Nvidia shield tablet k1 review

Today we are dealing with a very powerful tablet and one of the favorites of the most gamers, the Nvidia Shield Tablet K1 with its powerful Tegra K1 processor and an 8-inch Full HD screen with excellent image quality. Without forgetting the GeForce Now service that will allow us to play a large number of games of the highest quality as if it were a high-end PC.

Technical characteristics Nvidia Shield Tablet K1

Nvidia Shield Tablet K1

The Nvidia Shield Tablet K1 arrives in a cardboard box of small dimensions and with a predominance of white, on the front we see an image of the tablet and the Nvidia logo as the main elements to highlight.

We open the box and we find the tablet properly protected along with a USB data cable to transfer files from our computer.

If we focus our attention on the Nvidia Shield Tablet K1 we see a device with very contained dimensions thanks to its 8-inch screen, something that makes it more comfortable to carry than other units with a 10-inch diagonal.

As for the design, the predominance of black is observed, on the back is the “SHIELD” logo in gray and a 5-megapixel rear camera with autofocus and HDR.

On the right side are the buttons for locking / unlocking the tablet as well as the volume controls for the device and the microSD memory card slot.

Finally on the front we find the 8-inch screen next to a 5-megapixel front camera with HDR and a dual speaker sound configuration.

The Nvidia Shield Tablet K1 is built with dimensions of 221 x 126 x 9.2 mm along with a weight of 356 grams. It is governed by the Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system (it will be updated to 6.0 Marsmallow) which gives us access to a large number of applications and games available on Google Play.

It has an excellent quality IPS screen with an 8-inch diagonal and a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels to offer a very good image definition. Inside is the powerful Nvidia Tegra K1 processor consisting of four Cortex A15 2.3 GHz cores + a low-power core along with a 192-core GPU with Kepler architecture, along with the 2 GB RAM processor for excellent performance and 16 GB of expandable storage via microSD up to an additional 128 GB.

We really liked its dual front speaker setup for sensational sound quality.

Its specifications are completed with Bluetooth 4.0 LE for great energy efficiency, WiFi 802.11a / b / g / n with dual band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, A-GPS, GLONASS and a mini HDMI video output to connect it to any external screen..

The Nvidia Shield Tablet K1 comes with a 19.75Wh lithium-ion battery that promises 10 hours of video playback, something we'll check with our tests.

Image and sound quality

The Nvidia Shield Tablet K1 offers excellent image quality thanks to its 8-inch IPS panel at a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. The viewing angles are very good and the color rendering is excellent with shades that are not overly saturated.

A screen resolution very successful for its size that allows to take care of the energy efficiency of the device as well as its performance. A higher resolution panel could have been chosen but this would have reduced the graphics performance of the GPU and the battery consumption would also have increased significantly. We believe that Nvidia has made a very wise choice.

Regarding the sound, we find a double front speaker configuration that offers a very good quality and has the advantage of not being blocked if we rest the tablet on a surface, as would happen with a rear speaker. The audio volume is very correct.

software

The Nvidia Shield Tablet k1 arrives with the Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system and the company has promised the update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow so in this aspect we can be up to date.

A slightly personalized version of Android by Nvidia is observed, something that we appreciate since the customization layers of manufacturers usually penalize performance. Among the few customization elements we find some installed applications such as Nvidia Hub, Nvidia Dabbler, Controller, twitch and console mode

performance

The performance of the Nvidia Shield Tablet K1 is excellent, its hardware proves to have plenty of power to move the Android interface and the games without any lag, the execution of the applications is very fast, as well as the transition between them in the multitask.

The only downside we can put is that it has "only" 2 GB of RAM, thinking about the future it would have been better to mount 3 or 4 GB since the applications are increasingly demanding and Android is not precisely characterized by its good work when managing RAM. Still mounting 2GB shouldn't be a problem and helps create a cheaper device. Today with Android 5.1.1 it is very fluid and covers the needs of any user.

Geforce Now

Geforce Now offers us a good range of possibilities. For those who do not know, this technology allows us to play a wide catalog of games from anywhere in the world for a small monthly price (10 euros), although we have three months (free) tests to assess whether it pays for a future investment. To benefit from this technology we must obtain the Nvidia Controller that connects via Wifi, palpably reducing the problems with Bluetooth controls… but that is another matter.

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When the Nvidia Shield Controller arrives we will make a video playing in streaming and showing all the benefits of Geforce Now.

Camera and battery

The Shield Tablet K1 also includes a 5-megapixel front camera with HDR, a 5-megapixel rear camera with HDR and autofocus.

The default camera application is very complete and allows us to create effects, enable thirds, the camera stabilizer, activate the HDR options and choose from multiple shooting options.

5197 mAh may be few for such a tablet. But the reality is that it holds up quite well, for example playing continuously we have reached about 3 hours. In the case of video playback it has lasted 8 hours and a quarter… Nvidia has done a great job of optimizing the autonomy of the Nvidia Shield Tablet K1.

Final words and conclusion

Nvidia has done a great job with its Nvidia Shield K1 Tablet, thanks to it is the incorporation of its excellent Tegra K1 processor (although currently its flagship is the X1), 2 Gigs of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory.

It is clear that it is the best tablet to play, but that does not mean that it is not the perfect ally for everyday use and for work. Its 8-inch IPS panel allows us to see images with good color fidelity and you cannot see the difference when looking at it at different angles. Also note that it will be updated to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow in these weeks:).

Its weakest point is found in the rear camera that would be quite improvable both by sensor and by its 5MP, we believe that with 8MP or 12MP it would be more in line with its potential. However, with good light we can take very successful images.

The Nvidia Shield K1 Tablet becomes the perfect Tablet on the market, unseating Google's powerful Nexus series. It is very difficult to find a competitor that offers so much for so little money… Currently you can find it in stores between 188 euros up to 200 euros. If we want to buy the recommended remote we must add 60 euros… which will have many hours of fun with our television.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ BETTER GRIP THAN THE PREVIOUS GENERATION.	- THE FINGERS ARE MARKED ON THE BACK.
+ PURE AND HARD POWER.	- REAR CAMERA COULD BE BETTER.
+ BETTER AUTONOMY.	- DOES NOT INCLUDE MINIUSB CHARGER.
+ WILL UPDATE TO ANDROID 6.0.1.
+ PRICE. BECOMES INTELLIGENT PURCHASE.