Onn 4K Pro as devices are region-locked

Ben Schoon | Oct 29 2024 - 3:45 pm PT

Walmart’s Onn 4K Pro is one of the best affordable streaming boxes you can buy, but updates seem to have left the device unable to be used outside of approved regions.

The Onn 4K Pro is a $50 streaming box that works wonderfully, and follows in Walmart’s legacy of being surprisingly great at Android TV OS updates. The new Google TV box is this week getting a fresh update, with the September 2024 security patch now rolling out as first spotted by folks on Reddit. We haven’t been able to check for a full changelog just yet, but the update adds controls for the volume of the onboard speaker.

However, other recent updates seem to have broken the device in regards to international users.

Walmart only sells the Onn 4K Pro in the United States and Puerto Rico, though quite a few users have purchased the device for use in other parts of the world. At first, that was working just fine, but that seems to have changed with recent updates.

This week multiple users have found that their Onn 4K Pro is region-locked, with the Google TV box throwing up an “Unsupported region” message. Both users are in Southeast Asia, with one of the users seeing the error on one of Walmart’s 2023 devices. The message reads that Walmart’s devices are only supported in the US and Puerto Rico, and the same is printed on the box for the device. Still, this seems to be rather new, as these devices were working in the past in other regions. Interestingly, those affected say this is only happening after a reset or during a fresh setup rather than after the device is already set up.

Walmart is working on another new Google TV device, presumably a new streaming stick, which is expected to launch next year.