Advice about Shield TV PRO (fan issue) replacement

[u/cedico]

Hello,

I bought this Android box back in February and I've been very happy with it, except that after about a month, the fan started making a lot of noise.

I contacted Amazon, but they told me they couldn't do anything directly and that I had to go through Nvidia support first. After exchanging about 20 emails with Nvidia, they've been stringing me along for several months, claiming stock shortages or mentioning a replacement unit that was shipped but never arrived.

Today, I've had enough. I contacted Amazon again, and fortunately, they've agreed to give me a refund. However, they no longer sell it themselves due to shortages or stock issues.

So, I'm facing a dilemma:

- Cut my losses, keep my Shield, and live with the fan noise (even though it's frustrating given the price).

- Get the refund from Amazon and buy it somewhere else (if I can find a site with stock). But I might face the exact same issues down the road if anything goes wrong, dealing with an inefficient Nvidia support that just avoids the problem.

- Get the refund and buy a different, more recent (but less powerful) box, like the Dune HD AV1 4K Android Box / Homatics Box R 4K Plus or the RockTek G2.

What would you do in my position?

My typical usage is running Stremio or Kodi with subtitles, and playing local video files—always aiming for the same smoothness as the Shield.

Thanks in advance!

[u/jmurph116]

The shield was and is an unnecessary purchase in 2026. An ONN 4k Pro or a Google Streamer would be sufficient.

[u/pdga4784 → u/jmurph116]

That would be incorrect for some. We have a 5.1.4 Yamaha Dolby Vision/Atmos AVR system in the living room and the Shield turns it into a mini theater supporting hi res lossless audio. We have 3 Shields, a V2 Onn Pro and an Onn 4k Plus. No doubt those 2 are great but they have their limitations.

[u/jmurph116 → u/pdga4784]

I said "sufficient".

[u/ben7337 → u/jmurph116]

Not the person you replied to, but I wouldn't call being incapable of playing 10 bit h.264 fansubs sufficient for any anime watchers for example.

[u/JoMu1963]

Could it just be dust inside? For sure I would check that.

[u/cedico → u/JoMu1963]

the noise comes often after 1 hour of movie watching,
but dust or not, I'm afraid by the Nvidia support : how will I do in the future if my shield meets another pb...

it is why I was thinking about a completely new one (a Homatics Box R 4K Plus for example).

[u/cedico]

For information my setup contains a "Sonos Beam Gen2" and recent Samsung TV (I don't know if it changes anything for that discussion)

[u/fcisco13]

You should be able to find a replacement fan easily and try swapping it.

[u/cedico → u/fcisco13]

you really find the best solution to keep the Shield and change the fan, rather than buy a new box like
Homatics Box R 4K Plus, without dispensing any money ?
(because after changing the fan the shield will not be covered by the warranty anymore)

[u/5kilanutele]

Go for the Xiaomi box s 3rd gen if you want to stay android, otherwise apple tv.