NVIDIA Shield TV Pro

Having used cheaper Android TV boxes for years, I was at my wits end. The specs supplied for the lower-cost options are misleading. There are multiple issues with the majority of these inferior devices but the two 'biggies' are lack of updates & the fact that the network connections (both ethernet and WiFi) are notoriously slow. I'd actually reached a point where I was contemplating building my own device with a raspberry pi (etc.). I then did some research & discovered the Nvidia Shield Pro! I do realise that at £189, the Shield is (conservatively) 3-4 times the price of some of the cheaper alternatives, but there is a good reason for this: 'It does exactly what it says on the tin'. The Nvidia Shield Pro is BY FAR the best Android TV box I've ever used & you can trust the specification & performance information provided. The UI is smooth & easy to use, it is clear that Nvidia take great pride in the user experience & I applaud them. This device is a true multimedia centre and is geared towards cloud gaming. I looked at buying the official controller but this was expensive. I therefore purchased an 'MSI FORCE GC300' Wireless controller for £32.99 (a bargain) & paired it with the shield. For budget-friendly gaming this device is a must & it also converts any UHD TV into a high-end smart TV (Dolby vision & AI upscaling are giving me some of the best picture quality I've ever personally witnessed). To summarise, learn from my mistakes; buy this now instead of a cheap & inferior alternative. If I'd have known how good the Nvidia Shield devices are (back then), I would've! Hope this helps!

Bought this to replace an aging firestick, the performance is excellent and the gigabit ethernet helps massively. It's a very fast TV box with plenty of connectivity to connect an xbox controller and for game streaming from my gaming PC. It was very easy to setup, I don't get any buffering issues and there's loads of apps to download from the play store.

I’m so pleased I spent the money to buy a more expensive streaming box. Fantastic for streaming. Picture clarity superb on my OLED TV and sound is sensational on my surround-sound cinema system; so much better than cheaper streaming boxes. It’s great to use straight out of the box but if you want to customise it there is a lot you can do. I’ve added Projectivy launcher and an icon pack to make the home screen even more special, and Button Mapper to customise some of the keys on the remote. The remote is great too. It’s triangular, which makes it comfortable to hold, and the buttons illuminate when you move it – great for if you need it whilst you’re watching a movie with the lights low. Having said that, I added the Logitech K400 Plus media keyboard for added convenience, and I recommend that add-on if you are likely to do much typing on-screen.

Used to allow an otherwise great TV access to some streaming services not natively available. Took a short time to configure as needed with a couple of online videos providing excellent tutorials. Much smaller and lighter than expected. Easy to hide away from sight and the remote is very confortable and easy to use. Overall and excellent product.

Bought this as a video streaming and back up gaming device for the bedroom, and overall really happy with it even with some annoyances. The initial set up was very straight forward with a guided process. Once on the main menu, you are given the Shield TV Launcher - and it's incredibly basic with a number of limitations. Firstly it has a number of "channels" - these are rows where certain apps can highlight things that you may be interested in. This is disappointing as only a few apps support this feature (which are the ones that don't interest me) and there are apps you do want to highlight things to to you - but are not supported. In the end I customised this view and switch off all of these highlighted feeds, leaving just one row of your favourite apps at the top of the screen. All of this is done with the Toblerone-esque remote control, which feels great to use. It does come fixed with a dedicated "Netflix" button and as someone who doesn't use the service its a shame it can be reprogrammed to be a shortcut for what I want it to be. Next on to the apps. It's highlighted in the promotional materials that 1000s of Google Play apps and games are available, although this should be taken with a pinch of salt. By default when you go to the Google Play Store on Shield, it will only allow you to install apps that are optimised for Android TV - this excludes pretty much a lot of the apps you would use on your tablet or phone. This is not Nvidia's fault, but you need to be aware that apps can be allowed/disallowed by its developers to run on Android TV/Tablets/Phones, and with this in mind it restricts what apps are available. From a UK TV and games perspective, you can get the following Android TV streaming apps straight away and enjoy... - tvplayer (provides free live streams of BB1, BB2, ITV, Channel 4, and a few others - you can pay extra for other channels) - BBC iPlayer - itv Hub - My5 - Amazon Prime Video - Netflix - Sky News - Plex (useful if you already have a Plex server at home) - Spotify (there is an in-built version of Spotify and a different app store one) You can NOT get the following in the Google Play store for the Shield TV - All4/Channel 4 on Demand - Sky Go - Now TV In order to work around these limitation its possible to install APKs from a third party web site. Just add the APK to the SD card and install - please be aware this is an unofficial process. Sadly it was not possible to get All 4 or Sky Go or Now TV working in this way - the apps would crash out and close. On the other hand this did allow to install the Xbox Game Streaming app (Project xCloud) and runs beautifully along side GeForce Now. So now that you have installed (sideloaded) an app, you can try to add it to home screen as a favourite, but the Shield TV Launcher doesn't allow you to add sideloaded apps in this way. And on top of that, there is no way to organise apps in to sections or folders such as "Games", "TV, "Films", etc. In the end it was a paid third party app (ATV Launcher Pro) that I installed and managed to arrange the menu as I would like including side loaded apps that would've been hidden with the default home screen. It was surprising how much the app offered over and above the simple launcher - creating sections, folders, changing app icon, size, number of rows, colours, images... none of which were in the Shield TV menu by default. I would say though that my time with ATV Launcher Pro was great 90% of the time, as I had a few freezes and hangs - though I would say that was not the fault of the Shield TV. For gaming, you have a number of option to play. - Some Google Play Store games that are optimised for Android TV (you should check on the Google Play website under your existing purchased games if they are compatible on Android TV and you can re-download to Shield TV) - Nvidia's GeForce NOW service. A subscription service that lets you play your own Steam, uPlay, Epic, EA Origin games. - Nvidia's GeForce NOW "Free with Shield TV". A few games are provided free of charge as on the Shield TV including Tomb Raider. - Nvidia Game Stream. Allows the Shield TV, to stream games from your Windows PC to you Shield TV - from place in your home to another. Your PC must have a Nvidia GTX based graphics card to make use of this. - Steam Link. Similar functionality as "Nvidia Game Stream". - Moon Light Game Streaming. Similar functionality as "Nvidia Game Stream". - You can also side load Xbox Game Streaming (subject to being a member of the programme). The only limitation I found with running it this way is there was no way to close the app. The original Android mobile app, need touch input to access a menu to close - not possible on Shield TV. You could exit the app back to the launcher menu but it would leave the app running in the background and consuming network bandwidth - I had to go to the Android Settings > Apps > Streaming > and then Force Stop. I should add that by default the Shield TV will try to connect to a 5Ghz WiFi router (if your router has also 2.4 Ghz) - so it is worth making sure you have fast broadband and router for this purpose (or just use an Ethernet cable), as the game streaming network requirements are quite intensive It's also worth mentioning it was fairly easily to connect Bluetooth XB1 and PS4 controllers, and navigate the menus and apps. When the Shield TV is in sleep, turning on a XB1 controller that already been paired will wake the Shield TV up. Overall this is a fantastic device, only let down by the terrible home screen launcher that should not be the case for a £150 device, that can be out done by a £3 app. And to a lesser extent the limitation of Android apps if not optimised for an Android TV device - though that isn't Nvidia's fault.

Despite the limitations of Android TV, the shield delivers on a basic level on every front, but often excels, so long as you're willing to get a bit techy and geeky. If you're looking for a simple plug and play device, android TV app support may leave you wanting, but if you have the technical and troubleshooting chops to poke around a bit, you will find a really flexible device that will do loads of awesome stuff. I got the shield to serve two purposes. The first and main reason was as an upgrade to the older steam link to stream games from upstairs, and the second was to have one device that can pretty much do everything we need it to media-wise. As a gaming device the Shield will deliver 4k 60fps with 5.1 surround sound from my high-end gaming PC upstairs over an Ethernet cable no problem at all. I use both the Steam Link app and the third party Moonlight app to do this. Geforce now is also pretty nifty, but I only have the free version owing to the input lag of purely cloud gaming making it only really useful for demoing games you have interest in. On the TV side of things. I set up VLC with access to a shared media folder on my PC so that I can stream downloaded content over the local network - which again streams with no problems with surround sound working fine. I know there are more impressive solutions for this like the included plex, but I rarely watch TV or movies and so this simple method suited my needs just fine. My girlfriends main concern was getting the streaming services she uses on the Shield, and this mostly worked fine. All the apps we wanted were easy to grab with the exception of All 4 and SoundCloud which do not have Android TV versions. For most people this wouldn't be a big deal as the shield can be casted to, and so those apps you can just cast the content from your phone. But my girlfriend wanted a more comprehensive solution as she prefers browsing content on the TV instead of locating it on her phone and casting (fair enough). Android TV has its limitations in that not all the apps you would get on android phones will appear in the google play store as they aren't supported (IE, the developers dont care). Fortunately installing apps using .apk files is super easy, (look up side-loading) and you can try your luck downloading the .apk files of android phone apps and installing them to see if they work. I was able to get All 4 working this way (even if the menu is in the wrong aspect ratio, content is fine) and I managed to get soundcloud working using a web-browser app and just pointing it to the website. Web browsing is actually totally workable as the shield supports mouse and keyboard devices, and the ability to side-load apps means I can install SmartTube to replace YouTube (its a youtube app which blocks the ads). The tegra chip inside the Shield also makes it a formidable emulation device and I've tested a PS1 emulator with great success. The only downside here is the on-board storage is only 12gb usable, which is super limited for things like PS1 games. The only other downside is the ads on the main menu. I know there is a solution to switch out the app launcher and thus get rid of the ads, but I have yet to find a solution for this. In short: - It streams games great ✔ - It's got all of the streaming services we use (with a little bit of techie magic) ✔ - It can browse the web and handle web streaming services like soundcloud etc if you need it to ✔ - It supports third party android applications like SmartTube via side-loading ✔ - It emulates like a pro ✔ - People can cast to it ✔ - It streams content over the LAN with ease ✔ - Extensive blutetooth support for mice, keyboards, and games controllers ✔ - It's got an awesome remote shaped like a Toblerone ✔ - The way it can control your TV means you can ditch your TV remote and go all-in with the Toblerone. ✔ - Small internal storage is problematic for larger game ROM or app collections, and the only way to expand it is via USB memory stick (i would've liked a memory card slot) ❌ - Ads on the main menu are frankly unacceptable for a device of this price, but this isn't worth knocking off a star and can be overcome, I just haven't figured out how yet. ❌

I now have 2 Nvidia Shield Pro Android TV units. It is still the best streaming device on the market. Don't bother buying anything else, this is the one you want. It is also one of the very few Android boxes which is able to run BBC iPlayer. Nothing comes close to the performance of the Nvidia shield. The reason why I bought the second box was to put in the bedroom so I could stream live TV, movies and TV programmes from my Plex server. Most of my media files are 4k HDR but I am running a Hisense 1080p TV in the bedroom. The Android box I was using simply couldn't handle this, and was even having issues with 1080p content. It starts up instantly, no lag, no buffering. I would definitely recommend the Nvidia Shield TV Pro.

I purchased the 1st version but my wife & daughter were never off it so I was forced to buy another and went for the the Shield pro. It always amazed me how small this machine is and what Nvidia crammed into it. Upgrades are Dolby Atmos/Vision unfortunately I couldn't make use of the new feature since I own a Samsung Qled which does not support it. Chromecast 4k is a nice feature which I use alot casting my tablet to my shield very useful. Google assistant is second to none probably the best assistant out of them all imho. Because i have 200+ games on steam the nvidia support to stream your steam library was a primary reason why I purchased the 2019 pro model. And boy do the games look stunning in 4k, they also run great and look absolutely stunning on my qled Samsung. I was dazzled by the quality. If you have an extensive steam Library then this machine will allow you to utilize your games in the comfort of your couch, or in my case, my bedroom. It has all the other obvious app support that you expect, prime, netflix and a hjost of others. You have access to the playstore which is handy for installing your apps. Overall it's a very feature packed machine and for the price it's justified if you have the content to justify the price. A couple of things which I'm sure will be fixed at some point. I purchased the microsoft elite controller series 2 and whilst it does pair and the thumb controller works for navigation the other buttons do not work as of writing this review. I'm sure there will be an update at some point to give the Microsoft elite controller series 2 full compatibility. I did have to use the previous version control pad to play games and whilst it's a great controller it's not the premium quality of a elite series 2. Speaking of which you will need to buy a controller as one is not included with the 2019 pro or standard model. Another thing that has always bugged me about the shield is that the USB 3 ports on the back are too close together which sometimes stops you plugging other devices to the adjacent port if the usb part is too big or an odd shape which sometimes it is with lots of usb sticks, and other usb devices. Bare that in mind. I remedied this by plugging a 6 port usb hub so I could get all my usb devices plugged in. Like I said, I'm very happy with the machine, i was with the previous version. It's great for what it was designed for and doesn't try to be anything else.