The Shield Controller is naturally modeled after the Shield Portable, with a similar control layout and feel. Its shape is comfortable, but a bit undersized for my large hands. The balance feels just right; it’s not overly heavy. Gaming controls consist of a D-pad, dual clickable analog sticks, four buttons (X, Y, A, B), two bumpers, and two triggers.
My only complaint about the controls is that the trigger buttons' throw is a bit long. It doesn’t take much travel to activate them, while there’s a lot of extra travel afterwards that doesn’t seem necessary. To be fair, my trigger finger is accustomed to a mouse button, so gamers more accustomed to a controller might not share my opinion.
The controller offers additional features beyond the obvious. Its green, triangular Nvidia button turns the controller on/off, pairs it with the tablet and launches the Shield Hub app. Surrounding the Nvidia button are three capacitive buttons used for navigating within games and the Android UI. Centered below the triangle is the Home button, which functions as the standard Android Home button. Double-tapping it opens the task switcher and long-pressing launches Google Now for issuing voice commands (a microphone is located above the triangular Nvidia button). There’s also a Back button for Android that, when long-pressed, opens the Nvidia Share menu for connecting to Twitch, offline recording and taking screenshots. The Start button may be used for PC gaming functions.
The right joystick controls an on-screen mouse cursor. For finer control, or when the right joystick is unavailable during a game, there’s a small capacitive, clickable touch pad for mouse navigation duties. Its sensitivity is adjustable, and while not as smooth as a laptop track pad, it works well enough for basic navigation. If the tablet is out of reach (like when it’s connected to a TV) and you find it necessary to enter some text, the touch pad works with the on-screen keyboard. That's not ideal, obviously, but it's far better than using a numeric keypad on a TV remote.
Below the touch pad is a momentary rocker switch for controlling volume. Pressing both sides simultaneously mutes the sound, which is the only functionality it provides when connected to a TV.
The front of the controller has a micro-USB 2.0 port for charging the Li-ion battery and a headphone jack that supports headsets with microphones. Having the headphone jack on the controller is convenient; it maintains the absence of wires between you and the tablet.
- The Nvidia Shield Tablet And Controller: Defending Against Boredom
- Availability, Options And Accessories
- Shield Tablet: Look And Feel
- Shield Controller: Look And Feel
- Software Tour
- Stylus And Inking
- Console Mode And GameStream
- Grid, ShadowPlay And Twitch
- The Games
- Benchmark Suite, Methodology And System Specs
- Results: CPU Core Benchmarks
- Results: HTML5 And JavaScript Benchmarks
- Results: GPU Core Benchmarks
- Results: GPGPU Benchmarks
- Results: Display Measurements
- Results: Battery And Throttling
- A Multifaceted Shield Worth Carrying Into Battle


Lol this is epic! xD
Anyway, great and unique review. Especially for the so many GPGPU benchmarks.
Nvidia tablet at $299 seems to be a great buy.
I know people are excited about the raw performance of this tablet. But, other than raw GPU power, EVERYTHING else is compromised.
-matt64
After clarifying this with Nvidia, only the press kits included the cable. The retail boxes do NOT include the HDMI cable. I'm sorry for the confusion and we'll update the article to correct this.
-matt64
P.S.
How is the heat on the thing after a few hours in warm weather?
Heat can cause lock ups (as you will know); but maybe its a software thing that will be ironed out.
I was hoping it would be smoothe and excellent; but I knew it would get hot. Too slim you see. Look at the PS Vita as comparrison. Chunky and cool.
The heat was not an issue I was thinking about when I mentioned a design flaw for gaming (I have a neat solution for).
Although the heat issue did give me the idea for a slot on the back of the unit (maybe magnetic) to put 6mm thick (30mm diameter) frozen metal wafers in located on the back near the CPU/GPU housing, so that it can drop the heat off a bit during an hours play. You get a kit of two or three or somthing; keep one in the freezer and swop them.
Nobody plays them all day do they?
For general browsing, should not be required; but when you start pushing the graphics, they be pretty handy on a hot day.
My Terga 4 smartphone has automatically shut itself down due to overheating itself a hundred times in summers in the Far East..
10,000 ideas.
nice.