I bought the Shield during the $150 deal, but it's unopened as of yet. I've been struggling to decide what device would work better for me. The Shield is definitely more powerful, but the gaming functionality might not be so important to me. Especially since my PC has an AMD video card in it.
So that leaves me with content. Roku is going to win here, right? Would there be any reasons that the Shield is still the better media box for me?
Thanks!
Does geforce now interest you? Test it out, first 3 months are free.
And/or, get an nvidia gpu :p
Roku definitely has more content but see if AndroidTV meets your needs. With the recent addition of twitch and hbo now, all of my services are covered on my shields.
It basically boils down to one question...
Do you want Amazon instant video?
I would choose Shield. Roku's UI looks like it's straight out of 2005
If you use the right addons in kodi you can watch just about anything you want
Shield can do it all. It will be an awesome emulator system for you.
i just got the shield yesterday but I'm lukewarm on it. Yes its the most powerful streamer out there but its severely lacking streaming content and other apps. It does have quite a few games but if you're planning on side loading anything you have to keep in mind that touch emulation isn't built in.
TLDR, if streaming video services are important to you get the Roku, if you want a jack of all trades box (and are willing to hack around a bit) then keep the shield. I don't know what i'm going to do myself. I have the shield and apple tv 3.
I would think the gaming aspect should hold a pretty imprtant place in deciding since Roku has no gaming at all. Streaming really doesn't need a powerful device to run unless you have a 4K TV and 4K content to run on it.
I would have a hard time taking a Roku over the Shield TV or even the Nexus Player because I could cheaply add a Fire Stick to get the few streaming apps not available yet on Android TV.
I picked up both to try. The Roku is being returned. Mostly because it wasn't able to decode the sound on my movies. My receiver is currently broken and until I get a new one, that would mean not being able to watch anything.
I have both a Roku and a Nexus Player. While I really enjoy Android TV, it is missing some key apps that are available on Roku.
The Roku interface is fine. It's not fancy, but it's very simple and straightforward.
I suggest making a list of the apps you want. If Android TV has everything you need, keep the Shield.
I came from Roku for a number of years. Android TV is a much better experience in terms of app design, UI fluidity, voice search, gaming options, Google Cast integration, and Google apps.
Seriously, Roku may have YouTube and Google Play Movies, but the apps look and perform like garbage. The whole UI looks like its 10 years old.
Roku has more content like Amazon Instant and Watch ESPN, but other than those 2 apps pretty much everything is covered. And honestly, Amazon Video isn't that great, I'm surprised its talked about very much. I have it on an Xbox One and I think I may open it once every 6 months to see if it's improved and I just leave it dissatisfied.
Apps are getting added to Android TV every week , so I'm not worried about growth of content at all.
Open the Shield, you will love it.