Review: Nvidia Shield Pro
Still the best streaming box on the market.
We’re spoiled for choice when it comes to inexpensive streaming devices. But what if you’re after a bit more ‘oomph’ from the gadgets serving your TV? Enter the 2020 edition of the Nvidia Shield TV Pro. An Android-powered set-top-box / games console, it’s about as powerful as streaming devices come, and is jam-packed with features that will tempt movie and video game fans alike.
Whether you’re after high-spec PC gaming streamed to your TV, or 4K movies in multiple HDR formats, it’s got you covered. In the box you get the console itself, a new-and-improved remote control and access to 20 great (if ageing) PC games that can be streamed over the internet as part of the GeForce Now service, which you can expand upon with your own purchases.
The Nvidia Shield TV Pro is a tiny little thing, given the power it packs. Shaped like a slim wedge with some angular indentations carved into it for posterity, it’s about the size of two Kindle e-readers stacked on top of each other. Around the back you’ll find two USB 3.0 ports, a 4K HDRcompatible HDMI port, an Ethernet port and a proprietary power port. Wi-Fi is built-in (802.11ac dual-band) as is Bluetooth 5.0 for connecting wireless accessories.
Under the hood is 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. The RAM remains unchanged then, but we’ve seen other Shield models with as much as 500GB of on-board storage, so a little more here would have been appreciated. Still, the two USB ports make adding external storage a cinch, not to mention plugging in a wired controller or keyboard and mouse.
What’s really changed then is the processor – the first major upgrade to the Shield TV range since it was introduced in 2015. On-board here is the Tegra X1+ processor – representing a 25% performance boost over the retiring Tegra X1, it’s of the same family of chips currently powering the latest Nintendo Switch.
If you’ve used an Android TV device before, you’ll know what to expect from the Nvidia Shield TV. It’s pretty much the vanilla Android TV experience as Google designed it, with some small tweaks. The Shield TV Pro therefore gives you access to all the major streaming services in their 4K / HDR configurations, from Netflix to Amazon Prime Video and everything in between. There’s also media server apps like Plex and a ton of Android TV games to try out.
Shield TV already supports plenty of HDR formats, but it now also can play back Dolby Vision content, a premium format that tweaks brightness and contrast levels using frame-by-frame metadata. It also means the Shield now supports both of Dolby’s premium cinema formats, including Dolby Atmos audio. The second of the big additions is a new AI image upscaler that can be toggled on or off at the push of a button. It’s fantastic, and transformative for content that’s running below 4K resolution.
The new Shield TV Pro is unrivalled when it comes to its 4K HDR streaming capabilities, has wide app support thanks to its Android TV foundations, and is littered with potential for gamers. As a device then, it’s almost unreservedly recommended. GERALD LYNCH
A versatile and powerful streamer with Chromecast built in and great gaming features.