NVIDIA Shield Tablet: a subjective view

NVIDIA Shield Tablet is definitely not the tablet for a wide audience, but for geeks, gamers and fans of unusual, non-trivial devices. Below under Habrakatom we will try to find out why and what you should pay attention to it, as well as to show how the tablet feels in the field, not in the shop tests.





Presented below is an overview does not claim to be the super-objective and comprehensive. Perhaps there is something to be missed, something reviewer is unable to test, but I will try to tell you how to select and tablets "sunk" I'm up to this model, and why it has chosen, as well as to describe and analyze what advantages and disadvantages of this unit in relation to real life.

Background
So, the search for the tablet for gaming, entertainment, watching videos and surfing the Internet began when faced with the need to spend a long time to travel from home to work / school and back. Fairly quickly determine the criteria for the tablet:

It should not be a 10-11 inch monster that is comparable in size to the currently used Lenovo Yoga (about choosing this ultrabook can read here ). I wanted something light, thin, and compact, they say, lies in the hand, it is desirable to 7-8 "case.

The filling must be powerful: that is, the processor in the 4 cores, 2 GB RAM, preferably the presence of GSM-module for the mobile Internet, and Aware of the desire of some manufacturers to protect the SD card is write on it established programs data (such as Sony did with some of the series of smartphones Xperia), we would like to have 32 GB of internal memory. Plus tenacious mAh battery for 5000-6000.

Because of my dislike for today's super-bright and bluish OLED Samsung'a, the choice was reduced to IPS or TN matrices.

OS - Android, because it is under the operating system at the time of the game have been purchased in the Play Store. While many may prefer to choose under the above characteristics iPad-mini. NVIDIA Shield Tablet LTE , Lenovo Yoga 8 February "LTE , Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact
Well we compare what we have for these models:
Name plate NVIDIA Shield Tablet LTE Lenovo Yoga 8 February "LTE < / Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact The Matrix and screen resolution IPS, 1920 x 1200 IPS, 1920 x 1200 IPS, 1920 x 1200 Processor NVIDIA Tegra K1
4 + 1 core,
or 192 shader conveyor,
the maximum frequency of 2.2 GHz Intel Atom Z3745,
4 cores,
the maximum frequency of 1.33 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801,
4 cores,
the maximum frequency of 2.5 GHz RAM, GB 2 2 3 < / Built-in Memory, GB 32 16 16 Camera rear / front, Mn 5/5 without flash 8 / 1.6 without flash 8.1 / 2.2 without flash tr > Mobile Internet 3G / LTE 3G / LTE 3G / LTE Other Communication 802.11 a / b / g / n
BT 4.0
The ability to connect gamepad
miniHDMI
802.11 b / g / n
BT 4.0 802.11 a / b / g / n
BT 4.0 Dimensions, mm 126 x 221 x 9.2 210.4 x 148.9 x 7 123.6 x 213.3 x 6.4 Weight g 390 429 270 battery (battery), mAh 5400 declared, whereas
tablet detects only 5200
(See below.) 6400 4500 The price of the rub 20 990 19 990 24,990 < Surveys and Review 3Dnews.ru
4pda.ru
Overclockers.ru
IXBT.com
MobileReview.com
Zoom.CNews.ru
Hi-tech Mail.ru 4pda.ru
MobileReview.com
Overclockers.ru
Hi-tech Mail.ru 3DNews.ru
4pda.ru
IXBT.com
MobileReview.com
Zoom.CNews.ru
Hi-Tech Mail.ru Display of all the tablets - glass, even tempered, but still glass, so in addition to all of the screen will have to close the film, or to change the cover glass in six months - there's someone like that. Lenovo only advantage is that the housing itself is made of aluminum instead of plastics, and in fact does not require additional protection in the form of a cover.

It is also worth noting that NVIDIA Shield Tablet only has two versions: 16 Gb WiFi only and 32 Gb LTE ( official website ).

Eventually, reluctantly, yet the choice was made in favor of NVIDIA Shield Tablet for several reasons.

Firstly, it completely satisfies the given above conditions, then, as for example, a tablet from Lenovo has only 16 GB of internal memory on board and not super powerful processor, Sony also released a tablet, to put it mildly, a frail battery for such a powerful processor. Yes, the pursuit of thickness and weight do not always have consequences for ordinary users. Generally speaking, this is a very strange tendency to produce the device according to the principle of "the thinner the better," which prevented Sony add 2 mm and a 2-fold increase in the capacity of the battery - one known to engineers.

Secondly, the price which under comparable features are not in favor of tablets from Sony. I understand that you have to pay for the brand, but 20-25% of the cost of the same ... In addition to moisture and Sony pylezaschischёnnosti the author personally, there are serious questions. This option - purely a marketing ploy designed to push to buy the machine, which actually has nothing to do with reality. Yes, at the presentation of the tablet or phone, you can run in the aquarium, to call him, but prolonged exposure to possible corrosion of individual elements within the housing from penetrating moisture. In my case - the vibrator contacts, which eventually worked when it pleases him (even when the phone is off!).

Third, a pleasant option for NVIDIA Shield became the stylus and, accordingly, a special software for it, you can draw the whole picture directly on the tablet. Availability miniHDMI port for connecting to a TV. Plus you can buy a gamepad for 60 bucks and enjoy the games already on the home screen or TV monitor in full.

After buying a tablet, the author had the opportunity to feel the real world Yoga February 10 ", which is also is a great machine, but because of the aluminum body is heavy and it is felt.

Autopsy ... Packaging
NVIDIA Shield Tablet comes in a conventional small box in which the tablet itself, quick start guide, battery charger with two forks plugs to choose from (European or British Standard) and rather unusual characteristics - 5.2V and output current of 2.1 A, as well as brand length 1.5 meters - not menffe (!) - UBS-cable with a brand name. Very thoughtful move, however. Everything indicates that the front of the user a great gaming device. Impression spoils only the absence of well thought-out, again gaming headsets and some no, but miniHDMI-HDMI-adapter out of the box (NVIDIA squeezed 5-10 bucks for such an adapter). It turns out that even the smallest option necessary to purchase and desirable brand for the large sum of money - the realm of Apple for some. However, in fairness, HDMI-adapter is absent, as a class, in the delivery of almost all tablets.



Frankly, soft plastic Shield me madly in love - just nice to hold in their hands - as opposed to, for example, aluminum cold body Lenovo Yoga, but hell, why this can not be done non-marking plastic ?! Of course, the tablet from the earliest days of his life in a civilized society needs a protective film, since the screen is closed conventional tempered glass, as noted above, and a cover, which will close and a rear panel of the brand, and at the same time prevent the curves of the body of the tablet during transport. < br />
You can certainly buy a brand flip cover from NVIDIA, but I was sorry to give extra 40 bucks for a simple Flip Case , close the rear panel when Chinese friends already hard sell similar products that protect the tablet completely. Yes, increased by the extra thickness 2 mm, but it is important survival plate (!), Instead of a series of marketing moves one column thinner one wider etc. Plus magnetic latch operates as the on / off display, as in the case of the original product.



A pleasant surprise was the free card from Beeline with 200 MB of traffic per month i>

Go through the ports. Here, everything is standard on the one hand, from above, from left to right 3.5 mm headphone jack, mini-HDMI ports and a micro-USB, as well as the speaker, and the other, below, only the speaker.



To the left are only slots for attaching the original flip cover (again, absolutely useless thing in the economy), but on the right - on / off button, volume rocker, with SIM-card slot, micro-SD, and even a stylus. < br />


The only negative controls - too soft pressing, so is not always clear whether or not to press it.
On the rear panel in the corner of a standard tablet is the camera, and on the front panel is a front-facing camera, and still buggy light sensor. On either side of the screen there is a couple of speakers.



The design is not pretentious, strict, no-nonsense, but generally pleasant, and the controls are conveniently located.

Display: equal among equals
Of course, compared with Lenovo display NVIDIA's only firm 4ku. Dear reader may compare reviews from MobileReview ( NVIDIA vs Lenovo ) and OverClockers (NVIDIA vs Lenovo) on both models, so as not to accuse the author of bias - dry the statistics speak for themselves. If we take into account the purely subjective impressions of use (and costs more to take into account that the display will be closed film), the display will deliver quality, but the feeling that somewhere on the details still saved, does not leave. For example, the light sensor, which should, as such, help to adapt the brightness of the display illumination to the room or the surrounding area, can easily darken the screen in a room with bright light. For example, when the train Metro calls in the tunnel, the brightness decreases so much that disassemble anything on the screen is not possible. We omit the time, which is usually in landscape mode, the sensor is closed finger of the left hand that is holding the tablet ...

If the exhibit brightness manually, then it will be enough to the bright sun in the mountains to make out what information is displayed, whether card positions in the social networks or photographing.

Sound like a distinguishing feature
That's something that, while the sound on this amazing tablet. Let him perhaps slightly lacking volume as the sound from external speakers (for example, the author of this post uses Sony SRS BTV 5 ), but the sound is really loud, intense. All 4 speakers - we still hope that the speaker is much: two at the ends of the device, two on the front panel - work perfectly.

For example, the level of sound coming from the speakers in dB, was measured using the application SmartTools smartphone Sony Xperia Z, the distance to the plate was 15 cm. So, watching the series The Big Bang Theory at full volume in the exhaust gives 30dB for quiet scenes 70-75 dB for scenes where the audience laugh and applaud, while the average volume amounted to 60-65 dB, which is basically a normal parameters.



The scale of the noise (sound levels, decibels). Source i>

Interface: ascetics he had something richer
The weakest aspect of the tablet. No special shell programmers NVIDIA is not created, it is actually a pure Android (after all updates 5.0.1) with a number of "gaming" wallpaper and a pair of dedicated gaming applications such as NVIDIA Hub, as well as the Quick Access Toolbar when you remove the stylus, and the notification bar with access to the gaming functionality (communication with the controller, streaming, and so on). To my deep regret and astonishment, pop-top notification bar can not be set up for themselves in any way - you have to download a third-party application ...







The camera, which would be better if it was not
Frankly, honestly and frankly, look at the camera plate excellent replacement smartphone or even a simple little soapbox totally not worth it. Camera - the weakest link and most unnecessary part of the tablet. Yes, maybe someone will say that to translate into Twitch front camera is needed, but really adequate picture with her can be obtained only in "tablet + controller", but not when streaming from the plate, so as soon likely, it will simply closed his fingers.

As to the quality of the photos, the following are presented in their original proportions photos taken on NVIDIA Shield (left) and two-year-old smartphone from Sony - Xperia Z (right). I think that comment on something pointless, especially at low light pictures - complete darkness ...

















Yes, plus the above, at first using the tablet app for the camera for some reason intensively dealt with the network. Apparently, this automatic synchronization of photos from Google-photos, which is enabled by default. But then managed to stop this orgy.



Battery: surprises and long life
With battery also not so smooth as it seems at first glance.

First, what happened to another 200 mAh? Many sites featured figure of 5400 mAh, whereas the plate defines a 5200. Of course, I understand that in the US a few other standards (ft vs. meters), but indicate battery capacity in watt-hours is a must try ... Makes this characteristic 19.75 W -chasov ( official website , section specs), which corresponds to x mAh, as the manufacturer too lazy or do not knowingly led the rated voltage. Or for a nominal take 5.2 indicated on the charger ?! Then we have the capacity generally below 4000 mAh ...

Second, the battery - "just a song some." At the end of each cycle of charge / discharge accumulates up to 80% (this is not a joke, it was and is, if the tablet is not used) in the column miscancellous, something like no correspondence between the calculated and actual consumption, which, in my opinion, in any gate not climbing. NVIDIA, tell me where the charge flows away ?!



But it is worth noting the pros. For example, many complain of memory leaks (more on that below), and self-discharge, but for one day of downtime with disabled network interfaces tablet consumes only 8% of the charge. Not so much when you consider what's inside is worth 192 nuclear heart that constantly wants to eat.

Having tested the ski resorts a few times this tablet, the author refused to separate the navigation device. If the Xperia Z is dying for 6-7 hours of navigation in the mountains, this tablet with the included GPS and 3G internet ready to work up to 10-12 hours, that is, it can really be used successfully in one-day trips for businesses map.

In addition, the plate is built utility (SHIELD Power Control), which allows to manually adjust the power consumption: if you want to have a sports car world games - please, if you want a long trail Lada - please. You can also adjust power consumption mode for each application separately tab Apps.





RAM free of frills
Relatively recently, проскакивали Posts that on this tablet periodically podzabivaetsya RAM up to 70-80%. It is possible this is a bug of the old firmware on the tested machine hammered standard gigabytes, everything else is in the hands of the user - almost 900 MB. Plus, do not forget to throw out periodically from the back-end applications heavy games to waive caches memory device.





As we can see, the specific applications of NVIDIA Shield Hub and DirectStylus eat a par with background applications, Google or even keyboard AOSP.

Available almost 1 GB of RAM allows, if not immediately, then very quickly start a wide variety of games, such as HMM III, recently released HD-port all your favorite games, Carmageddon, and so on, but more on that in the next section.

Gamer features, without which it would not be the tablet itself
Stylus. B> You can compare the long NVIDIA Shield with family stilusnyh tablets Note from Samsung.





























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