Nvidia will soon offer its Shield TV set-top box in a cheaper configuration in hopes of appealing to non-gamers.
The new Shield TV bundle will include the set-top box and remote control for $179. That’s a $20 discount over the current cheapest bundle although notably, the new kit won’t include Nvidia’s gamepad.
If you have zero interest in gaming, the cheaper bundle could be appealing. Then again, the Shield controller is worth more than the $20 discount Nvidia is offering. My advice would be to get the $199 bundle then sell the controller on eBay and come out ahead.
The news comes one day before Apple’s new 4K-enabled media streaming box launches. It, too, starts at $179.
Nvidia earlier this year updated its Shield TV box with Android 7.0 and support for HDR content. The streamer also became compatible with Google Assistant and added Amazon Prime Video support. Apple still hasn’t added support for Amazon Prime Video (it’s in the works, however).
Nvidia will continue to offer the aforementioned controller bundle for $199 as well as the Nvidia Shield Pro with 500GB of storage for $299 (both lower-tier Shields include 16GB of local storage). All are powered by Tegra X1 hardware.
The remote-only Shield TV bundle is available to pre-order as of writing and launches on October 18.