Today, Nvidia is making a big announcement about its Android-powered SHIELD TV. Launched earlier this year at CES 2017, SHIELD TV is a 4k media streaming device which runs on Android 7.0 Nougat.

To compete with the all-new Apple TV 4K, Nvidia is offering a new variant of the SHIELD priced at $179, same as the new Apple TV. Even at the more competitive price, SHIELD offers the same performance and features except now it comes with bundled remote only.

Let’s dig a bit deeper into the spec sheet and see what the new SHIELD TV has to offer.

Specifications

Since It is a gaming oriented media device, It is only obvious that SHIELD TV is packed with great hardware configuration. The streaming unit is powered by Nvidia’s in-house Tegra X1 processor along with a 256-core GPU and 3GB RAM.

With all that firepower inside, Not only you can experience a lag free UI but can also play your favorite gaming titles and movies in 4K HDR.

It has 16GB of onboard storage which can be expanded via USB 3.0 flash drives.

For the connectivity options, the new SHIELD features

• 802.11ac 2×2 MIMO 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 4.1
• HDMI 2.0 with HDCP2.2 and CEC support
• Two USB 3.0 (Type A) ports
• Gigabit Ethernet.

Features

Nvidia Shield TV runs on Android 7.0 Nougat powered by Android TV and Google cast. It comes with plenty of preloaded media apps like Nvidia Games, Netflix, Amazon Video, YouTube, Google Play and more.

It can stream all of your movies and TV shows which you have purchased through Google Play or any other compatible Android TV app directly on the big screen in your living room.

You can also stream content from your smartphone since it has Chormecast built-in.

Games can be downloaded from Google Play store and you also have the option to stream some of the graphics intensive PC games from Geforce Now.

Geforce Now is a cloud gaming platform from Nvidia which let you play your favorite PC games on a high-end Nvidia powered PC by streaming on the compatible devices. The pricing for Geforce Now starts at $7.99/mo

It is capable of 4K HDR video playback at 60 frames per second and can play high-res audio up to 24bit/192 kHz over HDMI and USB.

Also, the SHIELD Remote which we had to purchase separately is now included in the package. It also has a microphone for Google Assistant and voice search and an IR blaster for TV power and volume control.

Pricing

Nvidia Shield TV was priced relatively higher than its closest competitors like Apple TV, Roku ultra, and Fire TV.

With a game controller and remote SHIELD is priced at $199 for 16GB storage. While the ‘Pro’ model with 500GB storage and a few extra ports, will cost you $299.

But if you are not into gaming and only want the SHIELD TV for movies, TV shows, and music then you can pre-order the all-new SHIELD TV (16GB) with remote for $179 only. Pre-orders will begin on Thursday, September 21 and will ship on October 18th.