This is the second generation of Android-based Nvidia launches market-oriented gaming devices. The Nvidia Shield, launched last year, was a hybrid between gamepad and handheld screen. With a small 5 “screen and a large body was a device for a very specific niche of users and their distribution was also very limited, basically USA.
Now Nvidia comes with a much more elaborate and general product with great looks and a performance at the height of what is required for a quality product. It is a tablet 8 “screen with an optional attractive price, 4G connectivity, one of the most powerful processors on the market and gaming features that make it unique.
Nvidia Tegra Processor K1
Nvidia’s bid for a gaming tablet segment in the world is definitely risky but these products are already established in our daily lives and in some ways it might be time to ask specific solutions for certain types of users. This will be the acceptance of products like this and also in other products that have chosen this format to reach an audience looking for other ways to play both at home and traveling.
A fundamental part is definitely the processor that drives the new Nvidia Shield Tablet . The Tegra K1 processor was introduced a few months ago and this is the first product that integrates high standard. The K1 is a Tegra quad-core processor based on the architecture of ARM Corte Rev3 A15. It features the same design 4-Plus-1 already had the Tegra 4 with four main core to which is added one lighter, allowing more complex cores off when they are not needed. This will significantly reduce consumption while maintaining adequate performance is to develop the most common tasks. The working frequency of its four main cores is 2.3GHz.
This processor is accompanied by an Nvidia GPU with 192 shader units with programmable, relatively speaking, the same programming capabilities and support technology standards such as showing its most advanced desktop chips. This includes support OpenGL ES 3.1, DX12, OpenGL 4.4, Tesselation, CUDA 6.0, etc.
This processor also adds other features such as support and management of 4k resolutions though this tablet will not find this benefit or even with external video connection. This graphical power translates into unparalleled performance in the ARM world and about in some test graphics performance you get at Core x86 processors.
Technical Specifications
Job with getting into what the Shield Tablet have to start integrating this Tegra K1 in a version of 2.2GHz .It is accompanied by 2GB of RAM to provide a quality multitasking. The 8 “screen, to be discussed in more detail later, has a resolution of 1920×1200 points.
We can find two versions of capacity, 16 and 32 Gigabytes, where additionally the 32GB model also incorporates 4G / LTE connectivity. The price of these models is 299 Euros for the 16GB WiFi version and 399 Euros for the 32GB model with LTE. The Tablet also adds support for MicroSD cards up to 128GB so it will be easy to add additional high-speed storage via its microSD port.
Wireless connectivity is not perfect but if quality. The Wifi is N-type but dual-band so we’ll have fast access to the Internet or your local network using the 5GHz band. This is usually less crowded and by its very nature is quite faster than 2.4GHz. It is a need for a product that boasts to be a link between the mobile game and the game’s quality that we can find on a PC.
This is further combined with wireless Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS / Glonass and 9-axis sensor by gravity, electronic compass, gyro sensor, etc. In l 4G variant we may have links to 150mb download and 50mb load.
Design and connectors
Magnesium chassis with heat shield and plastic finishes with a 8 “display in 16:10 format. The Shield Tablet design reminds us a bit of HTC M ranges and that is certainly good. Emphasize their areas of central speakers and completely black finish. Plastic has excellent finishes with a nice texture. Its dimensions are 221mm long, 126mm wide and 9.2mm thick . It is therefore a highly stylized Tablet not the slimmest, but worked well. It weighs less than 400gramos including a 5200mAh battery that is not their best specifications.
It’s a nice tablet to use and the perfect size for convenient handling and proper mobility. The buttons and connectors have also worked quite well. If we look at the tablet in landscape, horizontally, will be his usual “work” mode, the connectors are all located on the right side which to me is a great idea because it allows us to concentrate the wiring in one position. This tablet has a headphone output, an output Micro HDMI(which in principle should support 4K resolutions at 30Hz) and an input Micro USB you can use for charging (the charger that comes standard are power 2.1A) or connect storage or even a USB Ethernet card . This also presents indispensable modes streaming speed.
At the top Nvidia has focused controls on / off and volume controls. No more physical buttons so consumed Android buttons of the screen but this tablet has different fullscreen modes to enjoy games and video in all its glory. This part also finds sockets extension storage via MicroSD (up additional 128GB) and the slot for the MicroSIM card into the model that has it. Also in this area will have the socket for the Digital Stylus second generation debuts the new Shield Tablet.
The lower area is completely clean, logical thing to a tablet designed to work across almost all the time (like play normally) but has two mounting points for the cover which is sold as an accessory. The right side only one of the outputs of multiple sound has what this tablet will also spend their own analysis.
To me design is excellent, it is a simple but sharp and very attractive Tablet forms. It is completely black with a smooth texture and finish those speaker grilles achieve a very modern finish. Their quality is excellent and its owner may boast Tablet.
Display and sound
The display has a resolution of 1920×1200 points in an 8″. The definition is 283ppp and generally is the perfect resolution for both shine like this processor to have the proper definition that requires a quality product today. IPS panel type is perfect angles of vision with high brightness we can match your ambient light sensor to save power or automatically adjust the brightness to the needs of the moment. I tried to use it in direct sunlight and the result is pretty good but its limitations as you can imagine.
A display quality is accompanied by more complex sound system I’ve ever seen on a tablet. The Shield Tablet not only has two front speakers , perfect for multimedia and games, but also also has two separate subwoofers on both sides to give more depth to the sound. The speakers are so well finished in the housing, with gratings and recesses in the chassis which shows that Nvidia is very proud of its integrated sound system.
A system performance sound range from a fairly large volume, well above average, even a good quality low and medium but has to saturate and have little definition in the treble. Yet I still think it’s one of the best sound systems integrated into a Tablet and more in this price range.
The Digitizer
The Tegra Tablet already assembling a digitizer shaped stylus and Nvidia wanted to keep this feature but honestly, in this case as in others, I think it’s an added little value but certainly does not hurt to get more for the same price.
The advantage of the digital stylus Nvidia, depending on the brand, is that yours will assisted by the GPUof the system and therefore the latency and processing speed stylus functions are much more efficient than other solutions from other manufacturers .
What I like the Stylus Nviida is well accompanied with a set of apps ranging from automatic activation of the stylus mode when pulled from the socket on the tablet until the completion of interesting effects such as changing light comes on Stroke Stroke or mixture.
Nvidia offers a number of very interesting applications to take advantage. JustWrite allow us to organize our notes, notices and other handwritten items, we will also have support for Evernote and Nvidia Dabbler will allow us to practice our artistic skills with such striking effects as the expansion of a line in different types of watercolor canvas.
Chambers
The cameras boast good management application and the truth is they have it. Effects like auto HDR, various modes of approach, quality choice, share captured images, face detection, etc. All software level is there, or almost everything, even with settings that liked to amateur photographers as adjusting the white balance manually, but all this falls by itself with a rather mediocre quality lenses.
These two 5mp cameras are mostly for the deed. The quality of the pictures, you see, a lot is quite hateful pixilated and very poor quality bokeh. It is best that features image stabilization in both fixed and shot video.
The video quality 1080p60 is pretty decent compared to the capacity of fixed shot. We can shoot the video quality with the front camera as with so back to shoot some video capture we may not be so ill-equipped.
If I might add that the approach is quite slow and that a pretty good lighting conditions. We will definitely Nvidia has not thought this tablet as a replacement for your camera and personally I think they do well not wasting time and resources trying.
Autonomy and Performance
Have recently gone through some of our laboratory SOC processors or faster the time ARM architecture.From mainstream Snapdragon and 800 or 801 to its most powerful variant 805 Snapdragon Adreno 420 as its graphics generation.
The Tegra K1, we advance what is the fastest processor that has passed through our hands. Even compared with the S805 mounted S5 Prime, bridging gaps screen resolution is around 20% faster in games. It is definitely the fastest ARM processor we can buy to play and Nvidia offers us a fairly complete package at a very attractive price.
The autonomy of the Shield Tablet is not its strongest point. Nvidia talks 10 hours of battery life but that’s playing video and internet browsing. . A combined use is not exactly the brand that promotes this new tablet Playing autonomy reached at about 3: 30 to 4 hours depending on the requirement of the game. There is much truth and agrees that the true utility of this tablet as a portable console. The command has the autonomy to several days with about 20 hours without charge.
Command
This Tablet daresay it’s nothing without your accessory gamepad control. They are a combination that can not be without each other. You can like it little or unless the two sticks in parallel as controls of PlayStation, but not only has the ergonomics and quality to keep up but adds elements of high quality that will surely become the best gamepad ever designed for the Android world.
Use Wifi-Direct technology and integrates Android navigation controls in addition to a main button that turns it on, synchronizes with the tablet and start applying Gamestream Nvidia games to execute on our Tablet PC and can be controlled with the command.
Have direct controls for Android and the right stick also works as “mouse”. This means we can completely control the tablet from the remote. In fact we can do voice through the microphone installed.
We can synchronize up to four controllers with the same Tablet to play with friends and we will also have a microphone to use voice commands apps either Nvidia or directly through Google Now. We can also connect a headset to talk while we play or just to have our games wireless audio headphones connecting our command directly. In fact count to a volume control on the remote.
Loaded via a Micro USB port and can play while charging. As for knobs and buttons we can find two main analog sticks, D-Pad, four main buttons, two triggers under control and two additional buttons above the triggers. This command can also synchronize with the renowned “Portable Shield” which is now called as the Nvidia Shield.
Operating System and Software
Android 4.4 is the operating system that crowns this Tablet. Specifically comes with version 4.4.2 and Nvidia are direct updates through OTA (Over the Air), the same day we received our test sample came of these updates correct problems, and allow us to introduce improvements have always Tablet our daily. With specifications that come standard this Tablet believe we’ll see how important it fall where improvements can certainly include changing to Android 5.0 which should arrive before the end of the year.
Nvidia just touches the operating system of Google. The layers are nonexistent and therefore have a very clean version of Android 4.4. Where did you customize Nvidia is integrated apps and as in the control panel of the operating system. The most interesting features shortcut found in the Nvidia HDMI connectivity each time you connect to ask and let us choose between doubling screen or external display only. This is very quick to put the Tablet to the TV console mode and everything is set for the best appearance and management on the external display.
Another specially designed menus for this Tablet is concerning streaming via Twitch and the Shadowplay.They have a menu on the screen dedicated to it where you can set if you want to enable the microphone, if we do broadcasting with the front screen Tablet enabled, turn on the recording and automatic capture, manual recording, quality or also start the streaming service by Internet. This other system we introduce a small OSD on screen to know at all times that we issued, recorded and quality with which we do.
Technology ShadowPlay to record our games, as we do in the PC, is present also in the Shield Tablet. Also adds live streaming service by Twitch can select even if we show our face in the streaming through the front camera and using the microphone integrated into the command.
Among the integrated software we can find many applications for the Stylus, which we have already described, the Shield Hub where we can manage the games, our multimedia applications and also configure the PC from which you want to receive ” Gamestream “and compatible games within these games . We can launch a game directly from the tablet without having to be in front of the PC.
Other interesting features is the power management mode, selectable from the notification area, direct full-screen mode or know both the state of the battery and the tablet connected wireless controller. The Shield Tablet has an app dedicated to matching controls is as simple as pressing area of Nvidia logo in command and wait a few seconds, can manage a total of 4 hands at once.
Playing and streaming
That the tablet is powerful it has become clear in our battery benchmarks but if we have to say if this is the platform final game that will create the first major console or tablet gaming Android is something that will be answered over time.
The Tablet offers the tools to be, is fast, has an excellent and convenient functionality and control applications to make it work quickly as a console TV 60 “played on it without any added more. I like the way you have full screen on external display, we can choose the display mode with a twist, and put the right tools for control in this state by gamepad accessory.
Maybe they miss many controls on the screen frame, sticks and buttons as seen on some tablets solutions for gamers as varied bill Gamepad or other solutions that come from Chinese suppliers.
Personally I think spoil a Tablet so elegant with such controls is a shame and the solution gamepad is very good but maybe Nvidia should consider an accessory to serve as lateral grip and added those controls for users who want compact solutions that may have in his hands. In the style of the Razer Pro EDGE.
We also have the problem that Android games and iOS are really far away from what a PC gamer is accustomed. I mean much more elaborate, more sophisticated and much deeper games. The Nvidia Gamestream system helps us achieve this immersion suit on your Tablet PC with surprisingly good results, and can be a bridge between your PC and play on TV but for this there are other more direct and economical solutions as technology WHDI (an emitter connected to the HDMI as a laptop or PC USB flash drive and a receiver as a pack of snuff on TV) that allows latencies close to 0 by gangs involved and cost less than 100 Euros. You add a remote access type Xbox 360 or Xbox One and you have a gaming solution from the PC to the TV really fantastic.
That said I think the future of this and other solutions on the market are not as dependent as a quality hardware, which seems overcome with this Tablet Nvidia, but the commitment and the change in philosophy that we have found on the market games for platforms such as Android. The day we see a “port” of a pointer or PC game console for installation on Android then we can talk about Android as a gaming platform and quality, unless otherwise unknown to me, that day has not yet arrived.
We can run PC games directly from the Shield Tablet while we have the Geforce Experience on the PC configured correctly and your PC meets the requirements that are basically a modern processor and Nvidia Geforce 650 or higher.
If the effort is noteworthy that Nvidia has to add other benefits we already enjoy PC-like hardware streaming services like Twitch or Shadowplay that allows you to record real-time and automatically, all you see on the screen our Tablet then, if we see appropriate, share it online. The broadcast service according to Twitch will calibrate our connection and even can get to record and stream video in real time to 1080p60 if we add a USB Ethernet interface using the Tablet.
Analysis and Conclusion
Personally Shield Tablet Nvidia product seems well built with high quality hardware that takes even more value if we put on the table the adjusted price of 300 Euros. SOC has the best we can find in the market, excellent screen, a sound system unusual and very successful as an accessory is the Shield Wireless Controller.
Nvidia has also other aspects such as care management as dual console to TV or monitor and tablet and streaming technologies, both input and output are unique and offer a very attractive feature of face injury.If something seems expensive the price of accessories, such as command and the official cover, with nearly 60 Euros for each command and 30 for the case with vertical support.
That said think overall the new Shield Tablet is the best choice of domestic Tablet that can find and mark a turning point in what may be a gaming segment in future tablets from other manufacturers. His only weakness, in my opinion, is the battery so we better to have a charge point where you can feed it especially if we plan to use it connected to a monitor or TV. Yet it seems to me a fantastic product and is a problem that can be taken as other mobile platforms suffer from the same problem as they begin to be more elaborate in power and performance.
Review: Nvidia Shield Tablet
No comments:
Post a Comment