Walmart's budget Onn Google TV stick now costs double, because why not

Walmart’s Onn TV stick is one of the most cost-effective ways to breathe new life into an old dumb TV with Google TV. Walmart sells two variants: one with 4K support and another with Full HD. The latter, officially called the “Full HD Streaming Device,” was launched in 2023 for just $14 and occasionally dips below $10.

While its price has been one of its biggest draws, it’s no longer the same. And no, I’m not talking about a newer, previously leaked model finally launching at a slightly higher price. Rather, the prices for the existing three-year-old model are now being jacked up to $30, which is more than double the original price.

Walmart has been mum — as it was before launching the Onn 4K Pro. However, Android Police, which spotted the change, links the price hike to the ongoing memory and storage crunch (thank goodness for AI!), which has recently also sent Apple product prices soaring.

This hike places the Onn Full HD Streamer in close vicinity to the newer, more powerful Onn 4K Streaming stick. It’s available for just $10 more and offers 4K (it’s in the name!) with HDR10 video playback, more RAM, and Gemini support. The original device was originally priced at $20 and could even be bought for that price ahead of the launch, but Walmart raised it to $40 once the 4K stick went official.

If it is indeed due to the RAM shortage, we could also expect a higher price for the rumored Full HD model. That’s especially true since the minimum RAM requirement for Google TV devices is 2GB, unless Walmart chooses to stick to vanilla Android TV with the upcoming device, which is quite unlikely.