For various reasons I have lost patience with Firesticks and I am thinking of upgrading to a Nividia Shield. Posts on this site show that many folk are happy with this system (and other folk have different preferences - fair enough) but before I decide I would like to now if there are any aspects of the NS experience that people don’t like or irritate them (apart from the price lol).
I am about to move to a place where I will have a lot higher download speeds than I now have which will allow me to enjoy 4k streaming. While the Firestick 4k (and max) can do this there are things about it that I find annoying. I loathe the Amazon interface and being bombarded with adverts. Yes, I use the Wolf launcher but I understand this was rendered inoperable by a Firestick update (now fixed I understand). I hate all the bloatware you can’t get rid of. I dislike the limited 8Gb memory and although I successfully use an external flash drive it is still cumbersome.
All this means that I have to spend more effort than I want to using the system. If I want to play computers I’ll get out my Mac and Rasberry Pi and Arduino and soldering iron!
The Nvidia Shield Pro seems to solve a number of these problems. The 16Gb should be more than enough to hold all the apps I am ever likely to need. I understand that if a flash drive is connected videos will download directly to it for copying to my computer over Wi-Fi if I can be bothered (I’ll probably just transfer using the flash drive). True it will not support the very latest Wi-Fi standard but I don’t think this will be a problem, By all accounts the system seems stable over a long period and the Wolf launcher can be used.
When the Firestick was introduced it allowed me to get into streaming and cord cutting at a very cheap price, for which Amazon is to be applauded. But now it is time for me to move on. Any views - positive or negative?
There is room in your arsenal for a firestick 4k if you travel. It easily fits in a ziplock sandwich bag and can be used easily in a hotel/motel.
For a home setup, dont even think about it. Just get the Nvidia Shield (Not the tube shield)
it costs a lot where the cube is a 100 bucks with 16 gb
As mentioned many times.
For the extra money and if you have the funds do it.
There really isn’t much cons to it other than price.
Ummmmm … The USB ports could be spaced out a little bit more? It’s difficult sometimes to plug two devices in if they are too wide. And the Netflix button is annoying if you don’t use Netflix. But you can easily program it to do something else. And that’s about it lol. I’ve sat here for a few minutes looking at mine and that’s all I came up with.
And I cannot stress this enough… If you have a top of the line sound system do not use a fire device. Dolby Digital Plus is a scam! It’s still compressed audio. Even if you don’t have a big sound system now but you think you might in the future, get the shield. I was pissed when I bought a 4K fire stick in the beginning and spent an entire week trying to figure out why my receiver’s blue light wasn’t turning on when I was playing a 4K TrueHD steam. The fire stick quickly moved to the bedroom and I bought the shield.
A couple of points if I may. You can get rid of the Amazon bloatware, there is an apk available for a bloatware remover. I use the Wolf launcher on my 4K and have never lost it’s functionality. I do agree the Firestick isn’t for everyone as it takes learning and experimenting, but I’ve had my 4K for 3 years now and rarely, if ever, need to go into any settings to modify anything, so much so I sometimes forget the fastest way to get to a specific setting. I don’t honestly understand the memory issue as I only use it for it’s designated purpose of streaming, and not to record or play games. Yes you have to learn little things like how to remove all the accumulated apks to clear space, if you’re going to do as I do and test over 30 apps in a day. I wasted my money after reading a glowing review by Troy ( no disrespect) which for me turned out to be wrong about the Mecool km2. So I had a box, unlimited storage, and a total waste of money. Threw it in the electronic junk drawer, where it remains, and went back to the faithfull and ever reliable 4K.
I bought the 1st gen shield, my only gripe was the remote so bought a firestick 4k remote cheap and paired it to shield. Great piece of kit.
I have the 2017 shield. The crappiest remote ever made came with it, nvidia support denies the problem, but they have since come up with a new one. Any better? Great device terrible customer service. These people are working on self driving cars, and that is really scary when their remote can’t stay awake and control tha box 15 feet away.
Haven’t had any problems with the 2019 version.
That’s what I use the Nvidia Tube for; traveling.
Nvidia shield for the win bro,…you will be glad u did
Their newer triangle shaped remote is great.
Btw, if you haven’t installed it already the Nvidia Remote App id fantastic, especially if you have to type in any long script, https, etc… Also, imo, the mouse is far superior to Mouse Toggle for Android TV.
Fyi, if nothing else, it’s a great tool to use when your real remote goes MIA! lol
Oh, did I mention, it’s a free app, too!
I used Firesticks in the past and finally got tired of buffering issues and the constant Amazon Firestick Ads!; In the streaming world, nothing is perfect but the Nvidia Shields are the closest hardware to make streaming enjoyable! I put a 64GB flash on my Nvidia(s) and I’ve been able to watch saved streaming shows with no problems. No Amazon Ads! You build what you want.
Can’t say that there is anything worth mentioning I don’t like about NS.
I started with Firestick, quickly realized that it wasn’t going to cut it if I was going to expand and cut the cord. So I went to the Fire TV better and allowed a bit of expansion. Still it wasn’t going to cut it either!
So after much research, I said lets go and I bought the Shield. Added a 2TB hard drive and an OTA (which I no longer use, was great in SoCal, not so much in Southern UT. IPTV takes care of that). Best of all, the cord has been cut for over 5 years and I watch what I want, when I want with very few issues. The Nvidia is awesome and powerful. I have 2, living room and bedroom.
Best decision I ever made. Use it for Plex now also.
Good Luck.
I am a novice user of the Nvidia Shield pro I have had the fire stick, and I much prefer the shield, everything seemed easier to navigate much faster and a better viewing experience, but that’s only my opinion, I don’t think you can go wrong with an Nvidia shield
Dumped NS. Wouldn’t work with Nord VPN. Kept crashing. Went back to fire tv. Fire tv is faster and more stable. IMHO
For me the biggest issue was every time my vpn was updated,NS had to provide an update to allow it to work. Worse the NS would crash and I had to restart. Most of the time NS would turn off my vpn. I got tired of it. I didn’t use the NS to play games and the extra cost it’s just not worth it vs fire tv. I have a new fire cube and an old second gen fire tv. The old 2nd gen just works, no issues with vpn nor streaming. Just my experience.
To each their own. I have been using Shields since 2015 and have never experienced any issues.
Enjoy your FS.