The NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV Review: A Premium 4K Set Top Box
by Ganesh T S on May 28, 2015 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Media Streamer
- Home Theater
- TV
- 4K
- Shield
- NVIDIA
Power Consumption and Thermal Performance
In order to see what the power and thermal characteristics of the SHIELD Android TV are like, the device was tested in two scenarions:
- 1080p60 HDMI output to Pioneer VSX-32, connected to a Sony KDL46EX720 46" 1080p TV. Connected to a wired network, with a Samsung T1 SSD hanging off the USB 3.0 port
- 4Kp60 HDMI output to a Samsung HU6950 40" 4K TV. Connected to a wireless network, with a Samsung T1 SSD hanging off the USB 3.0 port.
The table below summarizes the important power consumption numbers.
| NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV Power Consumption | |
| Activity | Avg. Power (W) |
| Idle (Scenario 1) | 3.6 W |
| 1080p Netflix Streaming (Scenario 1) | 4.6 W |
| 1080p YouTube Streaming (Scenario 1) | 4.7 W |
| Kodi Playback (Hardware Accelerated 1080p60 H.264) (Scenario 1) | 6.5 W |
| Kodi Playback (Software Decoding 1080i60 VC-1) (Scenario 1) | 10.4 W |
| Idle (Scenario 2) | 4.2 W |
| 4K HEVC Playback (Scenario 2) | 9.1 W |
| 4K Netflix Streaming (Scenario 2) | 10.3 W |
| Gaming (Scenario 2) | 19.4 W |
Since the gaming scenarios stressed the at-wall power consumption heavily, we decided to run the GFXBench battery life test which puts the T-Rex benchmark in an infinite loop. After 2 hours, we took a thermal image of the unit (oriented vertically with the SHIELD stand).
The thermal solution is excellent, and the frame rates were consistent across all the benchmark runs. Thanks to the low-power SoC, the chassis temperature was just 34 C (ambient at 23 C). The fan noise was audible only when we kept our ears against the vents in the back panel.
Moving on to the business end of the review, we split up the positives and negatives into two sections - one for Android TV itself, and the other for the SHIELD.
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CMLevy - Wednesday, June 3, 2015 - link
I am lost! (No, not geographically). I have a 4k and make constant use of Netflix in particular but with probably 25 other video and music apps. Now I need to work towards cancelling my $200/mo. Directv bill. My Smart TV with my Harmony remote provides me with menuing. What would the Nvidia Shield Android TV add to my life?WEBZIGHT - Sunday, July 26, 2015 - link
4K, 4K, I keep hearing all this NONSENSE about 4K and it IS all NONSENSE!Unless you have a SIX FOOT or wider screen YOU CANNOT tell the difference between 4K and normal HD
Are you morons listening?
simplyKawaii - Friday, August 21, 2015 - link
Does anyone have any idea of how I could hook the Shield TV up to a battery source rather than the wall?Nehemoth - Thursday, August 4, 2016 - link
Would like to see an update to this article.jsntech - Friday, September 30, 2016 - link
Hey Ganesh...any chance of a follow-up analysis accounting for major updates since this article was written? Looks like local media playback got some big boosts, among other things? Sadly, the SHIELD TV is still on top of the media player spectrum even 1.5 years later, making updated reports even more important on this "old" hardware.ChloeTigre - Friday, June 30, 2017 - link
https://images.apple.com/environment/pdf/products/...Except that the SHIELD hogs 40W while the AppleTV is just under 3W.
ChloeTigre - Friday, June 30, 2017 - link
I would not like my set-top-box to burn so much energy for the service delivered. Regarding games, I have a PC.