NVIDIA Shield Review: At the Crossroads of PC and Mobile Gaming
by Brian Klug on July 31, 2013 12:14 AM ESTNAND Performance
Like most Android devices, there's nothing special when it comes to Shield's internal NAND performance. We see reasonable sequential read speeds, although sequential write performance on our model was a bit slower than we'd like to see from a modern device. Random read performance is quite competitive, but as always it's random write performance that's in serious need of improvement. As we pointed out in our earlier piece on Android 4.3 and TRIM, that update will be necessary to maintain reasonable storage performance over the long haul. It's imperative that NVIDIA gets Android 4.3 running on Shield asap.
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blanarahul - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Get the new Nexus 7. It has a larger screen so on screen controls won't be too bad. OpenGL ES 3.0 support is a big plus too.kmmatney - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
On screen controls suck even on the much larger iPad. Emulators support RF controllers like the Wii Controller, but not enough official games do.varad - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Gamestop will probably have both devices on display. So you should be able to play with both and decide which one you like better!psuedonymous - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Much as I love the idea of the local streaming feature, you might be better served at this point with a Nexus 7, a DualShock 3 and a Gameklip.JeffFlanagan - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Thanks for mentioning the Gameklip. I hadn't heard of it, and just ordered one with cases for my Nexus 7 and Galaxy Note, in case the Nexus 7 is too top heavy to game comfortably.Subzero0000 - Thursday, August 1, 2013 - link
You should get Nexus 7. 'cus you can read online comfortably, and play some games occasionally. Buy a Android compatible controller if you must.Reading on the Shield is not going to be nice with the controller attached (unremovable) to it.
boozed - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Probably should rephrase the beginning of that second para to "It’s no secret that Tegra isn’t exactly the success that NVIDIA probably hoped it would be."Krysto - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Brian. The delay of Tegra 4 most likely not the main reason why Google didn't go with them this time. There are other more important reasons, such as"1) no LTE for Tegra 4, and Google wanted LTE for Nexus 7, one that works on all carriers
2) no OpenGL ES 3.0 support - was one of the main features of Android 4.3
3) S4 Pro is probably close to half the price of Tegra 4. If they wanted a more expensive chip, they could've gone with S600 at the very least
4) Power consumption might've played a role there, too. We need to see how Tegra 4 does in a tablet, although I honestly can't consider a chip a "mobile chip" if it can't be put in a smartphone because of too high power consumption.
SydneyBlue120d - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Well, let's take a look at the comments about Toshiba Excite Pro, the first sipping Tablet with Tegra 4 onboard, Toshiba Excite Pro http://amzn.com/B00D78Q2NQ :- I would have most definitely kept the tablet, had it not overheated. I realize that some overheating will hsppen under normal use. However, I was quite concerned when the unit overheated a lot after only 20 or 30 minutes of use.
- Runs extremely hot. After 10-15 mins playing light games or watching Netflix, its crazy hot
- It's overheat when play any game for 10mins
Ok, we don't know if it is Toshiba fault, however the fact that event on the shield it is running a fan, should sound quite dangerous...
Spunjji - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
My thoughts exactly. I can't for a second believe that the chip can hold up its performance levels in a thermally constrained without something giving; something either being the ability to run cool or the performance itself.