Stuff - UK (2020-01)

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The Fire TV interface is easy to use and all the big catch-up

services are available, plus Netflix, Apple TV and of course

Prime Video. Voice control works brilliantly, and not having to

worry about losing the remote any more is an absolute joy.

Powerful streaming skills aside, the Shield TV is designed for

gamers. You can play Android titles on it, but if you’ve got a

PC with an Nvidia graphics card you can use GameStream to

beam Steam games straight to the Shield. It works superbly.

This not-quite-cube has just four buttons – two for volume,
one to mute the mics and one to call Alexa manually – but you
shouldn’t need them. Setup involves signing in to Amazon and
downloading the apps you want on your Fire TV home screen.

The Shield TV is a discreet cylinder designed to hide beneath

your telly, and comes with a quirky Toblerone-shaped

remote. This has all the usual buttons plus a mic for voice

control and one customisable shortcut button.

First it was lights, then security cams... now Alexa’s come for

your telly. The Fire TV Cube not only delivers 4K streaming

services to your living room – it also aims to give you almost

total hands-free voice control of your gogglebox.

A streaming device with added gaming smarts, this is

Nvidia’s most affordable Android TV gadget to date. It

supports 4K and is compatible with Dolby Vision and Dolby

Atmos for a truly cinematic experience.

Max resolution 4K HDR

Connectivity HDMI, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet

Storage 8GB (plus microSD)

Audio support Dolby Atmos

Voice control Google Assistant, Alexa

Dimensions 165x40x40mm, 599g

Max resolution 4K HDR

Connectivity HDMI, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microUSB

Storage 16GB

Audio support Dolby Atmos

Voice control Alexa

Dimensions 86x86x77mm, 465g

O Price £110 / stuff.tv/FireTVCube O Price £150 / stuff.tv/ShieldTV

The Shield TV rules for gaming, but Amazon’s canny cuboid is a marvel of voice control

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+++++ STUFF SAYS ++++,

Amazon Fire TV Cube Nvidia Shield TV

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Swank zappers

The RAM’d wazoo

The Shield TV is

powered by Android

TV in combination

with Nvidia’s Tegra

X1+ processor and

2GB of RAM.

Boxy & elsewhere

Done with telly for

the night? The Fire

TV Cube can also

be used to control

other smart home

gadgets via Alexa.

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