NvidiaSHIELD Android TV Pro Streaming Media Player; 4K HDR Movies, Live Sports, Dolby Vision-Atmos, AI-Enhanced Upscaling, GeForce NOW Cloud Gaming, Google Assistant Built-In, Works with Alexa

For many, the idea of spending nearly two hundred pounds on a streaming box when you can get an excellent Fire 4k stick or Roku for much cheaper doesn't make sense. But this is one of those bits of kit that the cognoscenti (who I don't claim to be a part of) know is a great purchase. I've gone from the 4k Fire Stick, to the 4k Fire Cube to this and am happy I made the switch. The first thing against the Fire devices is how many remote controls I've gone through - they seem to fail at an alarming rate and when the latest stopped working, I thought I'd try the fabled Nvidia Shield Pro. So what makes it so good?First of all, it's a sleek looking box that has two USB 3.0 connections and immediately recognised my hard drive - it didn't need any formatting or software and just worked. Set up was very easy as was the downloading of apps - the one thing I would say is that the Android store isn't full and there are quite a few missing. That said, the box is easy to side-load with apps and these worked immediately (there's some very good tutorials explaining how to do this). I set up Plex immediately and, again relying on tutorials, cracked this excellent bit of software quickly. I was soon using the Shield as a network device for my media and was very happy with the speed and response. The Toblerone shaped remote is surprisingly ergonomic and feels good in the hand - Mrs Pugh immediately noticed how responsive it was.The biggest selling point for me, apart from the freedom regarding apps and settings, was the AI-picture enhancer. I could write a long article on this, but others go into it with much more knowledge so I will not go overboard. Needless to say, the 4k enhancer is superb and among the best bits of image processing I've ever seen. Other processing software items tend to over-emphasise pseudo-HDR, meaning that older films get this strange, bright, noisy picture that is trying to look modern. As I have an OLED, this look especially bad and as I am evangelical about deep black levels, having this fake, LED wannabe brightness has never impressed me. So when Nvidia claim that this can enhance 1080p to 4k, I was dubious. However, I was VERY impressed! I tried it on films where dark scenes have sudden bursts of light, 'Blade Runner', 'Aliens' and the like', and the result was superb. My wife's K-Dramas have never looked better with detail that look native; it really did wow me with how it enhanced so many different kinds of pictures. That, in itself, makes it worth investment. However, if you are a gamer, there is also the Nvidia App which apparently allows you to play higher end games on it - that gives some idea of the processing power it has. I thought long and hard about buying this, but I'm so glad I spent the cash - it's added a new dimension to the viewing of films and television and even the sound processing is a big step up.

This thingy is best of class - period. Even better than that, the after care is possibly the worlds best - others need to take note of nVidia.I bought this 2019 PRO model after my AMZN MAX HD failed. And I'm sooo happy that the AMZN MAX HD failed.6 years after the latest nVidia model launch - this device received an upgrade from nVidia in Febraury 2025 ... SIX YEARS AFTER-CARE - WTAH?! Truly epic manufacturer.I have plenty of choice running, BBC, NetFlix, Prime, Channel 5, Tubi, Twitch, YouTube, and much more. However, Channel 4 need to get it together as I am now watching them less (though I probably could add VirginGo to this device, hmm).This device is very fast, it multitasks so I can switch between running processes. The remote is sturdy and good but the Netflix button is annoying so I might open it up and disable that button given that the sw doesn't allow it to be disabled and it's way too easy to accidentally press (edit: fixed by buying one these cases... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08DFPHMMN).The realtime FHD to UHD AI scaling is actually pretty good, I totally expected it to be poop, but nope, it works and I don't turn it off anymore. I am still to look into the nVidia gaming section (plenty of free games in there).I brought this to the states and used it there securely connected back to my home UK network flawlessly over WireGuard.The wonderful thing here is that nVidia are so big, that they probably run this division as a loss leader compared to their other departments, and unlike G00gle, nVidia have kept this product going, moreover, they maintain it! Team nVidia, you rock, please make more stuff!

In the end I felt it was unfair to dock it a * for what was channel 4s problem but I nearly did. Some people have managed to sideload it but I haven't tried yet. At the moment I'm using the old chromecast tv.The picture and sound are excellent. It was very easy to setup.I bought it to cure buffering I was having on my chromecast tv on most apps even though I have a secure 70 mbs connection and it does.We listen to Digital concert hall a lot (big loudspeakers etc) and appreciate the improved sound quality a lot. The nvidia AI seems to reduce high frequency distortion.The 12gb storage will need expanding if you have security cameras as I do but Ip cam pro works well.