NVIDIA Shield Review: At the Crossroads of PC and Mobile Gaming
by Brian Klug on July 31, 2013 12:14 AM ESTI enjoyed the time I spent with NVIDIA Shield. While it isn't perfect, for NVIDIA's first consumer electronic mobile device, it's an amazingly well put together piece of kit. Build quality is so good I told Anand that I wanted to try running it over with my car. I expected NVIDIA to fumble the controller side of the handheld gaming experience, and quite honestly with Shield I have nothing to complain about. The buttons are all tactile and fluid, the analog sticks are great, and the ergonomics leave me without anything to complain about. I remember being worried about weight and balance after seeing Shield and hearing about that the 28.8 watt-hour battery inside, but the shipping device turns all of that mass into feeling like quality rather than a big burden. The one feedback point is what I already gave NVIDIA the first time seeing Shield in person – it needs a bigger 5.5-inch display and 1080p, just buy the LG Display panel used in the LG Optimus G Pro, it's phenomenal. If a smartphone can include that size display, a portable handheld gaming console of this caliber absolutely positively needs it, and that will also help viewing PC gaming content streamed over to Shield. I also strongly believe Shield needs at least a front facing camera, that can't possibly add to the BOM too much.
Is NVIDIA Shield fun to use? It absolutely positively is. Android is still however really nascent as a gaming platform, and I wish that Google had given Shield some sort of extra special status or inclusion in the Android 4.3 love with Google Play Games and Shield as the launch vehicle. Instead it feels like NVIDIA was left to carry Shield on its own here, and that's not their fault, I just wish Google would've put two and two together, maybe a Google Play edition Shield even though it's already running stock Android 4.2.1? The games on Android are fun, there just need to be more of them, and the ones that exist need to of a higher caliber to really sell me. Of course there's always the chicken and egg argument – good Android gaming hardware really wasn't available until recently with set top consoles like Ouya or Android-running HDMI dongles, or of course the handheld format that Shield is. I enjoy playing the titles there are, there's just not quite a killer title you can point to yet.
That's where the PC gaming part comes in, and thank goodness for it. NVIDIA's execution is arguably better than the beta tag implies, with minimal hitching during streaming, impressively low latency, and good support for a number of titles that they've promised will grow. NVIDIA's real strength is on the desktop, and this is the most logical way to leverage it, even if Tegra 4 really becomes something of a thin client in that model. I spent a lot of time enjoying Borderlands 2 from places in my house that are a lot more inviting than the task chair and Ikea desk I sit at all day.
The Tegra 4 part of the story is impressive. Performance on the device is incredibly smooth, I thought I had seen the smoothest possible experience with the latest and greatest quad core SoCs in smartphones, Tegra 4 in this form factor is something to behold. There are parts of some apps I never knew could go so fast. I said in the Nexus 7 review that I wished whatever happened to Tegra 4 that delayed it hadn't, so we could see it in more devices. Shield was a big part of what made me feel that way, especially after seeing and using it in the flesh.
Shield is an impressive product. It's solid, performant, and maybe Android gaming isn't really there yet, but what it does leave me wanting is for NVIDIA to make me a phone.
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pancakes - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
I heard they used Mini-HDMI because it's the most secure when moving the device around (via http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/07/30/nvidia-shi...VulgarDisplay - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
I incredulously read the praise being heaped upon this device wondering what type of NDA had been agreed to for such an upbeat review of this odd and all but useless device and then I got to the end.I love the passive aggressive way of confirming what everyone already knows about the Shield, there is absolutely no reason to buy this over a smartphone. Don't worry guys, it offers minimal hitching and low latency when played on the toilet a room away from where your PC with no latency and a usable screen is sitting using up energy to stream games to a device that also uses energy. Oh, and don't forget that this brick with a fan is faster than a 10mm thick tablet that has a more usable screen that when paired with a ps3 controller would actually make a more portable gaming package.
So many of the uninformed are going to be extremely disappointed that the only way that the PC streaming will actually provide a good experience is by using it in the same house as the PC you are streaming from.
Cohaagen - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
There is absolutely no reason to buy this over a smartphone?If you want a smartphone, this is the wrong device. But I'm searching for a fast device, which can handle all Android games now and the next few years and has a good battery life.
Even the actual Android-flagships Galaxy S4, HTC One and Xperia Z (both much more expensive than the Nvidia Shield) are slower than the Shield.... the PS3 controller not even counted in. Their battery life is worse.
Due to their 1080p-displays, their performance limit will be reached much sooner by more demanding games... the same goes for the new Nexus 7. I really like the decision of Nvidia, not to follow the ppi craze, 720p is perfectly fine for a gaming device with 5"-display.
Cohaagen - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Correction:Even the actual Android-flagships Galaxy S4, HTC One and Xperia Z (all of them much more expensive than the Nvidia Shield, the PS3 controller not even counted in) are slower than the Shield. Their battery life is worse.
chizow - Sunday, August 4, 2013 - link
Yes looking at some benchmarks around the Net, I didn't realize how fast this thing is. It's also significantly faster than the leaked Snapdragon S800 version of the Galaxy S4. Too bad Nvidia couldn't get Tegra 4's thermals under control, it's quite the performer.GrahamAudio - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Is there a camera?blanarahul - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
The last line of the article pretty much sums up everything. I wish they would do something like Project Phoenix.ET - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Thanks for the review. The Shield looks like it right for my needs, and I'm glad it turned out to be well implemented. I might buy it at some point (if I have someone to bring it from the US), and finally get to play some of the PC games I don't get to play because my gaming time is usually away from my PC. Then again by that time I might be playing games such as Shadowrun Returns, Broken Age and Deus Ex: The Fall on my Nexus 7 and won't feel the need to buy it. And maybe, just maybe, Kainy will work well enough one day to provide decent PC streaming. Still, it's a tempting device for me.Heavensrevenge - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
I REALLY hope they just say screw developing this too much to waste resources on it beyond now to beat this dead horse, I agree 100% Nvidia should mold this beast device into a super smartphone factor and rip Google Nexus' a new one.It's a cool device, but it's ~90% useless to ~90% of people (me included) .
So if they make a super kick-ass extreme battery life super-phone, I'd definitely buy one of those!
But Shield will never be in my wish-list of things to get ok Nvidia? If your reading this... Give us the best phones in a year or so and be done with this down-scaling prototype and get past this foreplay to the action of a beast phone which this thing dreams to grow up into.
JNo - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Sot it's of potential use to 10% of the population? That's still a huge market!What's with all the hate. Not every device has to have universal appeal. Those who see the value in it know who they are.