The Nvidia Shield TV is without doubt the most versatile gaming experience that you can have on your TV. With the ability to play games from the Android store, stream games from your PC or stream some of the greatest content, it’s a worthy addition to any living room setup.
THE DESIGN
Included in the box is your Shield TV unit, the Shield Remote and the Shield Controller. The device itself is tiny and looks incredibly sleek, with the actual unit itself and the remote/controller sharing the same black matte/shiny design features. The unit has two USB ports, a HDMI port, a ethernet port and the power port.
The controller feels great in the hands, it has all of the buttons you’d expect with four shoulder buttons, four face buttons, a D-Pad, and all the buttons you need to navigate the Android interface. It has a hands-free mic for Google Assistant, a headset jack for audio out, dual vibration and lasts for an extremely impressive 60 hours (and can be charged using the included Micro USB charging cable).
The remote on the other had is equally great for when you want to sit back and turn on one the many streaming apps or navigate the Android store. It connects via Bluetooth., but it also has an IR blaster to control your TV or sound-bar. It’s also got a microphone for voice search and unlike the controller, it’s powered by a coin cell battery but lasts a long time before it needs to be replaced.
THE EXPERIENCE
The Shield TV is both 4K and HDR capable, meaning that if you’re using one of the many streaming apps, such as Netflix/Stan, you’re going to get a top tier experience. The fact that Google Assistant is built in means that you can use either the remote or the controller to get to where you want to go without having to navigate the UI. In saying that, the UI is beautiful and also incredibly easy to use. It’s extremely intuitive, that if you’ve got other family members that aren’t necessarily gaming orientated, they’ll still find it easy to navigate to where they need to go.
In terms of games, you’ve got two options. You can either stream games to your PC using Nvidia GameStream which supports games such as Battlefield 1 or Overwatch. It works well over high-speed wifi or ethernet and supports full 4K/60FPS as well as features such as full haptic feedback using the Nvidia Shield Controller.
There’s also a Nvidia Tegra X1 built in which is great for games using the Android Store. This sin’t something you’ll find in any other streaming product and allows you to play games like the latest Tomb Raider or Resident Evil. The choices of games is a little but underwhelming, but hopefully this gets better with time.
The gaming experience here probably doesn’t compete with the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, but I’m not sure that it’s meant to. As an all-in-one device that handles 4k/HDR and lets you stream games from your PC, and also play Android games, it offers a versatility that no other streaming devices can provide.
