One problem with these boxes is the high chance of 0 updates / support from the manufacturer. The 2015 shield is a perfect example of quality support from the manufacturer.
Depends on what you want to gain from it. I'm expecting a blossoming Linux community because of the rk3399's popularity. Hope you may be able to find your updates there.
@@jja2000 Totally understandable but that is a far reach for common end users, not everyone is savvy enough for that or wants to play tech support for their families.
@@jja2000 Linux will not work great with Rockchips, it's all closed, and they do not give any drivers, for good Linux support. Also one of the reasons i will never buy a device with a Rockchip.
@@lukepayne7657 Widevine L1 requires hardware integration and there's no workaround for an unsupported model so far. Maybe the easiest way is to use a Chromecast or even Onn Android TV box just for apps requiring Widevine L1 to work. Everything else can be done on the other more powerful device.
Yes and the shield is Netflix certified and is more plug in and play. Don't get me wrong this is a nice bit of kit but I find the title a bit click baity as not an apples to apples comparison (most people want video playback, low power usage and hassle free experience). Plus as relatively an unknown brand out of China what's the return/support policy like....oh there probably isn't one.
@@Space-O-2001 Return? I see this box, like lots of others I bought from Himedia, Zidoo and whatever their names are. I see these as toys - and invest the money to test myself - if its not doing what I'd expect - its probably not so much money wasted - maybe less than shipping back to China, Korea or wherever. If Netflix and other apps do not give out Dolby Atmos and Vision - its a waste of money for me. It should support proper frame switching - something the shield has issues.
@HAL I came into the comments to say this. AI upscaling is a huge feature on the shield. Without matching that level of upscaling this standalone box can't compare to it. Also as others have stated, the updates and support. PCs people are commenting about are not the best devices to play back HDR videos either since depending what you are using, windows won't use the right HDR color volume curve (unless you do a manual CRU edit of the monitor/driver to 800nit or 1000 or whatever your screen is). The one thing this seems to have over the shield though is that the shield lacks the HDR chip required to do RUclips HDR material in the first place, though it would lose out on 4k Netflix playback as a tradeoff. The shield is great for HDR material off of emby (or plex, etc) and streaming services, just not youtube HDR.
I love when this kind of devices appears, because the market start to move, and brand name products like nvidia shield gets real hardware and software upgrades. It is always good to have a competition, that brings innovation
Huge gripe with me is all the Google certified boxs other manufacturers offer don't clearly have information on how long you get updates and how limited the expansion capacity of the device. Literally no boxs are actually made to be good streaming machines with a certified ATV besides the shield which is how old now?. It's a damn crime high priced high end tvs offering smart os with the pathetic throw away specs to run on. I refuse to purchase anything else. I demand more updates and higher specs without a price hike
Nvidia are unlikely to bother upgrading hardware because it's already way more powerful than it needs to be to do what 95% of people buy streaming boxes for people who want the power for emulatoin are in the minority. If I'd had to guess when they'd upgrade. It probably be when the next switch comes out as they will then have on hand a new soc developed and ready to go
I think I'm in love with the RK3588 in general. I would enjoy a video showing how this thing handles KODI both linux and android. This box will almost certainly take my Nvidia Shied's job in time, but all that graphics power is somewhat wasted if there is no supported HD content because of Widevine DRM.
Exactly the question I was going to ask. When are these "Android TV" streamers going to step up and become an Android TV OEM so they can sell it with full ATV widevine support??
Well the Shield TV came out in 2015, so I'd hope it's better. Yes, the Shield got some minor spec bumps, but they've been minor, it's still basically the same unit as 7-years ago. In any case I'm still using my 2015 Shield TV in my theater room as it's the only device I'm aware of that will actually, properly, convert HDR to SDR for projector. Also it still gets all the latest and greatest Plex upgrades, and it's still pretty quick to use, it doesn't feel slow or sluggish yet. If Nvidia ever bothers to do a real upgrade, I'll pick up a new one.
@@chumlee9562 I'm running a 1080p projector without HDR, and certainly without Dolby Vision, so for me, that doesn't do anything. For my theater room, I need a projector, not a TV, and in the world of projectors, HDR support is very basic, and things like Dolby Vision are only supported on the most expensive models (over $10k) and even then it's compatible, it doesn't really do anything to increase the image quality. In any case, I hope Nvidia continues to make these, but actually updates it. While the 2015 Shield doesn't feel slow, just using a 4K Amazon Fire stick is quite a bit faster - so much so that I'd use it if it did HDR -> SDR conversions properly and had Dolby TrueHD support, which it does not, it won't even just pass it through. That's where the Shield shines, it's the only box I know of that does everything I need, and I'd gladly buy a new one if they gave me a reason to do so.
Better hardware doesn't mean anything. Shield has better design. Better remote control. Good support. Good AV features. And it is full licensed product. I use it for Netflix, Plex, and game streaming. And this awesome device 4 years old. Can't wait for next Shield device.
Actually this box hasn't caught up. It's an absolute terrible streamer that has no DRM so that means no 4K for Netflix, Amazon prime, or any major streaming service. It's running a phone OS and is complete overkill as far as the power, unless you're only using the boxes emulation I would stay away from this
to be fair Nvidia got their ass kicked here maybe if they update their shield or the next shield that comes out ends up having more RAM than they would end up being back on top but right now and video needs to stop getting their tail stuck between their legs and actually developed something
The specs are good and it beats the Shield in raw power for games etc. However for a STB the Shield still wins with Android TV OS with the ability to do Netflix 4K etc and AI up scaling plus HDMI pass through for HD audio to your AV receiver. If they could get a legit version of Android TV on it then it may be worth it.
I personally don't take anything away from a box if it can't run the popular streaming services at 4K because if you know what you're doing there's ways to get around that
@@dragon5223 Maybe you could give us some subtle hints on where we mind find this info. Just ordered this (16gb ram) box from Mekotronics and am hoping to create a shield pro replacement out of it.
@@chumlee9562 Because the version built into the TV is usually not as good or doesn't have all the apps that google play does. My TV had Netflix but the TV version of plex was busted. Shield to the rescue.
one of the most exciting devices that's come out in recent memory. The ARM based TV box market has been stagnant for years now. The new rockchip soc earlier this years was nice to see, but it was very much an incremental improvement whereas this feels like a generational leap.
Cortex A76 in this RK3588 is very powerful CPU core. A76 has similar IPC (performance per GHz) as AMD Zen 1 or Intel Skylake = huge improvement. A76 was developed as 1st desktop class ARM core to fight x86 PCs. A76 was used in laptops MS Surface X with Windows 10 for ARM using SoC Snapdragon 8cx. A76 was introduced in 2018 ... so pretty old ARM core though. A76 was used as base core for server core Neoverse N1 used in 64-core Graviton 2 and 128-core Altra Max. A76 has 64kB + 64kB L1 cache (basically double size of Intel Skylake and AMD Zen 4) A76 has pretty powerful execution units: 3x ALU and 1x Branch = 4-wide scalar integer (similar to Haswell, Skylake, Tigerlake, Zen1 and Zen 2, much better than A75 with 2xALU+Branch or AMD Bulldozer with 2xALU only) A76 has pretty powerful FPU units too: 2x 128-bit FMA NEON SIMD units (similar to Zen 1) Latest Cortex X3 is different beast: X3 has almost double IPC, 6xALU+2xBranch, 4x128-bit SVE2 SIMD X3 has14% higher IPC than latest Zen 4 and Raptor Lake. Imagine cheap SBC boards with X3 - that would be death of x86 CPUs.
Nvidia won't release an updated shield, or at least update the processor, until Nintendo doesn't want to use them anymore. They have some sort of contract where Nintendo uses their arm chipset and only them. The shield was only to demonstrate their arm chips, and it worked, Nintendo bit. Nvidia did have a arm based Linux PC at some trade show just to stick it to Microsoft saying they didn't need them to leverage some sort of deal.
@@testosteroneinc.3800 Well, Nvidia is makng a killing from Nintendo so Nvidia themselves are happy. I'm sure when Nintendo's next console comes out and if it doesn't use a Nvidia ARM chip we'll see Nvidia ARM PCs. I'm confused why AMD isn't doing ARM right now, they used to have an ARM platform. With Apple going ARM I'm sure we'll see more ARM platforms that are powerful, not just phones.
Erm, that's not true, in fact they have technically changed the Shield 3 times; one of them is actually a new SOC, and only the newest version supports Doubly Vision. Also they've used that ARM chip and upgrades to it in other mass scaled products like the Jetson... Don't know where you heard that Nintendo stuff? As it's not true, although I've got an idea why people may think that. The ACTUAL reason will likely be that Nvidia has a huge scaled production of these chips due to the Switch, and of course the Shield itself. To make a separate new production for a much lesser selling product makes no sense, and would cost them money. So while it technically is Nintendos fault, it's not really for the reason you're thinking.
I love the nvidia shield lineup, i had the original handheld with a tegra 3 and i know not to hold my breath on a new model, but it would be amazing to see new hardware.
After viewing your video I purchased.The upgraded version.16 gigabytes.And 64 gigs of storage.This is a real super box.They ship it out to me by express UPS. I should be getting it in a few days from China.
@@gambaownsus Don't I fucking know it! Tried twice to update to their latest release and like other past releases, I always end up getting screwed at some point. Ended up (just like with past issues) reverting back to their software version 8.2 and won't EVER update again. Heck... one major plus to keeping it on 8.2 is that not only is it stable... no fucking annoying ads to deal with on my home screen.
It really surprises me that there are literally no TVs with Android TV built in that use powerful SoC's like a snapdragon 855 (or newer). Although I haven't checked in a while so maybe something has changed?
Absolutely appears to kill the Shield in emulation and gaming, but I'd guess most people have theirs primarily for streaming Netflix etc. Being honest, hyperbole aside, does this box stream Netflix and Disney and Prime as well as the Shield, in 4K?
Definitely superior to the Shield in terms of performance, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a better device lol. Even the Apple TV 4K runs slightly better than the Shield, but it's also inferior in other departments.
for $250 I can’t see many people buying this as a streaming device. your TV or a $50 fire TV can do that just fine. This is likely to be more used for eg Kodi or emulators/native android apps I think
I'm interested in this too. I use my Shield instead of a Roku or firestick because it's faster. The menu's are way more responsive and videos start playing right away without the need for any pre-buffering. I do have Roku on my less used TVs and it's a drastically different experience when I have to watch on those.
You could probably find the apps on this device.. providing it runs Android apps. As for the interface, they are usually just skins.. have a look around for a shield skin
This device is good on paper, that's all. So many of similar boxes out there. Mobile Android ??? No proper streaming services playback ? No support, future updates... Can't really compare to Shield. Shield is still the best device on the market, even though getting old.
yeah I pre ordered a rock pi 5 in hopes of this as well but Batocera is kinda of a shit OS TBH ,well on ARM devices anyways I have it on my pi4 B , and it just sucks WIFI is an absolute crap shoot ,most of the time it doesn't work and there is no rhyme or reason to it and nobody can figure out exactly why or what the issue is , it's a known problem that is not being addressed , controller compatibility and mapping is also pretty shit as well and it also has shutdown issues sometimes too , in theory and on paper it is good but on IRL it just sucks but pi4 is a trash board anyways I am hoping the rock pi5 will have a better build if it ever comes
I have no issues running antutu on my shield tv pro, sometimes you have to close off background apps to free up ram to get it to work. The score is around 250000.
This looks like this can do literally everything. A firewall, router, NAS, screen capture, etc... I'd keep an eye on this device because I can't wait to see what people do with this product.
Definitely not a Nvidia Shield TV killer. If not planning to play games it way overkill for the $250 price. Not running Android TV OS. Also Amlogic processors are better 5han Rockchip which has been known to not be very good. 2015 Shield is still pushing updates to this day
I wish the 2019 shield would have been more upgraded to be honest! for me it wasn't worth replacing my 2017 model with and now I've got rid of that too so I'm waiting on a major replacement with nothing that fits exactly all my needs! The R58x looks nice but without full DRM support and being rooted that discounts it from being a decent media player so it's only got the emulation thing and a bit of kodi or other APK's going for it. Fingers crossed there's going to be a new sheild this year maybe in November?. I'd like it to have 8k 60hz compatability, hdmi 2.1, new cpu, more gpu power and 6-8gb of ram. I wouldn't even care if it was at a 50% higher price point say 300$+ just give us the goods and it's a solid longterm investment that I think 90% of us who watch this channel would buy it instantly, also this would cover the slow 4k to 8k transition over the next few years nicely with some future proofing. It hasn't changed enough since 2015 and is starting to become long in the tooth..
Thank you ETA PRIME as always for sharing this hardware demo videos. These are great! May we please have a video explaining the third party button mapping aps for Genshin Impact that you like to use?
I'm wondering if the HDMI-in could be a useful input for a MiSTer system. The R58X would be perfect for modern console emulation, whilst still using the FPGA for hardware accurate classic gaming. I think the Mekotronics sales line is going to be busy today! I think I'll hold out for the 16GB LPDDR5 version however :D
I was thinking the exact same thing for my current mister arcade, although I would much prefer to use a flashy frontend like coinops or type R core, neither of which are based on android but windows.
I just want a new shield with a proper upgraded internals. Put the rembrant apu from the deck in it to get things spicy. I don't want a android box with ugly ui and limited support.
Two questions... 1) Can you install a full speed Gen3 NVMe SSD and test emulation performance running off of it and 2)Can you setup that SSD as the boot drive and test performance in that configuration? eMMC is extremely slow compared to even a lesser Gen3 NVMe drive (1,700MB/s (The eMMC 5.1 is roughly equivalent to a mid-tier SATA ssd at around 400MB/s)
This no name box will not replace my shield tv pro because it has no capacities to play licensed stuff. No Dolby Vision, no dts or atmos certification... This is only useful for gamers but most shield tv pro users keep it for 4k media consumption and this box is not it mate
2 years ago the chipset amlogic s922x was introduced it was extremly powerful chipset for emulation i personally huge fond of it even all n64..dreamcast .psp .ps1 saturn etc played flawless on the device the gt king and some other devices were having that chipset that time it was considered arguably as alternate to shield but in reality it was quite behind than shield but this latest chipset by rockchip rk3588 is surely gonna overshadow shield its a mammoth power house seeing it emulating wii and ps2 so effectively is very nice will surely keep an eye on this device gonna purchase it after some time
If it doesn't come with ai cores for the ai upscaling and enhancements then there is NO way it can best an nvidia shield. I own an nvidia shield and the ai enhancement of low rez video to 4k can't be beat !! It's like magic to the point of amazing
which year model do you have? I am shopping shields on the secondhand market and can get a crazy deal on a 2015. I'm going to get it primarily for gaming. Do you think the year of the model makes a difference? According to performance benchmarks, not really, but I'm willing to pay for a touch better performance.
i stopped when i saw passively cooled!! before i bought my shield 2017 in 2017 i had had several boxes like this and one thing the shield has that these boxes dont have is a fan!! that is a big selling point and i believe its what keeps the shield stable at times of high cpu use. when you got something passively cooled like this it will get quite toasty and end up thermal throttling that always happened to me! i have a zidoo x6 pro sadly its on android 4.4 it had support for a few years then it was done!! still works but ive no idea how or if i can upgrade it and its passively cooled! its a decent system with a RK3388 i believe. performs fairly well but it gets glitchy on high cpu loads or high temps indoors. this was my main box until i bought the sheild 2017 i would love to find out how to update it i know there is no support but maybe there is a way around the zidoo software and the ability to install an android os to create a generic box from it.
250 dollar? At the moment base RK3588 SBC's are 250+ dollar so ... a complete cased system might be 300+ dollar ? Not a Shield destroyer at that price anyway. And some midrange mobiles have more power? But Nvidia... time to up your game!
Looking at the software side seems to be running a phone version of the rom, would be a little difficult to navigate using a regular remote control The hardware definitely seems to be impressive
You say the device is going to come “pre rooted”… in that case, you won’t get Netflix installed via google play . haven’t yet tried to side load onto my rooted devices so unsure whether that will work… anyone know if other official streaming apps- prime, Disney plus etc, play ball on rooted devices, or whether Netflix can be sideloaded? Also, Going by this, android 12 appears to be performing alright… even Google themselves have got more issues than a newspaper’s back catalogue with it on both their pixel phones and android auto. I’d really like to see how this device behaves with plex and codi, playing both local content and acting a media server through attached m.2 ssd’s and the sata drive (ssd and spinner) I just purchased an nvidia shield tv pro a little over a week back, the rest of your videos on this might make me feel a bit short changed ☹️😋
Hi ETA, very promising sbc system, seems good option to test , a nas system, plex server, even pfsense, firewall because have two gigabit, 😀 so excited, also which widevine level is?
Shield's appeal is in features, such as AI upscaling, [mostly] stable regularly updated firmware, full certification AND performance. Performance alone doesn't mean shit, unless you're running it as dedicated emulation box.
"Stable" regularly updated firmware? You mean like that update that pushed ads to the homescreen and that broke what little apps that were on Android TV? The one that everyone was pissed about?
I was a long time happy with my shieldtv but since Nvidia brought out no real hardware upgrade, i bought a Xbox SeriesS and use that for emulation gaming.. runs everything up to Wii and Ps2 very well.. so there is actually no more use for me to change to another Android TV device atm.
Any idea about streaming performance for home theater? Auto color space switching, Auto frame rate switching, Atmos support in apps, upscaling to 4k and 8k, Video and Audio Codec support, etc. ? I'm always looking for a better "all in one" box to play back my media, but it has to be able to beat out the Shield TV in every area or it isn't worth it.
The RK3588 looks set to b the net big thing. Pricing that puts it in direct competition with Intel/AMD boxes might dent some enthusiasm though. S905X3 Antutu 30K? No way. More like 70+K. Right now it seems that Mekotronics and Firefly are the early leaders, with Radxa seemingly coming soon. When we see this SOC in a handheld, the competition will become even fiercer. Is that M.2 slot NVME?
@@godswordevangelism is it SATA on the rock pi 5 too? would suit me fine as I have a 250GB non NVME SSD that I can use for it without buying a new NVME SSD. I preordered the 8GB rock pi 5 for $99 but I didn't even check hopefully the performance is as good as this box and the firefly only with better community support for ROMs
Great review! My 2017 shield runs so slow these days. It struggles to cope with the latest Android OS never mind more advanced emulators! Looking forward to seeing more updates on this device!
Probably because you've got too many processes and tasks running in the background. The 3 apps I'd highly recommend are the *Fask Task Killer,* *Background apps and processes list* & the *TDUK Speed Toolbox* for a much snappier performance. Try this on the toolbox: Transition Animation: 0.0 Window Animation: 0.0 Animator Animation: 0.2 and you should notice a big difference.
I am doing a RUclips presentation on Linux, Android and single board computers in Japan. I wanted to introduce a game emulator in my review of the R58 mini PC, but as I didn't have the BIOS ready, I would like to use some of your excellent videos.
This seems amazing. I'm really looking forward to the other reviews. Does anyone know if Nvidia has mentioned a replacement for the Shield yet? Thanks.
36W (12v, 3A) psu . . . nice 👍. Thank you ETA. While Nvidia shield comes with a 40W (19v, 2.1A) psu, this thing's Rk3588 chip and Odin gpu are superior (6:16), operating and pulling power more efficiently I'd guess.
Definitely superior to the Shield in terms of performance, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a better device lol. Even the Apple TV 4K runs slightly better than the Shield, but it's also inferior in other departments.
Now Nvidia should come up with something better in order to not be second best when I comes to power, meanwhile this one is looking neat, I may pick it up. Edit: I'll get an external blue ray player when I get this to see what happens.
Hey ETA thanks for this review, looks promising as a Plex media server connected to a NAS. A cheap NAS would hold the media and this box would do the heavy lifting/transcoding. Would you mind trying it out pls?😊
I haven't found anything that can transcode 4k hdr plex steams other than my beefy gaming PC. Would love it I could offload my plex server but nothing does as good of a job.
You'll save yourself a lot of headaches just getting a 8th gen or newer Intel processor and leveraging quicksync. Even supports 4k hdr tone mapping. You wouldn't even need a separate nas
Are there are limitations and does it support Dolby Vision or HDR10+? The Shield Pro 2019, which has the same CPU as the 2017 model, supports Dolby Vision profile 5 only. It also doesn't support HDR10+ or RUclips HDR due to a CPU limitation (it can't do VP9 V2) which this box does as shown. The reason I ask is I have a Dune HD Vision Pro Solo which runs a hybrid Linux android OS. Resolution and HDR are limited on these boxes. I'm unsure if it's licensing or individual streaming services limiting it but I can get 4K no HDR on Netflix but Amazon Prime video limits it to 480p. The Linus OS can playback full Blu-ray ISO or BDMV folders with menus, supporting DV profiles 4, 5, 7 (FEL and MEL) and 8. DV is more complicated than one would think. It also lets you choose between display led or player led decoding (LLDV). UHD disks use profile 7 while almost all streaming services use profile 5. It also supports HDR10+ and HLG. I get HDR for RUclips but it's really using a different app. Just trying to see what the limitations are for streaming services. I still use the shield for any online streaming but the Dune is my go to for local media as the VS10 engine can output anything as HDR or 12 bit DV. This doesn't improve picture quality but does reduce banding due to "up-biting" 8 bit to 12b although it does make the display go into HDR mode for non HDR content if it has one. I would like an all in one player and I have a feeling this thing may be limited for video streaming services but I hope I'm wrong. CBS plus is using HDR10+ on the latest star trek series with Pike.
Why would you buy a Shield for emulation? It can emulate up to Gamecube, but a $200 used laptop will do better. You buy a Shield for the AI upscaling and for home network game streaming.
Sheild was considered pretty powerful for it's time because it had an actual GPU built in, it's just super dated by today's standards and Nvidia refuses to upgrade the hardware.
@@HeyIntegrity I think so. I only watch 1080p videos because it seems like a waste of bandwidth because upscaling is so good. If you have a PC for gaming, you can use the AI upscaling with Moonlight software and stream to your shield in up to 4k with high refresh rates.
I would like to see how does this work as an independent capture and streaming device. Just slap OBS on this baby and hook it to your streaming site of choice.
Wow. The RK3588 seems to be the rock star (pardon the pun) of late. I wonder how they are getting past the chip shortage issues plaguing the industry. Would be awesome if Raspberry Pi took notice.
The numbers aren't even similar. Raspberry Pi sells many millions of units, somewhere around 5 million a year I think. It's more demand constrained than supply constrained. I would be surprised if the RK3588 sells more than 50 thousand total across all manufacturers. (As a reference point, the Odin handheld which is quite popular for the emulation crowd is going to sell around 20 thousand.) So comparing Raspberry Pi to a niche product like an Arm streaming box isn't even comparable as far as demand and number of units.
@@enlightmentisagoal well, sure... But I've never seen a RockChip phone. Based on the view of the internals, my guess is that the thermals aren't fantastic for a phone sized device
Also the recent powerful Rockchip sbc's sell for ~$200usd while Rpi msrp target sub $100 to even sub $50. You have to compare within the price range. I think Rpi is not making new boards because for the chip shortage. They have a lot of customers who need the older boards that they need to provide for. Remember they guarantee support / manufacture for quite long times. And whatever chips they secure has to cover that.
@@fredrik241 - RPi does list for less, but the shortage has proven people will pay a lot for them if necessary. I don’t expect RPi to build an equal to this 8K system ETA has reviewed. But the RK chip has got to be turning heads.
Without the Widevine software that allow streaming services to be usable in 4K, this box can even run Crysis at 240fps, but it will not replace an Nvidia Shield or a more pedestrial Fire Stick. So, this device runs Netflix properly? If someone will raise this device status to "Shield Killer", it needs to do everything that the Shield does, and better. You can get excellent emulator performance using an used, cheap mini PC from Dell or HP, as ETA Prime himself had covered before. So I really wanted to know if this device has Widevine support.
Very promising performance, I've just bought my my self a Tencent Aurora TV Box5 Pro, I'll hope you'll cover that as well if possible and tell us how customizable is that one, it's a gorgeous device with the same SoC chipset.
Definitely bagging the 16gb ram version. I do wonder how Citra and Skyline emulators handle this, and really wasn't expecting genshin of all games to be somewhat bearable. We really come a long way Edit: Just for a giggle, if the Switch uses nvidia shield tech with but modified specs I think Nintendo should hire these people lol
Definitely a clickbait sort of title. As a long time Shield user I can confidently say nothing currently beats the shield. This product will not receive updates for several years down the line the way my shield has and my shield currently comfortably and easily handles 4K HDR 10 bit video with no problem. Makes a great Plex server, honestly the best Plex experience is the Nvidia Shield version of the Plex app so that's great. Long-term updates and support and top notch streaming experience. Can't beat it.... This product only has some modern hardware but there's no support so as soon as that gets to be not the best anymore it will be done, meanwhile The Shield will keep running right past it into the future.
One problem with these boxes is the high chance of 0 updates / support from the manufacturer.
The 2015 shield is a perfect example of quality support from the manufacturer.
Depends on what you want to gain from it. I'm expecting a blossoming Linux community because of the rk3399's popularity. Hope you may be able to find your updates there.
@@jja2000 Totally understandable but that is a far reach for common end users, not everyone is savvy enough for that or wants to play tech support for their families.
@@jja2000 Linux will not work great with Rockchips, it's all closed, and they do not give any drivers, for good Linux support.
Also one of the reasons i will never buy a device with a Rockchip.
r58x android not genuine not streaming 720p or higher resolutions in apps
@@xani123123 Widevine and ads on streaming services mean you should just pirate everything anyway
The problem with these Chinese media players is Netflix prevents streaming in 4K since the device isn't on their approved list.
Is there no way around this?
@@lukepayne7657 Widevine L1 requires hardware integration and there's no workaround for an unsupported model so far.
Maybe the easiest way is to use a Chromecast or even Onn Android TV box just for apps requiring Widevine L1 to work. Everything else can be done on the other more powerful device.
Just cancel netflix and get your stuff somewhere else
Can't you just run it in browser?
EXACTLY. they're not licensed by Google so it's the huge drawback to these Chinese boxes.
Shield has Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, a nice upscaler, and a so so frame rate matcher.
Yes and the shield is Netflix certified and is more plug in and play. Don't get me wrong this is a nice bit of kit but I find the title a bit click baity as not an apples to apples comparison (most people want video playback, low power usage and hassle free experience). Plus as relatively an unknown brand out of China what's the return/support policy like....oh there probably isn't one.
@@Space-O-2001 Agreed, you might as well still use a PC for emulation since this device doesn't support HD streaming services, Dolby vision etc.
@@Space-O-2001 Return? I see this box, like lots of others I bought from Himedia, Zidoo and whatever their names are.
I see these as toys - and invest the money to test myself - if its not doing what I'd expect - its probably not so much money wasted - maybe less than shipping back to China, Korea or wherever.
If Netflix and other apps do not give out Dolby Atmos and Vision - its a waste of money for me.
It should support proper frame switching - something the shield has issues.
@HAL I came into the comments to say this. AI upscaling is a huge feature on the shield. Without matching that level of upscaling this standalone box can't compare to it. Also as others have stated, the updates and support. PCs people are commenting about are not the best devices to play back HDR videos either since depending what you are using, windows won't use the right HDR color volume curve (unless you do a manual CRU edit of the monitor/driver to 800nit or 1000 or whatever your screen is). The one thing this seems to have over the shield though is that the shield lacks the HDR chip required to do RUclips HDR material in the first place, though it would lose out on 4k Netflix playback as a tradeoff. The shield is great for HDR material off of emby (or plex, etc) and streaming services, just not youtube HDR.
THE audio on the shield is amazing
I love when this kind of devices appears, because the market start to move, and brand name products like nvidia shield gets real hardware and software upgrades. It is always good to have a competition, that brings innovation
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Huge gripe with me is all the Google certified boxs other manufacturers offer don't clearly have information on how long you get updates and how limited the expansion capacity of the device. Literally no boxs are actually made to be good streaming machines with a certified ATV besides the shield which is how old now?. It's a damn crime high priced high end tvs offering smart os with the pathetic throw away specs to run on. I refuse to purchase anything else. I demand more updates and higher specs without a price hike
Nvidia are unlikely to bother upgrading hardware because it's already way more powerful than it needs to be to do what 95% of people buy streaming boxes for people who want the power for emulatoin are in the minority.
If I'd had to guess when they'd upgrade. It probably be when the next switch comes out as they will then have on hand a new soc developed and ready to go
The upscaler of the Shield is really the best. I don't think the box being advertised in this video is anything near the Shield.
I think I'm in love with the RK3588 in general.
I would enjoy a video showing how this thing handles KODI both linux and android. This box will almost certainly take my Nvidia Shied's job in time, but all that graphics power is somewhat wasted if there is no supported HD content because of Widevine DRM.
Yepp - the elephant in the room question - can it play Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ in 4k.
Exactly the question I was going to ask. When are these "Android TV" streamers going to step up and become an Android TV OEM so they can sell it with full ATV widevine support??
I really liked how you compared the benchmarks to both the nvidia shield and a typical android tv box to provide more context. another great video!
Well the Shield TV came out in 2015, so I'd hope it's better. Yes, the Shield got some minor spec bumps, but they've been minor, it's still basically the same unit as 7-years ago. In any case I'm still using my 2015 Shield TV in my theater room as it's the only device I'm aware of that will actually, properly, convert HDR to SDR for projector. Also it still gets all the latest and greatest Plex upgrades, and it's still pretty quick to use, it doesn't feel slow or sluggish yet. If Nvidia ever bothers to do a real upgrade, I'll pick up a new one.
Dovi was enough of an update for me
@@chumlee9562 I'm running a 1080p projector without HDR, and certainly without Dolby Vision, so for me, that doesn't do anything. For my theater room, I need a projector, not a TV, and in the world of projectors, HDR support is very basic, and things like Dolby Vision are only supported on the most expensive models (over $10k) and even then it's compatible, it doesn't really do anything to increase the image quality. In any case, I hope Nvidia continues to make these, but actually updates it. While the 2015 Shield doesn't feel slow, just using a 4K Amazon Fire stick is quite a bit faster - so much so that I'd use it if it did HDR -> SDR conversions properly and had Dolby TrueHD support, which it does not, it won't even just pass it through. That's where the Shield shines, it's the only box I know of that does everything I need, and I'd gladly buy a new one if they gave me a reason to do so.
Better hardware doesn't mean anything. Shield has better design. Better remote control. Good support. Good AV features. And it is full licensed product. I use it for Netflix, Plex, and game streaming. And this awesome device 4 years old. Can't wait for next Shield device.
Shield came out in 2015, and was tweaked in 2019 or so. Nice that the others finally caught up
Actually this box hasn't caught up. It's an absolute terrible streamer that has no DRM so that means no 4K for Netflix, Amazon prime, or any major streaming service. It's running a phone OS and is complete overkill as far as the power, unless you're only using the boxes emulation I would stay away from this
@@bensoto4855 getting there...slowly
Hell I still have and use the OG Nvidia Shield TV I bought back in 2015 I love it
Finally ! Some benchmark numbers put into perspective by comparing to nvidia shield ! This is so much better to appreciate the progress !
Looks like a VCR. I love the compactness of the Shield, combined with its versatility.
..and the remote is AWESOME!
this thing is nowhere near the size of a VCR lol. i actually prefer the utilitarian look of it, not gimmicky at all just pure function.
Same the design of that beasty android box looks kinda ugly and doesn't look like an android box at all but it is great for emulation
No updates, no support, no thanks...Nvidia rules all...
to be fair Nvidia got their ass kicked here maybe if they update their shield or the next shield that comes out ends up having more RAM than they would end up being back on top but right now and video needs to stop getting their tail stuck between their legs and actually developed something
Updates from Nvidia? I have to restart my remote app every time I switched to another app...
The specs are good and it beats the Shield in raw power for games etc. However for a STB the Shield still wins with Android TV OS with the ability to do Netflix 4K etc and AI up scaling plus HDMI pass through for HD audio to your AV receiver. If they could get a legit version of Android TV on it then it may be worth it.
I agree, this is juist a expensive china box with better specs.
I personally don't take anything away from a box if it can't run the popular streaming services at 4K because if you know what you're doing there's ways to get around that
@@dragon5223 Maybe you could give us some subtle hints on where we mind find this info. Just ordered this (16gb ram) box from Mekotronics and am hoping to create a shield pro replacement out of it.
@@hinsdale2 how much is it for some reason it's not showing the price for me
@@hinsdale2 where did you order it from? Is it from the link he has posted I don't really don't want to call that number
If it had Widevine L1 I'd be all over this but sadly the lack of DRM is a full-stop for me.
People use boxes for Netflix? LOL my smart TV can do that alone. I don't understand why people want multiple devices to do same thing.
@@chumlee9562 Because the version built into the TV is usually not as good or doesn't have all the apps that google play does. My TV had Netflix but the TV version of plex was busted. Shield to the rescue.
The big strenght of the shield is that it just works....
one of the most exciting devices that's come out in recent memory. The ARM based TV box market has been stagnant for years now. The new rockchip soc earlier this years was nice to see, but it was very much an incremental improvement whereas this feels like a generational leap.
Cortex A76 in this RK3588 is very powerful CPU core.
A76 has similar IPC (performance per GHz) as AMD Zen 1 or Intel Skylake = huge improvement.
A76 was developed as 1st desktop class ARM core to fight x86 PCs.
A76 was used in laptops MS Surface X with Windows 10 for ARM using SoC Snapdragon 8cx.
A76 was introduced in 2018 ... so pretty old ARM core though.
A76 was used as base core for server core Neoverse N1 used in 64-core Graviton 2 and 128-core Altra Max.
A76 has 64kB + 64kB L1 cache (basically double size of Intel Skylake and AMD Zen 4)
A76 has pretty powerful execution units: 3x ALU and 1x Branch = 4-wide scalar integer (similar to Haswell, Skylake, Tigerlake, Zen1 and Zen 2, much better than A75 with 2xALU+Branch or AMD Bulldozer with 2xALU only)
A76 has pretty powerful FPU units too: 2x 128-bit FMA NEON SIMD units (similar to Zen 1)
Latest Cortex X3 is different beast: X3 has almost double IPC, 6xALU+2xBranch, 4x128-bit SVE2 SIMD
X3 has14% higher IPC than latest Zen 4 and Raptor Lake. Imagine cheap SBC boards with X3 - that would be death of x86 CPUs.
Trere a little pointless when you have smart tvs that con do almost everything these boxes can do
I use Shield 2019 primarily for PLEX media playback, as far as I know nothing beats it.
I really didn't see anything that would make me switch from my shield
Agreed... A beautiful device for us geeks, a narrower audience than the Shield's
I still have my 2015 Shield in service. 2017 version died, bought a 2019. Picked up another 2017 used for backup. Amazing devices.
Nvidia won't release an updated shield, or at least update the processor, until Nintendo doesn't want to use them anymore. They have some sort of contract where Nintendo uses their arm chipset and only them. The shield was only to demonstrate their arm chips, and it worked, Nintendo bit. Nvidia did have a arm based Linux PC at some trade show just to stick it to Microsoft saying they didn't need them to leverage some sort of deal.
This! The shield has soo much potential, but Nvidia would rather make Nintendo happy.
@@testosteroneinc.3800 Well, Nvidia is makng a killing from Nintendo so Nvidia themselves are happy. I'm sure when Nintendo's next console comes out and if it doesn't use a Nvidia ARM chip we'll see Nvidia ARM PCs. I'm confused why AMD isn't doing ARM right now, they used to have an ARM platform. With Apple going ARM I'm sure we'll see more
ARM platforms that are powerful, not just phones.
@@buckettraveler8398 AMD might actually come back to ARM sooner than later considering the Xillinx buyout.
I wish amd would make one the exnos gpu from amd would make an awesome TV box
Erm, that's not true, in fact they have technically changed the Shield 3 times; one of them is actually a new SOC, and only the newest version supports Doubly Vision. Also they've used that ARM chip and upgrades to it in other mass scaled products like the Jetson...
Don't know where you heard that Nintendo stuff? As it's not true, although I've got an idea why people may think that.
The ACTUAL reason will likely be that Nvidia has a huge scaled production of these chips due to the Switch, and of course the Shield itself. To make a separate new production for a much lesser selling product makes no sense, and would cost them money. So while it technically is Nintendos fault, it's not really for the reason you're thinking.
5:53 "but throughout this 4k 60fps hdr video... nothing else drops at all..." *DROPS*
no ATMOS DTS HD , No HDR no Dolby Vision?
Thumbs up for getting right to the point when it comes to PS2 emulation.
I love the nvidia shield lineup, i had the original handheld with a tegra 3 and i know not to hold my breath on a new model, but it would be amazing to see new hardware.
I image Nvidia is waiting for Nintendo to pick a SOC for its next device before we get a new shield with a new SOC.
After viewing your video I purchased.The upgraded version.16 gigabytes.And 64 gigs of storage.This is a real super box.They ship it out to me by express UPS. I should be getting it in a few days from China.
The fact that the Shield still gets updates says alot. I wonder what support and updates this will get.
Their last destroys your Nvidia shield. So many issues... and I believe its done on purpose. Last good update was 8.0
@@gambaownsus Don't I fucking know it! Tried twice to update to their latest release and like other past releases, I always end up getting screwed at some point. Ended up (just like with past issues) reverting back to their software version 8.2 and won't EVER update again. Heck... one major plus to keeping it on 8.2 is that not only is it stable... no fucking annoying ads to deal with on my home screen.
@@gambaownsus I rarely update
@@gambaownsus no problems with the update
this is running linux aswell so it will definitly get more updates than the shield
One stat Id like to see you add for ALL these mini PCs and android boxes is power consumption. Idle and max. Measured at the wall of course.
Looks really nice! For PS2, is it possible to include burnout 3 in your tests? Its a really hard game to run at 100% speed
I can’t wait for the LB video for this device going to wait for that before I make my purchase
It really surprises me that there are literally no TVs with Android TV built in that use powerful SoC's like a snapdragon 855 (or newer). Although I haven't checked in a while so maybe something has changed?
I know, I figured by now we would have something like an 855-870 Powered device like this
It would be a major selling point that's for sure.
@radio hitman??
It would add a few hundred bucks to the price of the TV?
I read somewhere that it have to do with licensing. Smartphone SoC will only use on smartphones and tablets, but tv box SoC also can use in tablet.
Absolutely appears to kill the Shield in emulation and gaming, but I'd guess most people have theirs primarily for streaming Netflix etc. Being honest, hyperbole aside, does this box stream Netflix and Disney and Prime as well as the Shield, in 4K?
Definitely superior to the Shield in terms of performance, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a better device lol. Even the Apple TV 4K runs slightly better than the Shield, but it's also inferior in other departments.
No widevine certification. Limited to 480p
for $250 I can’t see many people buying this as a streaming device. your TV or a $50 fire TV can do that just fine. This is likely to be more used for eg Kodi or emulators/native android apps I think
I'm interested in this too. I use my Shield instead of a Roku or firestick because it's faster. The menu's are way more responsive and videos start playing right away without the need for any pre-buffering. I do have Roku on my less used TVs and it's a drastically different experience when I have to watch on those.
@@MrKlawUK unfortunately this one is way more expensive than $250. The cheapest SBC's with RK3588 are already 270 dollars
I would like to see the speeds you can get while using a VPN and if it performs better than the shield while using a VPN
good to see a box reviewed yet again,s95x days are over
Good performance and all, but I don't see this replacing my Shield just because of the tv apps and interface shield has.
I like the minimalistic look of shield the most and runs smoothly as I'll ever need something to
You could probably find the apps on this device.. providing it runs Android apps. As for the interface, they are usually just skins.. have a look around for a shield skin
The SBC space is getting really exciting!
This device is good on paper, that's all. So many of similar boxes out there. Mobile Android ??? No proper streaming services playback ? No support, future updates... Can't really compare to Shield. Shield is still the best device on the market, even though getting old.
If I see Batocera or EmuELEC support I'd buy one for sure.
yeah I pre ordered a rock pi 5 in hopes of this as well
but Batocera is kinda of a shit OS TBH ,well on ARM devices anyways
I have it on my pi4 B , and it just sucks
WIFI is an absolute crap shoot ,most of the time it doesn't work and there is no rhyme or reason to it
and nobody can figure out exactly why or what the issue is , it's a known problem that is not being addressed , controller compatibility and mapping is also pretty shit as well and it also has shutdown issues sometimes too , in theory and on paper it is good but on IRL it just sucks
but pi4 is a trash board anyways I am hoping the rock pi5 will have a better build if it ever comes
can you please run Plex and go through audio/video capabilities ?
Is there a link where we can purchase one of our own? Great video ETA, I can’t wait to see what you do with it!
Do you still need to buy one?
Oh man I was so pumped about this up until I saw it runs standard Android not Android TV. What a let down :( The wait continues.
That was exactly my thought.
Same
That and ai upscaling.
So it doesn’t run the GeforceNow app? That’s a hard pass from me then.
I have no issues running antutu on my shield tv pro, sometimes you have to close off background apps to free up ram to get it to work. The score is around 250000.
Love to see the competition to the Shield but I would afraid to enter any payment information into the system.
This looks like this can do literally everything. A firewall, router, NAS, screen capture, etc...
I'd keep an eye on this device because I can't wait to see what people do with this product.
It seems like a great PLEX server option for those with COMCAST routers that don't allow NAS hooked up to the modem/router
Definitely not a Nvidia Shield TV killer. If not planning to play games it way overkill for the $250 price. Not running Android TV OS. Also Amlogic processors are better 5han Rockchip which has been known to not be very good.
2015 Shield is still pushing updates to this day
R58 it's about $460 on Ali Express after a month. Another paper launch?
I wish the 2019 shield would have been more upgraded to be honest! for me it wasn't worth replacing my 2017 model with and now I've got rid of that too so I'm waiting on a major replacement with nothing that fits exactly all my needs! The R58x looks nice but without full DRM support and being rooted that discounts it from being a decent media player so it's only got the emulation thing and a bit of kodi or other APK's going for it. Fingers crossed there's going to be a new sheild this year maybe in November?. I'd like it to have 8k 60hz compatability, hdmi 2.1, new cpu, more gpu power and 6-8gb of ram. I wouldn't even care if it was at a 50% higher price point say 300$+ just give us the goods and it's a solid longterm investment that I think 90% of us who watch this channel would buy it instantly, also this would cover the slow 4k to 8k transition over the next few years nicely with some future proofing. It hasn't changed enough since 2015 and is starting to become long in the tooth..
Thank you ETA PRIME as always for sharing this hardware demo videos. These are great! May we please have a video explaining the third party button mapping aps for Genshin Impact that you like to use?
I'm wondering if the HDMI-in could be a useful input for a MiSTer system. The R58X would be perfect for modern console emulation, whilst still using the FPGA for hardware accurate classic gaming. I think the Mekotronics sales line is going to be busy today! I think I'll hold out for the 16GB LPDDR5 version however :D
I was thinking the exact same thing for my current mister arcade, although I would much prefer to use a flashy frontend like coinops or type R core, neither of which are based on android but windows.
You and me both! More RAM the better! Plus a replacement for the Shield Pro!
Lo
But it's not suitble for 240p crt
Would DDR5 memory boost the GPU performance?
I just want a new shield with a proper upgraded internals. Put the rembrant apu from the deck in it to get things spicy. I don't want a android box with ugly ui and limited support.
That’s only good news if I can receive one for review, been trying to get into product testing for years 💫
Two questions... 1) Can you install a full speed Gen3 NVMe SSD and test emulation performance running off of it and 2)Can you setup that SSD as the boot drive and test performance in that configuration? eMMC is extremely slow compared to even a lesser Gen3 NVMe drive (1,700MB/s (The eMMC 5.1 is roughly equivalent to a mid-tier SATA ssd at around 400MB/s)
How is an SSD change the performance of a device.
Wow, excellent review. We got another new one, the Beeling GT King 2. It has the Amlogic A311D2 SOC just like the one in the Khada VIM4. Thanks.
This no name box will not replace my shield tv pro because it has no capacities to play licensed stuff. No Dolby Vision, no dts or atmos certification... This is only useful for gamers but most shield tv pro users keep it for 4k media consumption and this box is not it mate
It sure took time. Shield TV launched early year 2015.
But i prefer the Nvidia GPU
2 years ago the chipset amlogic s922x was introduced it was extremly powerful chipset for emulation i personally huge fond of it even all n64..dreamcast .psp .ps1 saturn etc played flawless on the device the gt king and some other devices were having that chipset that time it was considered arguably as alternate to shield but in reality it was quite behind than shield but this latest chipset by rockchip rk3588 is surely gonna overshadow shield its a mammoth power house seeing it emulating wii and ps2 so effectively is very nice will surely keep an eye on this device gonna purchase it after some time
If it doesn't come with ai cores for the ai upscaling and enhancements then there is NO way it can best an nvidia shield. I own an nvidia shield and the ai enhancement of low rez video to 4k can't be beat !! It's like magic to the point of amazing
which year model do you have? I am shopping shields on the secondhand market and can get a crazy deal on a 2015. I'm going to get it primarily for gaming. Do you think the year of the model makes a difference? According to performance benchmarks, not really, but I'm willing to pay for a touch better performance.
i stopped when i saw passively cooled!! before i bought my shield 2017 in 2017 i had had several boxes like this and one thing the shield has that these boxes dont have is a fan!! that is a big selling point and i believe its what keeps the shield stable at times of high cpu use. when you got something passively cooled like this it will get quite toasty and end up thermal throttling that always happened to me!
i have a zidoo x6 pro sadly its on android 4.4 it had support for a few years then it was done!! still works but ive no idea how or if i can upgrade it and its passively cooled! its a decent system with a RK3388 i believe. performs fairly well but it gets glitchy on high cpu loads or high temps indoors. this was my main box until i bought the sheild 2017 i would love to find out how to update it i know there is no support but maybe there is a way around the zidoo software and the ability to install an android os to create a generic box from it.
It can get hot but still runs stable after 45 minutes of stresstesting with Antutu.
Hi, great video as usual. Does this support 4K HDR on Netflix?
that is what i also would like to know
@@andyvanelverdinghe1812 it's a deal-breaker
Yeah I want to know that too. On his older videos he used to mention whether a box could or couldn't play Netflix etc at 4k.
I'm pretty sure it doesn't. Netflix is very picky with the devices it certifies, despite the fact many do support widewine level 1.
.I've been following you since you had a hundred thousand followers. I'm so glad you made that much progress♥️♥️
Except the ugly case this is awesome for the price (if it comes at $250). The 64 GB internal storage onboard is also a plus adds to the performance.
Ugly case? I like the minimal/industrial looking design. Perfect to mount to a monitor or maybe gaming cabinet.
That internal eMMC storage is garbage performance wise though....
When you don't need dual ethernet, you can also go for the R58 (without the X) and that one starts at $169 (4GB + 32GB).
@@LivingLinux Where do you see the prices?
250 dollar? At the moment base RK3588 SBC's are 250+ dollar so ... a complete cased system might be 300+ dollar ? Not a Shield destroyer at that price anyway. And some midrange mobiles have more power? But Nvidia... time to up your game!
How's installing Google TV on this? Would you even be able to play HBO Now, Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ at 4K?
Great video! I'm looking for a replacement for my Shield, but I'm worried this device may get little or no updates/support.
Why do you need to be spoon fed. Learn to do the updates manually . It's not a big deal.
If you are able ETA would you mind streaming to the box. (Parsec, moonlight, steam in home, etc). Thanks for all the videos. Cheers.
Looking at the software side seems to be running a phone version of the rom, would be a little difficult to navigate using a regular remote control
The hardware definitely seems to be impressive
If it was running stock android TV I’d be more impressed.
@@Halauris Exactly! It's just another standard Android box. What a let down.
From what I got Android TV is quite limited - especially its PlayStore. So I wouldn't really miss it.
Is this android 12 TV version or original android 12?
@@cyberpunk6812 it's just another box running standard Android (not Android tv). Nothing special about it.
You say the device is going to come “pre rooted”… in that case, you won’t get Netflix installed via google play . haven’t yet tried to side load onto my rooted devices so unsure whether that will work… anyone know if other official streaming apps- prime, Disney plus etc, play ball on rooted devices, or whether Netflix can be sideloaded?
Also, Going by this, android 12 appears to be performing alright… even Google themselves have got more issues than a newspaper’s back catalogue with it on both their pixel phones and android auto.
I’d really like to see how this device behaves with plex and codi, playing both local content and acting a media server through attached m.2 ssd’s and the sata drive (ssd and spinner)
I just purchased an nvidia shield tv pro a little over a week back, the rest of your videos on this might make me feel a bit short changed ☹️😋
Hi ETA, very promising sbc system, seems good option to test , a nas system, plex server, even pfsense, firewall because have two gigabit, 😀 so excited, also which widevine level is?
Add a fan as well when you do the big showcase
Shield's appeal is in features, such as AI upscaling, [mostly] stable regularly updated firmware, full certification AND performance. Performance alone doesn't mean shit, unless you're running it as dedicated emulation box.
"Stable" regularly updated firmware? You mean like that update that pushed ads to the homescreen and that broke what little apps that were on Android TV? The one that everyone was pissed about?
I bought the Shield for the AI upscaling and emulation. That update did a good job at ruining the emulation part.
@@XShiftryX I said "mostly", and yes, that firmware.
@@XShiftryX why did you even update, lol?
@@XShiftryX you know you can downgrade, right?
It's 400 dollars. More than Steam Deck. So it's good but also VERY EXPENSIVE.
I was a long time happy with my shieldtv but since Nvidia brought out no real hardware upgrade, i bought a Xbox SeriesS and use that for emulation gaming.. runs everything up to Wii and Ps2 very well.. so there is actually no more use for me to change to another Android TV device atm.
You probably chose the best system, especially considering the cost. What emulator do you use on it for PS2?
@@ivancho5854 i use only retroarch.
@@techtr0nix688 you can now use the xbox version of thr PC ps2 Emulator
Any idea about streaming performance for home theater? Auto color space switching, Auto frame rate switching, Atmos support in apps, upscaling to 4k and 8k, Video and Audio Codec support, etc. ? I'm always looking for a better "all in one" box to play back my media, but it has to be able to beat out the Shield TV in every area or it isn't worth it.
The RK3588 looks set to b the net big thing. Pricing that puts it in direct competition with Intel/AMD boxes might dent some enthusiasm though. S905X3 Antutu 30K? No way. More like 70+K. Right now it seems that Mekotronics and Firefly are the early leaders, with Radxa seemingly coming soon. When we see this SOC in a handheld, the competition will become even fiercer. Is that M.2 slot NVME?
No. The m.2 is SATA.
@@godswordevangelism is it SATA on the rock pi 5 too?
would suit me fine as I have a 250GB non NVME SSD that I can use for it without buying a new NVME SSD.
I preordered the 8GB rock pi 5 for $99 but I didn't even check
hopefully the performance is as good as this box and the firefly only with better community support for ROMs
@@andreamitchell4758
I'm sorry, I can't comment on that. I don't know anything about the Rock Pi.
Please test HDMI video capture. I have been waiting for a device like that for years.
Great review! My 2017 shield runs so slow these days. It struggles to cope with the latest Android OS never mind more advanced emulators! Looking forward to seeing more updates on this device!
Do a factory reset. My 2017 shield runs as fast as the day we bought it.
@@Templateideas097 Mine too
The 2019 models latest update borked the wifi so it's effectively useless
Mine runs slow also, 2015 model though. Factory reset didn't sort it
Probably because you've got too many processes and tasks running in the background.
The 3 apps I'd highly recommend are the *Fask Task Killer,* *Background apps and processes list* & the *TDUK Speed Toolbox* for a much snappier performance.
Try this on the toolbox:
Transition Animation: 0.0
Window Animation: 0.0
Animator Animation: 0.2 and you should notice a big difference.
I am doing a RUclips presentation on Linux, Android and single board computers in Japan.
I wanted to introduce a game emulator in my review of the R58 mini PC, but as I didn't have the BIOS ready, I would like to use some of your excellent videos.
This seems amazing. I'm really looking forward to the other reviews.
Does anyone know if Nvidia has mentioned a replacement for the Shield yet?
Thanks.
Nope
Shield doesn't need a replacement. It still works well. I'm gonna will mine to my grandkids when I die.
I still prefer the shield...you get more support and it's still getting updated. This is second best though. Good job.
36W (12v, 3A) psu . . . nice 👍. Thank you ETA. While Nvidia shield comes with a 40W (19v, 2.1A) psu, this thing's Rk3588 chip and Odin gpu are superior (6:16), operating and pulling power more efficiently I'd guess.
Definitely superior to the Shield in terms of performance, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a better device lol. Even the Apple TV 4K runs slightly better than the Shield, but it's also inferior in other departments.
@@darrellm9915 👍
It's comes rooted. So the apps that matter won't run. This won't replace my Nvidia Shield.
Wait It comes rooted?! That's the perfect Device then!
Better to have the possibility than not. Imagine buying a computer and then not owning it. Can't you unroot it if you want?
Now Nvidia should come up with something better in order to not be second best when I comes to power, meanwhile this one is looking neat, I may pick it up.
Edit: I'll get an external blue ray player when I get this to see what happens.
Your videos are always a pleasure to watch... I have the original Shield TV
Hey ETA thanks for this review, looks promising as a Plex media server connected to a NAS. A cheap NAS would hold the media and this box would do the heavy lifting/transcoding. Would you mind trying it out pls?😊
I haven't found anything that can transcode 4k hdr plex steams other than my beefy gaming PC. Would love it I could offload my plex server but nothing does as good of a job.
You'll save yourself a lot of headaches just getting a 8th gen or newer Intel processor and leveraging quicksync. Even supports 4k hdr tone mapping. You wouldn't even need a separate nas
@@TomFoolery9001 The Nvidia Shield Pro does a damn good job from what I've seen. Thant's why this new box looks promising.
Yeah, I agree with the top comment; who is this brand and will they deliver updates for 7 years plus like nVidia does?
Please install Linux on it and test PC gaming performance.
Are there are limitations and does it support Dolby Vision or HDR10+? The Shield Pro 2019, which has the same CPU as the 2017 model, supports Dolby Vision profile 5 only. It also doesn't support HDR10+ or RUclips HDR due to a CPU limitation (it can't do VP9 V2) which this box does as shown.
The reason I ask is I have a Dune HD Vision Pro Solo which runs a hybrid Linux android OS. Resolution and HDR are limited on these boxes. I'm unsure if it's licensing or individual streaming services limiting it but I can get 4K no HDR on Netflix but Amazon Prime video limits it to 480p.
The Linus OS can playback full Blu-ray ISO or BDMV folders with menus, supporting DV profiles 4, 5, 7 (FEL and MEL) and 8. DV is more complicated than one would think. It also lets you choose between display led or player led decoding (LLDV). UHD disks use profile 7 while almost all streaming services use profile 5. It also supports HDR10+ and HLG. I get HDR for RUclips but it's really using a different app.
Just trying to see what the limitations are for streaming services. I still use the shield for any online streaming but the Dune is my go to for local media as the VS10 engine can output anything as HDR or 12 bit DV. This doesn't improve picture quality but does reduce banding due to "up-biting" 8 bit to 12b although it does make the display go into HDR mode for non HDR content if it has one. I would like an all in one player and I have a feeling this thing may be limited for video streaming services but I hope I'm wrong. CBS plus is using HDR10+ on the latest star trek series with Pike.
Why would you buy a Shield for emulation? It can emulate up to Gamecube, but a $200 used laptop will do better. You buy a Shield for the AI upscaling and for home network game streaming.
Exactly. This is a dumb comparison
Sheild was considered pretty powerful for it's time because it had an actual GPU built in, it's just super dated by today's standards and Nvidia refuses to upgrade the hardware.
i have the 2017 shield It doesn't have ai upscaling. Is it worth the upgrade to the 2019?
@@HeyIntegrity yes
@@HeyIntegrity I think so. I only watch 1080p videos because it seems like a waste of bandwidth because upscaling is so good. If you have a PC for gaming, you can use the AI upscaling with Moonlight software and stream to your shield in up to 4k with high refresh rates.
Nvidia is going to have to release a new console for Christmas :)
I would like to see how does this work as an independent capture and streaming device. Just slap OBS on this baby and hook it to your streaming site of choice.
That would be very interesting.
I haven't managed to install OBS, but you can record the screen in 4K with AZ Screen Recorder while playing a 4K YT video!
Android 12 and 8GB ram wow, plus it has a 16GB ram, they out done themselves. I’m definitely getting me one.
Wow. The RK3588 seems to be the rock star (pardon the pun) of late. I wonder how they are getting past the chip shortage issues plaguing the industry. Would be awesome if Raspberry Pi took notice.
The numbers aren't even similar. Raspberry Pi sells many millions of units, somewhere around 5 million a year I think. It's more demand constrained than supply constrained.
I would be surprised if the RK3588 sells more than 50 thousand total across all manufacturers. (As a reference point, the Odin handheld which is quite popular for the emulation crowd is going to sell around 20 thousand.) So comparing Raspberry Pi to a niche product like an Arm streaming box isn't even comparable as far as demand and number of units.
Can this ship be used in phones?
@@enlightmentisagoal well, sure... But I've never seen a RockChip phone. Based on the view of the internals, my guess is that the thermals aren't fantastic for a phone sized device
Also the recent powerful Rockchip sbc's sell for ~$200usd while Rpi msrp target sub $100 to even sub $50.
You have to compare within the price range.
I think Rpi is not making new boards because for the chip shortage. They have a lot of customers who need the older boards that they need to provide for. Remember they guarantee support / manufacture for quite long times. And whatever chips they secure has to cover that.
@@fredrik241 - RPi does list for less, but the shortage has proven people will pay a lot for them if necessary. I don’t expect RPi to build an equal to this 8K system ETA has reviewed. But the RK chip has got to be turning heads.
Shield has AI upscale. If you run 1080p content and scale to 4k, then nothing beats the Shield on this feature.
Isn't shield is better at scaling content? and I thought it could impact some game visuals on the screen.
Cool video. Rk3588 is the soc for 2022 in my humble opinion. Rock5b hurry the heck up please.
Without the Widevine software that allow streaming services to be usable in 4K, this box can even run Crysis at 240fps, but it will not replace an Nvidia Shield or a more pedestrial Fire Stick. So, this device runs Netflix properly? If someone will raise this device status to "Shield Killer", it needs to do everything that the Shield does, and better. You can get excellent emulator performance using an used, cheap mini PC from Dell or HP, as ETA Prime himself had covered before. So I really wanted to know if this device has Widevine support.
Very promising performance, I've just bought my my self a Tencent Aurora TV Box5 Pro, I'll hope you'll cover that as well if possible and tell us how customizable is that one, it's a gorgeous device with the same SoC chipset.
Definitely bagging the 16gb ram version. I do wonder how Citra and Skyline emulators handle this, and really wasn't expecting genshin of all games to be somewhat bearable. We really come a long way
Edit: Just for a giggle, if the Switch uses nvidia shield tech with but modified specs I think Nintendo should hire these people lol
Definitely a clickbait sort of title. As a long time Shield user I can confidently say nothing currently beats the shield. This product will not receive updates for several years down the line the way my shield has and my shield currently comfortably and easily handles 4K HDR 10 bit video with no problem. Makes a great Plex server, honestly the best Plex experience is the Nvidia Shield version of the Plex app so that's great. Long-term updates and support and top notch streaming experience. Can't beat it.... This product only has some modern hardware but there's no support so as soon as that gets to be not the best anymore it will be done, meanwhile The Shield will keep running right past it into the future.
Can we install Plex media server in it? If yes, then I’d agree this is a good Shield destroyer.
It was what I was looking for. Very easy to follow the steps. It works!