The new Nvidia Shield streaming stick is meant for entry-level users, but offers up to 4K streaming with Dolby Vision, HDR 10 and Dolby Atmos support. It’s powered by the same Tegra X1+ processor and comes bundled with the same taller remote, which we see with the Pro variant, but with 8GB in-built storage.
The size is the obvious big difference with the SHIELD TV streaming stick. It looks like a small flashlight with an Ethernet port on one end and HDMI and MicroSD on the other end. The listing says the device comes with 8GB of internal storage. The Newegg listing also says the streaming stick is powered by the NVIDIA Tegra Z1+ processor, but the listing later mentions the Tegra X1+ (which is in the new SHIELD TV Pro) several times. NVIDIA says it’s 25% faster than previous generations, which leads us to believe “Z1+” was a mistake.
NVIDIA says the streaming stick has “Enhanced HD video in real-time to 4K” and it mentions the AI upscaling we saw in the SHIELD TV Pro listing. The streaming stick also appears to feature Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos like the set-top box. Essentially, you’re getting the same features as the box, but with slightly fewer ports.
The streaming stick comes with the exact same remote that we saw before with the SHIELD TV Pro. There is a microphone for voice controls, motion-activated backlit buttons, an IR blaster for controlling TVs, Bluetooth, and a lost remote feature. It has buttons for power, menu, play, record, pause, forward, reverse, volume, voice commands, Netflix, and direction pad. The remote takes 2 AAA batteries.
The Newegg listing has the price for the streaming stick at $199, which is the same price Amazon had for the SHIELD TV Pro. While the two devices share a lot of specifications and features, it’s a little strange to see a much smaller streaming stick for the same price as a full-fledged set-top box. It’s possible that the pricing is simply a placeholder for now. We’ll have to wait and see.
This is already in some Best Buy stores for sales at $150!
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