![]() ![]() It has both fast 802.11ac dual-band Wi-Fi and an actual Ethernet jack - Gigabit, of course. The box supports 4K video output with the potential for HDR. Those numbers deserve a healthy dose of salt, but you get the idea. It starts with Nvidia's latest Tegra X1 processor, 3GB of RAM and a 265-core Maxwell-generation GPU, for "raw performance" that's 3x better than the 2015 Apple TV, 4x better than the 2015 Fire TV, and 10x better then the Roku 4, according to Nvidia. Nvidia justifies the Shield's high price with better specifications than any streaming box out there. I'm guessing the idea is to save battery life, but it's an annoying issue in a living-room device. My main complaint about the remote and the game controller is that they had a tendency to become disconnected after awhile, so I had to wait for a second or two (or sometimes longer) before they could properly command the Shield. It's also rechargeable, and had a tendency to go dead more often than I expected. Just like the controller, the remote offers voice search via a built-in mic and a headphone jack for private listening. Dedicated controls for play/pause, rewind and fast-forward would be welcome too, but the cursor key works fine for those functions. I do wish the home key were more prominent and the voice-search button was less so. It's nice enough, as these things go, with a slick, touch-sensitive slider for volume control. The optional clicker costs a whopping $50 or £40. Its Value rating was changed from 5 to 6 and its Ecosystem rating was changed from 7 to 8, which increased its overall rating from 6.9 to 7.5. Although it's better than it was a year ago at launch, the expensive Shield still fills too narrow of a niche.Įditors' note, April 25, 2016: This review has been updated since its publication, taking into account updates including Android Marshmallow, which improved stability and added features, as well as new apps and games, and testing of the GeForce Now game-streaming service. When they reach for their wallets, most people will bet on another horse: a different streamer or a serious gaming rig like a console or PC, or both. Of course, it also costs more than many other hoarder-friendly devices. The powerful Shield does a superb job of that, whether via Plex, Kodi, Emby or something else. They have big collections of files - namely TV shows and movies downloaded from various no-questions-asked corners of the Internet, usually ripped by somebody from DVD or Blu-ray - that they want to play on a TV over a home network. Since it debuted in 2015 Shield has gained a good following of people I like to call file hoarders. There is one group of buyers to whom Shield does appeal. ![]()
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