That is not the conclusion I had hoped to get. The Shield Tablet K1 is an extremely small repackaging of the original coat of the tablet, which was released in 2014 before being recalled due to a potential fire hazard. It has the most powerful processor design more precious, or the most impressive screen. He could have come out of any line factory in the world.
But none of that really matters in a market where almost all Android tablets land with a thud apathetic - or worse, it comes with a crippling defect. The relaunch Shield tablet does not have any of those, it offers some unique advantages of its own, and does it all for less than $ 200.
Still not convinced?
The shield of the tablet could not be more modest. It is a black box covered generic soft touch rubber; align it against the wall with a Nexus 7 and a lot of other competitors and would have difficulty identifying the criminal. I'm not crazy about the way it collects fingerprints and button soft power is a little too difficult to press, but beyond that there really is not much to say about even generic design Shield tablet.
The screen is defining characteristic of any tablet, of course, and has a decent shield. It is not as contrasting or vibrant as the 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX keep by my bed for the emergence of Netflix, but has a big advantage: size. The shield of the tablet has an 8-inch 1920 x 1200 display, and that makes the difference next to the 7-inch screens that were betting table for Android tablets for years.
I bought that Fire HDX (and Nexus 7 are replaced) at a time when I used a small phone. Now use a large phone, so that the tablets have to do more to justify their existence to me. And, at least until Google orders for the serious multitasking operating system, eight inches is the right size for an Android tablet. It is large enough to offer a different experience significantly during even a giant phone like the Nexus 6P, but small enough to mitigate the fact that Android still does not feel so great on a tablet. It is still dealing with softphones stretched, but at least, in the shield, it is not blown to the ridiculous extent that you would like to see something like the Pixel C.
Apart from pixel C and Google's own Nexus devices, the shield is one of the only tablets that the latest version of Android Marshmallow is installed. It's a clean build, fortunately, too - the software is almost intact except for some Nvidia preloaded applications, most of which you really want. If you are at stake, that is - basically all efforts Nvidia software are concentrated around building a gaming experience with high quality on top of Android.
This initiative has three tips: native and optimized Android games, game streaming steam, and now the GeForce cloud service. For all this, you'll want a gaming device separately, and what will probably want Nvidia itself; I had little luck getting my regular Bluetooth Steelseries regulator to work with erratic results in almost all games. Nvidia sent over a Shield controller, however, it is a strange feeling but great-looking. One thing with all the controls you would expect more dedicated Android buttons and comfortable remnants of his fingers. The driver shields $59.99 works via Wi-Fi Direct, no Bluetooth, which means that even very easily by using an application and offers great performance, but is only compatible with the coat of the tablet and Shield TV box Android.
Android often felt as a mobile gaming platform second class compared to iOS, but Nvidia is doing everything possible to change that - for owners of devices Nvidia, at least. Through the Axis application of the Shield, you can find a wide selection of tested and optimized to work in the Shield Tablet, Escudo Android TV games and laptop original coat of arms, some of which are exclusive to the platform Nvidia. megahits valve Portal, Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode 1 have solid full ports that only work on Android devices Nvidia, for example; I played through the episode one and it was an impressive cut above what you would expect from a mobile game. (Episode Two is only available for Android Shield TV.) Other button-heavy games like Titan Souls and Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number worked very well in the Shield tablet and controller.
K1 Nvidia processor is more than capable of powering mobile games, but two services are designed so you can run entirely on PC games on the screen of the tablet. The first is called GameStream and requires a PC with a Nvidia GPU; which it is similar to the playback function streaming to remote-PS4 Sony phone, radiant Steam games from the most powerful to the more portable machine. It worked quite well in my tests, although the signal quality degraded a fair bit when moving to another floor.
But what if you do not have a PC game? Nvidia also has a streaming service called GeForce Now that lets you play games rendered live on the servers of the company. Its price is $ 7.99 per month for a subscription with access to a library of moderate size PC games, and you can buy more titles to own actually above that. The performance has been surprisingly good for me, if not entirely pixel-sharp. I wonder what the market is, however - with the limited selection, it still feels more like a technology demonstration of a real platform, and the purchase of rights to broadcast a game is difficult to sell. But if you really want to play The Witcher 3 without losing hundreds or thousands of dollars on a game console or PC, which could work in a pinch.
You have much more options of play in the shield of the tablet than any other, and I'm impressed with what Nvidia has built out within its own Android ecosystem. But what concerns the tablet itself, the gaming experience is not really that big. You really need the driver to take additional features and content Nvidia, for one thing. Moreover, although the 8-inch screen is perfect for the most use of the tablet, which is still too small to shore at a desk and settle in for a few hours of Soma. most powerful Android TV box Nvidia Shield is probably a better bet though of course that comes with competition from a completely different direction. At least, you can hook the Shield tablet to your TV via the mini HDMI port, which is more useful for accessing GameStream and GeForce Now if arrangements of their living space and router allow form.
The biggest complaint I have about the Shield Tablet is its battery life. That will last long enough time for all but the most serious play sessions but you'll definitely want to keep charging when not in use - only managed 6 hours and 55 minutes in our battery test loop web page, and I found is too susceptible to drain in standby mode. I doubt there are many situations where a full load of absolute die Shield Tablet someone, but it makes it less suitable as a device that can be thrown on the couch to pick up later.
"Where have all the great, inexpensive Android tablets have gone?" asked my colleague Chris in September, with no little nostalgia launch, fanfared the Nexus 7 in the summer of 2012. Well, here's one, and I'm calling: $199.99, the Shield Nvidia tablet is the new Nexus 7. more expensive Android tablets just do not feel like they're worth, so this is now the most sensitive of the Android tablet to buy at any price.
It is worth asking whether it is a good idea to buy an Android tablet at any price, of course. Unless you're satisfied with the consumption of basic content and application support, it is very likely better off with an iPad. But if you are already involved in the Android ecosystem, wants a tablet specifically for the game, or have a hardtop price of $ 200 and do not want a driver, choose yourself - the Shield tablet meets all these better pictures than any other thing.
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