Update: Nvidia and Google recently announced that the Nvidia Shield will now support Google Play Movies and TV in 4K. Google Play Movies and TV joins Netflix, Amazon Video, Vudu and Plex as 4K video services on the Shield.
Also new this month is the ability to Cast in 4K, i.e. send UHD video streams from your mobile device to your Nvidia Shield.
If 4K video isn't your scene, Google also announced that it would update the YouTube app on the Nvidia Shield to support 360-degree video and a sleeker UI as early as July 28 for some users..
Original review continues below...
There’s plenty to appreciate about the new Nvidia Shield. But out of everything – the 40% reduction in overall size, the integration of Google Assistant, the addition of Amazon Instant Video for the first time on Android TV – the best changes are the ones that happened to the streaming video box’s operating system, Android TV.
It’s far and away better than it was when the gaming-centric streaming box first came out close to two years ago. A greatly improved universal search function on top of a larger selection of apps on top of Google Home and Assistant integration have finally empowered Nvidia’s hardware to really shine.
Said simply, if there’s ever been a time to take a serious look at Nvidia’s already-great streamer, this is the time to do it.
But let’s hold on for a second. Maybe this is your first experience with the Nvidia Shield, the $199 / £189 (about AU$260) 4K-capable, HDR-ready video streaming device that’s been developed by a primarily graphics card-focused company.
If it is, what you’re reading about is one of the most powerful streaming video players on the planet – one that can double as a gaming system, and triple as the center of your smart home. It has the power to stream your favorite shows like Amazon Fire TV or any one of the Roku players, but with the added perk of being able to play Android TV and some PC-quality games via GeForce Now. Finally, while other streaming devices might make you tack on a Bluetooth controller in order to really enjoy games (cough, Apple TV), Nvidia Shield comes with a completely re-designed gamepad that works much better than it did previously.
It has its shortcomings, but overall Nvidia’s Shield TV has enough on offer to persuade even the most ardent of skeptics to give this little streamer a shot.
Design
When you picture a streaming video player you might call to mind a sleek, flat square no more than an inch or two high, or a small hockey puck-shaped plastic box.
Nvidia Shield isn’t quite like either of those. Nvidia eschewed traditional design years ago and has developed its own style for the Shield that’s neither round nor flat, but an interesting mix of criss-crossing lines, unique slants and stark angles.
The headline feature here is that the 2017 Shield is 40% smaller than before, bringing it from about 20cm (8-inches) wide down to about 13cm (5-inches). It’s able to shed some plastic by dropping the micro-SD card slot that used to hang out on the back and retail in only one hard drive size – 16GB. (Of course, Nvidia tells us that the 500GB version of the Shield will still be available at the old 2015-version size, too, but it will cost a bit more and be called the Nvidia Shield Pro, check out our original Nvidia Shield review for an overview of the hardware).
So what ports are left? Spin it around and you’ll still find Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 2.0a and two USB 3.0 ports. Although the box is compatible with 802.11ac Wi-Fi your best bet for consistent 4K video streaming or GeForce Now gaming is going to be running an ethernet cable directly from your router into the box.
All that said, its diminutive stature actually makes the console smaller than the included controller, something which has also gotten a facelift for the new year.
The 2017 Shield TV controller is less bulky than its predecessor and much more angular. The surface of the controller is covered in a triangle pattern that, in some ways, makes the controller easier to hold in your hand. These new controllers won’t offer the touchpad that you’d find on the ones that shipped with the original Shield, and that’s because Nvidia said those were a holdover relic from the “web browser on your TV” craze. That said, you can still use the original gamepads with the 2017 Shield should you have any of them laying around.
And while the latest controllers say goodbye to the touchpad, you can still find a built-in microphone on each and every controller. That’s used, among other reasons, to activate Google Assistant – a Siri equivalent built for Android devices – which we’ll touch on soon.
The controller is a step in the right direction on all accounts, but admittedly it’s still not the best pad out there for extended play sessions, especially when stacked up against Sony’s DualShock 4 or Microsoft’s Xbox One controller. We could enumerate the number of tweaks Nvidia needs to make here, but the first steps Nvidia should consider taking here would be to make it weightier, more durable and redesign the triggers, D-Pad and face buttons.
Nvidia says the controllers are rated for around 60 hours of battery life, but didn’t say if that number is for active use or standby mode. The controller turns itself off after a period of use to save on power so it’s sort of tough to say how long it can last on one charge.
Here’s some good new, though: Each and every Nvidia Shield will now ship with a basic remote – something that used to be an optional accessory – for free. The remote has a built-in microphone in case you stray too far from your controller, a set of three simple buttons for navigation and a touch-capacitive channel to raise and lower the volume.
It’s an excellent addition, and something that makes it much easier to use the console as just a streaming box if you don’t want to bother with the gaming side of things for a session.
let’s focus for a minute on android tv, the brains in the back of the nvidia guard and the person interface you’re going to want to get familiar with must you select up a defend.
Even as roku’s interface is minimal and amazon fire tv’s is greater or less only a collection of suggests and films from amazon immediate video, android television attempts to show you a buffet of content from special sources. the top row is all endorsed content based on indicates which you watch on netflix, your youtube history, video games you’ve performed and twitch streamers you like. of path, this will trade if, say, you’ve established starz or hbo pass, and then yours could be absolutely and totally distinctive.
Under the endorsed row is the apps row wherein you’ll discover more often than not a bunch of first-party google apps – google play tv and movies, google play tune, google play save, and so forth… – before everything, but can then be geared up with whichever apps you find at the pretty sturdy android television store.
So what, exactly, are you able to watch on the defend? as a long way as its media playback capabilities are concerned, nvidia’s sport-centric streaming box is a pretty succesful one. it has almost every principal streaming provider we could think of – hbo now, showtime, netflix, amazon instant video, kodi, plex, disney films everywhere, hulu, sling tv, crackle, epix and many, many more.
Many of those apps weren’t to be had whilst the original guard released in 2015, which made difficult to endorse mostly as a streaming tool, so it’s quality to look how tons the platform has developed within the closing two years. furthermore, even though, android tv has seen some of functionality enhancements, which include a stronger generic search that should be able to search out your favored tv indicates and movies on a number of services.
But the real motive you’d need to select up the nvidia defend over, say, a roku most excellent or amazon fire tv is due to the fact the guard is first and principal a gaming device. like the final generation, the 2017 shield could be able to play android television games natively as well as circulate titles taken from nvidia’s on-line streaming carrier geforce now or out of your very own computer via gamestreaming.
Every of those sources could warrant their very own in-depth appearance, however in place of bogging you down with the details we’ll try to preserve their descriptions concise.
Android tv games that you may download are usually some years older (see: the tomb raider reboot) or are ports in their cellular counterparts (see: age of zombies). video games from geforce now are a lot, plenty more recent however include the caveat that they’re all streamed from a server that’s in all likelihood positioned pretty a long way from wherein you stay. finally, gamestreaming permits you to take video games from your laptop and move them for your guard. it’s a neat concept and now not one you’ll in all likelihood ever discover on some other streaming video player, although you may achieve comparable functionality with the less expensive steam hyperlink.
When you’re done with your sport session, you’ll probable want to sit back and binge-watch your preferred show or film. to that stop, anticipate some one incredible improvement to the defend platform in 2017: amazon top video.
Via some way and we’re no longer positive how, nvidia were given amazon to agree to position a top video app at the guard – amazon, the company who refused to sell chromecast on its save as it “provided a less than perfect streaming solution”.
So nvidia deserves a few critical kudos for making that occur.
Performance
How do all of these apps paintings? in short, pretty well. obviously streaming is plenty greater steady when using a stressed connection to your router, but we have been able to get exceptionally clean hd playback over wireless – even in a incredibly slow community environment.
Now, that being stated, in case you want to definitely see what this field is capable of, you need to plug it into your router, plug into a 4k, hdr-ready tv and watch your favourite suggests in all their extremely high-res glory.
Currently the nvidia shield helps each netflix and amazon in 4k uhd and each appearance first rate gambling via the streaming device. we were given a danger to watch house of cards and mad dogs, both in 4k and, rather, the use of wi-fi as opposed to an ethernet cable.
On the audio side of things, guard helps bypass-via of 5.1 and seven.1 audio and supplies an first rate surround sound enjoy. it also helps dolby virtual (ac3), dolby virtual plus (e-ac3), dts-hd, dts-hd ma, dolby truehd, dolby atmos, dts-x and dts middle audio streams in skip-thru mode.
Geforce now as a provider has additionally been advanced considering the fact that we first saw it a few years lower back – gameplay is smoother and it not often, if ever, disconnects you.
Here comes a caveat: just as we’ve mentioned for both the sling television, ps now and, well, quite a good deal any streaming service or streaming video field evaluate, your mileage will vary. you would possibly buy the protect watching for 4k playback out of the field handiest to take it domestic and discover that your 10mbps connection can’t virtually manage uhd video all that well. it also requires having a 4k uhd television, a given for the general public, however you’d be amazed how typically that’s been the solution to a problem we’ve tried to troubleshoot for friends and own family.
However here’s the bigger trouble. what you’re getting for $199 / £189 / au$260 is a equipped micro video games console, better than every other android tv gaming console hybrid obtainable. and but, it certainly doesn’t keep a candle to the xbox one and ps4, right game consoles that play the modern day games – without having to move them – and cost just a piece more. those structures have almost all of the capability listed so far, and are consequently possibly the higher purchase except you honestly, really want a 4k streaming participant and a video games console rolled into one. in case you simply need 4k streaming machine and don’t want a games console you’re likely better served searching at the chromecast ultra or an awful lot less expensive roku most suitable+.
One greater factor: due to the fact the best thing that nvidia has changed about the 2017 defend is its length and controller, you can get a lot of what this console offers at a hefty discount in case you’re inclined to simply discover a retailer nevertheless promoting the 2015 version.
Smart home integration
The nvidia guard has constantly happy a gap marketplace highly well. it has and constantly can be one of the maximum premium streaming video bins in the world that’s made even better by means of baking in a honest quantity of features for gamers.
The modern defend, however, goes one step further by using providing amazon on the spot video, and will soon be capable of act as the pinnacle of your smart home.
Of route, there are a few real issues right here – the controller nevertheless feels a piece just like the 0.33-party pad you’d hand off to a pal so that you should use the primary-party controller, and geforce now can nevertheless get hung up or lag in the back of.
Extra importantly, even though, nvidia guard still sits inside the no guy’s land among a totally functional console that may play all of the contemporary video games you care about and a simple streaming video player which can get entry to uhd variations of amazon and netflix. you may spend a little extra and have the previous or, spend less, and feature the latter. the protect is simply sitting there in the center and that might make it much less appealing for a few folks.
The final problem we see with the Shield, and it’s not so much a problem as it is a “buyer beware” situation, is that the old Shield can do almost everything this one can, and will likely cost you half as much. There are still plenty of reasons to upgrade if you liked the previous version, but most people would be just as happy picking up the two-year-old device.
So should you buy the Shield? If you want a machine that’s a jack of all trades, then the answer is “Yes, absolutely”. If you’re looking for a 4K streamer that can play some games natively and stream most others then the Shield does a good job of each of these tasks.
That said, if you don’t mind dropping the game-streaming component or would rather play good ol’ fashioned discs instead of streaming, there are machines out there that can do each individual task better or cheaper (though rarely both).
A dedicated games console like a PS4 or Xbox One will do native gaming better, but you’ll pay more. A Steam Link will do cheaper local streaming, but it doesn’t do it as seamlessly. A Chromecast Ultra will do 4K/HDR streaming more cheaply, but doesn’t support Amazon Prime Video.
The Nvidia Shield does each of these things well, and it integrates them seamlessly into a single package, but if you only want one or two then you might be able to save money with an alternative device.
We liked
Nvidia has really gone back to the drawing board for the new Shield. It might not be a 100% different machine than it was two years ago, but a 40% reduction in size and complete retooling of the controller are certainly large steps in the right direction. On top of that, this is an Android TV box that can not only play multiple content sources in 4K, but it does Amazon Instant Video in UHD as well – a huge boon for us Transparent or Mozart in the Jungle lovers out there.
On top of that, the Shield is a fun micro gaming console. It might not be able to play the latest retail release on its own, but it certainly can stream it from a PC using GameStreaming or suggest any number of slightly older titles on GeForce Now or straight Android. The selection of titles will surprise you, even if you’re used to having more modern options.
We disliked
It’s a cop out to say it, but we really wish the Shield was a bit cheaper than it is. It’s at this tricky price point that makes it hard justify to someone who might be deciding between this and, say a Roku Ultra and Xbox One S. Going with the former saves money while the latter adds additional features you won’t find on the Shield.
But moreover, there are still some hang-ups that ruin a relatively pristine streaming device. GeForce Now is much improved but game playback isn’t exactly flawless if you’ve got a slower internet connection or home network. Likewise, the controller is a huge step forward, but still feels like a third-party pad you want to hand to someone else while you use an Xbox One or PS4 controller. These problems are minor in the grand scheme of things, and shouldn’t dissuade you from purchasing the Shield should it mostly fit what you’re looking for.
Final verdict
Nvidia Shield is much improved, yes, but it’s really the improvements that have been made to Android TV that really steal the show. Refining universal search to be more egalitarian was a massive leap forward, and the upcoming addition of Google Assistant is sure to scratch that smart home itch many of us have been feeling.
There are some other options out there around this price point that are worth giving full consideration but, should you desire a 4K video streaming player that can handle some of your favorite games, Shield is perfect addition to your audio visual armory.
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