The Pro version of the NVIDIA SHIELD is now available to buy in the US. This variant is priced at $299.99 and can be picked up from a number of online retailers including Amazon and Best Buy, as well as directly through NVIDIA’s site. While the NVIDIA SHIELD Pro does cost $100 more than the $199.99 priced NVIDIA SHIELD, it also does come with a significant increase in internal storage, 500GB compared to 16GB. Which means this is likely to be a better option for those looking to house a large amount of content locally.
The availability of the SHIELD Pro follows on from the release and availability of the standard NVIDIA SHIELD. These are the latest Android TV-running consoles to come from NVIDIA and while a majority of the internal specs remain the same as the previous version(s), there are some notable differences. One in particular is the value that is on offer. The 2017 version of the NVIDIA SHIELD Pro is priced at the same $299 price that the 2015 NVIDIA SHIELD was, although this time around you are getting the SHIELD Remote included in the package. Which was not the case with the previous version as the SHIELD Remote could only be purchased as a separate accessory or as part of a bundle package and in either case, at a higher price than the current 2017 version. So if nothing else, the latest SHIELD Pro maintains all the selling points of the old model, but offers better value for money. The SHIELD Controller has also been greatly redesigned to offer a more comfortable use and additional functionality.
On the software side of things, the latest version of the SHIELD comes running on the latest version of Android TV, based on Android 7.0 (Nougat). So you can expect to find all the trappings of Android Nougat, as well as all the familiar fan favorite features that NVIDIA’s flavor of Android TV has become known for. Not forgetting of course, that Google Assistant integration will also be included as part of an upcoming update. A feature which is set to add even greater value to the purchase of the NVIDIA SHIELD 2017.
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