Amazon currently has the NVIDIA Shield TV w/ Controller and FREE Remote on sale for a fantastic price of $174.99. That’s $75 off this bundle’s regular price of $250. This is the 16GB model that normally comes with just a game controller, but now you get the normally $50 remote for free. This is probably the Fire TV’s biggest and best competitor. It runs Android TV and has a powerful processor and GPU for console caliber gaming. The NVIDIA Shield runs Kodi very well, but you’re not going to find any Amazon Video content available, unless you sideload the Amazon Android app and use a mouse to navigate its touch interface. If you’ve been considering a getting set top box other than the Fire TV, here’s your chance to get the best of the three available Android TV boxes at a record low price.
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The Fire TV and NVIDIA Shield are great boxes. I hope they together overthrow Apple TV and Roku to be dominant.
Damn, I really, really don’t need this, but it’s so tempting.
Assuming it has the same apps as the Nexus player, it has minimal channels compared to FTV and Roku. Lots of big ones missing.
Performance is awesome on this. Kodi and emulators run smooth like butter. But Android TV is just so meh.
I went to play a bit more with my Nexus Player, to help decide if I really wanted to buy a Shield. While I was finally able to get IGN installed, can’t get TubiTv, PopcornFlix, History, and several others, even though their are Android apps for them. And Comcrap doesn’t allow you to authenticate HBO Go using Android TV.
And the search is awful. Doesn’t understand half of what I say, and is very laggy, etc..
If the Shield drops into the $150 or below range, I may bite, but I suspect my FTV fits my needs much better.
That is how I feel. With Firestarter the Fire TV is pretty much all you need. The advanced gaming is nice but really unnecessary if you have a newer console. More games and apps on Fire anyway.
Exactly. I wonder if all the people that buy Android TV boxes for Kodi, just have never experienced it on a FTV/FTV2. The FTV2 rocks for Kodi, has way more apps, and is cheaper. I bought three of them from Staples uses coupons etc, all under $80.
Oh, also, the FTV remote has that extra button you can use in Kodi to set Favorites, see cast, watch previews, etc.. My Nexus Player doesn’t have it, and it makes Kodi much less handy. It appears the Shield remote also does not have the button.
Pretty sure you can just add your own keymap. Google “nexus player kodi keymap” and you should find something.
I’ll probably just ebay my Nexus Player. I have yet to find anything it does better than my FTVs or Rokus.
I have both, and the SATV is much better for Kodi, you get proper frame rate switch 24 and 23.976hz (not sure if this already works with Fire OS 5), all the apps work much faster, and I rely on Gamestream from my PC for all my gaming, since I use Logitech Smart controller I have no issues with remotes lack of buttons, etc.
I am comparing to first generation Fire TV.
Another thing that might be an advantage for some once it is implemented in Kodi is the support of TrueHD and DTS Master Audio pass through.
What is SATV?
Gamestream is great and all although you can buy a steam link for $50 and do the same.
Sorry, Shield Android TV
Sure, but if I was going to spend 50 on Steam Link, plus 50 on a controller and 100 on a Fire TV 2, better to have everything on the same box.
The only thing I am going to miss is Amazon Instant Video, so I am not renewing prime.
The Nexus Player and the Shield are not the same device and playing with a NP isn’t going to give you a feel of how the SATV works.
There’s also a lot that can be done on the SATV that can’t be done on the NP and the AFTV doesn’t even come close to being able to do what the SATV can do with local (Kodi) playback.
I would have nabbed this if it had native support for Amazon Prime. Only recently I have found myself playing a lot more Amazon Prime compared to Netflix – they really seemed to have added a bunch of great international films. So can’t give that up.
The hardware specs are great but it dont mean much with the bad interface and very few dedicated apps. Missing a ton. Also, I prefer dedicated apps like on amazon and roku over sideloaded apps. Maybe if i was a big gamer, it would be more tempting but i dont need a gaming system because of my ps3/ps4.
How does Amazon ban Nexus, chromecast and AppleTV and then promote Nvidia Shield? What was amazon’s reason for the ban again?
They disguised a little, but I think the real objective was the companies themselves: Google and Apple, although the Nexus Player is not entirely a Google device.
Correct. Amazon isn’t being honest. I think Amazon is trying to use there ban to negotiate a better deal on revenue sharing on their app.
Best Buy is matching this offer.
Two brands you can’t ban are “Nvidia” and “AMD”.
You don’t need to have Master degree in Economics to figure that out!