Anurag is an experienced journalist and author who’s been covering tech for the past 5 years, with a focus on Windows, Android, and Apple. He’s written for sites like Android Police, Neowin, Dexerto, and MakeTechEasier. Anurag’s always pumped about tech and loves getting his hands on the latest gadgets. When he's not procrastinating, you’ll probably find him catching the newest movies in theaters or scrolling through Twitter from his bed.
I still use the Nvidia Shield TV Pro in 2026, and I've written enough about it that you probably know how much I like this thing. Nvidia last refreshed the hardware in 2019, yet I still haven't found another Android TV box I'd rather use. Now that the Shield TV is getting harder to find, I'm wondering what I'd buy if mine stopped working.
The Apple TV 4K is the obvious option, and it's faster than the Shield TV, but I don't want to leave Android or give up the flexibility I have with my current setup. I use my TV for more than Netflix and YouTube, and the Shield TV remains an excellent box for watching my own media. Newer streaming devices keep arriving, but seven years later, I'm still looking for one that gives me a good reason to replace it.
Newer Android boxes still haven't replaced it
In some ways, they've gotten worse
The Shield TV Pro gives me plenty of freedom with my media library. I can use Kodi, install Plex or Jellyfin, and access files stored on my NAS without building my setup around whichever formats a TV manufacturer decides to support. Android gives other streaming boxes access to these apps too, but Nvidia backs that flexibility with hardware that remains useful seven years later.
Gigabit Ethernet is a good example. You don't need it for an ordinary Netflix stream, but large 4K remux files on a NAS are more demanding, particularly when their bitrate spikes. Most newer boxes still ship with 100Mbps Ethernet, which is an annoying limitation to accept when you're replacing a device from 2019. The Shield TV also has two USB 3.0 ports, so you can connect external storage and peripherals without immediately reaching for a hub.
It can even run Plex Media Server, although I already have a NAS for that job. You can attach a drive and use the Shield TV to serve your library to other devices, something most streaming boxes leave to a separate computer. You can replace individual parts of what the Shield TV does. For example, a cheaper Android box can run your streaming apps or act as a client for your media server. My XDA colleague Brian Burgess recently wrote about using an Onn box as his Plex client, but he still keeps the Shield TV running as the server.
The Apple TV comes closest, but I'm keeping Android
I want the flexibility
Apple TV 4K is the one alternative I take seriously. Its A15 Bionic chip is faster than the Shield TV's Tegra X1+, and Nvidia needs a hardware refresh to close that gap. If processing power were my only concern, I'd have a straightforward replacement.
But I like having Android on my TV. I can install apps outside the Play Store, change the launcher, and customize the interface instead of accepting whatever comes with the box. I also find it hard to download clients for the apps I use daily. For example, Apple TV still doesn't have a good Jellyfin client.
There are some good options for local media, particularly Infuse, so switching wouldn't mean abandoning my NAS library. But again, Infuse is a paid app, whereas you can use Jellyfin for free on Google TV. The audio differences need more attention, though.
Infuse can decode lossless tracks into multichannel LPCM without inherently reducing their quality, but it doesn't preserve TrueHD Atmos or DTS the way the Shield TV's passthrough can. The Apple TV box also has no USB ports for external storage. You can access files over the network, and its Ethernet model has Gigabit Ethernet, but you lose the option of plugging a drive directly into it.
Seven years later, its best features still hold up
The Shield TV remains undisputed
Nvidia includes AI upscaling on the 2019 Shield TV models, years before putting "AI" on a product became practically mandatory. It remains one of the features I'd want a replacement to retain. Plenty of movies and shows are still available only in lower resolutions, including older content in a personal media library. The Shield TV can upscale supported video to 4K with detail enhancement that goes beyond its basic upscaling mode.
It won't turn a DVD into a UHD Blu-ray, and pushing the enhancement too far can make the picture look over-processed. But it gives you adjustable processing for content that hasn't received a better release. Native 4K doesn't need it, so its usefulness depends on what you watch.
Nvidia also continues maintaining the software. Shield Experience 9.2.4 includes January 2026 security patches and fixes for Disney+ playback, Bluetooth remotes, and unwanted wake-ups. Those are ordinary fixes, but getting them on hardware last refreshed in 2019 is unusual.
There are updates I want. The Shield TV lacks hardware AV1 decoding, HDR10+ support, and the VP9 Profile 2 support needed for YouTube HDR. It still runs Android 11, too. Nvidia has plenty to improve without removing anything that makes the existing box useful. That's why I keep hoping for another Shield TV. Give it a modern processor, newer format support, and the ports and playback capabilities it already has, and I'd have something worth considering. Seven years later, the existing model still sets most of my requirements for its replacement.