Android TV is the way to go. Hated my gf's Apple TV and had a hard casting everything from my phone to Chromecast, Xbox and Roku OS. This solved all of my problems.There's a native app for everything that I was trying to cast. And the casting just seems smoother on this than my Chromecast.I bought a Mibox for my living room around the same time that I bought this and it performs 20 times better in every aspect it feels like. The voice recognition seems even better than my phone's.Because of this device, I always suggest Android TV over any other streaming box/stick.

Amazing little tv box

Honestly I have had them all, Fire TV box, stick and chrome cast and roku etc etc but the Nvidia Shield TV is by far the best. It is more expensive than its competitors but it does perform at a much higher level. If you are running any sort of Plex media server or NAS device then this is the one to Turkey bring your library to life. The picture quality, smooth processing and HDR visuals just look incredible. Even better than all of the above is the digital sound. Wow. A must have for anyone with a AV system such as Pioneer or Yamaha etc to pass the audio through. I love it. Bidding on a game controller for it already as the shield game library is pretty good too.

Don't waste your money

I was looking forward to receiving this item. I don't normally get excited about things but I was with this. When it arrived I was impressed with the packaging and the Android box itself was a weighty well made item. setting up was easy enough. It went through about 20 mins of updates before I could start using it. Youtube was the first thing I tried out. This version of Youtube will not allow any comments to be left on the videos? Next I thought, try out the internet.... No Browser? Well if has a browser that only allows you to brows Wikipedia? Then I thought Maybe get Chrome from the Google Play store.... No Chrome? In fact the play store had very little in the way of the apps I have been used to using... I found a browser... It didn't work... neither did the next ... MoreI was looking forward to receiving this item. I don't normally get excited about things but I was with this. When it arrived I was impressed with the packaging and the Android box itself was a weighty well made item. setting up was easy enough. It went through about 20 mins of updates before I could start using it. Youtube was the first thing I tried out. This version of Youtube will not allow any comments to be left on the videos? Next I thought, try out the internet.... No Browser? Well if has a browser that only allows you to brows Wikipedia? Then I thought Maybe get Chrome from the Google Play store.... No Chrome? In fact the play store had very little in the way of the apps I have been used to using... I found a browser... It didn't work... neither did the next one? I found one that sort of worked :-( I maybe being a bit harsh on this box but for the price I was expecting a lot more. It maybe better for playing games on but where are the games... They aren't in the Play store? If you are looking for a decent Android box that works get an H96 and save 200 quid or better still an X96 XGgodi box that comes fully loaded.. I'll persist with this box for a bit and see if it can be rooted to accept some proper apps. Kodi can be installed from the Play store so you can get on the internet with it, if you know how to work kodi :-(

Finally I can watch all my movies with sound passthrough....

I had an Apple TV (4k) and was waiting that Apple allows sound pass-through but this is never going to happen I think. So I bought this Nvidia Shield. Really happy with it. Works great. The only negative point is that the interface is kinda blurry compared to the Apple TV which has a crispy-sharp interface. But it's only the interface which is a bit blurry, when you play videos, there's no problem.

Incredible for Streaming

*Note: I purchased the Smart Home version, however I have yet to use the SmartThings Link as I already have a hub. This was more or less just to be safe if something happened to the hub, so I can't comment on this functionality*The driving force behind my purchase for the Nvidia Shield was to use it with Plex. I have an Xbox One X, a LG webOS TV, and a PC all plugged in to a receiver and each one can play Plex just fine. However, only the PC was able to pass-through the full audio right to the receiver (Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD MSTR, etc), and having that hooked up all the time for me was less than ideal.Picked up the Shield and am absolutely impressed by what this is able to do. Plays Plex flawlessly with native audio (server located outside of the home), and in ... More*Note: I purchased the Smart Home version, however I have yet to use the SmartThings Link as I already have a hub. This was more or less just to be safe if something happened to the hub, so I can't comment on this functionality*The driving force behind my purchase for the Nvidia Shield was to use it with Plex. I have an Xbox One X, a LG webOS TV, and a PC all plugged in to a receiver and each one can play Plex just fine. However, only the PC was able to pass-through the full audio right to the receiver (Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD MSTR, etc), and having that hooked up all the time for me was less than ideal.Picked up the Shield and am absolutely impressed by what this is able to do. Plays Plex flawlessly with native audio (server located outside of the home), and in addition, has access to everything else I used through my TV or Xbox One X. I even have Live TV playing through it by way of an HD HomeRun and Kodi.It's super nice to not have all of my streaming entertainment access fragmented over several devices. If I wanted to watch Netflix, YouTube or Hulu, I'd use the built-in TV app. MLB.TV, NBC Sports App, had to use the Xbox One X. Plex, for best results, hook the PC up. Google Play Music on the speakers, use the terrible Chromecast ability built-in on my receiver (literally the worst). I'm super happy with this purchase and only wish it were cheaper and I'd buy more of them.**Almost gave this three out of five stars as after I purchased the Shield, no Google commands would work from Google Home or Assistant to Shield, or even the remote itself. I couldn't tell the Shield to play music or anything else, as I'd be told something went wrong. However before writing this review, I checked to see if this was still happening and alas, it's fixed! I believe it was a bug from Google that was finally patched up. So now I'm even happier!**

Nvidia Rules

Fast and responsive. Best Android TV streamer on the market. Fantastic AI upscaling making old shows look way better it's the main reason I purchased.Also play AAA games over the internet or over local network.Great if running Plex to watch media but advise the pro version with more memory to run a Plex server.

Retro Gaming on the Nvidia Shield TV

It's the most powerful TV box for retro gaming but you do have to know how to set it up. That's the charm of a box like this. It's not for someone who wants to plug and play. It's all about setting it up for how you want to play. Powerful CPU. It's the same CPU that's in the Nintendo Switch. A tinkering box that you set up to get the most out of it. Love it.

The best by far

I've had most of the other streaming devices, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire stick 4K, Roku 4K etc. This is much faster, and instantly change the channels on any of the streaming services. Running Kodi is almost flawless I no longer get the buffering errors.I'm not able to make much use of the smart hub for right now but if there's anything to it I'll figure it out.It cost a lot more then the other streamers, but it's the real deal if you want great performance. I'm not crazy about the remote especially controlling the sound is a bit annoying. You can pick up the remote and accidentally mess with the volume, which is the only real issue I have with this product. However it's not a deal-breaker.I haven't tried using the Google assist but if it's anything like they ... MoreI've had most of the other streaming devices, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire stick 4K, Roku 4K etc. This is much faster, and instantly change the channels on any of the streaming services. Running Kodi is almost flawless I no longer get the buffering errors.I'm not able to make much use of the smart hub for right now but if there's anything to it I'll figure it out.It cost a lot more then the other streamers, but it's the real deal if you want great performance. I'm not crazy about the remote especially controlling the sound is a bit annoying. You can pick up the remote and accidentally mess with the volume, which is the only real issue I have with this product. However it's not a deal-breaker.I haven't tried using the Google assist but if it's anything like they say it'll be a plus.So far so good if anything goes out of the way good or bad I'll give an update.

Top TV box

It’s super easy to setup, it’s androidTV so as expected!!First time that I see so well design virtual keyboard, it shows all needed characters in one place (no needed to change for numbers or special characters).I’m running mainly Netflix, Kodi pulling from very old Synology NAS and IPTV via WiFi (in a quite far room) and works perfect for HD streaming, no buffering and super fast connection with the services. 4K streaming have some buffering but this is known with WiFi.Connection of Bluetooth earphones is quite straightforward and voice control works beautiful.I couldn’t find something negative on this device but minor things can be mentioned like:no instructions for battery replacement on remote control (it’s not like normal device) but easy to be solved with ... MoreIt’s super easy to setup, it’s androidTV so as expected!!First time that I see so well design virtual keyboard, it shows all needed characters in one place (no needed to change for numbers or special characters).I’m running mainly Netflix, Kodi pulling from very old Synology NAS and IPTV via WiFi (in a quite far room) and works perfect for HD streaming, no buffering and super fast connection with the services. 4K streaming have some buffering but this is known with WiFi.Connection of Bluetooth earphones is quite straightforward and voice control works beautiful.I couldn’t find something negative on this device but minor things can be mentioned like:no instructions for battery replacement on remote control (it’s not like normal device) but easy to be solved with a internet search, I guess and,Cylinder shape with cables on both sides is not easy to accommodate on the TV furniture.

Unbelievable!

This is in a different league to other Android streaming boxes! So much so, I've bought one for each TV in the house. It's even massively improved the WiFi performance of the box in the same room I had an older box, supposedly 5Ghz but this simply blows it out if the water. The real-time 4K upscaling is awesome too. Put simply.....I won't faff around with anything else.