The Amazon Fire TV Stick lineup appears to be constantly expanding. This is obvious from the name of the top-tier 2021 model: the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. However, Nvidia also launched its streaming stick recently, which is quite a competitor to the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Today’s two most minor and best-performing options are the NVIDIA SHIELD TV vs. Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Both streaming sticks can deliver 4K HDR picture quality and offers voice control.
Let’s compare the Fire TV Stick 4K Max vs. NVIDIA Shield TV 4K to help you decide which one you should go for.
According to Amazon, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the most powerful streaming stick ever and promises incredibly smooth UHD streaming thanks to its new Wi-Fi 6 features. At just £55, it also feels like a bundle of great value.
On the other hand, the Nvidia Shield TV comes in two configurations, the popular cylindrical Nvidia Shield and the Nvidia Shield Pro, which has 1GB of additional RAM and a larger hard drive. The former is available for $149, while the latter costs $199. One should take that none of the configurations includes the Nvidia Shield controller. However, both units are compatible with DualShock4 and Xbox One controllers, as well as the new PS5 DualSense and Xbox Series X controllers.
Fire TV Stick – The Fire Stick is a flat rectangle with an HDMI extender that allows you to hang it from the TV. Installation of the Fire Stick 4K Max is pretty simple – plug it in, switch on your TV, and you’re ready to go. If you want a streaming stick that hides behind your TV seamlessly, then you should go for Fire TV Stick 4K, which is compact. In contrast to Nvidia Shield TV, Fire TV Stick 4K comes with a basic TV remote with an Alexa button and dedicated Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus buttons with no backlit.
Nvidia Shield TV – Previous Nvidia Shields look more like a mini-console than a TV. However on the other hand, Nvidia Shield TV is also compact, but you won’t be able to hide it behind your TV. It’s designed in a round shape. It has input and output ports on its sides. The power and ethernet ports are on one side, while the HDMI-out and reset buttons are on the other. These connectors are hidden behind a cutaway cove in the player, which protects the ends from injury if something falls behind your media center. The unique design element lies in the remote of the Nvidia Shield TV. It has a new triangular shape with backlit buttons. Also, it comes with a built-in Find my remote feature.
The Fire TV Stick 4K is a bit small in size than the NVIDIA SHIELD TV.
In terms of hardware and specifications, both streaming sticks come with 8GB of memory & support 4K HDR10 resolution with Dolby Vision & Dolby Atmos. Also, you can both of the sticks with your supported display with HDMI Connector. However, Fire TV Stick 4K Max offers dual-band Wifi 6 connectivity, significantly increasing internet speeds and offering a buffer-free viewing experience. With Fire TV Stick 4K Max, you get Alexa as your digital assistant, which can be helpful in many ways, and it offers a hands-free experience. By speaking into the bundled Alexa Voice Remote, you can easily access applications and search the web for more information like weather & sports scores. The device’s quad-core CPU enables fast and seamless content surfing. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max features 8GB of app storage.
However, on the hand, the Nvidia Shield TV comes with an NVIDIA Tegra X1 processor with a 256-core GPU & 3 GB RAM. On this streaming stick, you can also expand storage with the help of external storage like Expandable USB. It can also communicate with Network Addressable Storage (NAS) devices such as PCs, something Fire TV 4K Max doesn’t offer. Like Fire TV offers Alexa as a primary assistant, Nvidia Shield TV also offers Google Assistant for a hands-free experience. Nvidia Shield comes with 802.11ac 2×2 MIMO 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi & Bluetooth 4.1/BLE.
AI upscaling is the most significant feature of Nvidia Shield, which cant be found on Amazon Fire TV 4K Max. When AI upscaling is on, you may choose between three distinct sharpness levels. If you activate AI upscaling, the Shield TV defaults to Medium sharpness. If you sit far away from your TV or have poor vision, you can increase it to High. You may also set it to Low if you still want to upscale your material but don’t want it to seem over-sharpened. Nvidia offers a demo mode in the settings, where you may use a slider to compare the original to the AI upscaled version. This is applicable to both moving and halted photos. Also, it supports Dolby Atmos & Dolby Vision.
Nvidia SHIELD TV and Fire TV Stick 4K can stream movies and TV shows. However, Nvidia Shield offers GeForce Now app, which lets you stream games from PC libraries like Steam, Epic Games, and Apple. Google Play services are also available on Nvidia Shield TVs and tablets.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max supports the Amazon Alexa voice assistant. Simply press & hold the blue Alexa button on the remote while speaking into it, and Alexa will respond to your inquiry or carry out your action. Alexa can deliver information such as weather forecasts and sports scores and search for and operate connected smart home devices. It can also display live feeds from Alexa-enabled security cameras or video doorbells. You may see a live stream from a networked camera without disrupting your current viewing. Also, it supports Dolby Atmos & Dolby Vision which significantly increases your content experience.
With the update of the new UI by Amazon, searching for any content is easy and fluid. With the new UI, the entertainment recommendations on the main screen are, obviously, Amazon-centric, with an odd row of choices from HBO Max and other providers. Fortunately, content searches combine various providers outside of Amazon, so if you ask Alexa for it, you should be able to discover whatever movie or TV show you want to watch. If you drag the cursor over an app’s icon in the Recent Apps bar on the home screen, content recommendations will show below it. The Live menu on the main screen and the program guide available through it provide free live streaming channels, including movies, TV series, and sports and news feed.
If you already have an older streaming media player, the best reason to upgrade to an NVIDIA SHIELD TV or Fire TV Stick 4K is that they support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Both devices allow you to enjoy titles in 4K HDR, HDR10, and HDR10+ formats. However, the addition of Dolby Vision + Atmos provides a better cinematic experience.
The Fire TV app menu is as diverse as any other streaming platform. From the main menu, you can navigate to your favorite paid services, from Netflix and Now to Disney Plus and Apple TV. Also, free content lets you get all the popular UK shows like YouTube and IMDb TV.
However, you’ll be relying heavily on Netflix for Fire TV Stick 4K to take advantage of this fantastic picture & sound quality, as Amazon‘s catalog is limited when it comes to Dolby Vision-enabled titles.
The NVIDIA SHIELD TV is powered by Android TV, Google’s user-friendly streaming interface. It has a high-contrast look and a simple layout with neat categories. Shield TV has AI enhancements that allow you to get 4K quality from low-resolution video.
It certainly does. The 2019 NVIDIA SHIELD TV can stream 4K HDR and Dolby Vision content. It also features an AI upscaling tool that can improve HD movies to 4K quality.
If you value expanded storage, utilizing your Shield TV as a Plex server, and NVIDIA’s gaming services, the Shield TV Pro is the best pick. It has greater connectivity possibilities and can be used as a SmartThings hub.
The Shield TV is the more powerful of the two, with expandable storage, Android TV over Fire TV, plus Google Assistant integration. However, if you’re a little low on your budget, you should spend your money on Fire TV Stick 4K Max, which offers quite the same features as Shield TV.
If you’re into gaming, Cloud gaming & streaming are two of the most important reasons to spend extra money on the NVIDIA SHIELD TV, which allows you to turn your TV into a full-fledged PC workstation in various ways. You’ll also be able to access additional Dolby Vision libraries on the NVIDIA SHIELD TV, and its excellent AI upscaling capability will allow you to improve older non-4K films. Its UI is sleeker and more neutral, and its remote settings button is functional while viewing films.
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