When comparing Nintendo Switch vs Nvidia Shield Portable, the Slant community recommends Nintendo Switch for most people. In the question“What are the best portable game consoles?” Nintendo Switch is ranked 1st while Nvidia Shield Portable is ranked 16th. The most important reason people chose Nintendo Switch is:
You can use it as a stationary console with your TV (using the included dock), or transform it into a portable gaming device in literally seconds. You will keep all the data and can continue your game on the go. The JoyCon controllers can clip into the sides for a tablet-like experience, or you can remove them and use them wirelessly.
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Pros
Pro Very flexible
You can use it as a stationary console with your TV (using the included dock), or transform it into a portable gaming device in literally seconds. You will keep all the data and can continue your game on the go. The JoyCon controllers can clip into the sides for a tablet-like experience, or you can remove them and use them wirelessly.
Pro Comfortable to hold
Nitendo Switch is light and feels comfortable in hand. It doesn't cause any wrist strain. It also has a kickstand that folds out from the back of the console, so you can put it on the table.
Pro Nice gaming experience
Pro It has great graphics and controllers and games
Pro Can be turned into a stationary console with 1080p
Console mode allows the user to use a USB cable in order to output 1080p video to a TV or monitor, making for an easy way to play ones games on a larger screen just as they would with a console.
Pro Has a 5-hour battery life
With the size of the device a large capacity battery is able to be used internally which will give up to 5 hours of playtime with even the most demanding of games.
Pro Very good speakers for a portable device
Louder than a 3DS or Vita handheld the speakers in the Nvidia Shield makes for a pleasant listening experience that does not require any strain the hear what is going on.
Pro Can wirelessly stream to a Chromecast
Since the OS 5.1 update the device can stream to any Chromecast compliant device making for an easy way to stream ones games or other content to a bigger screen.
Pro Huge selection of games to choose from
Since this is an Android device the selection of games is quite large.
Cons
Con Game prices are higher than for other systems most of the time, for a lesser quality
Con Poor battery life
If you're playing for example Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you can expect 3.5 hours of gaming before you have to charge the console. Many other portable consoles last longer.
Con Doesn't have a wide variety of popular games yet
If you are not into playing Zelda, there's not that much for you to do with this console right now. The game lineup is not comparable to Xbox One or PS4. The console is not backwards compatible, so you will not be able to play your old games on it either.
Con Problems with screen glare
It's difficult to play with a lot of light falling on the screen due to glare issues. For example, you probably will not be able to play outside in the sun, since the game is simply not visible.
Con A relatively small subset of Android games available are optimized for controller use
Out of the majority of games available for Android most only have touch controls. There are a few that utilize HID controls and even fewer that utilize the nVidia controller. This makes for a very limited selection of native games to play on the device.
Con Navigating is cumbersome
Users can use the dual analog sticks to maneuver around the OS but sadly t is time consuming and not as accurate as touch controls. Users can of course use touch controls but now holding the device is difficult due to how it was designed to be held, with two hands.
Con Somewhat large and heavy for a portable device
At 1.5 pounds the device is quite heavy, which cuts down on the portability. What is worse is the size though as it is quite bulky and will not be fitting inside of anyone's pockets. Taking both of these into consideration reveals that this is not that portable of a device.