When you have revenue topping a billion dollars, you can afford to take a few risks. That's exactly what NVIDIA did when it released the original SHIELD back in 2013. Fast forward to today and SHIELD has become a whole ecosystem. The original device, now referred to as SHIELD Portable, catered to hardcore PC gamers looking for a little more mobility than a laptop provides. The follow-up, the SHIELD Tablet, provided a more mainstream device and was the most powerful tablet available at the time. Continuing the trend of one new SHIELD device per year, this year we have the SHIELD Android TV.

The SHIELD Android TV is like a super-charged SHIELD Tablet without the screen. As the name implies, it runs Android OS and it connects to your TV. The retail edition ships with everything you need to get started: the unit, a game controller, a power cable, a USB cable, and an HDMI cable. There are also two optional accessories you can purchase separately: a remote and a stand. The fact that the retail bundle comes with a controller and not a remote should tell you exactly what crowd NVIDIA is catering to; although that shouldn't really be surprising.

So how does the SHIELD Android TV stack up against its brethren and the competition? Let's find out.