Performance
Having the stunning Tegra 4 CPU/GPU at its heart, the Nvidia Shield was never going to disappoint in the performance tests and as you can see from the AnTuTu benchmark, it’s made a mockery of many of the best mobile devices on the market, scoring a very impressive 38118 points. If you want to compare that up for some perspective, AnTuTu is a free download in the market place, go try your device and see how it stacks up.
The AnTuTu summery goes even further, listing much of the performance as Excellent.
Next up we have the Ice Storm Unlimited benchmark from 3DMark, we would have tried the other two Ice Storm tests, but 3DMarks software said our device was too powerful for them, which speaks volumes as to how powerful the Tegra 4 really is.
In a single test it scored an impressive 16050, a little below the average for the Nvidia Shield.
I likely scored below the average as I didn’t “prep” the device for an optimum score by clearing out ram and other little tricks you can do, however it’s still on par with the equally powerful LG Nexus 5 and Vibe Z LTE. This is again a free benchmark and can be download from the Google Play Store, why not give it a go and see how your device compares.
These high scores set the pace for the Shield, which is by far one of the most powerful Android devices on the market today, I have played through many games of Sonic 4 Episode II, Dead Trigger, Fractal Combat, Ridge Racer Slipstream and countless other high-end android games and they all ran beautifully.
Not having the slightest interest in mobile gaming I would normally ignore reviews on them and the devices but I read this one and found it very interesting (not that it changes my stance one iota). Thank you.
I like how nVidia has modelled it on a console controller and it makes sense to do it that way because to my way of thinking kids play on consoles and are accustomed to the controller so adjusting to this will be a non issue and this device is no doubt targeted at youngsters which is a huge market and the price is quite palatable so mom & pop shouldn’t have a too hard a time coughing up. If I were a kid I’d much rather have something like this than a PSP.
As for me, a dyed-in-the-wool PC gamer a controller is something I just can’t get used to, it is nothing but a frustration even for driving games (a Logitech G27 is more like it). If I can’t control the game properly with a keyboard and mouse I’ll toss it aside in a heartbeat.
It’s an interesting idea.
I like it a lot and if i had the cash to spare, i would get one.
My only issue with it how long would you use it before the initial novelty wore off?
Once that’s gone, you’ve got yourself yet another android device.
Though i do like the idea of being able to play Dark Souls 2 and War Thunder from the comfort of my bed.
or even Nidhogg