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2025 is here and no new shield on the horizon.... what do you recommend for my needs below?

M

mavs4life

Member
TK Supporter
I currently have both the Shield Pro 2019 and a new Apple TV 4k. I watch IPTV and run my own personal Emby server that has a lot of 4K DV/HDR remuxes from my personal movie collection. I'm one of the few that still loves to collect disks!

I mainly want one device to be able to be great at video plapyback for IPTV as well as those remux files. The shield is amazing at this with audio passthrough for Emby/Kodi, but it's giving me a lot of issues lately and I just don't see a new one coming out anytime soon.

So here's a list of what I'm really hoping for:

1) Full audio passthrough for Dolby Atmos
2) Gigabit port for high quality stable internet connection
3) A device that can handle playback of all the video files I throw at it with ease. Dolby Vision, HDR10+, etc
4) AV1 support would be nice in the near future

I think for now, the main thing is the Shield is still the best out there, but if anyone has any better suggestions for my use case, it would be greatly appreciated!
 
I have a 2017 shield and wanted to get something newer with hopefully a good deal of future proofing built in. I finally plumped for the MINIX U8K-Ultra 8K Android Media Player It's very expensive c£230 over the festive season hopefully over 5 years plus it will be worth it they are releasing updates fairly regularly pretty active forums. It plays dolby vision atmos hdr etc fine for me i use tivimate for streaming supports up to 8k i only need 4k and it has gigabit ethernet. Must say very happy with it except for the remote but apart from not being backlit it does the job. I use this with a flint2 router as found with vpn client software on my bandwidth was throttled I have 1gig broadband this was reduced down to c300mbps with multiple different vpns. Stuck wireguard on the flint2 and I get c890mbps...I'll try anything for buffer free viewing 😉
 
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Aristotle said:
Latest Ugoos devices
Full audio pass through.
Gigabit port.
Support all audio and image codecs including av1.
Click to expand...
Very expensive those ugoos devices, the sk1 is about £240.00 from amazon. Its cheaper from aliexpress but not that much cheaper.

The switch 2 has been announced so it might follow that there will be a new nvidia once the switch 2 is released.
 
kegnkiwi said:
Very expensive those ugoos devices, the sk1 is about £240.00 from amazon. Its cheaper from aliexpress but not that much cheaper.

The switch 2 has been announced so it might follow that there will be a new nvidia once the switch 2 is released.
Click to expand...
I have the am8 which I paid £150.
The Pro version and Sk1 just have more ram and internal storage.
I wouldn’t utilise the extra RAM as I don’t game and hardly use any storage.
 
I bought the Formuler Z11 Pro Max a couple weeks ago for just under £150 from Amazon - highly recommend it. I find it buttery smooth, compared to firesticks and Apple TV!
 
Aristotle said:
Latest Ugoos devices
Full audio pass through.
Gigabit port.
Support all audio and image codecs including av1.
Click to expand...
I've been looking at the Ugoos devices.... so I appreciate seeing it mentioned. Do you think the AM8 is worth the money you spent on it? How does it compare to a Shield (if you've used one in the past)?
 
albanyshore said:
I bought the Formuler Z11 Pro Max a couple weeks ago for just under £150 from Amazon - highly recommend it. I find it buttery smooth, compared to firesticks and Apple TV!
Click to expand...
So the Formuler is awesome for IPTV playback.... unfortunately doesn't do some of the requirements I'm looking for such as Dolby Vision and Atmos.
 
mavs4life said:
I've been looking at the Ugoos devices.... so I appreciate seeing it mentioned. Do you think the AM8 is worth the money you spent on it? How does it compare to a Shield (if you've used one in the past)?
Click to expand...
It does everything I need it to but I only use it for streaming.
I haven’t used it for local content because I don’t store any media now.
I just use Debrid services for content.
So I don’t know how well they work with a local server.
It has full audio pass through and plays all the major audio and image codecs and works well in that respect.
I can’t compare it to a shield because I haven’t owned one.
I am happy with the price and how it performs for my use case.
It runs AOSP which is not everyone’s preferred choice but there are custom versions of ATV available to be flashed on the device but AOSP runs the apps I use without issue.
 
Aristotle said:
It does everything I need it to but I only use it for streaming.
I haven’t used it for local content because I don’t store any media now.
I just use Debrid services for content.
So I don’t know how well they work with a local server.
It has full audio pass through and plays all the major audio and image codecs and works well in that respect.
I can’t compare it to a shield because I haven’t owned one.
I am happy with the price and how it performs for my use case.
It runs AOSP which is not everyone’s preferred choice but there are custom versions of ATV available to be flashed on the device but AOSP runs the apps I use without issue.
Click to expand...
With AOSP are things like Netflix certified? So they work out of the box with 4K DV etc?
 
mavs4life said:
So the Formuler is awesome for IPTV playback.... unfortunately doesn't do some of the requirements I'm looking for such as Dolby Vision and Atmos.
Click to expand...
Ah ok, your requirements are fancy :blush: ... I'll watch this thread with interest. Intrigued to see what you go for. Please give feedback after a few weeks of making your purchase to let us know how happy you are with your purchase. Good luck
 
Aristotle said:
No you need a certified device for official streaming apps.
Devices running AOSP with can’t gain those certifications other than Amazon devices.
Click to expand...
That's what I thought.... It's borderline impossible to really find a replacement for the Shield in reality. It's crazy that after all these years nobody has built something that has all the same features. Apple TV is close... but no audio passthrough. I am considering a homatics 4k plus. I've tested them out in the past and they're pretty close.

I do appreciate that Nvidia just released a new update after all this time... does make me 5% hopeful that we'd get a new device at some point in the very far future.
 
albanyshore said:
Generally, how do people think the Nvidia Shield compares to Formuler Z11 Pro Max?
Click to expand...
First... yeah my requirements are a pain I know. But we've got a dedicated home theater room that we want to maximize for movie night but also be able to use for live TV etc. I think the Shield is an overall better box.... the Formuler really is/was made for IPTV playback with MyTVOnline being the main reason to buy the Formuler. If they added Dolby support though it'd be an amazing box for me and my use case.
 
mavs4life said:
That's what I thought.... It's borderline impossible to really find a replacement for the Shield in reality. It's crazy that after all these years nobody has built something that has all the same features. Apple TV is close... but no audio passthrough. I am considering a homatics 4k plus. I've tested them out in the past and they're pretty close.

I do appreciate that Nvidia just released a new update after all this time... does make me 5% hopeful that we'd get a new device at some point in the very far future.
Click to expand...
It’s because the shield was a certified gaming device running Android OS made by big company that gave it loads of support.
I personally don’t think Nvidia are in the market for making another android gaming device tbh.
I think you would be better off buying two devices one certified for official streaming apps and maybe iptv.
Then a device with full pass through and codec support for playing your remux collection.
As mentioned it’s going to be difficult to find a device that fits all your needs.
I don’t need official apps on my device as I would just run them on my TV if need be.
 
mavs4life said:
First... yeah my requirements are a pain I know. But we've got a dedicated home theater room that we want to maximize for movie night but also be able to use for live TV etc. I think the Shield is an overall better box.... the Formuler really is/was made for IPTV playback with MyTVOnline being the main reason to buy the Formuler. If they added Dolby support though it'd be an amazing box for me and my use case.
Click to expand...
Ah that all makes sense! Interestingly, I had some playlist compatibility issues with MyTVOnline on Formuler, but with the same settings I had no issues with Tivimate. Not sure if Mytvonline is that much better than Tivimate
 
Aristotle said:
It’s because the shield was a certified gaming device running Android OS made by big company that gave it loads of support.
I personally don’t think Nvidia are in the market for making another android gaming device tbh.
I think you would be better off buying two devices one certified for official streaming apps and maybe iptv.
Then a device with full pass through and codec support for playing your remux collection.
As mentioned it’s going to be difficult to find a device that fits all your needs.
I don’t need official apps on my device as I would just run them on my TV if need be.
Click to expand...
I agree with every reason you said as to why Nvidia made it and why nobody has come close.... and I agree that Nvidia wants to make another one as well unfortunately. My hope was that they would want to make a dedicated GeForce Now device though that would be great... but the profits probably just wouldn't be there for them.
 
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