Nvidia Shield TV 2017 Model Android TV Console Review

Final Thoughts

Price

The Nvidia Shield TV console is available now in the UK for £189.95 for the 16GB version. For your money, you get the console, the controller and the TV remote all included, making it truly exceptional value for money. If you want a few upgrades, you can grab the 500GB version for just £279.98, which is perfect for those who want to store lots of movies, games and more, making it very handy as a Plex server. Additionally, you can grab extra controllers for £59.96, and the vertical stand for the console for £19.98.

Overview

There’s a lot of features to the Nvidia Shield TV that are identical to the original. It uses the same OS, plays all the same games, and even delivers identical performance from the built-in Tegra X1 GPU, so for those with the original version, it may not be vital to upgrade anytime soon. However, there are some rather fantastic advantages to the new model that you may not want to miss out on.

The biggest upgrade to the system is the size, it’s 40% smaller, which is pretty damn impressive. It’s almost witchcraft how small it is, given the level of gaming performance it can deliver!

The controller is the biggest departure here, however, now using Bluetooth instead of WiFi to pair with the system, it’s able to use significantly less power over the previous model. This means you can game for longer between recharges, and that’s certainly a good thing. The smaller, lighter and much more ergonomic controller is also better for long gaming sessions. The old one was pretty hefty and wasn’t comfortable to use for long periods of time. The new sticks, D-pad, triggers, and even the revised headphone jack, are all extremely welcome additions. Despite the angular appearance, it’s also very comfortable to hold too, so praises all round from us.

The new remote also uses Bluetooth now and is the most noticeable improvement in battery life here. The old one seemed to always want to be put on charge, and that was quite frustrating. The new one, however, doesn’t have that problem and the new slightly fatter design also makes it easier to hold too, win win.

The future of Shield TV is looking good too. It already has voice control using Google Now, but with Google Assistant on the way, it could quickly become the hub of all your IoT and SmartHome tech, not forgetting that Nvidia Spot is in the works, and will only expand on all these possibilities later this year.

Being the only system like it that can offer 4K HDR streaming for movies, Dolby Atmos support for local media, and now stream your PC games to your TV in 4K and HDR too, the Shield TV is the ultimate smart device to add to your home entertainment system today.

Pros

• Still the most power Android box on the market
• GameStream
• GeForce Now
• Greatly improved controller
• Vastly improved peripheral battery life
• 4K@60Hz
• 10-bit HDR capable
• 40% smaller than previous model
• Virtually silent operation
• Good Assistant support coming soon

Cons

• None

“The latest version of the Shield TV makes an already great system even better. Not only is it smaller, but it still delivers the best performance of any system in its class, and with the greatly improved new peripherals, it’s even more enjoyable to use for movies, music, gaming and much more!”