I’m only looking at these for video uses. I have a Roku Utra, but as I build a higher end video setup with my 4K Sony 950G and the AVR system I plan to build, the Shield looks to be a touch “better” for sound and video options. So - anyone have thoughts for just video on the differences between the two?
It looks like the Shield Pro is discontinued? Which seems odd. Anyone know if they are about to release an updated Pro? Seems odd for it to just be discontinued with no follow up options.
EDIT: Google result is the Pro is not discontinued just product delays due to the virus.
I have a Pro, but honestly I don’t use the storage space for much. I can store virtually through YTTV, and I have a huge SSD hanging off it in a USB a lot for my music. Other than needing to reboot once a week or so, it works great.
The 2019 version of the Shield supports Dolbyvision, and the AI upscaling feature is supposed to be nice. If you didn’t own either one, I’d recommend buying the Shield. Since you already have the Roku though, you might as well wait and see how it works with your setup.
I read that the remote with the 2019 version is supposed to be much improved, though apparently it still doesn’t have a dedicated mute button.
Fortunately there are tons of Android TV-compatible remotes available. Some folks on Nvidia’s forums recommended this remote, so I bought one last year. It works great.
If you have a 4k TV the AI upscaling on the 2019 models is neat. That said if you can find a 2015 or 2017 Shield TV discounted just go for it, there’s not much difference.
The 2019 Shield TV Pro doesn’t have a hard drive, it’s basically the 2017 non-pro model plus AI upscaling.
The 2019 ShieldTV non-pro is the tube, which has a bit less RAM, doesn’t run 64bit apps (which only matters if you want to run a gamecube emulator or something), and can’t run plex media server but is otherwise just fine too. The 2019 models also have much better remotes, agree the old ones suck.
I have 2017 Shield TV non-pros in both my livingroom and bedroom. They’re great. Very snappy and tons of features. I don’t know that you’ll see much of an improvement from your Roku Ultra unless you want to run Kodi or are really looking to tune your A/V setup, but it is unquestionably superior, what’s questionable is if it’s worth an upgrade from an already just fine streamer.
Oh, one advantage of Android TV (and Fire TV) is they can run the Smart YouTube TV app, which blocks all the YouTube ads. No way to do that on a Roku or AppleTV.
I got it several months back because I couldn’t find a way to mute the regular YouTube app’s UI navigation sounds on my FS4K. It took me a few weeks before I realized I wasn’t seeing ads anymore :P
Bumping this: I tried to install Disney+ on my Shield Pro last night, with no luck. I can’t even open Google Play to try to install the app–the screen just blinks and goes back to where it was.
Tried the various tricks I find from Googling–purging cache and cookies, etc. I appear to be up to date on Android. I am not in a beta of any type.
I’m going to try to load Google Play or maybe Disney + from an APK using a USB drive, but has anyone else run into problems and have suggestions for me?
I use Disney+ on my Shield, so I can confirm it works at least. Haven’t installed anything from Google Play Store lately though. I’ll try this evening.
