NVIDIA Shield TV Wins Rare Sale in Black Friday Deal

Source: Phil Nickinson / Cordcutters

I’ve had an NVIDIA Shield TV for five years now and it has never let me down. While there’s a new Android TV streaming dongle on the box, last year’s NVIDIA Shield TV (2019) is worth recommending over Chromecast with Google TV, even with the big price difference. between them. That price difference is a bit closer right now, as a Black Friday deal brings the Shield TV down to $ 130 at Amazon and Best Buy.

Yes, it’s only $ 20 off, but the last time Shield TV dropped this low was in early April on my birthday six months ago. And as I mentioned, there are a few reasons to get the NVIDIA Shield 2019 TV on the new Google TV. First of all, this dongle is much more powerful which means that it will buffer fresh streams faster so your image goes from SD to HD in apps like VRV and CBS All Access much faster. without having to rely on Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi. Second, while Google TV’s new interface looks quite shiny and new, it still lacks some important integrations and features – like the ability to quickly switch between recently used apps through the Recents menu which I love and that I use it so often on my Shield.

It’s also worth noting that Shield TV will receive the update from Google TV in the future, but NVIDIA will work with Google to ensure that the update is an improvement over the current Android TV UI before. send it to a single device. NVIDIA has done it before, and this commitment to quality and long-term system updates has made it the oldest Android device in history. We have no idea how long the new Chromecast will receive updates, but we can expect to see five years of updates on the Shield TV, as the original Shield TV is still receiving updates. day more than five years after its launch.

Plus, while the new Chromecast remote is super small and quite cute, it lacks some basic Shield remote buttons, like a play / pause button and dedicated rewind / fast forward buttons! For apps like Disney +, this is important because of the way those apps present their onscreen playback controls. And of course, if you get an NVIDIA Shield TV, you can grab the NVIDIA controller and use the rear triggers and rewind in a number of apps. It’s an addictive feature and I absolutely recommend it.