After two days with an Nvidia Shield Android TV , there are many pluses and minuses, but over all, it has BY FAR the best hardware of any android based box on the market... no question at all about that, and here are what I think are the biggest pluses and minuses.
PLUSES
- amazing smoothness in interface - no jerky, delays etc at all
- superb playback of all media, smoother than any box I have seen
- 192khz 24 bit audio output (kodi and mxplayer but I am not sure if they are able to output at that HD rate)
- very well built, sexy touch activated standby button
- very easy to get up and running with controller etc
- shield game streaming service is flawless, fast, smooth, HD
- gaming controller is high quality, has a microphone for voice input and a headphone socket, which work well.
- Voice search within Play Music for artist or track works very well, extremely fast.
- playing Flash-based websites like TennisTV.com etc on Dolphin in Desktop mode is way better than any other box I have tried (and I have tried MANY)
MINUSES
- have to sideload many apps you may want, like TED, BBC iPlayer, IMDB, Spotify, Movie Mate etc.. even Chrome Browser - but relatively easy to work around using APK Extractor to get APK's from your phone, and Chainfire's sideload launcher.
- no up front display of non-Android TV specific apps
- no recent apps
- no way to get to "now playing" with some apps like Spotify if you had returned home, unless its a leanback app
- no notifications
- no mouse on desktop, backpace key on keyboard not working as backspace but as left mouse click
- Keyboard is USA only, so UK users have to know, for example, that " and @ have swopped places
- voice search from the home screen does not find music artists on google play music or spotify, but only youtube... so "play van morrison" will play a track from youtube, and not from the 25 van morrison albums I have already uploaded to Play Music.
- my tv keeps on cropping a lot off the screen, there is no way to adjust the screen crop size, to reduce size so it fits better on my screen... I can adjust my screen but that is a hassle.
- very little customisation, settings limited too.
There is at least one NON-Android TV ROM for this device, so you can fix almost all of those Minuses, and you can run it using Squarehome or NovaLauncher or whatever you like, but I am not sure I actually NEED to customise the box. Personally I use it for Kodi, Spotify, Play Music, TuneIn Radio, Youtube, Movie Mate, all of which works fine... so for the moment, I am not rooting the box, and am adjusting my expectations and enjoying what works fantastically well, pretty much everything.
This is FAR and away the best box I have ever had, goodbye Tronsmart Drako, Minix Neo X8H+ etc, this is WAY beyond. At some point I may change to plain android, but so far I am fine with a couple of extra steps to be able to enjoy the voice input and superb power and playback capabilities.
Mark.
Hi. I'm located in Ireland and looking for android TV box for my FHD projector. I'm considering MINIX Neo X8H+ or Nvidia Shield TV box (not yet available). What advantages of one over the other would you point? Thanks!
The Answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is: CLEAN FLASH.
Natakranta said:
Hi. I'm located in Ireland and looking for android TV box for my FHD projector. I'm considering MINIX Neo X8H+ or Nvidia Shield TV box (not yet available). What advantages of one over the other would you point? Thanks!
The Answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is: CLEAN FLASH.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Minix Neo offers access to almost all the play store apps without needing to sideload, with the Shield you need to sideload some apps, which isnt hard. The Shield has far better hardware, so you will get smoother HD playback, no question. If playing video is your main think, then the Shield's faster graphics, faster processor is the way to go. They are both good boxes, but my Minix Neo x8hplus is currently UNPLUGGED!
fredphoesh said:
Minix Neo offers access to almost all the play store apps without needing to sideload, with the Shield you need to sideload some apps, which isnt hard. The Shield has far better hardware, so you will get smoother HD playback, no question. If playing video is your main think, then the Shield's faster graphics, faster processor is the way to go. They are both good boxes, but my Minix Neo x8hplus is currently UNPLUGGED!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like to connect external 2GB HDD USB 3 to the box. Make it media storage to play on the connected to the box projector and available for all devices in home through my local WiFi.
How could I remotely control the box to manage utorrent on it from my phone, at home thorough local WiFi or externally when I'm away. Possible?
The Answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is: CLEAN FLASH.
Natakranta said:
I'd like to connect external 2GB HDD USB 3 to the box. Make it media storage to play on the connected to the box projector and available for all devices in home through my local WiFi.
How could I remotely control the box to manage utorrent on it from my phone, at home thorough local WiFi or externally when I'm away. Possible?
The Answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is: CLEAN FLASH.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, sorry, no idea, I use it for streaming...
Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
fredphoesh said:
MINUSES
- no up front display of non-Android TV specific apps
- no recent apps
- no way to get to "now playing" with some apps like Spotify if you had returned home, unless its a leanback app
- very little customisation, settings limited too.
Mark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Mark! For your minuses mentioned above, you might want to consider HALauncher found in the Play Store. I'm using this on my Nvidia Shield Console/TV and it looks and works better than the default Android TV "Home" launcher. This apps allows you to create your own Home screen with rows of your customized apps. For example, I have a row for my Emulators, Racing Games, Space Shooters, Sports Games, TV apps, etc. You can arrange these rows and apps anyway you want. You can also use your own background image. You can also rename the apps to your liking and edit the icons for higher quality 320x180 images. Everything looks great now. This is what Android TV home launcher should be like. The only thing that is missing now is a button for rebooting the system, and another one for shutting it down!
Check out the images below to see what HALauncher can do:
http://postimg.org/image/kuncrk5tf/
http://postimg.org/image/57w3e6s1f/
http://postimg.org/image/fkie09lkj
http://postimg.org/image/mjwfzmlir/
-- Manny
funtasticguy said:
Hi Mark! For your minuses mentioned above, you might want to consider HALauncher found in the Play Store. I'm using this on my Nvidia Shield Console/TV and it looks and works better than the default Android TV "Home" launcher. This apps allows you to create your own Home screen with rows of your customized apps. For example, I have a row for my Emulators, Racing Games, Space Shooters, Sports Games, TV apps, etc. You can arrange these rows and apps anyway you want. You can also use your own background image. You can also rename the apps to your liking and edit the icons for higher quality 320x180 images. Everything looks great now. This is what Android TV home launcher should be like. The only thing that is missing now is a button for rebooting the system, and another one for shutting it down!
Check out the images below to see what HALauncher can do:
http://postimg.org/image/kuncrk5tf/
http://postimg.org/image/57w3e6s1f/
http://postimg.org/image/fkie09lkj
http://postimg.org/image/mjwfzmlir/
-- Manny
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Manny,
Yep, I've been using it for a few days and like it a lot.
My gripes are that the voice search doesn't work properly and always shows empty results, and there is no "now playing" function... and the lack of a power button. For some reason ALT-Tab doesn't show recent apps. Oh, there is no ALL APPS function either, so new apps are invisible till you edit the home screen. But yeah, the best home screen for the SATV for sure.
Cheers,
Mark
Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
I agree with pretty much everything you said, I've had mine for two weeks and I love it. I have Kodi running to play local media, plex to stream stuff from friends servers, Netflix (which really upped their game since the last time I subscribed a year or two ago), along with tons of games. This will only get better over time, its still a relatively new product. I'm still debating on whether or not to root it, I think I'm going to but will be keeping the stock launcher because I like it, despite the lack of "recent apps" which I still don't understand why they didn't include it. The only reason I want to root it is so that I can install the Xinstaller module from Xposed so all my apps will install to my sdcard and not the internal memory.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
I have had mine a few weeks and it is definitely a really nice device and it is crazy fast!
Really the only gripe I have is 4K support but that isn't Nvidia's fault. Basically because I am running through a processor (more or less an AVR without an amp) and HDMI 2.0 standard is not used on them, Netflix won't show 4K content on the device unless I am directly connected to the TV.
Fortunately Ultraflix works at 4K and everything else does as well.
brando56894 said:
I agree with pretty much everything you said, I've had mine for two weeks and I love it. I have Kodi running to play local media, plex to stream stuff from friends servers, Netflix (which really upped their game since the last time I subscribed a year or two ago), along with tons of games. This will only get better over time, its still a relatively new product. I'm still debating on whether or not to root it, I think I'm going to but will be keeping the stock launcher because I like it, despite the lack of "recent apps" which I still don't understand why they didn't include it. The only reason I want to root it is so that I can install the Xinstaller module from Xposed so all my apps will install to my sdcard and not the internal memory.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try HALauncher, it is good enough for me to not install a custom rom and root... So far! Also once you root you'll have to manually install rom updates and reinstall apps etc... Also you can move most apps to sd card. DON'T set to Automatically Move apps to SD card, that doesn't work. Install to system then move them to SD card in app settings after player no the game once.
Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
Had mine for about a week and like it an awful lot.
As someone who bought an Ouya, I must say focusing on the media services first THEN worrying about gaming made this a MUCH BETTER product.
I am a bit disappointed I can't have my HBO Go on it, there's currently no Amazon Video and the Netflix app needs better voice options, but I'm really digging the Gamestream from my PC upstairs to the downstairs TV, It works most of the time without a hitch. The only time it doesn't is when I'm playing my Steam games and the Ubisoft games try to go through Uplay and Uplay crashes or its a game I've never ran before and Steam itself crashes because it doesn't seem to like running a game in Big Picture mode if it has never been opened and ran at least once on my PC in normal Steam mode first, and those are client problems, not Nvidia issues so can't fault them there.
Yes, having to install some of my apps from the PC through the Play Store is a bit of a pain, but it also keeps the kids from loading it up with a bunch of useless crap, so I'd say its a fair trade.
tobalaz said:
Had mine for about a week and like it an awful lot.
As someone who bought an Ouya, I must say focusing on the media services first THEN worrying about gaming made this a MUCH BETTER product.
I am a bit disappointed I can't have my HBO Go on it, there's currently no Amazon Video and the Netflix app needs better voice options, but I'm really digging the Gamestream from my PC upstairs to the downstairs TV, It works most of the time without a hitch. The only time it doesn't is when I'm playing my Steam games and the Ubisoft games try to go through Uplay and Uplay crashes or its a game I've never ran before and Steam itself crashes because it doesn't seem to like running a game in Big Picture mode if it has never been opened and ran at least once on my PC in normal Steam mode first, and those are client problems, not Nvidia issues so can't fault them there.
Yes, having to install some of my apps from the PC through the Play Store is a bit of a pain, but it also keeps the kids from loading it up with a bunch of useless crap, so I'd say its a fair trade.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yes, speaking of Gamestream, what does everyone think of the quality?
I tried it both before and after the update that was supposed to improve the quality and have not been that impressed. The bitrate seems somewhat low and I get random stutter and both the PC and Shield are wired gigabit.
Well as far as Gamestream goes for me, I've got my win7 gaming rig w/ an i5, 12gb ram and gtx 750ti hardwired to my Buffalo AC1750 and the Shield on 5g to a 42" 1080p TV and I've no problems with it, everything runs smoothly, well, smoothly when Uplay isn't f*cking everything up...
I had issues initially so I had to go into my router and change the settings for my 5ghz channel.
OK interesting, maybe it is is an issue with SLI since I am running 3 Titan Xs, i7, 32GB RAM, etc through an Asus RT-AC3200. I will try disabling SLI and see if that helps.
mutelight said:
OK interesting, maybe it is is an issue with SLI since I am running 3 Titan Xs, i7, 32GB RAM, etc through an Asus RT-AC3200. I will try disabling SLI and see if that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You've really peaked my interest here, was the SLI making it not work correctly? Like maybe the video encoding being slit amongst the cards wasn't working too well?
I'm about to upgrade my 750ti so it'd be nice to know if it was SLI or just isn't playing nice with your Titan.
tobalaz said:
You've really peaked my interest here, was the SLI making it not work correctly? Like maybe the video encoding being slit amongst the cards wasn't working too well?
I'm about to upgrade my 750ti so it'd be nice to know if it was SLI or just isn't playing nice with your Titan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is honestly hard to say, I still need to try disabling SLI to see if it helps. Also I should mention I have been running Windows 10 for a couple months now there have been a few driver updates for it since I tried it last.
Video calling only available for the Shield ATV
One unique feature on the Shield ATV is the camera support.
Just plug a camera and it works! I've been checking out other Android SmartTV's and set-top-boxes, but yet couldn't find any other device having this support.
And, there is already a video calling android tv app on google play called "Tellybean - Easy video calling". It works perfectly on the Shield ATV.
furkna said:
One unique feature on the Shield ATV is the camera support.
Just plug a camera and it works! I've been checking out other Android SmartTV's and set-top-boxes, but yet couldn't find any other device having this support.
And, there is already a video calling android tv app on google play called "Tellybean - Easy video calling". It works perfectly on the Shield ATV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice, but surely Hangouts works just fine, and even Skype?
fredphoesh said:
Nice, but surely Hangouts works just fine, and even Skype?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your right. Since shield has camera support basically any video calling app might work. But I don't believe they work as smooth as Tellybean. Skype and hangout does not have Android TV apps (not gonna have one any time soon). They don't exist on google play for Android TV. You need to sideload their default android app.
Also, their UX is fine for a mobile app but not so much for a TV app. They don't really fit into the leanback UI. Not so usable if you are sitting on the couch and just want to have a video call. I use hangouts and skype on my smartphone and laptop but Tellybean on my TV
Tellybean is an Android TV app, shows up on Leanback launcher and it works smoothly on the shield ATV.
tobalaz said:
Well as far as Gamestream goes for me, I've got my win7 gaming rig w/ an i5, 12gb ram and gtx 750ti hardwired to my Buffalo AC1750 and the Shield on 5g to a 42" 1080p TV and I've no problems with it, everything runs smoothly, well, smoothly when Uplay isn't f*cking everything up...
I had issues initially so I had to go into my router and change the settings for my 5ghz channel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello! From Italy here! 10 days I have a 16Gb unit I struggle with Ethernet AND wifi 5Gb connection! Wifi N working about fine. Netgear R7000 and Fastweb FTTS connection 85MBps! I only get 10 MBps at most, and this is the only device that gets this low! Need to solve this or ask for replacement the soonest! Any help much appreciated.
Regards
Alessandro
Hi,
Is anybody running smart view on a tab s 8.4? I used my samsung tv in combination with a galaxy 7.0 n plus for a long time. But for my new s 8.4 I am not able to find any working smart view version.
Anybody the same problem or knows anybody a solution?
Thanks for help
Dendagard
Dendagard said:
Hi,
Is anybody running smart view on a tab s 8.4? I used my samsung tv in combination with a galaxy 7.0 n plus for a long time. But for my new s 8.4 I am not able to find any working smart view version.
Anybody the same problem or knows anybody a solution?
Thanks for help
Dendagard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cannot believe that nobody wants to use a tab s in combination with a Samsung tv!
I have an 10.5" and a Samsung smart TV, where do i get smart view from.
John.
I seemed to have it in the past, but can also no longer find it. I have both a S 8 and S10, and neither view it as a working title. I searched high and low to find out why, and it seems that it no longer can connect to newer Samsung TV sets. The iOS app works great, so its really annoying that my brand new samsung tablets cannot connect to my brand new samsung TV's, despite the fact that my much older iPhone 6 and iPad Air2 can connect without issue.
I did find a lot of people saying SmartView was also killed off for WatchOn. But, opening watchon on a brand new tablet gets an error about not being able to connect to the server. After doing some more digging, it appears Samsung killed this app/service at the end of 2014. So, if anyone has any ideas as to what I can use as a replacement, then please let me know, as this is the last missing piece for my Smart Home controller
I cannot find an Samsung app, I thought it was called allshare, I did download an app called "play to samsung" and it does work with my tv to an extent.
EDIT: Try This.
http://www.whistleout.co.uk/MobilePhones/Guides/How-to-use-Samsung-AllShare-on-your-TV-and-PC
John.
Allshare allows you to send data from your mobile to your TV (videos, pictures, music). Smart view does the opposite and is sending your TV screen to your mobile.
Dendagard said:
Allshare allows you to send data from your mobile to your TV (videos, pictures, music). Smart view does the opposite and is sending your TV screen to your mobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are 2 versions:
Smart View 2.0
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samsung.companion
SmartView 1.0
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sec.smartview.tz
Just give them a try
None of these versions is working on the tab s. That's a shame, cause the only reason to have a Samsung tab was smart view and my TV at home. If I had known that Samsung apps are not working on a Samsung tab, I had choosen definitly a tab from another manufacturer.
I tried also the customized versions you can find using google or here in the forum.
Did you read the link i posted earlier showing you have to activate the feature in the setting menu.
John.
Yes, I saw your link, but I think, you didn't read my postings: allshare allows you to browse content on your phone using your TV.
Smart view allows the other way and is able to send the TV signal to your mobile device.
You can follow the TV program that way in another room than your TV is localized. That is the feature I am searching for. You cannot do that using allshare.
Deleted.
vndnguyen said:
There are 2 versions:
Smart View 2.0
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samsung.companion
SmartView 1.0
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sec.smartview.tz
Just give them a try
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remote Control works using Smart View 1.0 with T800 but nothing shows up in dual view. It works fully with T520. I do not have the 8.4. (I had to use my smartphone to download a copy of SmartView 1.0, send it to dropbox then download/install in tablet).
Same here, remote control works with several versions, but no dual view...
I am not a fan of mobile games so could someone suggest me some good apps that I should download?
Plex is superb.
OneNote is a must.
Tapatalk and Relay are very good.
Google music for my music necessities.
Carcassonne is one of my favorite games if you're interested in trying a new one.
Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk
Netflix (casted to chrome cast) and Youtube, i also use Xodo to read and draw on PDF's and i forget the name of the Comic book reader i use. I use Chrome and Brave for web
android.4.0 said:
Netflix (casted to chrome cast) and Youtube, i also use Xodo to read and draw on PDF's and i forget the name of the Comic book reader i use. I use Chrome and Brave for web
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just use Samsung browser in night mode and go to read comic.to
Why would ya cast netlfix to Chromecast that's so dumb when it can directly play from that or TV.
Read draw on PDFs already tab s3 comes with Adobe and with write capabilities
Kizznyc said:
Just use Samsung browser in night mode and go to read comic.to
Why would ya cast netlfix to Chromecast that's so dumb when it can directly play from that or TV.
Read draw on PDFs already tab s3 comes with Adobe and with write capabilities
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Netflix app has a cast button which loads Netflix on the Chromecast then using the phone/tablet you select what you wanna watch, so in a sense the Android app is like a remote for the Chromecast. Kinda dumb why you would judge without knowing what your talking about. Also my tab didn't come with Adobe. Sorry i don't do things like you.
android.4.0 said:
The Netflix app has a cast button which loads Netflix on the Chromecast then using the phone/tablet you select what you wanna watch, so in a sense the Android app is like a remote for the Chromecast. Kinda dumb why you would judge without knowing what your talking about. Also my tab didn't come with Adobe. Sorry i don't do things like you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to see you are so far behind in the world.
I guess you don't got a smart TV then. Android TV? Voice control?
It's not like YouTube to TV so that sucks for you.
Going through all that trouble.
You know, what you're doing there is actually a setting u can call it a trick but I don't know if I wanna tell you.
And honestly since ya don't got a HDR TV I suppose it's better to watch on tab itself ...
Well about Adobe, man I give up. Some people just don't apply logic. You must be one of those older generation or some rich dude who doesn't spend or just some retard.
Then again I'm a Mensan so I won't judge. You live your tier 3 life man, AI is what's happening in case you missed it.
And by the way, I absolutely know what you're talking of would have been better to buy a compute stick instead of Chromecast coz google really rapeyd ya on that one.
Lol
And Netflix is so 2010 nowadays a psarip will do.
Amazon people don't rip much.
Also I'm just paying 7 USD per year for it.
I tried Nextflix too and I paid for a month as well.
Not worth plus the internet it sucks it's better to just torrent from uni
Gajesh6 said:
I am not a fan of mobile games so could someone suggest me some good apps that I should download?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have the usual.
TV apps
Games
S Pen apps (drawing, games & colouring)
Communication & News
If you want names, lemme know.
Stock Samsung Notes app for taking notes using S Pen features.
Enable 'Video Enhancement' hidden setting menu so you can enjoy HDR content using: MX Player HD & HD+ modes, Samsung Video Player, YouTube Vanced with enforced HDR.
Flud as a torrent download mgr.
Smart View for casting content to smart TV.
Microsoft 365 Word, Excel, PP, and OneNote for productivity
WPS Office for PDFs.
Microsoft exFAT/NTFS enabler for USB OTG + FX file mgr.
Send Anywhere, Pushbullet, Chrome, Package disabler+.
and finally Wall of fame for amoled wallpapers.
These are all art apps. Markers is completely free..as in FOSS no ads, available to download source, modify and compile yourself (from github--playstore has compiled binary of course)etc.
The others are proprietary and...not terrible. Autodesk has made sketchbook pro for win/OSX (they're the same to me) .. totally free, not sure about sketchbook for android as I bought it years ago and cant tell if its paid or not since it's on my tablet.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adsk.sketchbook
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brakefield.painter
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.dsandler.apps.markers