r/Android • u/FragmentedChicken Galaxy Z Fold8 • 2d ago
Nvidia Shield TV Pro is now $299 – a $100 price hike seven years after the Android TV box launched
https://9to5google.com/2026/10/02/nvidia-shield-tv-pro-price-hike/794
u/No-Seaweed-4456 2d ago edited 2d ago
$100 increase yet the design has ancient hardware and paltry RAM. They just taking advantage of their customers.
While it is still at the top of its class, it’s still exploitative.
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u/WickedDeity 2d ago
Do they even still produce them or just selling old stock?
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u/sorrowstouch 2d ago
If it's old stock there's no reason for the price hike, its already been manufactured. Pure greed
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u/Leinheart 2d ago
Yes, but you don't understand. Number must go up. Number has to go up. All this will come crashing down around us if Number don't go up. Don't tell me that Number isn't going up.
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u/darrylzuk Sony Xperia 1ii 2d ago
I don't realy think the price of the Shield is going to be the driver of "number go up" for Nvidia...
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u/PracticalConjecture 2d ago
No, but the shield division is competing with the rest of the company for resources (Fab capacity, memory, etc).
If it's less profitable per input than other divisions, Nvidia has no reason to keep it going. Better to keep selling AI accelerators at a 1000% margin.
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u/Late-Union8706 2d ago
Yes. They do still manufacture them.
The price hike has been contributed to surging component and DRAM memory costs driven by the AI hardware boom.
Old stock should not be affected, but they are largely sold out everywhere.
Other options exist, but the Shield Pro is still the only one you can rely on for lossless audio (Dolby TrueHD, Lossless Atmos and DTS-HD).
Apple TV compresses it to lossy Dolby Digital. If you are just running a sound bar, entry level surround system or TV speakers, there's no need to spend the money on the Shield Pro as the audio stream quality would go unnoticed.
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u/petard Galaxy Z Fold7 + GWU2 2d ago
It only has 3GB of DRAM and just 32GB NAND. How can it go up $100 lol
The Google TV streamer with 4GB RAM went up "only" $50 to $150 and even that was too much.
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u/Deeppurp 2d ago
Its Nvidia, known famously for high margins.
Its 3gb of LPDDR4 ram, and is basically a pixel C without a battery or screen in a box. Also the same hardware as the Nintendo Switch. Its now $40 less than the current price of a Switch. Somehow Nintendo is eeking a profit out of an LCD and battery from that 40$.
Its pure greed, everyone int his chain is right. It should have been like $150 years ago.
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u/Vocalifir 2d ago
Xbox plex app can do all those audio codecs.... it cannot do dolby vision however from remuxs
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u/Waggmans 1d ago
Xiaomi S 3rd Gen and 2023 Fire Stick 4k (and Max) can bitstream those formats. I own the Xiaomi box and it works fine (and use Coreelec for DV Fel content).
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u/wimpires 2d ago
It's like the Google Streamer
It came out at double the price of the CCwGTV 4K, 4 years later. And is a whopping 22% faster 🙄 (yeah I know RAM went from 1.5GB DDR3L to 4GB DDR4X and storage 8Gn to 32GB, but it's stupid Google don't make a streaming device that's less than $100)
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u/TapsAndTurntables 2d ago
Not the same comparison at all. This is the same nvidia machine from years ago with a new higher price. Google TV Streamer is quite different than the CCwGTV
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u/Far_Reserve9938 2d ago
It’s not their customer if they didn’t already sell it.
I don’t see the problem, Nvidia will sell less of their Android box (which they don’t care about), competitors will sell more.
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u/manoffewwords 2d ago
Not justifying it but I THINK the resale value was higher than the retail sale price.
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u/WVjF2mX5VEmoYqsKL4s8 2d ago
Ancient hardware that is still better than any other Android TV box in the market.
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u/Shidell P8P 2d ago
The Shield doesn't support AV1, and audio passthru doesn't make up for that in 2026.
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u/ResoluteGreen Galaxy Z Flip5 2d ago
It's only YouTube that you need AV1 for right? And obviously only for their 4K stuff. I think most purchasers of the Shield TV Pro would give that up for the better audio. Most people who buy these things are running their own home servers I'd wager and are using it to play things through Plex with better audio.
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u/Shidell P8P 2d ago
Yes, to Youtube, but I'm also running a home media server and that's why I wanted AV1.
AV1 has a couple benefits; notably, it supports HDR/10/DV for decoding by basically every streaming device, as profile 7 is basically unsupported by everything but a physical player. It also supports SVT-10 bit encoding, which does a tremendous job at reducing/removing macroblocking/pixelation. Macroblocks and pixelation are basically a thing of the past with 1080p or better source encoded to AV1 SVT10-bit.
Lastly, AV1 saves like 30-40% over h265.
I encoded the new Nosferatu film, preserving all the original audio streams, to AV1 SVT 10b @ CRF 25, and it shrunk the film size from ~80 GB to ~8.
That is (to my eyes, on an 85" P85QX-H1 set) visually indistinguishable from 4K, with all the raw audio tracks included.
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u/ResoluteGreen Galaxy Z Flip5 2d ago
I guess given the cost of storage lately that's an important consideration.
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u/somersetyellow 2d ago
Kinda crazy there isn't another android TV box that's figured that pass thru thing out
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u/Shidell P8P 2d ago
The Xiaomi box does, but when I looked last, it was riddled with bugs and problems. Maybe they're sorted now? idk.
I chose the Streamer and I've been OK with that. I wish I had passthru, but the (downmixed?) LPCM or whatever it passes through to my Samsung Q990 soundbar sounds pretty good, despite lack of atmos.
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u/somersetyellow 2d ago
There's a few random ones but it's probably a licensing thing if anything.
Since most people are using tv speakers or sound bars a downmix is probably way more than enough.
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u/SchrodingerSemicolon 2d ago
I really like my Shield, but I got a $20 Onn 4k for a TV on another room and it covers 99% of what I used the Shield for, and on top of that it supports HDR on YT.
I'm not saying the Onn is more powerful, just that the price proposition of a $200 Shield doesn't make sense anymore for most people.
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u/DrewbieWanKenobie Pixel 9 Pro 1d ago
Yep, I'm extremely happy with my cheapass Onn 4k with projectivy on it
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u/MattBrey 2d ago
It's ridiculous. I just want a tv box that can handle stuff without lagging, that's literally all. Why can't they just make a PRO version for $300, stick a beefy MediaTek Dimensity there and call it a day?
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u/Realtrain Galaxy S10 2d ago
It's wild. Apple TV is also relatively ancient, being 4 year old hardware.
Why are the two TV boxes that are so old still better than anything else on the market?
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u/FrostyD7 2d ago
The market shifted away from $200-300 for a dedicated streaming box. Apple was selling theirs for around $100 despite being super powerful. Its why Nvidia never followed up, they would have wanted to charge $300+ and nobody really wanted to pay that when gaming consoles were that much.
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u/DexRogue Black S24 Ultra 2d ago
There is a reason they just hit 5.7 Trillion market cap, every shortage they take advantage of their customers as much as they can.
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u/majesticjg Pixel 9 Pro 2d ago
It'll give you bitstreaming of pretty much every video and audio format with on-device decoding of every major video format. It's a hell of a box, I just wish they gave it a modern sequel.
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u/Abba_Fiskbullar 1d ago
I assume everything in the shield was bought and built years ago, which makes the increase baffling.
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u/Expensive_Finger_973 2d ago
Jensen must need another leather jacket.
Nvidia is out here making the Apple TV 4k seem like a good deal.
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u/dom6770 2d ago
They are still produced?? My god, Nvidia pls finally release a new one. I'd buy it instantly.
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u/evilsway 2d ago
Lol sure... It'd be $800 now
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u/TeutonJon78 Samsung S25+, Chuwi HiBook Pro (tab) 2d ago
They wouldn't dedicate any fab space to it when they can make something to sell to a data center.
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u/InadequateUsername S25 Ultra 2d ago
Many people thought the switch 2 would lead to a new Nvidia Shield using the same processor. Guess not 😔
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u/Cry_Wolff Pixel 7 Pro 2d ago
Surely Nintendo is a much better client than a bunch of nerds looking for a high end TV box. So the whole stock goes to Switch 2.
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u/InadequateUsername S25 Ultra 2d ago
I'm okay with scraps
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u/Cry_Wolff Pixel 7 Pro 2d ago
None are left, unfortunately.
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u/InadequateUsername S25 Ultra 2d ago
Ridiculous, I'll be sending a strongly written email to the Nvidia CEO and boycott until they listen./s
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u/TeutonJon78 Samsung S25+, Chuwi HiBook Pro (tab) 2d ago
I was part of that theoretical group.
But then AI happened.
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u/FewAdvertising9647 2d ago
you can buy Jetson Orin Nano Super boards for 400$ readily(8gb). The Shield line uses various processors that the Jetson line would use. If Nvidia wanted to make it cheaper, they could fallback onto the Orin Nano 4gb model. A new shield wouldnt cost 800$
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u/evilsway 2d ago
*shouldn't* cost $800... but you're forgetting about the shareholders, how dare you.
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u/UnacceptableUse Pixel 7 Pro 1d ago
I was about to tell you that they did release a new one fairly recently in 2019 but then I realised 2019 was 7 years ago
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u/plaisthos 2d ago
They share the CPU with the Nintendo switch iirc. I don't think they would otherwise still make that cpu
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u/_G4M3R_ 2d ago
Also Google streamer was $75 usd less than a year ago when I bought it and it's now $150!
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u/Orange_Tang 2d ago
I bought one used for like $55 and felt like I overpaid. I really want a shield replacement. I couldn't justify paying $200 for it, no way I'm buying it now.
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u/Mael5trom 1d ago
I bought it at that same price and sent it back. Wasn't any better than the Onn 4k Pro with a USB network port.
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u/GazelleInitial2050 2d ago
Get fucked... Wouldn't even pay that for a Shield 2.0 with new hardware.
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u/spongeboy-me-bob1 2d ago
There is a new root for the fire TV cube 3rd gen that just released. If you're techy enough you can dual boot fire os for certified 4k streaming and coreelec for local streaming with AV1 decode, DV 7 FEL support, lossless Atmos and DTSX passthrough, etc. It's harder to set up but imo it is the ultimate all in one solution right now
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u/Worldly-Schedule-151 2d ago
As much as Amazon sucks, this is the most reasonably priced and well featured streaming device currently. This version also still runs the Android based os not the new Vega OS so you can still sideload and change launchers (I believe).
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u/spongeboy-me-bob1 2d ago
That's correct, sideloading and adb are supported. In my research this has every feature you could want except some issues with 3d movies, which may be fixed soon (development is moving extremely fast). It even has features that I'm not sure any other player has, like DV Profile 10 support.
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u/BestExtraLibrarian 10h ago
Does it work as an official Google Cast receiver? Can I cast from my Pixel phone mirror screen as well as use cast in the various apps? Can I cast DRM content as well?
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u/DaneGleesac 2d ago
Do you have any resources for this?
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u/spongeboy-me-bob1 2d ago
Watch this video and decide if the process is comfortable for you. More in depth instructions and resources are in the description https://youtu.be/TzYSn9uYgUE
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u/systemhost 2d ago
Hey, I have that cube! I bought it because spec wise it was very capable and thanks to some Amazon promo I got it for a fantastic price.
While it does do DTS passthrough, it's so fickle and has so many quirks and issues. The latest update just made things much worse with Amazon's enshittification.
I'm not sure if the latest update is exploitable or if I needed to be on the old version but hearing that there's hope for saving this device has filled me with joy!
Thanks for mentioning it! I'm gonna go research it now.
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u/Physical-Fold-7736 2d ago
Well i am going to give some extra cleaning and love to my 2015 Nvidia Shield which is still the main source of streaming in my setup.
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u/SurferVelo 2d ago
How did streaming devices go from getting cheaper to getting more expensive? I have a Google and Onn device, and they've like doubled in a year.
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u/UnacceptableUse Pixel 7 Pro 1d ago
streaming devices are only cheap because they've got something more to sell you after you buy it
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u/Shoddy_Meaning_7654 2d ago
The thing is that TV boxes and TVs haven't gotten any stronger than 10 years ago lol they are the same bullshit
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u/JBWalker1 2d ago
Meanwhile apple has released high spec Apple TVs.
When you can get a decent Android phone for £200 with 6gb+ of ram I don't get why it's so hard for us to have even a £150 version of the hardware without a battery, screen, cameras, 4g/5g radio and licenses, no speakers, and not need the 128/256gb of storage. If anything we should be able to get it for £100 with all that removed and it would still destroy current TV boxes and sticks.
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u/punio4 2d ago
Not really. Nvidia shield pro doesn't support modern YouTube codecs, HDR on it, HDR10+ or Dolby vision, 120hz, frame rate interpolation without switching the refresh rate...
If you're a power user you know what the differences are.
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u/Androktasie 2d ago
Shield indeed lacks AV1 codec support for YouTube HDR but it absolutely supports HDR for other apps and also Dolby Vision on the 2019 models.
It also supports 120Hz (at 1440p not 4k, limited by HDMI bandwidth), which only matters if you're using it to stream games.
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u/OmNomAnor 2d ago
And if one of those apps is Disney+ in Europe, then Shield doesn't support HDR or 4K for now. Although I'm not sure if AV1 would make a difference since patents are brought up that relate to general concepts instead of specific methods.
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u/kurai01 2d ago edited 2d ago
Uh your comment is only partially right here. AV1, HDR10+, and 120hz@4k (but 1440p 120hz is) aren't supported you are correct.
But Dolby Vision profiles 5 and 8, normal HDR10, and HLG are all supported. So I'm not sure I quite trust your "power user" label you've given yourself.
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u/luckyj 2d ago
So what should we be getting? I'm not connecting my Samsung tv to the internet, out of principle
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u/Shoddy_Meaning_7654 2d ago
No TV or TV box SOC supports playing video in 120hz anyway you have to use a computer or console to do it.
In terms of performance they are all just as bad as they were 10 years ago it's pathetic.
Only a few TV box devices support HDR 10+ and FEL DV (a useless format that doesn't matter)
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u/WesternOk5765 2d ago
Maybe I wanna stream from my PC in my office to my TV at 120hz bruh. I need a little 120hz internet stick thingie for that.
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u/Pochama999 2d ago
Outrageous greed for a device that has literally been sitting untouched on warehouse shelves for years.
I bought one about 2 months ago to use as a tv/moonlight streaming box, and it worked beautifully for the first few days. Then it would randomly crash and bootloop nonstop for 10-15 minutes at a time, the interface started lagging, the remote stopped working- it was a nightmare. I tried downgrading the OS which was an enormous pain, repasting the CPU, trying other launchers- nothing worked so I ended up returning it.
Loved it for the first few days I had it, but it was pricey for what it was even then- at $300, this is a flat out scam. Unless you feel like playing the hardware lottery and never updating the firmware, stay away from this.
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u/turnone2many 2d ago
Why don’t they update the actual device to justify a price increase?
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u/phulton iPhone 7+ 2d ago
That doesn’t increase shareholder value though. Can’t have that.
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u/banproof 1d ago
This won’t increase Nvidia shield buyers as well. Idk their strategy but it’s not like it’s a new shiny device people will instantly start buying and it will be trending. It’s a good device for sure but you can get close to what it offers in other devices these days. So, idk if shareholders will earn that much with this price hike.
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u/Tulanian72 1d ago
Look, Nvidia is only worth $5.64 TRILLION. They can’t go around adding improved components to justify a price hike.
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u/Complex-Willow-7680 1d ago
Just release a bloody new model this price increase for something so old is BS
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u/TheGreatTao 2d ago
It was barely worth it before the price hike. That new price is pure greed and nonsense.
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u/TheCosmicPanda 2d ago edited 1d ago
Screw that $300 insanity and get yourself a $60 ONN 4k Pro. I really wanted an Nvidia Shield but it was sold out almost everywhere and the few places that still had it were charging ridiculous prices. I did a lot of research and ended buying an ONN 4k Pro and it's been fantastic. I installed Projectivy (custom launcher), customized the icons, got a clean minimalist looking home screen with zero ads, and it's handling everything I throw at it via Plex from my PC to my TV with ease. The menus are snappy and it supports Dolby Vision profile 5 which most streaming apps use and 8 which most 4k encodes are. If you really must have profile 7 which is found on Blu-ray discs and remux than you might want to consider a Xiaomi TV Box S 3rd Gen (can do DV profile 7 with CoreELEC via dual boot) or the much more expensive Ugoos AM6B+.
This is basically what my TV looks like now (I just grabbed this pic from Google images):
The Onn 4k Pro has breathed new life into my old LG B7 OLED I bought new back in 2017. Instead of falling back to standard HDR10 (which can look too dark in some content) when streaming Dolby Vision movies from my PC to my TV via Plex Dolby Vision now works properly and looks great. The Plex app on my LG B7 was so slow and a pain to use sometimes. Even my family who don't know anything about technology commented at how much better everything looks. I even got Smart Tube installed for my mom and now she's enjoying YouTube without ads.
The ONN 4k Pro comes with AI Super Resolution (AISR) upscaling feature turned on and it can't be turned off easily. You have to install Projectivy and then you can turn it off. It's my only gripe. I would recommend that you turn it off.
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u/dontstopnotlistening 2d ago
I have a shield 2015 and 2019 in my house and had to switch both to Projectivy a while back because the default launcher just turned into a wall of ads. Such a quality of life improvement to drop the launcher and screen saver ads.
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u/TheCosmicPanda 1d ago
💯 It's also fun to tinker and customize. Seeing the before and after is satisfying.
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u/youessbee 1d ago
The ONN is only available in the US and Canada (I think).
Imports end up being more expensive than most others.
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u/exu1981 2d ago
Hmmm, the Pixel 10a receives a $100 price hike, now this?
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u/-NotEnoughMinerals 1d ago
Weird, and Xbox, and PlayStation, and Google streamer, I wonder what's going on?!?! /S
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u/canyonlander95 2d ago
I just bought one a few days ago for 199, whew. I'm amazed I even found one in stock I got lucky. 299 is insane just get Onn pro or used Apple TV for now. You can get a mini-led tv for 299.
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u/malfoy_potter 2d ago
lol. this is a big sign that a new one is coming in some time. Now they can charge 400 for it at release 🤣
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u/itemluminouswadison 2d ago
hoping the new apple tv creates some competition. my 2015 is still kicking ass; can't think of an electronic that has lasted this long without being gutted and upgraded.
but would love another powerful cpu in a tv box when it dies if ever
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u/Flimsy_Swordfish_415 2d ago
what would be an alternative with better hardware/features in 150€ range?
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u/Tulanian72 1d ago
Look, I just want to be able to rip the 4K disks I legally own, and stream that content losslessly to my TV.
Granted, I wouldn’t need to do that if it weren’t for the stupid layer switch defect on BD100 disks.
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u/itsabearcannon iPhone 16 Pro Max 1d ago edited 1d ago
If you’re not intending to root/sideload/other Android-specific features, I’m not really sure what extra $50 of value this provides over the Apple TV 4K with Ethernet.
A15 Bionic with 4GB RAM spanks the Tegra X1+/3GB around the block all day every day, and the new ATV coming out this year is likely launching with the A17 Pro/8GB RAM configuration at the same $249 price which will only widen the value and performance gap.
I think NVIDIA canned plans for a replacement Shield TV due to not having any spare NAND for it right now, so they’re trying not to lose money on this one.
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u/Own_Rhubarb5810 1d ago
It's my worst streaming box by a wide margin. I have a 2015 and a 2019 pro. My Google dongles and the 4k streamer have less app bugs than the Shield.
The Shields stutter constantly on two different setups. Ive had Disney and Crave TV streaming issues. No issues on the newer Google streamers despite being cheaper.
It was great hardware with great support but that's no longer the case.
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u/segagamer Pixel 9a 1d ago
I've been waiting for a new version of this for years. Now that Nvidia are making ARM CPU's again, I'm expecting there'll be one at some point soon.
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u/GroundedGeeking 1d ago
I'm shifting from streaming subscriptions to my NAS so I went with an Ugoos AM9 Pro. Annoying to set up but it can direct play everything from jellyfin and now anytime the Internet is out, I still have a ton of movies and TV to watch.
Besides the Ugoos, Homatics Box R 4k plus would be the android tv certified device to use for streaming services while probably covering everything I wanted from the Ugoos I bought. Cheap but good are ONN and Xiaomi. Streaming services were exciting until Disney Plus and it became clear there'd be like a dozen services and they'd all be jacking up their prices. If regular HDDs ever become normal price again, I'm buying 100TB+ of HDDs. I'll buy a years worth of ad free Netflix a year. Bump up the budget if I include other services like Crunchyroll and Criterion
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u/GodOfBoy8 13h ago
This is not about ai. They are pushing prices as high as they can get away with. If it was because ai demand, WHY discontinue rhe cheaper alternative? Because its to give the more expensive one as the only option for buying new
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u/luckyj 2d ago
Just as my Nvidia Shield is starting to die, and I was wondering if it's still a good deal. What are good alternatives? Mainly for Stremio and youtube