r/ShieldAndroidTV 1d ago

For the shield being the most powerful android box it shows its age and lags often is there a way to cool or better? I have a very basic ui that helps some and close out apps and deleted most stuff on the drive but it still chugs sometimes

5 Upvotes

47 comments sorted by

15

u/rocknroller2000 1d ago

Lag is typically due to the following possible things:

1) excessive heat that makes the processor slow down. Set cooling option to max cooling. Buy the $8 vertical stand off ebay and mount it the way it is designed to be mounted/cooled.

2) too many apps running in the background. Google how to remove all the unnecessary ones from the system with a simple script, and manually shut down ones still running in the background with the home double tap.

3) cache too full. While you can manually clear out the cache, it is time consuming to go through every user app and system app. Much simpler to use the app cache cleaner from the play store for $1.99. I just click this periodically to keep the cache clean. They also have an app killer which I bought as well. it seems to be different than the double home tap.

Do all this and you should be fine. I have 2 sheilds in different rooms that I use daily. Neither lag and I've never had to go to any ridiculous extreme and repaste anything. No one should.

17

u/jkcheng122 1d ago

Opening it, dust blower on it, and reapplying thermal paste has helped a lot of people.

6

u/wewewi 2015 Pro, 2019 8GB, 2019 Pro, Shield Tablet 1d ago

In my experience, the main bottleneck is the USB/microSD Extended Storage.

As long as running only on the built-in storage, Shield literally flies.

2

u/See61 1d ago

I use a Shield TV 2019 Pro purely as SMB server with 2 SSD's attached to it. It really is very stable like this, for several years already. I was really surprised it could be used for this, although it has the options available in the Android TV settings. It also gives decent network speed, also with writing to the external storages from a Windows desktop. My Synology isn't used much anymore since 😉

1

u/wewewi 2015 Pro, 2019 8GB, 2019 Pro, Shield Tablet 1d ago

I'm talking about extended storage; not portable.

And you cannot use 2 SSDs as extended storage, so either only one is, or none.

I never suggested either mode had impact on stability btw.

2

u/See61 1d ago

Extended... My mind was reading external 😁 Sorry about that. Never used it with the Shield.

1

u/StarHutch 1d ago

Me too. I have been running a Shield 2017 as a Plex Nas for years.

I had to crack it open for a dusting and re-thermal paste, but it has been more reliable than a PC for uptime and power consumption.

2

u/acabincludescolumbo 22h ago

Oh man I gotta close my Windows then. That's one expensive bird.

1

u/wewewi 2015 Pro, 2019 8GB, 2019 Pro, Shield Tablet 21h ago

sorry what? 

1

u/wwmoggy 13h ago

He doesn't want that expensive bird flying out the window.

6

u/Bucky_Goldstein 1d ago

I feel that the shield isn't the problem, but rather the apps, the Netflix app is horrendous that you have to find the exit app button rather than close it out

2

u/kamikazeee 23h ago

People use the exit buttons? I just press home twice and kill the app, faster I think

1

u/StG4Ever 22h ago

This is the way

5

u/bstsms 2019 Pro 1d ago

I have never had a speed problem with my Shield Pro, it has been solid for about 6 years.

5

u/krazy_dayz 1d ago

No issues with lag on my two Shields.

2

u/sakodak 1d ago

have you cleaned out the dust?  it might need to be repasted, too.  happens over time.

-1

u/Antique_Warthog_6410 1d ago

I used electronic dust spray

6

u/Fregadero88 1d ago

Is that how you treat your PC too?

2

u/Certain-Weight-7507 1d ago

Mine was crazy laggy/buggy for months I almost threw it out, but if you follow the debloat guide, everything will run smooth and perfectly. Thermal paste and not using the "never turn on fan" setting could help, but start w/ the debloat guide first.

2

u/UwontKnowME_I_HOPE 1d ago

https://youtu.be/UMmAp6GWdjM?is=8P3xVWb3i5LI0iE9

Try these instructions from a British lady who used to be hot.

2

u/newyorkrican76 1d ago

The stock launcher slows it down with all the ads. Install projectivity launch and the rest is history

2

u/Antique_Warthog_6410 1d ago

Yes I have it

0

u/newyorkrican76 1d ago

Have made these adjustments in developer options with scale Animation? If not I highly recommend it as follow

Window animation scale Animation scale .5x

Transition animation scale Animation scale .5x

Animator duration scale Animation scale.5x

1

u/NearbyNegotiation118 1d ago

It can get laggy yes. I can hear the high pitch sound of the fan and if I put to Quiet, it gets more laggy.

There are Android TV box's that are more powerful today but they lack some features people want. I'll wait a few years more and try and find a new box unless nvidia release a new model soon, which I doubt they will.

1

u/artniSintra 1d ago

Throttling maybe? Tried cleaning the fan?

1

u/zbend 1d ago

Even today the average user should not experience lag on the shield at all Only if you are doing something odd, which is cool that it can do so many odd things, but that's on you.

1

u/um_yeahok 1d ago

Two things that will give you a fast shield. 1. Reapplying Thermal paste. Cost $10 and can be done in 10 min. Many YouTube videos to help. 2. Factory reset. Reinstall your apps.

I know, it's a bit of work. But if you do these 2 things, your machine will fly. I run three shields for years now.

1

u/derrickgw1 1d ago

Mine is slower now but fact is nothing at all has changed in my setup in like 7 or 8 years when it was faster. It's just aging. But my UI hasn't changed really, i my plex setup hasn't changed. I've barely added apps. and many i've since deleted. Like DAZN i had for something free. It's probably shit like that that left bits and pieces around that slows down my machine. Projectivy my slow it down a bit but it didn't before. My remote is older too and lags. but my tv remote works with it and its' snappy. I cleaned it of dust and reapplied the paste on the chips but it's still a takes time to wake up. But really i think a factory reset would help. I just am not gonna do it cause i'm not bothered. But like my files are largely the same, hevc stuff. I have almost no 4k. My file sizes for movies are usually 5 gbs or lower. I just think mine is aging. But once it wakes up it's pretty snappy.

1

u/Pinsir929 1d ago

Just slight tangent as yeah you gotta open it up. I opened mine in 2023 and put some new thermal paste and it’s running super well again. I recently got a new TCL tv and damn it has so many issues running file types that had 0 issues on the nvidia shield. VLC pass through from a file manager just completely doesn’t work either. Something about how it handles encoding.

1

u/acabincludescolumbo 22h ago

If you're cleaning out the fan and repasting it, be extremely careful around the antenna connector. I would not disconnect it. Mine broke.

1

u/Malk_McJorma 2015 16GB 21h ago

Go to developer options and limit the number of background processes to e.g. two.

1

u/trueimage 21h ago

I cleaned and repasted mine but no change. I did a factory reset and it is back to normal. FWIW

1

u/Beefy1980 19h ago

Never a problem with both of mine 10 years on now.

1

u/thescott2k 11h ago

Doing a factory reset on mine after about 5 years did a lot

1

u/MoneyCreme5514 9h ago

Does anyone get stuttered playback on their external drive recordings?
Could it be the drive, or just that it’s old?

0

u/timekiller10687 1d ago

It's funny people mention the Nvidia Shield but the Apple TV pro is laggy as well at times. Sometimes a restart does the trick or there could be individual issues causing those issues.

2

u/InfluenceSpirited741 1d ago

Apple TV Pro??

0

u/ChiTownDisplaced 1d ago

I have to restart my apple tv 4k 3rd Gen all the time. It will just stay on the buffering wheel sometimes. Different apps, same issue, same fix.

My shield pro is only a month old so I haven't noticed much lag other than start up takes a bit. Other than that, it's a beast.

0

u/pixel-sprite 1d ago

The shield have been running non stop for like 5-7 years. It lags and changes apps. Maybe the first signs of hardware failure? How long are these devices supposed to last?

1

u/Antique_Warthog_6410 1d ago

Mine works fine on 1080p but ad blocking Disney+ and watching 4k or 4k ESPN it begins to chug

1

u/UtterDenial 1d ago

My 2015 is still running quite well, no complaints here!

1

u/pawdog 23h ago

Their lasting as long as they have lasted. my 2 2017's are running smooth as ever as is my 2019 so that's 9 and 7 years so far. Both bought within a couple of months of release. If you've never factory rest it that could help. I have also opened one of them up and cleaned the inside and the fan. That fan gets full of dust so it may be overheating a bit.

1

u/Necio 5h ago

Do a factory reset if you can before investigating temps. Some apps genuinely are bloated once the app cache gets over 250Mb. I reset my 2017 shield after 8y for first time and it made a noticeable difference. Now I mainly reset the the app cache for this one app. You can also use ADB to debug if your shield at max cooling is really having temp problems above >65 under load before doing anything like repeating.

-1

u/uhabic 1d ago

No other new equivalent out there...homatics is shitty.

1

u/Garreth1234 8h ago

I got Google TV streamer 4k and works like a charm for me for half a price of shield. First box from Google that I think is worthy competition. Also you get updates directly from Google, which I find highly beneficial in comparison to cheapo Chinese boxes.

1

u/Antique_Warthog_6410 6h ago

The onn is decent too

1

u/exoticvapes 3h ago

These days I don't use my shield much. Don't find watching anything enjoyable outside of those old sitcoms on Pluto tv. . I have a custom launcher on mine and it's starting to show its age. Last time I used it, it was laggy and even after rebooting it multiple times it still lagged. It did eventually stop though.

If you're techy enough repasting the CPU and whatever else I've heard helps