TV is the most popular and basic home entertainment system which is available in almost every household but as the demand for better, more diverse content is increasing, a regular TV can no longer satiate the users. For those who want to upgrade their TVs into a smart one, NVIDIA Shield TV Pro Vs Apple TV 4K will be a very ideal choice to consider. They are quite expensive but very reliable and before deciding to get one, go check which will be the best option here.
In this article, we are going to give you information about:
- What is TV Box and Why Purchasing One
- What are NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K
- What NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K Look Like
- How are the Interface of NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K
- What NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K can offer
- How are the Performance of NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K
- NVIDIA Shield TV Pro Vs Apple TV 4K
Smart TV or TV Box
TV is not for everybody and while in the past they were everything and very addictive, now we already have smartphones which are in comparison, even more interesting with unlimited content and various apps to play with. However, it doesn’t make TV less entertaining because we are sure most of us prefer to watch their favorite movies or shows through a bigger screen and as big as our smartphone can be, there is none can be better than a huge display when it is about enjoying video content. Read also: Nvidia Shield TV Pro vs Roku Ultra
What’s becomes boring is the content itself because we love to see different shows or new movies and other different videos to satiate our free time. A regular TV can only do so much with free content we may or may not enjoy and this is where smart TV comes in to offer better everything into your home entertainment system. Smart TV is very common today and they are working based on a few operating systems like Android or Tizen OS thus, they can use apps as well.
There are Smart TV with built-in operating systems inside such as those from Sony, Hisense, and Philips, but there are also those we have to add with another device to work together and this is the case if your TV is just a regular one but already comes with HDMI port. This additional device is often called a TV box or more popular as Android box and on the other hand Apple has the Apple TV which is working based on their own tvOS.
In short they are pretty similar to Chromecast which is very affordable but in terms of functionality and performance, the TV box will be much more powerful because we are living on the TV box ecosystem itself with apps built for the specific operating system. Besides more powerful processing for heavier applications such as streaming games, there will be tons of useful apps to download and use from each platform. In addition, we can save more by only getting the TV box and not a Smart TV.
Just as you can expect, we can stream various contents from the integration both those with paid subscription or those available for free, playing video games, listening to music, and using different apps from the store. Android TV and Apple TV are all capable of doing these tasks but depending on your personal taste, the choice can be different. Sometimes it can be as simple as matching the box with your smartphone or further considering which seems to fit your taste better.
About NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K
If you don’t already have a Smart TV or want to upgrade the old LCD into a more modern, highly entertaining TV, now is the time to see what the market has to offer because there are so many of them out there when it comes to a useful device used for basically streaming content through the internet. They can be very affordable such as Chromecast which rely heavily on our Android smartphone or the expensive Apple TV box with their exclusive ecosystem.
For those who are looking for the best solution for their entertainment system especially TV, NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K will be two of the best choices in the market. They are highly rated to give a great experience for the users and a smooth operating system that will look like it is already built in our main device. However, being different at the core, while they can deliver the same function, it is also true when people said user experience is subject to continuously changing.
NVIDIA Shield was already the favorite of so many people since the device was first available and it continues to be upgraded to be better. Today we have two of this version, the regular TV Shield and the Pro model which is the one we are talking about in this article. They are pretty much the same with almost similar performance but the latter is coming with more powerful hardware such as bigger RAM and two USB 3.0 on board. However, while the older units used to come with a controller, none of them will be put in the package anymore today.
On the other hand, Apple has been long seen as the choice for their iPhone and OS users which is identical to their brothers and sisters; powerful yet expensive. This is their newest generation of the line and now comes with more capabilities namely 4K and HDR yet, compared to many cheaper options in the market especially those based on Androids, these are not something we can be excitedly talking about for there are others that are armed with the same functions.
NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K Design
From the outside, NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K are looking just like any TV boxes out there, traditional and functional but doesn’t affect your setup very much. They are coming in this boxy shape in which the NVIDIA is about 3.8 x 6.2 x 1.02 inches in dimension so we can just put them in the cabinet, near the TV or anywhere suitable. The original is a bit unique however, with a tubular form, making it distinct to any other TV boxes out there.
Apple TV 4K is significantly smaller in comparison with a box measured only at 4 x 4 x 1.3 inches, with the same identic look as its older version. It looks very simple with nothing but the Apple logo and the back is where all of its ports are located including HDMI port and Ethernet port if you don’t have a good Wi-Fi already.
NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K Interface
Moving further, let’s talk about the interface because this is the first page we will see when done installing the boxes. Installing NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K are quite fast but for those who never used one before, we do still have to slowly follow the guide which is actually very simple to allow even beginners to get the job done in minutes. The user interface is quite different and native to each operating system; in comparison, the icon seems to be larger in Apple TV.
NVIDIA has this traditional interface where the home screen has the streaming apps and the recent content viewed at the front including the setting icon. Apple TV basic screen only has the streaming icons and apps in which you can dive further once clicking on them. Quality wise, the icons look smoother in tvOS compared to Android and in addition we have Apple Arcade which just released with the tvOS 13.
NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K Features
As for the features, NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K are practically identical to each other because what you can do on one box is possible as well on the later for example enjoying 4K HDR content is now available in both boxes and in addition they are already supporting Dolby Atmos for best experience despite when first available, Apple still don’t support this feature, now they are sitting at the same position with both amazing picture and mesmerizing audio.
What’s different is that Apple TV 4K is coming with 32/64GB of internal memory which is not going to allow you to save movies on board offline but will improve the system well, making the operating works smoothly compared to NVIDIA Pro which is upgraded from 8GB to now 16GB of storage. However, what makes Shield superior in our opinion is the availability of USB 3.0 if you want to expand storage and this is not something we can get from Apple.
NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K Performance
As for the performance, NVIDIA Shield TV Pro and Apple TV 4K are pretty much everything you want from a TV box because they are working good with either Ethernet or Wi-Fi, yet sadly none of them have the Wi-Fi 6 yet. Scrolling around apps and movies are very smooth and there is no problem as well when playing HDR videos as long as our TV and cables are made to support the content. One thing that makes us favor Shield better is the remote for it is more familiar.
NVIDIA Shield TV Pro Vs Apple TV 4K
Both of these TV boxes are amazing and probably the best in the market for reliability and offer a very smooth operation with tons of apps to try. They are also capable of delivering 4K, Dolby Vision, and Atmos but only Shield will let you expand the memory which makes the 16GB built in one not a problem anymore. It also has a nice remote that we can get used to instantly and they equally have a nice interface depending on your personal preference.
Conclusion
All in all you can get any of these TV boxes and still be satisfied with their performance but if you are looking for a way to expand storage later, we do recommend getting NVIDIA Shield TV Pro because it offers the option.