I'm going to open this review by saying that when NVIDIA first unveiled this
thing my only reaction was oh I guess
I'll have to keep waiting for a proper Tegra K1 handheld then my feedback about
the concept was actually so negative at the Press event that my contact there
asked me if I even wanted a review samp I said yeah and don't worry I'll be fair
to it so while NVIDIA is not positioning
The Shield tablet as a replacement to the shield portable I stowed my handheld
for a week and have only used this one since then so that I can tell you guys
about the
experience the flash Voyager GTX usb3 drive from Corsair provides SSD like
performance and fits comfortably in your pocket click now to learn more so here's
the package NVIDIA scent it includes the tablet itself and some optional
accessories the magnetic hinged tablet cover that supports Auto sleep wake and
three different viewing positions with the magnets in the back of the shield and the wireless controller which I'll
actually cover in more depth later spec-wise this guy is very well equipped
for the price it's got a Tegra K1 processor with 192 Kepler GPU cores 2
gigs of RAM a 19.75 w battery that was
good for over 2 and 1/2 hours of continuous Tryin 2 Gaming and 16 gigs of
storage in the Wi-Fi model with 32 gigs in the LTE enabled model at the front we
find an 8 in1 1920x 1200 IPS screen that
I would describe as pretty darn good motion blur wasn't a problem when gaming
its maximum brightness made it suitable for use in almost any environment and
this really stood out to me this is the first device I've ever used whose
minimum brightness is very comfortable to use even in complete dark also on the
front is a 5 megapixel selfie camera that captures 1080p video and can
actually be used to stream to twitch.tv natively on the device as well as two
loud stereo speakers my only complaint about the front is that the edges of the
screen are a little bit harsh and scrape my fingers a little bit when I SL swipe
in from the side not a huge deal on the back we find the other 5 megapixel
camera on the bottom we find the latches for the magnetic cover on the top we
find the GPU accelerated stylus pen who chiseled soft tip and low latency stood
out to me even though I'm not really a stylist guy and it stayed stashed there
throughout the review process we find slots for a Sim and micro SD expansion
card a volume rocker and a lock button then on each side we've got base ports
for the front speakers with the left side also featuring a micro USB port a
mini HDMI output that can handle 1080p 60 FPS and a 32 mm headset audio jack
that pretty much wraps up the tablet but I promised to say more about their Wi-Fi
Direct console grade controller which is actually a significant product launch in
its own right the direct benefits of this controller over a Bluetooth one are
potentially less interference on 5 GHz much higher bandwidth for more
simultaneous controllers support for audio with the integrated mic which can
also be used for Google Now when your tablets mic is 10 ft away or with the
built-in headset Jack and lower latency
although most of these things aren't really my problem with existing
Bluetooth controllers my issue has always been the layo build quality even
from products that claim to be console grade NVIDIA's solution isn't perfect
the triggers and d-pad feel a bit mushy for me and the bny button placement has
B basically on the edge of the controller and Y actually too high for
me to reach comfortably if I hold the controller along the grooves the way
it's designed but I got to give them credit it's still the best option I've
seen so far the pairing process takes just a few seconds with the included app
and other than the triggers the tactile feedback has been pretty well received
by everyone I've shown it to the touchpad for Mouse movement in a pinch
is great the joysticks are solid and if you game a few hours a day you'll only
need to charge the battery once every week or two I'd still use an Xbox
controller where possible but I actually prefer this one to Sony's dual shock all
right so now that we've covered the tablet and controller separately let's
discuss how they go together and how you might use them now my biggest objection
to this device at the briefing was the need to carry around two pieces instead
of one when I'm using Game stream to be in PC games to it around the house or
playing Android games on it when I'm out and about so let's go through a few of
the different ways that I already used use a shield device and how this Stacks
up so we'll start with the toilet in this case Shield portable is the big
winner unless you sit backwards on the toilet there's really nowhere to put a
screen that's not attached to the controller next up is the bath where I
actually spend a good 25% of my shield gaming time once again I prefer portable
but only because I don't have a better tablet stand the bigger screen is
definitely better here but the integrated covers angle make it a little
bit hard to view the screen straight on from there next up is in bed here the
tablet shines for a while laying on my stomach was the best gaming experience
in bed with the tablet propped up on a pillow in front of me but I found that
my neck got uncomfortable and strained and when it was time to shift I couldn't
flip over and hold the device above me the way that I can with the handheld so
I'm going to call this another win for the portable especially if you want a
game for extended periods of time in the car propping up the tablet on your lap
actually works surprisingly well and was reasonably balanced as long as the
driver doesn't break suddenly another win for the portable but as much as I'm
kind of piling on here there are some
types of scenarios where the tablet is worlds better than the portable if
there's a flat surface in front of you let's say an airplane food tray dining
room table desk in the cafeteria at school for example it is a much more
comfortable experience to game with a bigger screen a lighter controller and
your hands in a more relaxed position on
your legs so at the end of the day it's going to come down to where you plan to
use it and if you're willing to trade the convenience of an attached
controller that you don't have to carry separately with the convenience of a
larger screen and a much better typing
experience I mean typing on Shield portable or using any apps that have to
run in landscap or portrait mode is terrible Mobile use aside I guess you
could buy this strictly as a tablet and as a game console for your TV I've
actually only done it a couple times because I have a media PC but according
to NVIDIA lots of people plug into their TVs using HDMI in console mode and
there's a compelling argument to be made for this Android games PC games at up to
1080 60p with an OTG Ethernet dongle and a and an enabled PC elsewhere in the
house and Netflix at 1080p makes for a pretty complete entertainment experience
that you can have the added benefit of being able to pick up and take with you
wherever you go so it's conclusion time and it's a bit of a long one today sorry
guys outside of gaming It's a Wonderful piece of technology that I'd be very
comfortable recommending to a wide variety of want toe tablet owners with
the Tegra K1 chip at its core the performance is awesome the stylus with
the included handwriting recognition will be a godsend for students or anyone
who wants to take a lot of notes and they're included physics enabled
painting app is going to be a ton of fun for artists to play around with the
software is nearly stock Android with only a few tweaks like an auto power
down mode so it's more likely to have some juice when you pick it up if you
only use it once in a while and it gets a big thumbs up from me there for gamers
I actually feel like it's more than that in spite of some frame rate dips in the
pre-loaded copy of trying 2 let's not pretend it runs as well as it does on a
PC the fact that this product exists
proves that we're heading in a really amazing Direction we've got openg GL 4.4
and direct X12 featur rep on a tablet we've seen the new features that Shield
owners have enjoyed over the last year like grid powered remote gaming keypad
mapping for Android games and over the Internet gam stream from your own PC and
what all of this demonstrates is NVIDIA's continued belief in this whole
Android gaming thing something that I actually agree with very strongly I mean
sure this is a little ahead of its time I mean other than older emulated console
games there's not much for local multi player or split screen Android games if
you want to play up the console experience with up to four attached
controllers but I'm just glad that someone's got the balls and resources to
invest in the hardware we need to build a platform for developers to even want
to work on these games and that they've done it without falling into the same
trap of creating a device that only really does one thing unlike previous
attempts to create an Android gaming device The Shield tablet manages to be a
very compelling value as a tablet for normal people while also delivering the
right features to be a super cool gaming device not an easy thing to do I still
don't need a tablet and this still doesn't change that but I've got to give
NVIDIA credit anyway they nailed this one guys thanks for watching like this
video if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it leave a comment let me know
Shield portable Shield tablet or none of the above very curious to hear what you
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