Nvidia Shield vs Mi Box (4K Wise)

by Me9333

I recently bought a Philips 55" 4K Smart Tv, and the 'Smart Tv' is very good. I have been thinking of buying a Android Tv Box that supports 4K and the two that come to mind are the Nvidia Shield and the Mi Box. The problem is, im not sure which one.

Where I live the Nvidia Shield costs €200, and the Mi box costs €90.

I have heard that the Mi Box sometimes struggles with 4K video even tho it is advertised as a 4K Android Box. And I am not really interested in gaming as much as the Nvidia Shield advertise.

I am mainly looking for a Android Box that supports 4K streaming (Plex, Netflix, Youtube, etc), and I can play 4K movies from a USB. I wouldn't mind the occasional gaming every now and then but the main priority is 4K.

So what are your suggestion?

Thanks in advance.

simiwood

If your main concern is 4k the shield is the way to go

o-a-s

A year ago I was in the same position you described. Went with the Mi Box and just a couple of weeks back I decided to bite the bullet and buy a Nvidia Shield. Here are the reasons why I did it:

  • Got tired of the glitches with Mi Box where sometimes the remote controller would just lose pairing. Shield has it too but way less often.
  • Same as above, but with occasional freezes on Sling TV.
  • Mi Box has an underpowered hardware, compare to Shield. I tried using Hdhomerun with a plex server streaming to the Mi Box plex client and got constant hiccups on the buffering process. When I switched to the Shield, same setup, the issues were gone.
  • Gaming is a plus and, in my case, I have a GeForce 1080GTX on my personal computer and can games on my living room TV.
  • I have Google Assistant embedded to my Shield, so can use almost all commands I can with Google Home.
  • Based on personal experience, I would be curious to see if Mi Box could handle 4k as smooth as the Shield.

Now, one big disappointment to me with the Shield: the fricking volume buttons on the Shield remote are kind of in a touch pad on the remote, you don't actually have buttons. This is plain right ridiculous as it is crazy hard to land on a volume setting without a few consecutive tries back and forth sliding your finger on the touch pad area. All this without mentioning the accidental volume increase or decrease when you are fiddling with the remote on your hands.

Of course some of these arguments are very subjective and may not fit everybody else's needs but I am happy I made the switch. I hope this helps you make a good decision for your needs.

GratefulUser

The fact that you're even considering anything other than video streaming means you need to go with the Shield.

Bodycount9

With the Mi Box, it can do 4k but it doesn't do it well. If your only concern is 4k, shield is pretty much your only option.

For 1080p, Mi Box price point pushes it past the shield as the top box to get in my opinion!

dylanger_

I've been having packet loss issues with the Mi Box, going the shield

Tapsaffnoo1

I've never used Mi Box so cant vouch for its 4k ability. But if cost is a factor you should be able to get one for around $70 US from sites like Aliexpress, Gearbest etc. They deliver to most countries

CaptZ_3148

And I am not really interested in gaming as much as the Nvidia Shield advertise.

Ive never used my Shield to game and its still one of the best purchases I've made.

raptor75mlt

so you bought a Philips that is not an Android TV? Why? :)