Nvidia Shield TV Pro with Nintendo Switch chip becomes 50% more expensive

Nvidia Shield TV Pro launched in 2019, making it seven years old already. But rather than getting cheaper, the set-top box is now a full 50 percent more expensive. As the Nvidia website confirms, the Shield TV Pro (2019) now costs $299, up from $199.

Price increases for technology products due to the DRAM crisis have become commonplace, as production costs have risen drastically over the past twelve months due to expensive RAM and NAND flash memory. However, the scale of the Nvidia Shield TV Pro's price increase is quite surprising, since the device is equipped with just 3 GB of RAM and 16 GB of flash storage.

As Ars Technica reports, the higher price should at least make it possible to manufacture the Shield TV Pro in larger quantities again, after inventory has run low over the past few months. Even after seven years, the Shield TV Pro remains one of the more powerful set-top boxes on the market, as Nvidia uses a Tegra X1+ ARM chip, which is similar to the chip used in the first-generation Nintendo Switch ($332 on Amazon). This allows the device to play 4K HDR videos at 60 frames per second as well as 24-bit 192 kHz hi-fi music. In addition to the usual streaming apps, Shield TV Pro also supports game streaming via GeForce Now.