NVIDIA SHIELD Controller – Android

Adding an update to help, I have a shield tablet K1 and it connects fine. You have to go to settings – Bluetooth on Android and connect. Make sure the controller is in pairing mode (hold down the Nvidia power button until the light blinks) and on your Android device there shiould be a refresh button if needed. I have even connected this to my note 4 with no issues so do not listen to anyone saying it is not compatible with the shield K1. Game streaming, local games, and the shield exclusives like half-life 2 all worked fine.—-—original reviewMuch improved over the previous gen Shield controller. For anyone that has one of those I can safely say this is worth the upgrade.Buttons:-They definitely reworked the A B X Y buttons to be more firm. They are not mushy and are feel more solid than the previous generation.-The L2, R2 triggers are more like the Sony PS4 controller triggers now, and have a good response to them.-The Analog sticks are much improved and are not slippery like the previous gen was (I had to use PS4 stick covers so my fingers wouldn’t slip on the previous gen controller). It feels more like an Xbox analog stick for grip.-The power “touch pad” is gone and replaced with a physical power “button” that you push down to turn on… Thank you Nvidia this was much needed.-The DPAD… my one hope was that they would improve this, and they did. The previous gen was mushy and made it hard to play emulators. I am happy to say that this is like the Xbox One S or Elite controller DPAD. Each direction on mine is clicky and very responsive.Feel:-This controller has a cold metallic feel, and the build quality is night and day compared to the creaky old controller.-The smaller form factor of the controller feels nicer in your hand (my personal preference).Connection and Latency:-I am OCD for controllers and controller lag. I have compared this against 2 previous gen Shield controllers, a Moga Power, Gamesir G3s and G4s, and the Xbox one S controller. My biggest worry with them going to Bluetooth from the previous Wifi Direct was input latency increasing. I am happy to report that when I was doing my tests the controller appears to be on par with the Wifi Direct previous gen. I saw no noticeable latency doing jumps in Mario and other emulator games. For comparison, the Moga Power has tons of input latency and should be avoided.

The polygon design is a little angular to hold and the grip is a bit smooth. It winds up feeling a bit smaller than my other PS3/4 layout controller, but is aesthetically pleasing to look at, comes with a decent length B-type cable printed with the Shield logo, and has a standby time of weeks and weeks. I have large hands and am in fact extremely clumsy (I have problems with my joints), but unlike an actual PS4 I didn’t find myself sliding into the home button, nor was my left thumb hurting like with an xBox layout. The action of the trigger buttons would have been enough to compensate for slightly-less comfort, if it wasn’t so plagued by software issues.First, I will state I was gifted a Shield Tablet, which is fraught with its own issues, but I have persevered with its use regardless. Nvidia was trying to create an exclusive, all-inclusive experience where one could stream games from their PC to anywhere in the house using their unique hardware and software combination. Thus, this is the only controller to work with it out of the box. However, lo and behold, even buying the 2nd gen Bluetooth version — meaning it *should* be able to pair in a fairly standard way — I couldn’t use it with my desktop at all because I actually run AMD. My friend, the gifter of the tablet, had just assumed I ran Nvidia like most people.I thought, no prob, just some simple DRM baloney, I’ll sort it out. Won’t be the first time patching a device driver. But wait! To get the *true* driver, I needed the Nvidia Shield Experience — which I couldn’t download because I run AMD. At that point, the thing sat in a box for months. I kept using the buggy tablet, since it was at least better than my 2nd gen Fire, fought with the Wi-Fi and laggy keyboard, and emulated Nintendo DS visual novels. Then I started using the controller so I could prop the tablet somewhere and stuff my face without reaching across and keep hanging buttons in the meanwhile, because I prefer the term tactical energy expenditure, but truth is I’m rather lazy.Lo and behold I turned around and enlisted.Being still highly “tactical,” I decided to invest in a laptop, an MSI Leopard Pro x64 something something, Nvidia GTX 1060 advertised as 6GB dedicated DDR5 g-RAM made bingo (apparently there are two different mobile 1060’s???), yeah? Got it all set up, to learn that I STILL couldn’t pair it up as a wireless controller, so why didn’t I just stick with my old Logitech Rumblepad?! Sure, it’s not a xinput device and has to be patched into 95% of everything, but it was wired for only half the price or LESS! I’ve honestly had it so long I’ve forgotten what I paid!And for the icing on the cake, I learned that leaving the Shield controller plugged in and allowing the laptop to sleep then wake up leads to a BSoD. Perfect! I definitely spent a week getting my software up-to-date and doing a fresh install of my 125 Skyrim mods on the world’s slowest internet — good ole barracks Wi-Fi! — to have a heart stopping moment of panic staring at that first bluescreen.The real kicker is that if Nvidia just released it as a standard bluetooth peripheral instead of making it’s exclusivity the foremost point, it probably would have been a lovely little controller. I absolutely adore the idea of chilling with my tablet while my computer whirs away elsewhere, or even just pressing though Ace Attorney or Professor Layton, but for a controller that costs this much to not transfer back to the computer isn’t worth it. I really wanted to believe. I held out on reviewing until after I tried it as intended, with a pure GeForce experience. And I was disappointed.

I bought a 2017 Nvidia Shield TV about 6 months ago. I wanted an extra controller for 2-player games so I ordered this controller. First off, let me say that I love the design of this controller. It has a faceted surface that is really futuristic and modern looking. It is not your boring, everyday controller. Despite all the edges along the facets, it is really comfortable in your hands. I am an adult woman I do not find the controller too big or too small. My small son can also play with this controller with no problem. This controller is completely wireless, with a small charing port at the top center of the controller. A headphone jack can be found at the bottom center of the controller.The button shaped like an upside down triangle at the top center can be pressed to execute voice searches on the Shield. The smooth vertical surface between the thumbsticks can be swiped to toggle volume up or down (or you can double tap it to pause and start video). The small, black buttons at the bottom center of the controller can be used to navigate “back”, to start/stop a video or to launch screen capturing on the Shield. There are a couple shoulder buttons as well as two triggers at the top of the controller. Anyone familiar with an xBox controller should be comfortable using this controller.I immediately fell in love with this controller, but it proved to be short-lived. After 2-3 weeks of using this controller, I found that this controller started to fail. When playing games, my character would sporadically start running the wrong way or continue to run after I had stopped. Upon closer inspection, I found that this was because the left thumbstick was sticking while I tried to play a game. Just looking, it was almost imperceptible. However, by examining the controller closely, one could find the thumbstick just barely leaning on direction or another…stuck. I sent my original controller back and received another. However, after about a week or two the same problem came up. I was going to attempt a third remote, but instead decided to just use my existing GameSir remotes and save my money. I figured that if I received two bad remotes in a row, the chances of a third bad one were very high.If not for the sticky buttons, this would be a five star product. Unfortunately, these are not durable gaming controllers in my experience.

This controller does feel better in the hand than the 1st generation controller that came with my Shield TV but the left analog stick on the controller I received has started to register false inputs in the forward position. I have had the controller for a couple of years but have barely used it. I use a remote for most of the functions on the Shield TV and haven’t played many games on the console. I recently decided to start streaming games that I didn’t mind using a controller on from gaming pc to the living room just to find out that this controller that’s barely been used keeps registering false inputs like the stick is stuck in the forward position.

When I got my Nvidia Shield TV Pro (2019), I was not sure which controller to use for gaming. The recommended ones included Dual Shock 4, among others. The Dual Shock 4 one didn’t work well and was a disappointment. The official controller that comes with the Nvidia Shields is the best option. I have had mine for a few days now and I like it. The voice command use is even better than the Nvidia remote itself!! I can now play the Nvidia games with ease as well as us the controller as a remote for my Shield. Great product.