Nvidia Shield TV (2019) Review
Our Verdict
The Nvidia Shield TV 2019 offers seamless game-streaming, fast-loading 4K HDR content and ambitious AI upscaling for 1080p video.
For
- Splendid game-streaming
- Quick rendering of UHD content
- Lots of neat apps
- Attractive new design
Against
- AI upscaling doesn't add that much
- Somewhat expensive
Tom'south Guide Verdict
The Nvidia Shield Tv 2019 offers seamless game-streaming, fast-loading 4K HDR content and ambitious AI upscaling for 1080p video.
Pros
- +
First-class game-streaming
- +
Quick rendering of UHD content
- +
Lots of great apps
- +
Attractive new design
Cons
- -
AI upscaling doesn't add that much
- -
Somewhat expensive
The Nvidia Shield TV has always been something of an odd duck in the streaming-player oversupply. The first-gen model had a clever thought — half game console, half streaming box — but a cumbersome design. The second-gen model corrected a lot of the lingering bug, simply still cost an awful lot of coin (upwards to $300) in a market place where 4K HDR streamers commonly go for $50.
With the new Nvidia Shield TV ($150), the company is trying something a little different. And, after having spent some fourth dimension with the new gadget, I tin attest that a little different equals a lot better. Once you lot accept the Shield Idiot box's strange design (allow'south not mince words: Information technology'due south an oversize cigarette lighter), information technology can exercise a whole lot.
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Not but can you stream top-notch PC games from your own collection; y'all tin can also savour fast-loading 4K HDR content and ambitious AI upscaling for 1080p video. Then at that place's the Android TV OS, which offers thousands of apps, in improver to smart-home and digital-assistant compatibility.
The new Shield Tv set may still be a petty as well expensive for more coincidental videophiles, only for those who want to watch, game and bring their ain equipment to the political party, information technology's i of the best streaming players you can purchase.
Nvidia Shield Idiot box 2019 review: Price and release engagement
The Nvidia Shield TV is $149 on Amazon. It came out on October 28, 2019.
Nvidia Shield Television receiver 2019 specs
Video:4K, Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10
Audio: Dolby Sound: Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos
Processor: Nvidia Tegra X1+
Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.vi x one.vi inches
In the box: Shield remote, 2x AAA batteries
Smart assistant back up:Amazon Alexa, Google Banana
Nvidia Shield Goggle box 2019 review: Design
When I first saw the Shield TV, I expected that I would detest how information technology looked once I got it habitation. Rather than a small box or dongle shape, the Shield Tv is an odd blackness cylinder, which rests horizontally somewhere below your Idiot box. On one terminate, in that location'due south a power port and an Ethernet port; on the other, in that location's a microSD card slot, an HDMI port and a hard reset push. (You probably won't need to use the button, but it's good to accept.)
In one case I got the device gear up, though, I thought information technology looked rather cool. Since it has wires coming out of both ends, it resembles zilch so much as an oversize cable- management tube — and such a tube certainly doesn't seem out of place beneath a TV. Information technology's likewise heavy and sturdy plenty that the myriad wires won't hoist it up and make information technology dangle.
(I exercise accept 1 slight quibble: Depending on where your wires come from, the Shield TV's "Nvidia" logo might be upside-downwards. We live in a world of compromises.)
Historically minded users may remember that the previous-gen Shield Telly likewise came with 2 USB ports. It's admittedly a pain to lose these, only a) the microSD card slot works just besides for well-nigh purposes, and b) you can still go the sometime-style Shield TV with new Shield TV features in a product chosen the Nvidia Shield Television receiver Pro ($200).
Nvidia Shield TV interface
Like previous models, the 2019 Shield TV runs on the Android Television receiver Bone. If you haven't checked out Android Os recently, though, it'southward worth pointing out that the interface is a lot better than it used to be. While doing and so is a little cumbersome, you can customize your home screen to put the content you want front end and center, and get rid of the content that doesn't interest you lot.
In instance y'all haven't used it before, Android Tv organizes content into rows. The first row yous'll run into volition be all your favorite apps. Beneath that, there might be a whole row dedicated to Netflix, and the shows you're watching on that platform. Below that, yous might get the aforementioned matter for YouTube, or games, and so along. It's pretty intuitive, and puts very footling distance between you lot and what you want to admission.
Historically, I've complained about the Google Play Store on Android TV, which is a niggling abstruse, and doesn't do a practiced chore of organizing content into browsable categories. However, a contempo update has fabricated it a lot easier to find what you're looking for — and, declining that, y'all tin e'er just perform a text or voice search. It's not every bit robust as something like the Roku search, or every bit deep as the Apple TV search, simply I didn't have any trouble finding apps that I was looking for.
The Shield TV as well has 1 feature that most Android Television receiver systems lack: Nvidia Games. Selecting this volition bring y'all to a diversity of Android games, only also to GeForce Now. While GeForce Now has been through a few different iterations, information technology's now a costless game-streaming service. There are a handful of games available absolutely free of accuse, such as Batman: Arkham Metropolis and Tomb Raider (2013), but these are mostly holdovers from an earlier experiment.
For the most part, GeForce At present is a fashion to stream games that you've already purchased on Steam, UPlay and similar services. The manner this works is really quite clever. You sign into your Steam/UPlay business relationship on a remote server, which then downloads the game and streams it right to your Shield TV. It's not always piece of cake to effigy out which games work and which games won't, but the Shield volition let you know when you've picked an incompatible championship. The service as well runs pretty smoothly, as I'll describe after.
GeForce Now's current iteration can be a little clunky, simply it works extremely well, particularly if you already own a lot of games on Steam. It's come a long way since the experimental hodgepodge of GeForce Now when the Shield Goggle box first launched.
Nvidia Shield TV 2019 review: Remote
One of the biggest changes from previous Shield TV models is the new version's remote control. While older Shield TVs had remotes available, they also included controllers, which were the primary style Nvidia expected users to collaborate with the arrangement.
The $150 Shield TV doesn't include a controller anymore. This isn't actually a problem, since you can now connect any controller you lot want — other Android controllers, Xbox One controllers and fifty-fifty DualShock 4 controllers. Pairing is painless, and I imagine that most people interested in buying a Shield Television in the first place already own at least one uniform peripheral.
But the Shield Television set does come up with a remote control, and it's a complete redesign. The new remote command is a black triangular prism, with two rows of round buttons down the front. You get round management controls, with a ostend button in the middle, in improver to all the standard media controls (play/interruption, rewind, fast-frontward, etc.). At that place'south also a dedicated button for Netflix at the bottom, which isn't necessary, but doesn't practice any harm, either.
One cool characteristic of the remote is that it volition automatically illuminate when you option it upward, so information technology's piece of cake to see in a dark room. Simply for some reason, the buttons are quite dark themselves until the lighting kicks in, which makes the illumination something of a necessity, even in a moderately bright room. Information technology probably would have been easier to just make lighter-colored buttons. The remote also operates on two AA batteries: a step upwards from the coin-prison cell battery in previous Shield Idiot box remotes, but a rechargeable peripheral would even so be nice.
Nvidia Shield TV 2019 review: Content and apps
Android Tv set has access to thousands of apps — although like most app stores, there's a lot more crust than wheat. At the very to the lowest degree, you'll be able to get simply about every major channel, including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video, Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, Spotify, Pandora, Vudu, YouTube and merely about every aqueduct-specific streaming app out there.
In fact, Shield TV has a history of getting new apps before they hit the remainder of the Android Telly ecosystem. That was the instance with Amazon Video a few years agone, and it's the case with the discrete Amazon Music app now. The just big thing missing correct now is Apple Tv set, and who knows if that will ever make its fashion to a Google platform? But if it does, the Shield Idiot box may very well be one of the first systems to get it.
It's worth noting that y'all can also programme routines and even command certain smart-dwelling house gadgets through the congenital-in Google Assistant. If you adopt Alexa, you can also set upwardly the Shield TV to work with commands from Amazon'due south digital banana, including powering on, selecting content and pausing shows. Yous can't use every smart-home device — for Samsung Smart Hub products, you need a USB dongle, for instance. Just having admission to a full-featured Google Assistant is pretty handy still.
Nvidia Shield TV 2019 review: Operation
The Shield TV is a powerful device, sporting a Tegra X1+ processor, 2 GB RAM, 8 GB storage, and support for Dolby Vision and Atmos. As such, there's no reason to discuss video performance in great particular. The Shield Telly loads and buffers 4K HDR content very fast — much faster than $50 competitors like the Roku Streaming Stick+ or the Amazon Burn Idiot box Stick 4K. If you've got fast Wi-Fi, the Shield Goggle box offers 802.11 ac back up; otherwise, you can plug in an Ethernet cablevision.
What'due south more interesting is what the Shield TV does with all its extra power. Nvidia has programmed in a proprietary grade of AI upscaling. Without going into as well much detail most how it works, the Shield Television employs an algorithm to brand 1080p pictures look more like 4K images, both in move and when paused.
You can set this upscaling to Depression, Medium or High, depending on how aggressive you want to go, or y'all can turn information technology off entirely if you lot don't trust it. In my experience, I found it worked pretty well, although it did occasionally change a pic'south colour for no real reason (a blood-red sign became orangish in Spider-Human being: Into the Spider-Verse, albeit with sharper text). I also found that I didn't perceive a difference one time a movie or TV show had been in progress for a while. Comparing withal images was fun, but I'm not certain I would accept noticed, had I not already known I was toying with algorithms.
What's impressive, though, is how the Shield Television set handles games. As stated, the Shield TV streams games you already own from a remote server; you lot only provide the controller or keyboard. (You can too stream any game you want from a server in your own dwelling, simply how well that works is dependent on your ain hardware and Net connectedness.)
When I prepare the Shield TV at home, it wasn't situated anywhere near my router, so I had to make due with Wi-Fi, which provides about 40 to 45 Mbps on a skilful day. I loaded up GreedFall, where I happened to have a save only before the final dominate. Without spoiling anything, the last fight in the game is a adequately tough i, which requires a lot of dodging and split-second tactical decisions. If the Shield Tv set lagged even a footling bit, I'd accept been fileted well earlier I could quaff a healing potion.
But the Shield TV didn't lag at all. The game streamed at 1080p resolution with a frame rate that seemed far in excess of 30 fps. (The software didn't give me an exact number, but it was almost definitely somewhere betwixt xxx and sixty.) I had like experiences with Tomb Raider, Spec Ops: The Line and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It'southward an incredibly impressive piece of tech, and I was amazed that I could play a full-fledged PC game in my bedroom without having to drag my whole gaming rig in with me.
Nvidia Shield Tv 2019 review: Bottom line
The Shield TV (2019) looks a lot different than it did a few years ago, and it doesn't come with nearly as much stuff. (Although, once again, the Nvidia Shield Goggle box Pro still has all the ports, and you can ever purchase a controller separately.) And yet, I remember it'southward a stronger production for all that. Asking $150 for a streaming device is much more reasonable than asking $200 or more, and the new Shield Television notwithstanding does merely about everything information technology did before. Some things, it does even improve.
From its ambitious AI upscaling to its surprisingly solid game streaming, the Shield Boob tube is definitely aiming for a gaming/streaming audience rather than the everyday binge-watcher. Simply I think it provides just virtually everything those gamers and streamers would need, at a much more approachable price than before. But grab your favorite controller, and you lot're adept to become.
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Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/nvidia-shield-tv-2019-review
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