Nvidia Shield K1 review

Nvidia clearly thinks this too, as it has relaunched the same hardware under a slightly different name for a more reasonable price point. The Shield Tablet K1 isn't totally identical to last year's model, but the £149.99 price tag should mean it reaches a wider audience.

The good

Nvidia has been keen to market its range of Android hardware at seasoned gamers, and with good reason - the gaming performance of these products is stunning, and the K1 is no exception. For 3D Android games, there are few other devices out there can offer as smooth and impressive an experience. Regardless of how complex or detailed the game might be, the K1 handles things with ease. There's the added advantage of exclusive Shield games - including an absolutely incredible port of Doom 3 - which cannot be purchased on any other hardware.

The reason for this gaming prowess is Nvidia's potent Tegra K1 chipset, which resides inside the device. This power spills over into other tasks, making this tablet one of the most pleasurable Android experiences around. Switching between applications is a trouble-free process, and the slate rarely slows down or stutters. The UI is practically stock, with very few changes and a mercifully small amount of bloatware. That means in the long run, it should get updates quicker than its rivals.

16GB of storage is included, and there's a MicroSD card slot which accepts media of up to 128GB in size. You can link the device to a television via a HDMI lead, and the unit is compatible with Nvidia's excellent Shield controller, although this sadly comes at an additional cost of £49.99.

The bad

In fact, additional costs are something you're going to have to get used to with the K1. In the box there's the tablet itself and an instruction manual - you don't even get a charging cable. The DirectStylus which was docked inside the casing of the 2014 model has been removed entirely, and that is now £15 extra, should you still want it. These cost-cutting changes have allowed Nvidia to slash £90 off the retail price of the device, and are easy to forgive when you take that into consideration.

The bottom line

Despite being a year old, the Nvidia Shield K1 is still one of the best - if not the best - Android 8-inch tablet on the market, especially at such a decent price.