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SHIELD Android TV

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Manufacturer
  
Nvidia

Release date
  
USA|CAN: May 28, 2015

Product family
  
Shield

Operating system
  
Android Nougat

Type
  
Set-top box, microconsole

Introductory price
  
US$199.99 US$299.99 (pro version)

Nvidia's SHIELD Android TV (originally known as SHIELD Console) is an Android TV based set-top box aimed at both home entertainment and gaming in the living-room. Developed by Nvidia and first released in the end of May 2015, this is Nvidia's third-generation "SHIELD" gaming hardware device. Like all products in the series, it uses Android and a Tegra-based SoC (System on Chip). It is the first device from Nvidia to employ the Android TV platform and ecosystem. It can output 4K resolution to a television and support high definition audio at 192 kHz. It supports Nvidia's GeForce NOW game-streaming service to play PC games on SHIELD from the cloud.

Contents

In January 2017, a new version of the Nvidia Shield was released with some minor hardware changes. The new model is much smaller and lighter, and both the microUSB port and microSD slot were removed. Some minor changes were made to the remote control and gamepad, as well.

Hardware

  • SoC: Tegra X1
  • CPU: 2.0 GHz 4 ARM Cortex-A57 and 4 ARM Cortex-A53 64-bit cores
  • GPU: 1000 MHz Maxwell (core configuration: 256:16:16)
  • RAM: 3 GB RAM
  • Internal Storage: 16 GB SSD, or 500 GB HDD(pro version)
  • External Storage: micro SDXC slot
  • Gigabit Ethernet
  • HDMI 2.0 port
  • micro USB 2.0 port
  • USB 3.0 ports x2: for mouse, keyboard and external hard drives
  • IR Receiver: for TV remote
  • 802.11ac 2x2 MIMO 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi, compatible with 802.11g/n WiFi
  • Bluetooth 4.1/BLE: for headsets, other game controllers, etc.

    • Software

    Since January 2017, both versions of the console have run on Android Nougat. The 2017 model was updated on January 16, whereas the 2015 model was updated on January 26.

    Features

    4K content from Netflix (HEVC) and YouTube (VP9) along with Hulu, Crackle, Google play movies, etc.

  • Game streaming: GeForce NOW
  • Music streaming: Google Play Music
  • Android apps (from the Android TV version of the Google Play Store)
  • Local Game Streaming (from PC)
  • Sideloading: photos, music, videos, and Android apps
  • Google casting from other devices
  • Voice control from the remote

    • References

    SHIELD Android TV Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA