When comparing NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet vs Nvidia Shield Portable, the Slant community recommends NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet for most people. In the question“What are the best Android gaming devices that have proprietary game controllers?” NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet is ranked 2nd while Nvidia Shield Portable is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet is:
The Shield has great hardware, including a Tegra K1 GPU, stereo speakers, and a resolution of 1920 x 1200, for $300, cheaper than the similarly spec'd Nexus 9. This makes for a great gaming experience, as well as a snappy interface in everyday use.
Specs
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Pros
Pro High-spec hardware at a good price
The Shield has great hardware, including a Tegra K1 GPU, stereo speakers, and a resolution of 1920 x 1200, for $300, cheaper than the similarly spec'd Nexus 9. This makes for a great gaming experience, as well as a snappy interface in everyday use.
Pro Stream games from GTX powered PCs
Users of the SHIELD have the ability to stream games from high end GTX powered PCs, allowing high performance gaming anywhere in the house.
Pro Near stock Android
NVIDIA opted to not mess around too much with the OS and stuck with a mostly stock experience, keeping modifications to a minimum other than what was needed to provide its core gaming features.
Pro Immersive audio
The SHIELD Tablet features front-mounted stereo speakers, which make for an excellent experience while gaming or watching movies. This is in contrast to most other tablets, which generally have a single small speaker, often not pointed in the same direction as the screen, primarily meant only as a fallback for when headphones aren't used.
Pro Built in Twitch support
The device is able to instantly stream to Twitch by utilizing a option that is built into the notification pull down.
Pro Stylus support
There is a storage space for a stylus (that comes in the box) in the device.
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 Wireless controller does not come with device
The proprietary SHIELD controller does not come with the device, it is $60 extra to purchase one.
Con Drains battery in idle
The tablet is poorly optimized for idle standby mode, and drains the battery when you aren't using it, losing up to 25% when left alone for 4 hours.
Con Inconsistent quality control
Reviews seem split, and there are many complaints on the forums, indicating that the device has poor quality control, with many users getting duds.
Con Cannot be repaired
Con Construction quality is cheap
The chassis is made of plastic and both the case and the screen flex when pressed.
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.