It’s my birthday, and I want the upscaling, the single platform, the flexibility (sailing the high seas), but it’s soooo old. $200? IDK
Had this question like 2 years ago, thinking it was due for an upgrade… At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if they never release another.
I think it supports pretty much everything you might want in a device already.
I bought one of these in 2016 and it’s still going strong. I’ve since bought 2 more (and the modern remote for the old one), and they’re fantastic.
What kind of remote? My dog decided it was time for mine to be retired.
The triangular prism shaped one. Take normal batteries instead of coin cells and doesn’t have the annoying slider. And the netflix button can be remapped with a app.
It would be the perfect remote if it didn’t have that damned Netflix button that I always accidentally press. I bought an app to disable it on the shield pro in my family room, but it won’t work on the newer cylindrical shield in my bedroom for some reason.
Yeah it seems like with every system update, the remapping reverts. I kinda just gave up on it. At some point I’ll probably crack it open and physically disable the button, but I’m not that motivated yet
I have the 2017 version and there it works. Its so nice to have, since I have 3 apps bound to that button.
AI upscale is not worth it in my opinion unless you watch old blueray rips since compression algorithms would make upscaling worse in some cases.
I have Apple tv and linux pc for my 2 tvs.
If Apple tv cover your needs then go for it. I got it used in 2017 (I believe gen 3) and still butter smooth to this day.
I strongly disagree. The AI upscaling is incredibly practical. I have a 4k TV, and most 1080p shows and movies look insanely sharp. It’s not a gimmick.
This said, I don’t think anyone should buy these new right now. They need to release an update.
Don’t go with Apple TV, just buy a fire stick for next to nothing and wait for the next shield. That, or buy used.
It’s not a gimmick, however, not all videos would be better after the upscaling.
720p blueray rips yes. 720p YouTube compressed to hell no.
And regarding firestick, and on top of the performance gap, I don’t trust Amazon.
I’m just waiting for the EU to force Apple to be open, then I’ll move to everything Apple, maybe.
Hopefully they will. I was bummed when I knew that apple tv has no vpn functionality.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I think they recently added vpn support to Apple TV.
I think so.
Last time I tried to use a vpn was like 2019
For real, other than locking down 3rd party app stores, apple products are pretty damn good.
What distro/software are you using?
I’m currently running debian 12. The tv is mainly used for YouTube so ublock origin + dearrow + sponsorblock + thumbdown back.
Unfortunately the only downside is HDR support. I had to use clunky smart tv software to run Jellyfin for HDR content.
I’ve tried KODE. It’s still not mature for my taste.
Despite being 4 years old it’s still one of the better options, though with caveats. The one thing that it has that nothing else really has is real time AI upscaling. I’ve stopped using my Shield, and went back to using Roku boxes and Raspberry Pi 4B’s… so it’s hard for me to really recommend the Shield.
Nvidia has pretty much abandoned GeForce Experience, so despite this being a selling point for the device, you’d be happier using Moonlight + Sunshine even if you did buy a Shield. The Nvidia Shield also has terrible input lag for bluetooth controllers. I think this because of how Android blocks direct access to hardware, and so it introduces input lag. So if you actually want to use GeForce Experience, it means you’d have to buy and 8bitdo USB stick, or pay for VirtualHere to fix the controller problem. I personally setup a Raspberry Pi 4B with Moonlight and I’m much happier with that.
For Plex, I’d be hesitant. Over on Reddit I keep reading about how people have attempted using the Shield to run their home media, and it’s usually followed with regret. I didn’t get into streaming locally until after I stopped using my Shield, though so I can’t personally attest to that. Instead, I’m using a second Pi to run a NAS and Jellyfin… and again, the Shield might be preferable if you want everything in one unit.
So, I can’t exactly recommend the Nvidia Shield… but at the same time I don’t think most people would have the time to build their own Raspberry Pi based solutions either.
But can you completely copy the UX of a shield pro with raspberry pi?
I mean, I can grab the TV’s remote, or the shields remote, and whichever I turn on, both of them turn on. It also wakes up from sleep faster than the TV turns on. I can use the TV’s remote to control the shield. Basically it works completely transparently.
It also makes it work really nice with android phones. I can cast spotify, youtube, google photos, or the screen onto the TV, and it works better than the TV’s cast with the apps.
I used Plex and while it worked nice for most of the time, I got fed up with it trying to steer me away from local streaming, and having a hard time finding my way back to it in the therrible UI. I set up Jellyfin and couldn’t be happier, HDR, Dolby Vision, 4K streaming just works perfectly.
The UI is much faster than a flagship LG TV too…
What I’m asking is… is it possible to set up an RPi to work this seamlessly and user friendly? With apps like netflix, hbo max, jellyfin, etc, with a remote and nice and easy UI so anyone can use it on their first try?
There are IrDA adapters which can let it react to your remote, so yes
The UX wouldn’t be a problem. Transcoding may be, though.
I’ve had an overall good experience with Plex and my Shield, though in my case I only use Shield as a client and my NAS hosts my server. Of the commercial streamers you can buy, it has some of the broadest video/audio format support. A lot of other options don’t support lossless audio like TrueHD or DTS-MA.
The Nvidia Shield also has terrible input lag
I am usually not very exigent with input lag, but I noticed this when I tried it with my Shield, I won’t deny what you just say, but to me it did great help to turn the gaming mode in my TV, after all the input lag is almost imperceptible for me.
I use the original shield controller and it’s great with no input lag. I never got the headphone jack on it working though.
Happy birthday :)
Thank you!
I have one and it is pretty amazing, but it sucks for Kodi from time to time, usually a reboot fixes all the annoyances… But I don’t like that workaround.
My unit was downgraded to 8.2.3 and debloated for the sake of a better performance.
on the flip side, i also dowgraded to 8.2.3 and debloated. i have zero issues with Kodi using PKC with direct play over a wired connection.
Wait a few weeks without reboot and check again, although usually it does pretty well with PKC, especially if you have light local media.
It’s probably worth saying that I think the issues with Kodi are down to Kodi itself and not the shield. That is to say you’ll have similar issues on a fire stick or Chromecast 4k or whatever.
I have up on Kodi after having used it successfully for years on a raspberry pi. I switched to Emby and it has been much more stable.
I have the OG Shield Pro, with an additional remote, the most recebt one.
Besides changing the inner HDD for a SSD, it does all I need.
Sure, it doesn’t support the HDMI 2.1 that my TV does, but I don’t need that for what the Shield does for me (YouTube, Netflix and Plex playback).
I had issues with that lack of HDMI 2.1 support.
Tried to pair mine with an LG CX OLED and could not for the life of me get it to reliably run at 4K.
It chooses its own dogshit res and it looks bad even though it scales well. Not about to watch a bad picture on such an expensive display.
In my experience the WiFi modem in this thing is shit.
Agreed. I have a Google node literally right next to it and it still drops the sig.
Why not just run a cable?
It’s just a ‘booster’ not a hub
I am using a Chromecast 4k and I am quite happy with it … what would the shield accomplish better ?
Better app performance, better upscaling, game streaming (though you’ll need to use something like Moonlight for local streaming now), better audio format support for local Plex/Jellyfin servers.
Plex server
Oh man, I HATE to say it, but the old 4k fire stick is a lot better than the latest 4k chromecast.
The shield tube is better than both of these, though. But yeah… Such old hardware. They need to release something new. Still, it works with very few issues.
Better performance for Android TV apps
Imo, it’ll take 1-3 more birthdays until a new one comes out. Is there anything specific you’d want them to upgrade? The only clear thing they’re missing right now is av1 support. Given that it’s still the best player on the market, I’d say go ahead and get it. Maybe try to find one second hand to save a buck, that’s what I did earlier this year 🙂.
Nvidia has pretty much dropped this. I don’t forsee another version in the next three years. I don’t see anything you listed that wouldn’t be a good reason to go for the regular shield though and save some money. It’s still a good product. I would buy now.
I sold mine due to video stuttering that I couldn’t fix, I bought fire cube instead.
Bleh, good luck with all the advertisers and shitty interface.
What ads? I don’t notice any really. I think the interface is great, I’ve got my pinned apps straight away on the home screen, everything loads instantly and I’ve got dedicated buttons on the remote for Netflix and Disney+, don’t need anything else and I use my laptop for Plex server.
Yeh. Dedicated buttons suck farts.
They fixed that on the latest models. They actually got a LOT better over time after multiple updates.
I have the tube, so it’s not even the pro, and it plays everything… Even crazy huge 4k streams.
Did they fix it though? I can see a post from 6 months ago complaining about stuttering…
Aren’t they releasing a new shield anyway?
Look for one used. They tend to pop up fairly regularly around here
Pi4 and Kodi in the form of OSMC or Libreelec is cheaper and IMO better
As far as I know, the pi4 cannot output 10-bit 4k hdr or Dolby vision, which makes it basically a non-starter as a media box.
I also think it struggles with h.264 high bitrate content.
Mine outputs 10bit HDRjust fine even with DV. Takes changing some settings but it’s not rocket surgery.
The biggest issue with Pi and Kodi setups is the lack of good remotes and sleep/standby. Get a Shield if you want stuff to “just work”.
How come? Does it support anything higher than 1080p?
Will this work fluently with multiple streaming platforms?
Raspberry pi and kodi
IMO nothing beats the Nvidia TV and I’ve tried just about everything. Heck, I’m still rocking a 2017 on my main TV (lacks Dolby Vision/Atmos and AI Upscaling but is otherwise fine).
The non-Pro seems to have issues that affect 4k decoding in plex but never seen similar issues on a Pro (I think packing the internals into that small tube was a mistake, and it’s overheating, but that’s just a guess).
There’s some hope Nvidia will come out with a next gen but people have been hoping (and spreading rumours about) that for years… until there’s an official announcement I wouldn’t expect it. They continue to support software upgrades though.
The only reason I think they might soon if at all is because the Nintendo Switch and the shield have similar SoCs. Tegra X1 with a Maxwell GPU. Well Switch 2 is close enough to release that people are seeing it and the SoC is showing up in benchmarks. Another ARM chip, but with an Ampere GPU this time.
So if NVidia is already building the SoC for Nintendo, it may be reasonably easy to make an upgrade to the Shield.
