Nvidia Shield K1
This gamer-oriented tablet delivers great 3D performance, but there's little else to recommend it
If you fancy getting your mitts on Nvidia’s own-brand tablet, prepare to shop around: although only released in February, the Shield K1 has already been formally discontinued. You can still find it online, however, and as a distinctive proposition – an Android tablet designed specifically for gamers – it’s worth a closer look.
First things first: as you’d very much hope, the Shield K1 makes a decent fist of 3D gaming. In the GFXBench Manhattan graphics test it kept up a solid average of 29fps, putting it in the same league as the Apple iPad, the Google Pixel C and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3. Admittedly, it’s helped along by its eight-inch 1,920 x 1,080 Full HD screen, which
has fewer pixels than any of those tablets. But it’s a perfectly appropriate resolution for a screen this size: its pixel density of 275ppi is slightly above the Retina standard, so pushing it any higher would be pointless.
While sharp, the screen isn’t otherwise particularly outstanding. Brightness is fine, at 434cd/m2, but we measured a mediocre contrast ratio of 823:1. You’d think that a company whose business is based on visuals would spring for a top-quality panel, but apparently not. Since the Shield K1 features a mini-HDMI port you can plug it into a monitor or TV, but that’s rather secondary to the point of a portable gaming system.
While the Shield K1’s 3D credentials are in order, regular CPU performance isn’t such a strength. Of this month’s 14 tablets, the K1’s single- and multi-core Geekbench scores ranked tenth and ninth respectively. That might not be a big deal for those who only want to play games, and simply don’t care about other apps – but you have to question how large that market is. A more even balance of GPU and CPU power would give the Shield K1 a broader appeal.
Factor in a functional black plastic chassis and it all adds up to a pretty average mid-priced tablet, with a high-power graphics chip bolted on for good measure. If you can find a second-hand unit at its original retail price of £150, that’s not actually a terrible deal: it’s certainly a more likeable tablet than the Acer Iconia One 10, and more powerful than the Huawei MediaPad T3. Battery life isn’t comparable, but we got a decent 12hrs 39min of video out of a charge.
Hop onto Amazon, however, and you’ll see unopened stock going for as much as £400. At that sort of price the Google Pixel C offers much better app performance, plus a better screen – and, since it’s still in production, you can expect to receive updates and support for longer.