congratz, sir @scifi-fan! an addition to NSATV proud user here in PDVD =))
Thanks. I wouldn't have bought it new that's for sure.
Offhand, here's the Major differences vs. the XiaoMi Mi Box (current firmware) which also uses Android TV OS;
- support for frame rate switching like 59.94/23.976
Google na lang for those who don't know why it's significant. Nakaka nosebleed i-explain ha ha ha.
- Nougat specific advancements to Android TV such as App Switching & PIP for Live Channels.
I've been able to get these on the Mi Box but the firmware is officially still not released.
- Mounting NAS drives
This is significant. Allows one to mount not just drives attached via USB ports but also NAS type network drives. Mucho easier for those who have existing NAS (Synology, QNap etc) content. No wonder Plex users love the Nvidia Shield.
- Amazon Prime Video pre-installed.
This isn't possible using the Xiaomi at the moment. I dunno why though coz' iFlix was available on all.
- Rootable.
All though I have not tried it. Lots of information out there how to do it for the Nvidia Shield TV. Personally, I only root the chinese boxes as my comfort zone allows me to be brave enough to risk bricking them. This one... no way muna
The Mi Box has a locked (and encrypted bootloader) and there's never been a base firmware recovery for them so no way to root the Mi Box.
- Improved HDMI CeC control
On the Mi Box, I could never power up the box and include the TV/AVR (I could power off everything though). On this one possible to just power up the shield and it powers up AVR and TV.
- Nvidia
Well Duh? This is a gaming rig. The bulk of the cost is putting together a box with the graphics horsepower of Gaming PCs. Although I am NOT a gamer, the excessive processing power just ensures the box runs media fast (really fast) so decoding any video and audio codec currently known is possible without any hiccups (as long as your lan/internet can keep up).
The controller is also considered "Pro" level quality so that means mas mahal talaga components used.