Roku Ultra vs Nvidia Shield Pro vs Apple TV 4k - Which one to choose?

neogen

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Looking for inputs that can help me select a decent streaming player.

Choice is between Roku Ultra vs Nvidia Shield Pro vs Apple TV 4k.

My current set-up includes:

- 75 inch 4k TV
- Denon AVR with 5.1.2
- Firestick 4k

Major usage: 50%OTT 40% HD/4k movie playback through Kodi, 10% misc

Looking for a reliable streaming device that can:
- play 4k content, Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR 10+
- Dolby Audio (Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos), DTS passthru, and other to fully leverage current 5.1.2
- Streaming content 4k for Netflix, Prime, Zee, Disney Hotstar.. and others

Apple 4k & Nvidia Shield pro are somewhat at same price point, while Roku Ultra is at almost half of the price.

Please suggest which one should I pick-up ?
 
Looking for inputs that can help me select a decent streaming player.

Choice is between Roku Ultra vs Nvidia Shield Pro vs Apple TV 4k.

My current set-up includes:

- 75 inch 4k TV
- Denon AVR with 5.1.2
- Firestick 4k

Major usage: 50%OTT 40% HD/4k movie playback through Kodi, 10% misc

Looking for a reliable streaming device that can:
- play 4k content, Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR 10+
- Dolby Audio (Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos), DTS passthru, and other to fully leverage current 5.1.2
- Streaming content 4k for Netflix, Prime, Zee, Disney Hotstar.. and others

Apple 4k & Nvidia Shield pro are somewhat at same price point, while Roku Ultra is at almost half of the price.

Please suggest which one should I pick-up ?
If only OTT go for Apple TV. Shield main advantage over apple is playing local content from usb or streaming blu ray files through kodi. So if you are not going to make use of local play back or kodi then Apple TV is the best choice
 
Cheapest and best option is Google chromecast with google tv. Comes for around HKD 400 (approx INR 3,900). Only way is to figure out how to source it. It does Dolby Atmos + Vision etc for the least possible price.
 
Go for Nvidia shield not sure about the os for roku..avoid apple for the umpteen restrictions... Just one example You can sideload any unavailable apps + tv watching apps on android which is not possible on apple
 
Looking for inputs that can help me select a decent streaming player.

Choice is between Roku Ultra vs Nvidia Shield Pro vs Apple TV 4k.

My current set-up includes:

- 75 inch 4k TV
- Denon AVR with 5.1.2
- Firestick 4k

Major usage: 50%OTT 40% HD/4k movie playback through Kodi, 10% misc

Looking for a reliable streaming device that can:
- play 4k content, Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR 10+
- Dolby Audio (Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos), DTS passthru, and other to fully leverage current 5.1.2
- Streaming content 4k for Netflix, Prime, Zee, Disney Hotstar.. and others

Apple 4k & Nvidia Shield pro are somewhat at same price point, while Roku Ultra is at almost half of the price.

Please suggest which one should I pick-up ?
Local playback via USB or Network?
If former, shield ..
If latter then you have a decision to make: without going into excessive detail, get the atv if you use ios else shield
 
Looking for inputs that can help me select a decent streaming player.

Choice is between Roku Ultra vs Nvidia Shield Pro vs Apple TV 4k.

My current set-up includes:

- 75 inch 4k TV
- Denon AVR with 5.1.2
- Firestick 4k

Major usage: 50%OTT 40% HD/4k movie playback through Kodi, 10% misc

Looking for a reliable streaming device that can:
- play 4k content, Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR 10+
- Dolby Audio (Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos), DTS passthru, and other to fully leverage current 5.1.2
- Streaming content 4k for Netflix, Prime, Zee, Disney Hotstar.. and others

Apple 4k & Nvidia Shield pro are somewhat at same price point, while Roku Ultra is at almost half of the price.

Please suggest which one should I pick-up ?
I am afraid but none of the Streamers score "best" in all cases you listed
You will have to invest into AppleTV for OTT and into Shield Pro for Kodi

I use Xbox One S for my OTT streaming and I am happy with sound and picture quality.
 
If only OTT go for Apple TV. Shield main advantage over apple is playing local content from usb or streaming blu ray files through kodi. So if you are not going to make use of local play back or kodi then Apple TV is the best choice

Go for Nvidia shield not sure about the os for roku..avoid apple for the umpteen restrictions... Just one example You can sideload any unavailable apps + tv watching apps on android which is not possible on apple

Kodi is must. And yes, Apple TV seems way to restrictive.

So, I guess Apple TV is out.
Local playback via USB or Network?
If former, shield ..
If latter then you have a decision to make: without going into excessive detail, get the atv if you use ios else shield
Local playback is through network. I have a 10TB NAS server.

Cheapest and best option is Google chromecast with google tv. Comes for around HKD 400 (approx INR 3,900). Only way is to figure out how to source it. It does Dolby Atmos + Vision etc for the least possible price.
Will look into this, however, budget is not the constraint.

I am afraid but none of the Streamers score "best" in all cases you listed
You will have to invest into AppleTV for OTT and into Shield Pro for Kodi

I use Xbox One S for my OTT streaming and I am happy with sound and picture quality.
Agree none of them seems to be best.

BTW, I just checked can't install Kodi on Roku Ultra. Roku Ultra seems to be interesting, however its a closed system and can't install any apk.

Between, Shield pro and Shield normal, which one to consider.
 
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Kodi is must. And yes, Apple TV seems way to restrictive.

So, I guess Apple TV is out.

Local playback is through network. I have a 10TB NAS server.


Will look into this, however, budget is not the constraint.


Agree none of them seems to be best.

BTW, I just checked can't install Kodi on Roku Ultra. Roku Ultra seems to be interesting, however its a closed system and can't install any apk.

Between, Shield pro and Shield normal, which one to consider.
There are no restrictions per se.
The way I see it, people who want to use their streaming box as a multi-purpose device (e.g. Plex server on the same device) would be better served by Android (Shield TV)
While people who want to use their streaming box as an appliance (i.e. purely as a playback device) would be better served by ATV
 
Looking for inputs that can help me select a decent streaming player.

Choice is between Roku Ultra vs Nvidia Shield Pro vs Apple TV 4k.

My current set-up includes:

- 75 inch 4k TV
- Denon AVR with 5.1.2
- Firestick 4k

Major usage: 50%OTT 40% HD/4k movie playback through Kodi, 10% misc

Looking for a reliable streaming device that can:
- play 4k content, Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR 10+
- Dolby Audio (Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos), DTS passthru, and other to fully leverage current 5.1.2
- Streaming content 4k for Netflix, Prime, Zee, Disney Hotstar.. and others

Apple 4k & Nvidia Shield pro are somewhat at same price point, while Roku Ultra is at almost half of the price.

Please suggest which one should I pick-up ?
For OTT content, you can pick any of the 3 options. AppleTV and Roku may be better as they are focused for OTT and may offer a better UI/look and feel.
For offline content, nothing beats the shield tv pro. It also supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD passthrough which the AppleTV and Roku do not.

PS: I do not own/use any of the above players. The opinion above is based on my research and hunting through various AV forums. I have also decided to go with Shield TV Pro, waiting for someone to get it for me from US :)
 
Apple TV is too restrictive when you don't have your iphone, macbook nearby. Playing Music bit perfect sucks. The apple music app on android is lousy and uses the android system which resamples everything to 48k. Airplay will give you cd quality music (44.1 KHz). Watching movies on atv is as good as firestick though. Also using the atv for music without switcing on the TV is next to impossible unless you are ok to use low resolution airplay

If you have firestick, you can install the apple tv app on firestick and get the same functionality of atv at fraction of the cost. Additionally you can enable the apple music skill in alexa and play music on itunes store by saying "Alexa play beatles from apple music". If you have firestick you will not miss atv.

EDIT: Another reason why you shouldn't go for atv. The 240v power cord goes inside the atv. In reality after rectification and a bulk capacitor on the high voltage you actually get 240 * 1.414 = 339 volts which then get switched by the smps to give 5v and 3.3v. Having a switching regulator next to a circuit for playing high quality music is a total no no. Amazon got it right by de-linking the power supply of firestick to an external 5v supply. Same is the problem with Apple Airport Express which you could connect to your avr for music (now discontinued). Just like the ATV the AE too has the 240v mains come inside the unit. The only thing you can oooh aah about these ATV and AE units is how tightly they have jammed the high voltage and low voltage sections tightly inside one unit.
 
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Looking for inputs that can help me select a decent streaming player.

Choice is between Roku Ultra vs Nvidia Shield Pro vs Apple TV 4k.

My current set-up includes:

- 75 inch 4k TV
- Denon AVR with 5.1.2
- Firestick 4k

Major usage: 50%OTT 40% HD/4k movie playback through Kodi, 10% misc

Looking for a reliable streaming device that can:
- play 4k content, Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR 10+
- Dolby Audio (Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos), DTS passthru, and other to fully leverage current 5.1.2
- Streaming content 4k for Netflix, Prime, Zee, Disney Hotstar.. and others

Apple 4k & Nvidia Shield pro are somewhat at same price point, while Roku Ultra is at almost half of the price.

Please suggest which one should I pick-up ?
If you are primarily into Netflix/Prime Video/Apple Tv+, Roku offers the best Price/Performace ratio. Be informed, Roku is yet to Support Indian OTT platforms like Sony Liv/Zee5/Voot and others. At this point, I would probably pick up the new Fire Stick 4K Max considering it runs on the latest FireOS/Android Tv platform and has excellent support for Indian OTT Apps besides being pocket-friendly.
 
Looking for inputs that can help me select a decent streaming player.

Choice is between Roku Ultra vs Nvidia Shield Pro vs Apple TV 4k.

My current set-up includes:

- 75 inch 4k TV
- Denon AVR with 5.1.2
- Firestick 4k

Major usage: 50%OTT 40% HD/4k movie playback through Kodi, 10% misc

Looking for a reliable streaming device that can:
- play 4k content, Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR 10+
- Dolby Audio (Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos), DTS passthru, and other to fully leverage current 5.1.2
- Streaming content 4k for Netflix, Prime, Zee, Disney Hotstar.. and others

Apple 4k & Nvidia Shield pro are somewhat at same price point, while Roku Ultra is at almost half of the price.

Please suggest which one should I pick-up ?
All time, i would suggest to go for Shield.

1. I have used both 2017 and 2019 version.

2. Both are excellent and 2019, i never any kind of lag or OS issues or any hiccup.

3. It handles DV and HDR excellently. Only draw back is it will not play Youtube HDR videos.

4. Now i am using MI BOX for my TV and Shield for my HT (Love to replace MI Box with another shield if someone source from US)

5. I tried Apple TV at my friends place for a while, but not wow and as many mentioned lot of restriction

6. I am using Kodi with Real Debrid for more than 2 years... its a one only source i am using for to watch movies @Love4sound can vouch :)

7. On OTT content earlier, Netflix sound quality was not good (Some 6 months) back, now i am not sure they have updated some thing or Nvidia updated. They are excellent!!!!

My suggestion is to go for Shield Pro
 
My Kodi guruji indeed :)
Nothing like Kodi. It is so good and flexible that I jail broke my old ATV and put Kodi on it. I would say it is better than whatever restricted interface apple provides. Even one of my firestick has kodi. I have been using it since 2010 when it was known as xbmc.

This along with mpd remains my two most widely used apps.
Kodi for downloaded movies and tv serials on my tv
mpd + cantata for listenting to bit perfect music on my amplifier.
 
Nothing like Kodi. It is so good and flexible that I jail broke my old ATV and put Kodi on it. I would say it is better than whatever restricted interface apple provides. Even one of my firestick has kodi. I have been using it since 2010 when it was known as xbmc.

This along with mpd remains my two most widely used apps.
Kodi for downloaded movies and tv serials on my tv
mpd + cantata for listenting to bit perfect music on my amplifier.
Give real debrid a try. Thanks to @rainbowsong2000 who introduced me to real debrid. You will love kodi even more.
 
Looking for inputs that can help me select a decent streaming player.

Choice is between Roku Ultra vs Nvidia Shield Pro vs Apple TV 4k.

My current set-up includes:

- 75 inch 4k TV
- Denon AVR with 5.1.2
- Firestick 4k

Major usage: 50%OTT 40% HD/4k movie playback through Kodi, 10% misc

Looking for a reliable streaming device that can:
- play 4k content, Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR 10+
- Dolby Audio (Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Atmos), DTS passthru, and other to fully leverage current 5.1.2
- Streaming content 4k for Netflix, Prime, Zee, Disney Hotstar.. and others

Apple 4k & Nvidia Shield pro are somewhat at same price point, while Roku Ultra is at almost half of the price.

Please suggest which one should I pick-up ?
I wonder what's wrong with the Fire TV 4K. For a 75" TV I don't think there will be any perceptible difference in the experience.
 
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