Nexus 9.... I went with a SHIELD Tablet instead

[littleemp]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

First the price of the Shield is $299 and the Nexus 9 is $399 for the same 16GB of internal memory. Not even close to double the price. If a $100 is that much then you should consider the Nexus 7 that is a $100 less than the Shield as a bigger bargain.

However for $100 more than the Shield the Nexus 9 has many more improved features over the Shield.

The N9 has HTC's Boom Sound that alone is worth a lot of the price differences.

The N9 has faster CPU clock speed that is 4.55% faster CPU clock speed plus 7 Superscalers execution paths vs 3 in the Shield.

The N9 has Clearly higher resolution of 28% higher resolution of 2048x1440 px vs the Shield's 1920x1200 px

The N9 has 11.25% bigger screen size of 8.9 " vs Shield's 8 "

The N9 is Thinner 7.9 mm vs Shield's 9.2 mm

The N9 camera has a flash LED and has more megapixels of 8 MP vs The Shield's 5 MP

The N9 has optional 32 GB internal storage vs the Shield's 16 GB which does have SD expansion port even if Apps can't be stored on the SD card without hacking it.

The N9 is Is DLNA certified which allow devices connected to the same network to transferred easily between them. The Shield isn't DLNA certified.

The N9 has a fast 802.11ac WiFi connection where the Shield has the older Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band.

The N9 has three full subpixels per pixel, resulting in a sharp and crisp picture. Pixels in some displays (like AMOLED) share one subpixel to preserve space. This can result in a less crisp, slightly blurred image.

The N9 has Nvidia Tegra K1 (64-bit) CPU and the Shield has Nvidia Tegra K1 (32-bit). The N9 is more Future Proof by a much wider margin.

The N9 Supports ECC memory the Shield doesn't. Error-correcting code memory can detect and correct data corruption. It is used when is it essential to avoid corruption, such as scientific computing or when running a server.

HTC Nexus 9 vs Nvidia Shield Tablet - Tablets Specs Comparison

some of your comparisons are a little off (to the advantage of the Nexus 9 though):

1.) The CPU frequencies can't really be directly compared and drawn any conclusions, because of how vastly different the micro architectures are. The Denver cores are deceptively faster than it would seem to an otherwise uneducated bystander.

2.) The N9 having a 4:3 screen means that it has an even bigger usable screen than an 8.9" 16:10 tablet would.

3.) Don't forget that SD cards are still using the insecure FAT file system for their partitions, which is just no bueno if you care a little about privacy.

4.) Subjectively speaking, the Nexus 9 appears to have a much better build quality/feel than the Shield Tablet does.

5.) Access to a much faster update schedule.

6.) Possibly better power consumption, because the denver cores aren't based on the A15 ARM design.

I disagree with a lot of the things you've said in this thread, but you're quite correct this time on individual facts and that the Nvidia Shield Tablet is, by no means, a superior device (or even comparable device).

 

[Aredubu]

Re: Nexus 9.... I went with a Shield tablet instead

Don't forget about the larger battery in the Nexus 9.

 

[warpdrive]

First the price of the Shield is $299 and the Nexus 9 is $399 for the same 16GB of internal memory. Not even close to double the price. If a $100 is that much then you should consider the Nexus 7 that is a $100 less than the Shield as a bigger bargain.

However for $100 more than the Shield the Nexus 9 has many more improved features over the Shield.

The N9 has HTC's Boom Sound that alone is worth a lot of the price differences.

The N9 has faster CPU clock speed that is 4.55% faster CPU clock speed plus 7 Superscalers execution paths vs 3 in the Shield.

The N9 has Clearly higher resolution of 28% higher resolution of 2048x1440 px vs the Shield's 1920x1200 px

The N9 has 11.25% bigger screen size of 8.9 " vs Shield's 8 "

The N9 is Thinner 7.9 mm vs Shield's 9.2 mm

The N9 camera has a flash LED and has more megapixels of 8 MP vs The Shield's 5 MP

The N9 has optional 32 GB internal storage vs the Shield's 16 GB which does have SD expansion port even if Apps can't be stored on the SD card without hacking it.

The N9 is Is DLNA certified which allow devices connected to the same network to transferred easily between them. The Shield isn't DLNA certified.

The N9 has a fast 802.11ac WiFi connection where the Shield has the older Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band.

The N9 has three full subpixels per pixel, resulting in a sharp and crisp picture. Pixels in some displays (like AMOLED) share one subpixel to preserve space. This can result in a less crisp, slightly blurred image.

The N9 has Nvidia Tegra K1 (64-bit) CPU and the Shield has Nvidia Tegra K1 (32-bit). The N9 is more Future Proof by a much wider margin.

The N9 Supports ECC memory the Shield doesn't. Error-correcting code memory can detect and correct data corruption. It is used when is it essential to avoid corruption, such as scientific computing or when running a server.

HTC Nexus 9 vs Nvidia Shield Tablet - Tablets Specs Comparison

1) with both at 32 gig, and both with LTE, you're now talking $400 vs $600.

2) the nexus 9 has 2 front facing speakers, like in my m8. Call it boomsound if you want, but the shield tablet not only has 2 front facing speakers, but also 2 bass ports. The shield tablet wins this argument.

3) with all the current benchmarks the Nexus wins some, and losses some. None by a mile.

4) sure the resolution is higher on the nexus. This is both a plus and a minus in some ways. It wins in e-books and Web, but could lose in gaming... More testing is needed.

5) screen size you can't call a winner. Some will love the larger screen. Some will hate that it is not as portable as the shield. The shield is far more friendly to hold with one hand.

6) the shield is thicker. It also has a mini hdmi port, two bass ports and an SD slot. All for 1 extra mm.

7) I agree with your wifi claim. But most people don't even have an AC router, and an n router is still fast enough to stream games from your PC or California.

8) sure the back facing camera is slightly better on the nexus. But the front facing camera on the shield is allot better then the nexus and can do picture in picture by default when recording say a game that you are playing.... It even has twitch streaming built in. Shield wins again in this debate.


Don't get me wrong. The nexus 9 is an awesome tablet. It's just not a gaming tablet. And games are the most intensive thing you are going to do on a tablet. I'm not even going to care about Web speed or pdf/e-books speed.... The difference is too tiny for me to care.

Posted via Android Central App using the all new HTC One (m8)

 

[quadtronix]

You say that the N9 wins no Bechmarks by a mile but what about Geekbench 3 (Single Core)? GSMArena says: "The Nexus 9 was just announced yesterday so there are no reviews out but there is a Geekbench 3 score. It shows impressive single-core performance – the 2.2GHz Cortex-A15 in the NVIDIA Shield manages 1,088 while the Denver core scores 1,903." That's almost double the Speed...

They also state: "The one in the new Nexus 9 tablet, however, is the interesting one – it's based on NVIDIA's first custom processor core design, dubbed Denver. The processor has only two cores but similar to Apple's Ax chipsets they are noticeably more powerful than their Cortex and Krait counterparts."

So according to GSMArena the N9 version of Tegra K1 is "noticeably more powerful"... or at least that's how I understood it...

 

[quadtronix]

Here's a picture...

 

[warpdrive]

Here's a picture...

View attachment 144348

And that's my point...
With geekbench3, we now know that we can open our YouTube app 1 milliseconds faster then the shield tablet. Such tests mean nothing to me as such results are meaningless. Now if you stated that with the new Denver SoC I'll get 60 frames per second at all times in CoD5, then I'll listen. Otherwise I'll have to just take typical benchmarks at face value, and that value is minimal compared to real world results.

Again, much more testing is needed at this time. But understanding the results is even more important. That geekbench3 result doesn't show me much at all unless you want to show that the nexus 9 will sharpen a photo for you faster then the shield tablet.

Posted via Android Central App using the all new HTC One (m8)

 

[angry english]

Here's a picture...

View attachment 144348

You forgot to add the multi core results, if we are going to bleat on about benchmarks at least include all the tests, these things mean nothing, they do not represent real world usage regardless..... and to the guy still making the N7 comparison.... still not a good comparison with nothing in the 2 tablets shared apart from ram

 

[MrSlippery519]

Don't get me wrong. The nexus 9 is an awesome tablet. It's just not a gaming tablet. And games are the most intensive thing you are going to do on a tablet. I'm not even going to care about Web speed or pdf/e-books speed.... The difference is too tiny for me to care.

I think this is the key, at the end of the day both tablets are great and it really depends what you are using the tablet for. Once you know what your primary usage will be, you should then be able to look at both the N9 and Shield yourself and see clearly which is the better buy (again for your needs).

Both are premium tablets

 

[quadtronix]

You forgot to add the multi core results, if we are going to bleat on about benchmarks at least include all the tests, these things mean nothing, they do not represent real world usage regardless..... and to the guy still making the N7 comparison.... still not a good comparison with nothing in the 2 tablets shared apart from ram

View attachment 144387

According to Android Authority: "Gaming, and other CPU intensive tasks, traditionally demand stronger single core performance", which is one reason I only included that benchmark... The other reason is that I was specifically responding to warpdrive who claimed that the new Tegra K1 doesn't beat the old one by a mile in any benchmarks. The Geekbench 3 (Single Core) chart is the one that illustrates that it does in fact have "noticably more powerful" performance and that's why I included that one...

I also want to point out that this is in fact a Nexus 9 Forum and in your original post you asked for thoughts on why anyone would choose the Nexus 9 over the Shield Tablet... Obviously some people are going to defend the N9 as this is the N9 forums but I can only speak for myself when I say that they both look like great tablets to me. The reasons I went with the N9 for $100 more were previously stated by myself and others but just to recap...
-Higher Resolution
-Faster SOC
-64 Bit
-Higher capacity battery
-Larger Screen
-Nexus (Early Updates/First Android L Device)

Those are my reasons... The Shield was high on my list but I'm giving the N9 a try first. The Shield is very tempting but the size is very close to the N7 which I already own and for my use cases I think the N9 is a better fit for me. I don't game much on tablets, that's what my Shield Portable and Xbox are for. So both these tablets are probably overkill for my use case but I like to future proof my purchases as much as possible and who knows, maybe I'll wind up throwing some games on the N9 at some point.

 

[angry english]

So.... i held out all this time.... i wasnt gonna do it, nope i wasnt buying a Nexus 9......

Just spent $479 and pick up in 1 hour from bestbuy.... 32gb black..... the inner geek would not let me pass up new tech.... so today i will do a side by side of the Shield Tablet and the Nexus 9

my poor bank account

 

[jstwondrng]

So.... i held out all this time.... i wasnt gonna do it, nope i wasnt buying a Nexus 9......

Just spent $479 and pick up in 1 hour from bestbuy.... 32gb black..... the inner geek would not let me pass up new tech.... so today i will do a side by side of the Shield Tablet and the Nexus 9

my poor bank account

Congrats! I'm hoping that the "sand" version is released soon... It is killing me not to buy one of the other colors in lieu of the "sand" color.

J

 

[angry english]

Congrats! I'm hoping that the "sand" version is released soon... It is killing me not to buy one of the other colors in lieu of the "sand" color.

J

I really like the sand color and would have loved one but after 2 minutes of thought i figured i wouldnt see the sand backing anyways due to a case. I`m happy thats its the black version they have in stock, hopefully its more soft touch than the white like the Nexus 5 was

 

[BlazeHN]

So for the previous list of N9 only win features, I wanted to add some for the Shield side.

N9 - Dual Core
Shield - Quad Core

N9 - 4:3 format, which means ackward black bars on screen while consuming media.
Shield - 16:9 format, current format for almost all movies, games, etc.

N9 - Less portable and with squared form.
Shield - More portable and with wider form (easier to hold one handed).

N9 - No Micro SD Slot
Shield - Micro SD Slot, and yes, you can move large bulk data apps, like Half Life 2, Modern Combat 5, etc. to your 64 or 128 GB Class 10 Micro SD, you just leave the Apk file (tinny one) on the internal memory and the heavy gigs of bulk goes to the Micro SD.

N9 - 2 Front Speakers
Shield - 2 Front Speakers + 2 Side Bass Speakers

N9 - No Stylus
Shield - Stylus with Nvidia Dabbler Software.

N9 - No HDMI Slot
Shield - HDMI Slot

N9 - 1.6 MP front camera
Shield - 5 MP front camera (Twitch optimized).

N9 - $399
Shield - $299

And thats it with the normal features comparision, now lets change the page into other wider category of comparison: Dedicated Gaming Features (and with that I dont mean just instaling and running Play Store games), only gamers will care about this of course but its a plus overall.

N9 - None
Shield - Exclusive Wifi Direct Gamepad optimized for the Shield only.
- Console Mode which support multi controllers and fullscreen with no on screen buttons.
- Local PC Games Streaming (Play your AAA 2014 PC Games with max specs on your
Android tablet via your local wifi)
- Remote PC Game Streaming (Play those same games even away from home)
- GRID Gaming Streaming (Netflix like service but for PC Games even if you dont own a
Gaming Rig)
- Exclusive PC Games Optimized to run locally on the Shield only.
- Native Gamepad Mapper for any non Gamepad Support Game or App.
- Native build in Twitch support.

So, there is no way to see the Shield as an "inferior" device only because of the 32 bits vs 64 bits processor, since that is something very subtle to the current and real life, user end. Its just a matter of needs and taste IMO on which of this two premium tablets you should chose.

 

[SwiftHax]

Gaming on the Nexus 9? Last time I checked all power demanding titles like Half Life 2, Portal and Trine 2 are all Shield exclusive.

Seriously, both of these are fine tablets, but they're meant for different people. Nexus 9 is for media consumption, Nvidia Shield is for gaming. Which you decide is up to you.

 

[NicksGarage]

Enjoy your choice. A lot of those things either don't matter or are negatives against the Shield. Especially the format.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk.