When comparing Nvidia Shield Portable vs PlayStation Vita, the Slant community recommends PlayStation Vita for most people. In the question“What are the best portable game consoles?” PlayStation Vita is ranked 2nd while Nvidia Shield Portable is ranked 16th.
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Pros
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.
Pro Two sticks
Pro Succeeds as a niche indie game device
There are few dedicated handheld gaming systems out there with the 3DS being the main competition to the Vita. What is nice that neither has much overlap on their content making for a good device to own even if you own a 3DS due to the library consisting of many great indie games not to be found on a Nintendo handheld.
Pro Best screen resolution
Pro Like a portable PS3
Cons
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.
Con Console is Dead
Sony is not trying to improve PS Vita.
Con Rear touchpad has too many accidental clicks
While not all the games for the Vita use the rear touchpad, those that do have issue with imprecise input and random touches. This can complicate games that rely on the virtual button presses as a tap may be altogether missed or accidentally done when not wanted, thus messing up ones play session.
Con Lack of AAA games
Sony, since the release of the Vita has published or produced very few AA games for the Vita, with most newer releases coming from third parties and mainly indie developers. For what is supposed to be a premium handheld Sony's announcement of no AA games to come is very concerning as to what the lifespan of this device will be,