Nvidia Shield was launched in the US earlier this year as a game console and 4K player in one. The Android TV-based box is now expanding to the UK, Germany, France and the four Nordic countries, starting at 200 Euro. Nvidia is also launching the Geforce Now game streaming service. 

Game console and 4K player
Nvidia Shield is one of the first media players built on Android TV and also the most powerful. It is so powerful that Nvidia believes it can be a game console.

You can install games from the Google Play store or stream games via Nvidia’s game streaming service, which has been renamed to Geforce Now (previously Nvidia GRID). You can try it for free for three months after which it will cost you 8 dollars per month for the subscription plan. You can also choose to buy games such as The Witcher 3 or Resident Evil: Revelations 2 separately. As soon as you purchase a title on Geforce Now you can start streaming the game to your TV screen without having to wait for it to install. Games are streamed in up to 1080p and 60fps.


The box can handle 4K video with support for HEVC and VP9. You have access to streaming services such as Netflix and YouTube in 4K resolution and you can also watch 4K video stored on the device or on a USB device. This makes it one of the most complete 4K players on the market.

Major software update
Nvidia is furthermore pushing out a major software update (2.0) to fix many of the issues that we pointed out during our review of the product.

The player now correctly supports 23.976 Hz, which is the exact frame rate that most movies are shot in. The update adds support for the DTS-HD, DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD audio formats. Kodi and Plex recently got native support for HEVC encoded files. You can even adjust audio delay. The full list of bug fixes and new features for in 2.0 can be found here.


Nvidia Shield will be shipping in Europe starting tomorrow with either 16GB (Ł150/€200) or 500GB (Ł230/€300). Check it out at store.nvidia.co.uk. One game controller is included in the box but the remote control has to be purchased separate for 55 Euro. Additional game controllers are available for 60 Euro.

Read our full Nvidia Shield review here.

 
 Specifications
 
Processor - NVIDIA Tegra X1 processor with 256-core Maxwell GPU with 3GB RAM
 
Video Features - 4K Ultra-HD Ready with 4K playback and capture up to 60 fps (VP9, H265, H264)
 
 
 
 Audio Features - 7.1 and 5.1 surround sound pass through over HDMI. High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192kHz over HDMI and USB. High-resolution audio upsample to 24-bit/192hHz over USB 
 
 
 Storage - 16GB or 500GB
 
 
 
 Wireless - 802.11ac 2x2 MIMO 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi - Bluetooth 4.1/BLE 
 
 
 
 Interfaces -  Gigabit Ethernet. HDMI 2.0. Two USB 3.0 (Type A). Micro-USB 2.0. MicroSD slot (supports 128GB cards). IR Receiver (compatible with Logitech Harmony) 
 
 
 
 Gaming Features - NVIDIA GRID streaming service. NVIDIA GameStream