For today only, you can buy the NVIDIA Shield with both a game controller and a remote for $149.99. Normally, the Nvidia shield sells for $199.99 itself with just a game controller, while the remote would run you $50 separately. NVIDIA is throwing in a free remote as part of a holiday promotion, and Amazon has dropped the price by $50 for Cyber Monday, so the two promotions stack together for this great price. This is the lowest price this bundle has ever been, which is $25 less than the last big sale that was very popular. The NVIDIA Shield is the best box running Google’s official Android TV. It’s a great gaming device and runs Kodi very well. Compared to the Fire TV, its biggest flaw has always been its price, but this sale now brings the two device on par in price for the first time.
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I have come so close to buying this several times, but can’t justify it. Sure, maybe it opens Kodi a fraction of a second faster than FTV2, with with the limited remote that is missing bottuns, I’d still rather stick to my FTV.
On top of that these Android TV boxes are missing sooo many apps, including Amazon Prime, that I just don’t see me using it much over a FTV or Roku.
Could not agree more. It seems like those guys in their greed are going to give a huge advantage to Apple again. With Amazon unofficially announcing their prime video app coming to the Atv4 and the BBC, I am 90% ready to buy one.
I am feeling the same. The Apple TV is really starting to appeal to me. Having native Amazon really would put it closer to done deal for me.
If you know what you are doing you can add anything to this device and play high quality games, stream 1000s of TV networks watch movies etc etc all free! You may want to do some research before talking down about this product. Watch your tube videos
Yes, but I can care less about gaming on an android box. I don’t game anymore, and if I did, I have a Wii with just about every classic game on it already.
Sure, if you like the gaming aspect, the shield may be worth it. But I don’t think it is for people only interested in a streaming box.
People only interested in a streaming box should get a Roku, IMO, or use chromecast. What set the AFTV apart for me was the games. For casual gamers, it works fairly well as a “budget console”. However, Android gaming on TV is just starting to reach “real console” level, IMO. That’s why I just bought the SHIELD. The selection of Android games available seems large, and then there are some exclusives, like Half Life 2 and even new games like The Talos Principle, I’m excited.
I love that devs are making Firetv specific games, but long-term, another sub-ecosystem bothers me. There is more of a future for “normal” android games. Resolutions on phones are already as good as or better than most tv’s, and third party general purpose controller/game pad support is finally becoming a thing. The pace of android hardware is so great, I hope it will be on par with consoles in a generation or two.
IMO, android has a bright gaming future. And I’m not even mentioning cloud-gaming/game streaming.
Still, that $150 price is appealing. Mind you I really like the new Apple TV and the new Fire TV. It would be nice to have Prime on the ATV. Hope it happens but I haven’t seen any unofficial word. Is that a rumour?
The one concern regarding the Shield is that Google seems to have given up on Android TV. They mention Chromecast a lot but very little about Android TV. Having Chromecast built in to the Shield is very nice.
I bought the shield during the last sale. Missing amazon is a bit of a bummer as well as the missing option button in kodi, but I’ve been using the fire remote with the shield, and the dedicated headphone port in the shield remote gets plenty of use. Plus the shield is super easy to root and can even flash full android os. Games are not why I bought it but wow, it’s definitely getting used for that. Its probably 50/50 between the shield and new fire. The fires voice features keeps getting better. Amazon still wins content and support. Get them both haha
In Kodi 16.0
Long Press. With remote controls having fewer buttons, the Kodi team has mapped a long press of the “OK/Enter” button to the context menu so that more remotes support Kodi.
Amazon removed kodi from their appstore entirely, and refused to put it back.
Nvidia is working with the Kodi developers to implement full support for all the Shield hardware features.
Only two reasons to get the fireTV– price and amazon instant streaming.
I bought it for a 2nd TV and it quickly became the go-to device. One thing I love about it over the Fire TV is that the controller works a lot better than the Amazon controller for many sideloaded games and emulators. It is definitely a device that shines for very specific purposes, not all that would be considered mainstream. For gaming it is leaps and bounds better than the Fire TV. Nothing out there does it all right now unfortunately.
Don’t get so mesmerized by the hardware specs. If you aren’t into heavy gaming, it is simply just overkill. Fire TV is still way better because it has way more dedicated apps. There is a big difference between dedicated apps and sideloaded apps. It absolutely matters because dedicated apps run and look better than sideloaded apps. There are still very few dedicated apps with Android TV. I need to see a big improvement with Android TV before I lay down $150. Also I have a PS3 and a PS4 so I don’t really need the Nvidia Shield for gaming.
I have both the Gen 1 AFTV and NVIDIA Shield. But over all our family enjoys the Shield more. Here’s some of the reasons.
1st Live Channels, dedicated TV Guide that works with HdHomeRun, Pluto and The Weather Network easily.
2nd Sideload launcher works with side loaded apks, not having to dig into sub menus to load an apk.
3rd is Harmony remote functionality, it works great.
4th is games. Game controller with headphone adapter is awesome.
GeForce Now works great but doesn’t have a deep catalog of games.
If I want to watch Prime, I just switch it to the AFTV.
I try to cover all the streaming bases.
No digging with apk with fire tv. You should use AGK Fire app. So easy. As for harmony remote? I think the regular remote works great. As for gaming? I can’t take it serious with that tiny library of overpriced games.
Can’t compare the gaming. Fire TV games are overall just baby tablet games. Shield has legit AAA games no matter how many, its leaps and bounds better. Simply is.
Fire TV has great apps and is a good device for the price.
If the XBOX ONE had Kodi it would crush both. It sort of still does.