The SHIELD TV hardware I have hooked up to my living room TV was made in 2019. That was 5 years ago, and frankly, with all of the improvements that have been made in the mobile space in that amount of time, I am officially ready for NVIDIA to produce a new SHIELD TV for me to purchase.
SHIELD TV is Still Great
In terms of Android-powered set-top boxes, I still rank the SHIELD TV very high, even with its age. Mine performs well, but imagine how much better it could be if it had a refresh of its internals. These days, SHIELD TV is having to compete with Google TV-powered television sets that are only getting better and more powerful. In my mind, it’s time for NVIDIA to reestablish its spot on top of the Android TV mountain.
What Chip Would It Use?
NVIDIA hasn’t been in the news for Android processors for a few years. Last I heard, the company announced Thor as part of its Tegra line, but that is solely focused on self-driving cars and things like that. Not for running Android TV. So I suppose a new SHIELD TV may require the company to make a new chipset, but this is NVIDIA we’re talking about, so that shouldn’t be too difficult.
One thing to note is how NVIDIA could continue to incorporate all of their latest cloud gaming and AI technologies into a new Android TV box. I’m sure they could whip up some real special features for a new device. I don’t have the imagination to think what that all could be, but I’m sure it would be great and hopefully over the top.
If you take one thing from this post, it’s that I want a new SHIELD TV. Add it to my 2024 wishlist. Thank you for your time.
I was a passionate shield user since they came out and bought the 2 models. 2 years ago I went appletv 4k and honestly I will never go back. I’m die hard android for phones but when it comes to tv devices and tablets, i’m done. google has failed in these arenas
nVidia can waste 0.0001% of their 2024 corprorate spending and still put together the biggest Android TV development team in the world. The problem is not that they cannot make one, but that the idea to make a new ShieldTV probably doesn’t make up 0.0000001% of their executives’ brain cells.
Pretty sure the last few shield TVs came about a year after a switch or switch refresh. So my bet is switch pro comes out and then 1 year later the shield pro comes out. So my bet is 2025 we get one.
What exactly would you guys expect a new Shield TV to do? Outside of streaming (which doesn’t require as much processing power) the 2019 shield TV pro is likely still the most powerful Android TV box there is. If anything I would say it’s perhaps a bit over powered for what it is doing. Don’t get me wrong, that made sense when the box was doing double duty as a gaming console with local apps. However Google Play for Google TV, outside of the streaming apps, has become garbage. yes you can play modern games on it if you subscribe to game streaming services, but local gaming that takes advantage of what that box can do, is largely abandoned by Google. Just look at googles recent streaming devices. All are noticeably less powerful and focused almost exclusively on streaming. If that’s the way of the future, then what would a new Shield bring to the table?
I’m really sick of people saying “they could use their cloud services” to make a box work. Great. So now we buy a Shield and pay $9.99 a month to use cloud services. Cloud costs money. People, even C level execs keep forgetting this little fact. Cloud services incur a continuous cost that has to be offset by consumers paying for a subscription and that makes it way less attractive than a single purchase cost device.
My 2017 shield TV still going strong. Is it worth going to the current TV pro
They need a new Shield, Google needs a new Chromecast. Amazon and Roku come out with new models all the time.
Google also needs to release a new CCwGTV device. I thought Google was supposed to be pushing AV1 support? What’s the hold up?
I know you want Android, but in the last few months I’ve purchased a few mini PCs, one for a Plex server, one for Batocera, which can even emulate PS3, and man they’re perfect and tiny.
Been saying this for a while now. They no longer provide any security / Android version updates to the existing lineup and it feels like they have just completely abandoned this product line. Its sad.
Tough to call them abandoned. NVIDIA updated these devices on a very regular basis for years, way before big companies like Google and Samsung were promising extended periods of software support. NVIDIA was the first “King of Android Updates” in our eyes. Considering their newest hardware is 5 years old, I think NVIDIA did well.
There hasn’t been a software update in two years now. How is what they used to do relevant?
It’s relevant, in my mind, because NVIDIA offered really good software support for years before it was the cool thing to do like we’re seeing now. They were updating the 2015 hardware still in 2022. I just think the term “abandoned” painted a negative picture, while the company’s update track record is actually extremely positive. Because they are no longer receiving updates, this is one of the reasons I want new hardware, hence my post about it.
No one is arguing Nvidia didn’t support their Shield TVs well. My point is the Nvidia Shield TV has been discontinued. Is that better?
You mean support has been discontinued? Everywhere is still selling these things at the same prices they launched at, which seems rude to me lol
We already established that. Remember? LOL No software updates in two years. No new models in five years. The Nvidia Shield blog and Facebook account are dormant. I agree it’s crazy they have stock won’t discount.
Yes it is. I’ve been patiently waiting for an up to date streaming device that supports Dolby True-HD passthrough and DTS-HD passthrough for a while now. Can’t believe there’s no such device on the market.
What are you talking about? The Shield passes through Dolby True HD/DTS-MA since at least 2017…not to mention Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision (with the 2019 model).
@kdelink:disqus said “up to date” device. And they are correct, there is no current device that supports lossless audio. I am also patiently waiting.
I’m ready for either a Nvidia Shield refresh/upgrade or a very robust Chromecast with Google TV…
My Nvidia Shield struggles mightily with Disney Plus and Paramount Plus (but if I cast those apps to my Shield, it’s passable). None of my TV’s with CwGTV struggle with any streaming apps.
Time for Google to incorporate Chromecast with Google TV in Android devices so you don’t need a dongle
They wont release anything until nintendo releases the switch 2.
Mine is the 2015 model and still running fantastic. Got a USB stick plugged in with tons of DRM free music I’ve bought over the years, and have an external SSD plugged in for more storage. Also a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard for those gaming sessions. Have chrome side loaded, and Google meet as well for video calls through with the webcam I have. It’s possibly the greatest TV box ever and I’m sad we may never get another one like it.
Only real issue I notice with my Shield is the lack of HDR in youtube due to lack of codec support due the age of the hardware. Luckily I don’t watch anything regularly on youtube that is in HDR. I’d be down for a new Shield or any good spiritual successor. My big requirement is being able to run a usb hub to plug my little handheld keyboard/trackpad and IR receiver into. Long live my Harmony remotes (all three I have so there are spares).
I think there is a massive overestimation of the amount of people that actually want a new box. The market isn’t there. The current shield works fine and all the other dongles have been hanging from TVs for years at a much cheaper price. I don’t think we’ll ever see a new box because it won’t sell
The Shield is dead, I think Google will come out with their own box soon, or partner with the company that makes the Shield
I’m affraid you are right. Nvidia is leaving this market to someone else.
Asus or Google would not mind taking over that market.
As for speculation which cpu would be used, I think Snapdragon 888 gen 3 would certainly be a good candidate to support AI capabilities.
I’m guessing Nvidia is too busy making AI chips and platforms. A lot has changed with them since 2019.
At the end of 2019 it was a $144 billion company. Now it is a $2.2 trillion company and growing.
Which means they have plenty of money to please little ol’ me with a new Android TV box! lol
Good luck!
Mine hasn’t been able to run Hulu in years and I had to stop using it. (Yes Hulu knows and they pretty much said some users have this problem and Hulu knows about it and they decided not to fix it). Otherwise it was a great device. Definitely needs to be updated so I can switch back
Has there been any actual major firmware updates for the Shield boxes in a while? I haven’t used mine in a few years, but there used to be excitement over updates…but over the past few years? Not really! The next box or dongle or whatever would have to use the Google TV launcher and I’m wondering if that’s part of why Nvidia is dragging their feet? But I mean, yeah…they really need to update the platform with new hardware if they plan to continue in this space.