I replaced my aging Shield TV with Onn's budget box, and it handles Plex better than Nvidia's streamer

Published Oct 6, 2026, 6:00 PM EDT Based in rural Minnesota, Brian Burgess worked in IT for 10 years before finding his passion for writing about consumer technology. Brian earned his degree in computer and network technology in 2000. He held various IT positions, including help desk support, router installations for IBM, database administration, and other associate network administration roles. He's been a personal technology journalist for 18 years and has written thousands of articles about Microsoft products and services, Android, iOS, streaming, and more. He has written for notable tech sites including XDA, InformationWeek, How-To Geek, Byte, groovyPost, and others. When he is away from the keyboard, you will hear him playing guitar, working outdoors, and watching Star Trek. I love my Nvidia Shield TV Pro, but I recently decided it was time to replace my seven-year-old streaming box. The only thing currently on the market that comes close to its performance is the Onn 4K Android TV budget box. It has newer hardware than the Google TV Streamer, which is still too buggy. Not to mention, the price was quietly increased by $50. Don't get me wrong: the budget Onn box can't replace a self-contained Plex server or its two USB ports, but as a client, it handles Plex better than the Shield TV. Even after tweaking the Shield TV's settings to improve its performance, I find the Onn handles self-hosted media from Plex better. A better client device The 2026 Onn 4K Streamer is responsive when playing Plex media Since I've started using the Onn box, I've found it to be a better everyday streaming device for watching my Plex library. The Shield TV remains a more-than-capable streaming device for a home theater, and it still hosts my self-hosted media library, which my Onn and other devices play. But I have replaced the Shield TV at the TV level. I still have it on in the background full time via developer options. The $60 Onn 4K Android TV box features 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, Wi-Fi 6, and Dolby Vision support. For such a low price, it can handle Plex media as a dedicated device. Especially since I don't have a mixed library of random media files I found online, which Plex then organized for me. My files are properly ripped from DVD and Blu-ray to MKV, and I've had no trouble playing anything. The Android TV Plex app loads content fast, and I can skip through movies and shows without a hiccup. Some owners have noted trouble with a lack of lossless audio passthrough support, but I've played more than 50 HDR files and haven't noticed any sound issues. I did have some issues with playback while it was connected to Wi-Fi. However, I hardwired it via its Ethernet port and haven't had trouble since. Onn 4K Pro Streaming Device $60 $60 Save $0 Onn's budget box and Plex It's surprisingly good at loading and playing content For an affordable box, the Onn launches Plex fast; it loads my library and posters fast and provides responsive playback control. I tested it with 1080p and UHD 4K Blu-ray content, as well as my older DVDs. Content starts immediately after you press play; the picture is crisp, the audio sounds great, and buffering is minimal (since switching to Ethernet). The 2026 Onn box is more responsive than the Google TV Streamer despite being less powerful on paper. The 4K Pro Streamer has a newer chipset, which avoids the bottlenecks included with the nearly three-year-old Streamer. I can play Plex content much faster and more easily with the Onn box. It doesn't have dual USB 3.0 ports, but it does include a single USB-A 2.0 port for plugging in drives for local media playback. Where the budget box falls short It doesn't outperform the Shield TV, but it makes an affordable client replacement The Shield TV still beats the Onn box in several key areas. The Shield TV Pro supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD passthrough, AI upscaling, and, of course, two USB 3.0 ports. The budget box includes only a single USB 2.0 port, which you can expand with a powered USB hub for additional local media viewing. The Onn's Ethernet port is also limited to 100Mbps, whereas the Shield TV has Gigabit Ethernet. This can be a problem for specific demanding local files, but so far I haven't had an issue with it handling Plex content. It also doesn't include the Shield TV Pro's gaming capabilities. So, if you rely on the Shield TV for its GeForce Now cloud gaming, the Onn box isn't a good choice. It is for handling Plex content, though. The Shield TV acts as a Plex server and client; however, I have retired it as a client. I am only using it as a server now because the budget Onn box handles Plex so well. It hasn't replaced every convenience I enjoyed with the Shield TV Pro, which is why I haven't completely abandoned the Shield TV, but it is the new client in my setup. Replacing the Shield TV with the Onn 4K Pro Streamer The Onn budget Android TV box doesn't outmuscle the Shield TV in any way. However, it does make a great replacement for a client in my room where I want a responsive way to browse and watch my Plex library. Sure, the Shield TV is still running as a server, and I still use it. But for $60, it's hard not to make the case for this affordable device as a Plex client. It doesn't have the top-of-the-line specs; it's a budget box after all. Still, it is more responsive than you'd think and plays my Plex library served from my Shield Pro.