At $150, the Google TV Streamer has to beat the Nvidia Shield TV Pro at its own game

Published Sep 13, 2026, 11:30 AM EDT Based in rural Minnesota, Brian Burgess worked in IT for 10 years before finding his passion for writing about consumer technology. Brian earned his degree in computer and network technology in 2000. He held various IT positions, including help desk support, router installations for IBM, database administration, and other associate network administration roles. He's been a personal technology journalist for 18 years and has written thousands of articles about Microsoft products and services, Android, iOS, streaming, and more. He has written for notable tech sites including XDA, InformationWeek, How-To Geek, Byte, groovyPost, and others. When he is away from the keyboard, you will hear him playing guitar, working outdoors, and watching Star Trek. The Google TV Streamer recently saw a price increase, putting it in the same price range as the Nvidia Shield Pro and Apple TV 4K. A price increase like that for a two-year-old device seems drastic. At $50 less than the Nvidia Shield TV Pro, does it match what the 2019 box can do? Since its release, the Google TV Streamer has been buggy, and only a handful of updates have been released, none of which address user complaints. Additionally, the 2026 Onn streaming box is more responsive and costs $60. At the Google TV Streamer's new price, it's hard to see where it shines over the Shield TV Pro. The Google TV Streamer's price increase is ridiculous $50 more for a 2024 streamer? Google recently quietly raised the price of its 2024 Google TV Streamer by a staggering $50. The TV Streamer replaced the Chromecast 4K and has sold for $99 for the past two years. The price increase reportedly stems from a recent rise in component costs. Google had to "adjust" the cost to keep up with inflation. But for a $50 price hike, it should outperform the Shield TV Pro. However, a better bet now is to pick up an Nvidia Shield Pro, which has more raw power, functionality, and features. Nvidia future-proofed its box when it released it in 2019 with a Tegra X1+ processor, a built-in local Plex server, two USB 3.0 ports, and more. The Google TV Streamer is five years newer than the Nvidia Shield Pro, and it has some advantages over the Shield, including 3GB of RAM, AV1, HDMI 2.1b, and twice the storage at 32GB. The Streamer's MediaTek MT8696 chipset is adequate for streaming video, but it still doesn't match the Shield's Tegra X1+ AI-enhanced upscaling and gaming ecosystem. Also, the budget 2026 Onn 4K streamer has a newer Amlogic S905X5M SoC with a Cortex-A55 rated at up to 2.5GHz, whereas the Streamer's CPU is typically rated up to 2.0GHz. The buggy Google TV Streamer has a few advantages on paper, but my budget Android TV box beats it in many areas — including performance. Plus, the Shield TV Pro's lossless audio pass-through benefits self-hosted media users who want quality audio. A problematic box that's just OK Unexpected troubles When the Streamer launched, several owners complained about the number of glitches they had to deal with (and they still do). For instance, even after roughly six updates, the home screen tends to freeze at random, app launching can be slow, scrolling can lag intermittently, and Bluetooth connectivity drops randomly. The box also freezes occasionally and requires a manual reboot. The Shield TV Pro can stream 4K video from traditional platforms without a problem. It can also handle most compatible self-hosted 4K media, but the freezing and lag likely come from the MT8696 processing platform, which struggles with heavy, high-end local streaming that is beyond straight hardware decoding. Google has released firmware updates, but also hasn't publicly confirmed fixes for random home screen lag, Bluetooth drops, or other user complaints. The Shield TV Pro is still capable Age is just a number Compared to the Streamer's SoC, the Shield's Tegra X1+ SoC has more headroom for demanding local-media playback scenarios and heavier player-app workloads. It also has established home-theater features like compatible codec support, Dolby Vision formats, and lossless audio pass-through. It's also built around GeForce Now and cloud-based gaming. That gives the Shield TV Pro a distinctive advantage for gaming communities that Google can't match. Nvidia has updated the Shield TV Pro regularly since its 2019 release, including more than 17 Shield Experience firmware releases and several bug hotfixes. Some updates added more functionality, like AI upscaling enhancements, GeForce Now improvements, Night Listening Mode, and more. It seems like Nvidia is more plugged into the Shield owner community than Google is with its devices. If you self-host, take advantage of the built-in Plex server. Or, if you prefer a different server platform like Jellyfin or Emby, the Shield TV Pro becomes an outstanding client. When a file is compatible with the Shield TV Pro, HDMI audio chain, and app, it can Direct Play high-bitrate video and pass lossless audio to the receiver, reducing or eliminating extra transcoding load on your NAS or server. Consider a budget Android TV box A midrange Google TV alternative I recently bought a 2026 Onn Pro 4K Android TV box, and while it's a budget-class box, it outperforms the Google TV Streamer in many areas. The same Google TV UI is more responsive, less buggy, and includes a USB 2.0 port for watching local files or connecting to a hub. It might be considered a legacy port, but it makes a difference. I even turned it into a media file server for fun. That said, you can connect a USB-C hub (with power pass-through) to the Streamer's USB-C port and connect drives and peripherals. However, having the legacy USB port on the Onn box is a nice addition, especially for viewing occasional local media files on the big screen. This isn't to say the Onn box holds a candle to the Shield, because it doesn't. However, if you want a box that handles traditional video streaming, has a more responsive UI, and includes a USB port for occasional local file viewing, it's likely a better choice for most users. The Onn box also supports AV1 decoding like the Streamer, so you get a less-buggy box with an advantage over the Shield. It's difficult to justify the Google TV Streamer after the recent price hike Inflation is rising, sure. However, raising the price of a two-year-old product that's been on the market is a tough sell, especially since a 2026 budget box is adequate (if not better), and a seven-year-old Shield TV Pro at a similar price point beats it in almost every area. The Google TV Streamer is fine, but only that. It's awesome that it's Android TV, but that's where the cool stops. There's no wow factor, and I don't see where Google can add anything to make it compete at its new price point in the streaming box space.