what's up everyone Eber here with
Hardware Canucks and let's get things
awful with the Nvidia shield TV because
I've been using this device for the past
three years ever since launch and it has
played a vital role here in the
household on a regular basis because I
pretty much use it every day to consume
content whether that's catching up on my
favorite TV shows on Netflix or catching
up on my subscription box with YouTube
there's just so many things I could do
with the shield TV because it's running
and/or TV I can load it up with my
favorite apps whether that's ESPN of
course the list just keeps going on it's
really interesting because envyus
actually added constant updates to the
shield TV to enhance the user experience
and they've added a lot of things over
the course of these three years and that
includes you know support for an
expanded app library so a lot of apps
are sort of hopping onto the Android
ecosystem for the TV and there's also
the addition the latest edition of
Google assistant and the whole smart
home integration which I'll get to later
in the video
and last but not least we have game
stream and games
g-force games now which is an awesome a
little perk that a lot of shield
existing shield TV users can take
advantage of and I'll obviously get to
that as well of the later on in the
video so I'm just going to talk about my
experience using the shield TV for the
past three years and how it has enhanced
my content viewing experience in the
household and I'll also go over a few
issues I've had over the last few years
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down below alright so before I talk
about my user experience using this
shield TV I do want to quickly mention
that I've been using the first
generation shield TV ever since launch
so the 2015 model but if you do recall
Nvidia did refresh the shield TV last
year during CES but basically shrinking
down the size but it still features the
same processor so the 2015 and the 2017
models feature the exact same Tegra x1
chip with
gigabytes of RAM and 16 gigabytes of
on-board storage speaking of storage 16
gigabytes is not enough for me
personally to house all of my apps it's
just too limited for the OS and the
content so end video was kind enough to
include a microSD card slot on the
shield TV the first generation model so
all I did was just throw in a sandesh 64
gigabyte microSD card that I picked up
from Amazon for a really good deal I
just popped it in there and what's
interesting is that you do have the
option to either use it as an external
drive to browse files or something or
you can expand that storage with the
shield TV so you can have you can have
as directed to that microSD card and
load you know games or a certain apps
that you that are sort of a larger in
capacity I do want to mention that the
2017 model does not come with a micro SD
card slot which is a little bit of a
disappointment but if you're still
planning on if you still want to expand
that storage you can do that externally
by plugging in an external hard drive or
USB 3.0 flash drives in this case I can
plug in something like the Toshiba XS
700 - 40 gigabytes external SSD to help
speed up low times now my shield TV is
connected to an lg nano cell 4k TV so it
supports that 4k resolution at 60 Hertz
without a problem and the whole
experience it's still faster and that's
what really surprises me even after
three years of constant usage and after
a constant updates the experience hasn't
really slowed down you I could barely
notice a lag when it comes to navigating
through the UI and to me that's just
great because Nvidia is focusing on
software and hardware optimizations
because they are making the hardware
it's just that they're spending a little
bit more time with the software to make
it much more a user enhanced experience
I do want to talk about this cool
feature that was included with the
shield TV and that is hdcp 2.2 and CEC
support through the HDMI port so this
essentially allows the user to turn off
the shield TV as well as the TV that's
connected to the HDMI port at the same
time using the shield remote controller
so you don't have to mess around with or
you don't have to look after the actual
TV remote to turn off the TV so kind of
taking two things at the same time it's
just controlled everything through the
shield remote I think that's pretty
awesome and if you want to turn on the
TV you can just simply use a shield
remote controller
click
tap on one of the buttons it'll
automatically turn on the shield TV and
obviously you will see the TV turned on
as well it's pretty awesome in my
opinion I think it's those little things
that sort of just really again enhances
the user experience
now the CEC protocol over HDMI can cause
issues with Logitech's harmie ecosystem
which has a turn on/off function for all
the devices at the same time that means
if you turn off your shield TV with the
shield controller and if you turn off
other components with the harmonies all
off function it'll turn back on your TV
and that gets a little bit annoying
especially if you have the shield to be
plugged into a receiver instead of
directly to a TV alright so with the
specs and the only other course out of
the way let's talk about the user
interface now I'm not really a fan of
the recent 7.0 experience update because
that was recently launched or was
recently rolled out to the shield TV
last week and was just it just breeds a
new sort of UI to the home screen and
I'm still getting used to it but I'm not
exactly a fan of this new layout when
compared to previous home screen layouts
that were used to especially if you're
an existing shield TV owner and if
you've recently upgraded to the
experience 7.0 update you can definitely
relate to what I'm talking about so now
you have content organized by rows so in
this case we have our apps right at the
top and we have to add our most
frequently used apps manually directly
to the home screen so that we have
instant access or you can click on the
app drawer that brings up the list of
apps that you have installed on the
device this is an extra step in my
opinion because with the previous
interface all of the apps were directed
or it was directly on the home screen
and it was a lot faster to access them
now I might be a little too critical
with this UI but personally I still do
prefer the previous home screen setups
but hey you may end up liking it and
over time I will eventually end up
liking it too coming back to this home
screen setup as I mentioned earlier the
content is organized in rows we have the
a pro the play next row that displays
movies shows or apps that you have
downloaded from the Play Store and you
haven't really checked them out or if
you want to resume watching a certain
episode or something below that we have
different channels with their respective
content they primarily display popular
ones but you can customize a selection
if you go
all the way at the bottom there's the
Settings tab located at the top
right-hand side and this is where you
have access to all sorts of settings for
the shield TV including the ability to
put the device to sleep now another cool
feature that I'm really excited to talk
about is the added support for 4k HDR
playback with the shield TVs so
essentially you know I have it connected
to the lg nano cell 4k TV that features
an HDR 10 profile so essentially if I
have content especially you know with
Amazon Prime then does stream ultra UHD
content with HDR it'll the TV will
automatically pick that profile up and
the content would just look a lot more
richer in colors the dynamic range would
be fantastic especially when you're
watching the shows like Grand Tour now
you have the colors that sort of pop and
you get to see a lot more in the detail
side the shadows and again it's just
breathtaking and I highly recommend if
you get a chance definitely check it out
and if you are an existing shield TV
user this is an excellent option I think
if you're looking to upgrade to a 4k TV
I think now's the time to actually take
advantage of that feature especially
with 4k HDR playback support on the
shield TV because if you have content
access to content HDR content in
particular this is a great feature in my
opinion now this next feature is one of
my favorite things added to the shield
TV and that is the inclusion of Google
assistant so essentially this allows the
user to control their smart home
connected devices in their household
with the help of their voice so for
instance in this case you can use the
shield remote TV remote controller tap
on the or click on the microphone button
and you can start asking questions just
like you would on your smart phone when
you activate Google assistant so I can
ask it to turn it off or turn on my
studio lights set my thermostat to a
certain temperature if I want to turn on
the heater I can literally do that on my
shield TV or if I want to play around
with my nano leaf or roller lights in
this case I have them placed on my
living room so I can basically turn them
on with you know just talking to the
shield TV remote controller and it would
just turn them on because Google
assistant is linked to the whole
ecosystem and I have them all connected
to the same network to the same account
so they start talking to each other and
that is an excellent feature
I think a lot of people it's especially
if you're an existing shield TV user and
if you were thinking of investing in
smart home devices I think this is an
excellent feature in my opinion because
you wouldn't have to spend that extra
money on picking up a Google home or
Google mini Google assistant is right
there for accessing I should also
mention that the shield TV supports
chromecast so you can easily cast your
content from your portable mobile device
without a problem regardless of it's an
Android device or an iOS device you
wouldn't have a problem at all all you
have to do is just make sure that you've
connected the shield TV to the same
network and you'll just be up and
running in no time in fact if you want
to screen share what's on your Android
device you can easily do that I was
easily able to do that on my blackberry
smart phone so overall great experience
I think thumbs up for that as well the
last thing that I want to discuss is
some of the Nvidia perks included with
the shield TV like game stream and she
forced now I think a lot of you guys are
familiar with game stream is if you have
an Nvidia based or if you have a gaming
PC featuring an NVIDIA GPU and if that
PC is connected to the same network you
can basically link your GeForce
experience accounts on the TV and the PC
and run triple-a titles just without
having to connect using a long HDMI
cable to the TV it works pretty well I
did try playing battlefield one and a
few other titles using a game stream and
it works just fine the whole thing is
that I have to get uses controller I'm
not I'm not really used to playing games
on a controller because I'm so used to
mechanical keyboard and a mouse so
that's definitely something I have to
get used to but it is a really cool
feature to take advantage of then
there's GeForce now which is an
incredible feature for shield TV owners
who don't exactly have a gaming PC with
a g4 spacecrafts card so this
essentially allows you to stream
triple-a titles to the shield TV at
1080p resolution and this doesn't
require a graphics card connected to the
same network it just uses the Nvidia
servers but all you need to do is get a
stable internet connection to the shield
TV and you'll just be good to go what's
really interesting is that for now
existing she'll T the owners can use
GeForce now for free because it used to
be a paid or it used to be able monthly
subscription service but right now and
Vita is actually working on an updated
version of GeForce now so--but
basically terminated or suspended the
monthly subscription fee for existing
GeForce now users or people who are
looking to try out new titles can
definitely hop on to GeForce now and you
can start enjoying titles like Tomb
Raider or Sniper Elite - I'm pretty sure
that that would kill productivity time
as well so I'm gonna I'm gonna control
myself there okay quick update here
anybody actually send us out an email a
few days ago regarding new update that
I've been rolling out to the GeForce now
app on the shield TV that'll be rolling
out in the next few weeks and the main
highlight is that users will be able to
link their Steam and you play accounts
on the GeForce snail app so right now
the access to games with GeForce now is
not that great it's pretty old titles
but with the new update you'll be able
to access the recent titles like a
fortnight pop G and a few more obviously
with the help of this new Steam and you
play support on the GeForce now I think
it's a pretty cool feature especially
for users who don't necessarily have a
gaming PC with a GTX based graphics card
and if you're an AV user this is
something that you can take advantage of
then just to refresh your memory a few
key updates that have been rolled out as
shield TV in the past two years is of
course the support for its strong USB
devices that can be shared as internal
storage so and with the ability to
directly house apps within that external
solution I think that's fantastic and we
obviously saw the added support for plex
media service so if you're an existing
Plex user the field TV would be an
excellent companion to that and of
course we have the addition of Google
assistant and the way how you can
control your smart home devices with the
help of your voice using the shield
remote controller and overall it's a
great feature it works really well for
me I think that's pretty cool and
finally we have the Android 8.0 Oreo
update that was been rolled out to the
shield TV just a few weeks ago and I'm
still you know I'm still getting used to
it
so guys that has been my experience
using the Nvidia shield TV for the past
three years and just to get this out of
the way this video is not sponsored by
Nvidia I know a lot of you guys would
probably start thinking that this whole
thing has been sponsored by media but
that's not the case here I just happen
to love the device and it just seems to
work for the stuff that I really need if
you're an existing shield to the owner
let me know in the comments down below
what your experience is like have you
experienced any issues
not to mention if you have set up the
Harmony ecosystem and have you
experienced issues with the power on/off
feature let me know in the comments down
below now these things could be fixed
with a software or a former update but
that's something that we'll have to wait
for and I'll make sure to leave links in
the description down below if you're
interested in checking out the Nvidia
shield TV i'm Eber with Hardware Canucks
thank you so much for watching and we'll
see you in the next one
