Tegra 3 won the favor of many tablets and smartphones last year. NVIDIA has initially established itself in the mobile field, but the next Tegra 4 failed to strike while the iron is hot and make persistent efforts. It has been announced for half a year, and there are still few related products. In this case, the Android handheld SHIELD built by NVIDIA based on Tegra 4 has received more attention. In any case, this product is still a breakthrough. It brings a new way to play Android games, and it is a new concept to use GeForce GTX PC for game streaming.
This article is from: Shangwen Q, Drive Home
After a lot of ups and downs, SHIELD finally started shipping today. AnandTech has also recently received a package from NVIDIA, including SHIELD mainframe, Falcon Northwest Tiki mini desktop (GTX760 graphics card), Parrot AR Drone 2.0 remote control four-axis aircraft.
Appearance appreciation: exquisite and comfortable
When it was released on CES, SHIELD was just a prototype that had been rushed out. It looked rough and full of cheap plastic. All kinds of buttons and rocker were awkward.
The retail version of the final shipment is much better. The workmanship is exquisite and the feel is good. It should look like a handle. According to the feedback from the trial users, SHIELD has largely referred to the handle design of X360 and PS3 in the optimization process, which is more like a complex (will it cause a lawsuit...), so it is not difficult to get started.
Because it has an additional display screen than the ordinary handle, and also needs to be combined and opened, the height of the keys, especially the analog rocker, is greatly limited, not so prominent, and the others are basically on the same plane.
The hand-held part feels very good, very comfortable, and ergonomics is very good. The bottom is a rubber surface, which has a good grip and can be stably placed on any surface.
The front end is stored inward. The upper and lower aluminum metals are engraved with NVIDIA logo and SHIELD. The green bar in the middle corresponds to the internal active fan cooling. Yes, as we said, this thing uses a fan! At first it sounds scary, but the actual experience shows that it is not so exaggerated, and no noise can be felt.
The 5-inch 720p screen has a wide frame, which most people probably won't like. The left and right stereo speakers are loud, and the microphone is in the middle.
The back is a thermal opening and I/O interface, including a USB 2.0 (charging indicator on the top), a mini HDMI, a microSDXC card reader, and a headphone hole. I don't know why not use the more popular micro HDMI.
The shell on the top is replaceable. It comes with a silver metal shell. You can also buy carbon fiber and black highlighted shells for $20. It should be noted that at least the original housing is not very strong, and it is easy to leave scratches.
Let's simply repeat the hardware configuration of SHIELD: Tegra 4 1.9GHz 4+1 core processor, GeForce 72 unit graphics core, 2GB LPDDR3 memory, 16GB flash memory, Broadcom BCM43241 2x2:2 802.11n/Bluetooth 3.0 wireless module, GPS, 28.8Whr battery. The body size is 158 × 135 × 57mm, and the weight is 579g.
[Software: pure native Android 4.2.1]
The pre installed system of SHIELD is Android 4.2.1, which is not the latest, but it is about the same. The good news is that NVIDIA promises to provide frequent updates to keep pace with Android. In fact, in the process of experience, I received the update prompt numbered 50, which has improved a lot, but also has a large volume, more than 400MB.
Bootloader should be unlocked, but it hasn't been tested yet.
However, the biggest problem is that SHIELD is horizontal view (equivalent to horizontal screen of mobile phone), which is very comfortable when playing games and watching videos, but it is troublesome to operate normally, especially many applications do not even support horizontal screen, or the startup screen is vertical.
NVIDIA has made some modifications to this, allowing the installation of applications in vertical mode only, then forcibly rotating them to full screen display (without status bar), and using the Y key as the system's menu key.
Navigation can be handled or touched. The left analog rocker and cross key are like direction keys, the right analog rocker is like a virtual mouse, and the A key is equivalent to touch and click. I got used to it very smoothly.
The multifunction button with NVIDIA LOGO printed in the middle of SHIELD is also very useful. It can be used as the power key, or to start the installed games, stores, PC games, etc.
A pre installed integrated application on SHIELD allows you to view and launch the installed games, view the optimized SHIELD games, log in to Google Play Store to download or purchase, and start PC game streaming in three tabs.
[Game experience: both playing methods are excellent]
SHIELD pioneered two different game playing methods; First, with its own, Tegra 4 is fully operational, just like any Android phone; The second is the "GeForce PC streaming game" under test, which wirelessly transmits the game from the computer to play. SHIELD acts as a wireless handle at this time.
SHIELD itself relies on the Android ecosystem to play games. NVIDIA claims that currently there are 131 games supporting SHIELD (four of which are not listed), of which 35 have been targeted and optimized, all of which are recommended in the SHIELD store.
Android supports handles fairly well, but there is no unified standard in this respect. In particular, SHIELD is equipped with many unique keys, so there are different ways to call keys, which often leads to confusion. You need to look carefully to know which key is corresponding.
Like the previous generation, Rapids 2 can be called Tegra's royal game, with many unique special effects added.
Shadow Gun God, True Boxing, VR Tennis Challenge, etc. are all OK. The latter is not a Tegra optimized game, but the support for SHIELD is also in place.
The desktop computer NVIDIA sent for test is equipped with Core i7-3770K OC 4.2GHz processor and GeForce GTX 760 graphics card. After connecting SHIELD, the game on the PC is captured from the frame buffer, encoded in H.264 format on the GPU, sent to SHIELD via Wi Fi, and the handle control input is fed back to the PC. During this period, the cooperation between GeForce graphics card driver and Steam was used.
The biggest concern of this method is definitely the delay and image quality. However, SHIELD generously uses the dual band, dual stream 2x2:2 Wi Fi, which is no problem. NVIDIA also recommends using high-quality dual band Wi Fi AP.
Press the SHIELD multifunction button to go to the PC Games Beta tab and see the connected PC. Scroll down to see the supported PC games, which can be started at any time.
The trial performance of "Land Without a Master 2" is very good, with smooth speed and clear picture quality. Occasionally, it gets stuck but has little impact. In addition, the audio also occasionally gets stuck. The transmission delay should be greater than that of video.
The input delay is almost undetectable. When you press the key, there will be an immediate response in the game, even better than Miracast and AirPlay.
You may feel that this kind of play is a bit painful, but it's still very cute to play on the sofa or in bed. In fact, NVIDIA's ultimate goal is to use its own GRID cluster to build a small cloud game center for everyone to play together with SHIELD. It depends on whether it can be popularized.
Parrot AR Drone 2.0 is a $299 remote control four axis aircraft, and its supporting applications are also optimized for SHIELD, which can control its flight.
SHIELD's performance is also excellent, the control is smooth and free, and there is no problem with video transmission. If the drone also has Android applications, SHIELD will be more fun to play.
[CPU performance: fan help is really powerful]
With four A15 architecture cores, the highest frequency of 1.9GHz, and the release of active cooling on power consumption and heat generation, Tegra 4's performance is indeed very powerful. It can drop any iPad, Android tablet (Samsung dual core A15 Exynos 5250 of Nexus 10 can be approached occasionally), and even kill the Gaotong Snapdragon 800 MSM8974.
NVIDIA、 Qualcomm's war of words was once very lively. Today, Snapdragon 600 is everywhere, and Snapdragon 800 is also emerging. Qualcomm is moving fast. There are few Tegra 4 products, but their performance will never be weak. However, this is the full speed operation achieved under the suppression of fans. If it is placed in a tablet with limited size, the frequency must be reduced, and it is even more difficult to say in a mobile phone.
The second generation of Windows RT should use Tegra 4.
[GPU performance: basically comparable to Snapdragon 800]
The most common complaint of Tegra 4 is that the GPU specification is too backward, and the NV4x architecture does not support OpenGL ES 3.0, but even so, 72 units can not be underestimated.
In 3DMark, it has successfully lost all current Android platforms and is basically on a par with the Snapdragon 800 Adreno 330. Of course, it is not as good as HD4000, but I believe that Tegra 5 with Kepler architecture will make great progress next year.
The physical score of 3DMark is also noteworthy. The performance of Tegra 4 is 36% higher than that of APQ8064 1.5GHz (four Krait 300 cores) in Nexus 7. Even higher frequency processors of the same kind are not enough to catch up with Tegra 4.
The gap between the Krait 400 architecture and the Snapdragon 800 is very small, but don't forget that its frequency is 2.3GHz, and the Tegra 4 is only 1.9GHz.
In Basemark X, Tegra 4 still kills any existing devices, including the iPad 4, but Snapdragon 800 is up to 24% ahead in the same resolution.
In GFXBench 2.7.0, the theoretical test of Tegra 4 performed poorly, but the game links were good. At the same resolution, Tegra 4 basically caught up with Snapdragon 800, and reached half of HD4000.
[Flash memory performance: no surprises]
The specific flash memory particles used by SHIELD are not clear, but the performance is very general, especially the writing is quite low. Android 4.3 supports TRIM, which is critical to maintaining the long-term stability of flash memory performance. NVIDIA should also keep up as soon as possible.
[Screen quality: 720p is outdated]
Nowadays, 1080p full HD mobile phones are flying everywhere, and SHIELD 5-inch 720p phones don't seem to be of high grade. NVIDIA's explanation for this is that 1080p has little impact on image quality, but it is more drag on performance. 720p is a good balance point at present.
Anyway, the quality of this screen is not very good. The brightness and contrast are OK, but it is too small to talk about the details of the game, especially when playing with a PC.
If NVIDIA can use the 5.5 inch 1080p, it will be better. We can only look forward to the next generation.
[Battery life: too durable]
The battery capacity of 28.8Whr is not small for a device of this size, but it is much worse than a 10 inch tablet. Fortunately, the requirements for the 5-inch 720p screen are not high.
The screen brightness in the following tests is 200 nits.
The Epipt HD scene runs circularly. SHIELD persists for more than six hours, between iPad mini and iPad 4, and performs well. This means that SHIELD can play for half a day even if it is a highly demanding game.
The 720p H.264 HP 4Mbps Blu ray video playback and Tegra 4's decoding engine have lasted for 18 and a half hours, compared with less than 13 and a half hours for the iPad 4.
Wi Fi Internet access is not bad, 13 and a half hours, iPad 4 only 9 and a half hours.
Finally, the charging time. The Tegra 4 10W/2.1A charger takes less than five and a half hours, which is OK.
[Conclusion: Except for the small screen, everything else is very good]
From this experience, it can be seen that AnandTech's evaluation of SHIELD is quite high. This is the first consumer electronic mobile device of NVIDIA, which is not perfect but good enough. The appearance is exquisite, the workmanship is excellent, and the feel is good. You may worry too much, but it is unnecessary.
The only regret is that the screen is too small, and the 5-inch 720p is not up to grade at all. Now, the 5.5-inch 1080p is about the same, especially if you are not a mobile phone but a game handheld. It would be nice to add a camera.
In terms of playing games, SHIELD is also full of fun, whether in itself or through the PC, it is a good enjoyment. Although Android is not a good game platform, SHIELD brings new hope. Maybe Google should pay close attention to it and cooperate more deeply.
Although PC streaming games are still labeled as Beta, there are no major problems. The delay is very low, there are few clicks, and the game supports are extensive. NVIDIA has made good use of its desktop GPU here. If we can promote GRID cloud games again, Mr. Huang will be happier.
Let's talk about Tegra 4. Although it is not progressing smoothly, at least here, the performance is strong enough. CPU running at full speed can kill Snapdragon 800, and GPU is not much worse. It's a pity that its heating capacity is somewhat high, which increases the design difficulty in tablets and mobile phones.
