If you missed the news, the Nvidia Shield TV range just received an update to Android 11, including the original 2015 model. That’s seven years of full-on proper OS updates, not just little security patches and performance tweaks. The 2015 model, which launched with Android 5.1, has received 27 patches so far. And this is by no means the last update Nvidia’s Android TV gadgets look set to receive either. Frankly, Nvidia is putting pretty much every other Android device manufacturer to shame, and not just those selling TV dongles.
To put that in perspective, a $199 (now $150) TV box has already received more updates than Google promises for its $899 Pixel 6 Pro flagship. Google pledges just 3 years of OS plus two more years of security upgrades. Likewise, Samsung’s three years of OS and four years of security patches pale in comparison, yet you could spend up to $1,379 on the most expensive Galaxy S21 Ultra option. Not to mention the slew of inexpensive TV dongles that are lucky to see any OS upgrades at all.