HP Slate 7 Extreme VS NVIDIA Shield Specs Comparison

Written by B Johnson January 27, 2015
HP Slate 7 Extreme VS NVIDIA Shield Specs Comparison
From all of the Android tablets across the market in the past few years, i think HP Slate 7 Extreme is definitely one of the best tablets i’ve ever seen from Android camp.

There’s a lot of things that make me incredibly impressed with the entire aspect of this device.

It’s not because it’s powered by Tegra 4 processor – which can be more than ideal for gaming -, but it’s also because HP Slate 7 Extreme offers a lot of benefits to many tablet shoppers out there in general.

(HP Slate 7 Extreme VS NVIDIA Shield Tablet - Specs Comparison)

I mean, okay - with its beast processor, this tablet can be great device for gamers. However, thanks to its amazing stylus, HP Slate 7 Extreme surprisingly is also great for note users or even artists or designers. But that’s not it.

People who love photography can also get a lot of benefits from this device because – besides having decent quality cameras – taking photos with this tablet can be a lot more fun because users can also do some creative stuff on their taken photos with the stylus.

HP Slate 7 Extreme VS NVIDIA Shield Tablet benchmarks and gaming performance

So this is main reason why today i’m really interested to bring up again this device in my next comparison review with other rival on the market.

However, the contender for HP Slate 7 Extreme in this comparison review apparently is coming from NVIDIA – which actually the one that came up with the entire idea to make the reference device called “Tegra Note”, which then is used by HP to manufacture HP Slate 7 Extreme.

So basically, both HP Slate 7 Extreme and Tegra Note tablet are identical devices with the same design, software and pretty much everything.

And this means, this comparison review that i’m showing you right now is actually between NVIDIA Shield Tablet vs its predecessor - NVIDIA Tegra Note.

However, given that HP Slate 7 Extreme is more popular to search than NVIDIA Tegra Note on search engine, so i thought it would make more sense for me to put HP Slate 7 Extreme instead of Tegra Note in the comparison review against NVIDIA Shield Tablet.

Well, if you want to know more how it's gonna end between these 2 tablets especially my take on their gaming performance, then check this one guys, my comparison review between HP Slate 7 Extreme and NVIDIA Shield Tablet.

Anyway, if you like what I'm sharing in this post, please don't hesitate to share it on Twitter or Facebook. :)

Introduction

As mentioned above, HP Slate 7 Extreme is actually made using NVIDIA Tegra Note as the reference device. So no wonder if the entire thing of these 2 tablets are basically similar and in fact, identical one to another.

So they both have the same Tegra 4 processor, 72-core GPU, 1GB of RAM, 720p display, 5MP rear-facing camera with VGA front-facing shooter, the same Android stock UI and pretty much everything on these tablets are similar one to another.

In fact, they both adopt the same exact design, with dual-front-speaker grilles and 2 layer colors (metal gray and black) around the side of the screen.

Probably the only thing that separates these 2 tablets are their logo – “HP” on HP Slate 7 Extreme, while “NVIDIA” on NVIDIA Shield Tablet.

For your information, besides HP, there are actually some other manufacturers that also use NVIDIA Tegra Note as the reference device to manufacturer the same devices, but with their own branding – such as EVGA, Advan and many more.

Meanwhile, unlike the predecessor, NVIDIA Shield Tablet can only be found from NVIDIA. But i’m not sure if other manufacturers will use this device as the reference tablet just like they did with NVIDIA Tegra Note.

But at least, for now, i never heard any news about other tablet manufacturers besides NVIDIA that sell the same looking NVIDIA Shield Tablet with their own branding.

Anyway, compared to predecessor, it’s quite obvious that the latest-gen NVIDIA Shield Tablet brings a lot of improvements here and there on the hardware and software.

It now comes with a much even more powerful Tegra K1 processor, bigger 2GB of RAM, sharper full HD 1080p display, newer build Android software (upgradeable to Lollipop), much improved cameras, larger microSD card slot for up to 128GB, much stronger graphical performance and pretty much everything about this device is better than the predecessor.

However, as a previous-gen device, HP Slate 7 Extreme is actually not too shabby at all. In fact, this device can still be worth considering given that its price tag is really worth it especially with the benefits that you will gain as the user.

It has an amazing stylus, pretty sharp 720p display, powerful gaming performance, great sound quality, smooth experience thanks to stock Android UI, good quality cameras and some other more. Not to mention, there’s also microSD card for up to 32GB that allows you to expand the storage much further.

But the questions remain, as 2 powerful gaming tablets,

Which one between HP Slate 7 Extreme and NVIDIA Shield Tablet that deserves to be the best gaming tablet in this comparison review?

Which one that is a better tablet in the entire aspect?

If you already own HP Slate 7 Extreme, is it worth it to upgrade to NVIDIA Shield Tablet?

Well, you'll find out more about my final conclusion of these questions at the end of this review. So be sure to read the rest of this review!

Design

In terms of design, there’s actually not much to write home about because NVIDIA Shield Tablet still looks pretty much the same with the predecessor – or in this case, HP Slate 7 Extreme.

It still inherits the same dual-front-speaker grilles, the same 2 layer colors (metal gray and black) around the side of the screen, the modern looking design especially thanks to the metallic gray cover and some other more.

And as mentioned above, the only thing that makes them look different is probably the rear-cover along with the logo as well.

The design of these 2 tablets actually kind of reminds me with the same design concept of HTC One M8 – which also has the same dual-front-speaker grilles on the left and right areas (in landscape mode).

HP Slate 7 Extreme
HP Slate 7 Extreme
HP Slate 7 Extreme 2
HP Slate 7 Extreme
NVIDIA Shield Tablet
NVIDIA Shield Tablet

I personally love this design. It’s not only because it has better sound quality – thanks to the front-speaker grilles -, but also its overall appearance that in my opinion looks more modern compared to other regular Android tablets out there that mostly look generic with rounded rectangular corners and black square design concept.

Not to mention, i also love to see how this device is provided with the specific port/hole for the stylus on the back – which is really important to keep the stylus when it’s not needed or used -, similar just like the one found on Samsung GALAXY note tablets.

And the “HP” logo on its back also makes this device look more elegant especially when used by professional career people or students at school or university.

So i think NVIDIA did a great job with the design of HP Slate 7 Extreme in the whole aspect. And that’s probably why this manufacturer tries to stick to the same design on the second-gen NVIDIA Shield Tablet.

But of course, NVIDIA or HP should thanks HTC for being the first manufacturer that came up with this concept around the tech industry – especially with the dual-speaker-grilles on the front.

Back to Top

HP Slate 7 ExtremeNvidia Shield
No SIM
Released December 2013
7.0 inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 800 x 1280 pixels, (~216 ppi pixel density)
Android OS, v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
Nvidia Tegra 4 Quad-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A15 CPU
1 GB RAM
5 MP rear-facing camera, autofocus, HDR
VGA front-facing camera
microSD card slot for up to 32 GB
16 GB Internal storage,
No GPRS
No EDGE
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
USB
No Radio
GPS
HDMI port
Java
Non-removable Li-Po 4100 mAh battery
Up to 10 hours 30 min (multimedia) Talk time

    No SIM
    Released July 2014
    390 g (Weight)
    DirectStylus 2
    8.0 inch Capacitive touchscreen, 1920 x 1200 pixels, 16M colors (~283 ppi pixel density)
    Quad-core 2.2 GHz Cortex-A15 Nvidia Tegra K1 Chipset
    ULP GeForce Kepler 192-core GPU
    Dual bass reflex port audio enhancement
    microSD card slot for up to 128GB
    Internal 16 GB
    2 GB RAM
    5 MP rear-facing camera HDR
    5 MP front-facing camera with HDR
    Android OS 4.4.2 KitKat (upgradeable to Lollipop)
    Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
    Bluetooth
    No Radio
    GPS
    Java MIDP emulator
    HDMI port
    19.75 Wh Li-Ion battery

    As the second-gen model, it’s no-brainer that NVIDIA Shield Tablet brings some huge improvements here and there especially on the hardware department. And this is what exactly happens on both devices.

    Compared to the predecessor, NVIDIA Shield Tablet now comes with a larger and much sharper 8-inch full HD display (1920x1200 pixels), a far more powerful Tegra K1 quad-core processor along with 192-core of Kepler GPU, bigger 2GB of RAM, newer build of Android 4.4.2 KitKat (upgradeable to Lollipop by the way), better sharper 5MP cameras front and back and much bigger 19.75Wh or equal to 5400mAh battery (if i’m not mistaken).

    And all of these are just huge improvements over the predecessor (HP Slate 7 Extreme or NVIDIA Tegra Note) which is equipped with a smaller 7-inch display with lower 720p resolution (1280x800 pixels), a less powerful Tegra 4 processor along with 72-core GPU, smaller 1GB of RAM, older Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, less sharper 5MP rear-facing camera and VGA quality shooter on the front, and of course, a smaller 4100mAh battery.

    Not to mention, the fact that NVIDIA Shield Tablet is capable to handle even for up to 128GB of microSD card really makes HP Slate 7 Extreme look less impressive in storage expandability (only for up to 32GB).

    But despite all that, i still think that both HP Slate 7 Extreme and NVIDIA Shield Tablet are powerful equally, of course in their own class – NVIDIA Shield Tablet is a powerful tablet in 2014, while HP Slate 7 Extreme is also impressive for a tablet released in 2013.

    And their price difference actually can be accepted given that the sequel model comes with some bumped up specs over the predecessor.

    Screen

    If there is any noticeable difference found between HP Slate 7 Extreme and NVIDIA Shield Tablet, it’s definitely in the sharpness of their display.

    If the previous-gen HP Slate 7 Extreme comes with a 7-inch display sporting the 720p resolution (1280x800 pixels), then NVIDIA Shield Tablet’s display looks more impressive on paper with its 1080p resolution and larger 8-inch screen size.

    So when compared side-by-side, of course there’s a lot to talk about on the display of NVIDIA Shield Tablet compared to HP Slate 7 Extreme. It looks much sharper and more crisp than the screen found on predecessor.

    And the addition of 1-inch screen to NVIDIA Shield Tablet also makes this device look and feel wider vertically, giving a much bigger screen real estate to the landscape mode.

    However, having only 720p resolution on a smaller 7-inch display actually already looks pretty sharp for this tablet and is good enough for most of users. Text is still readable, image looks pretty sharp and pretty much everything on its display still looks nice – if not the best.

    Besides, by having this 720p display, this actually makes the performance much faster and smoother - especially when doing some heavy stuff like gaming -, plus more efficient with the use of battery.

    So even if this device is still ‘stuck’ with so-last-year 720p resolution, it still looks pretty sharp and good enough for most of users.

    User Interface

    One of the best things found on both devices is probably their software. So both HP Slate 7 Extreme and NVIDIA Shield Tablet come with the stock vanilla Android UI on their platform.

    So there’s no significant customizations made by the manufacturer – or in this case, HP and NVIDIA – on their software.

    And this means the UIs of both devices are able to perform smoothly and they are more efficient especially with the use of memory/RAM and battery life.

    However, as a new-gen tablet, of course NVIDIA Shield Tablet ships with the newer build of Android firmware.

    And that’s what exactly happens here as NVIDIA Shield Tablet comes pre-installed with Android 4.4.2 KitKat, as opposed to the older-gen Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean found on HP Slate 7 Extreme.

    Not to mention, NVIDIA Shield Tablet actually can be upgraded already with Google’s latest and greatest Android 5.0 Lollipop (HP Slate 7 Extreme probably will receive it as well in the future), which comes with major overhaul to the entire design concept and layout, plus some improvements and tweaks on the battery department.

    So even if you pick any of these tablets, you will feel at home especially if you’re already familiar with the environment of Android platform – like the widgets, homescreen, features, etc.

    Not to mention, given that these 2 devices are intended as note-taking devices, there are also some additions of features dedicated to their stylus – like note-taking app, paintbrush-alike app, lasso feature and some other more.

    Plus some specific features from each manufacturer – HP with its printer app, while NVIDIA provides its tablet with the access to app/game market (NVIDIA Hub if i'm not mistaken) filled with many well-optimized games specifically for Tegra K1 tablets.

    Back to Top
    As dedicated gaming devices, there’s no single doubt that either HP Slate 7 Extreme or NVIDIA Shield Tablet will excel in terms of gaming performance. And that’s shown by their powerful processors and GPUs.

    HP Slate 7 Extreme comes with a quad-core Tegra 4 processor along with 72-core GeForce ULP GPU, while NVIDIA Shield Tablet ships with the latest and greatest Tegra K1 processor, as well as the staggering 192-core of Kepler GPU.

    Not to mention, the successor of Tegra Note is now equipped with a bigger 2GB of RAM, as opposed to the 1GB of RAM found on predecessor or HP Slate 7 Extreme.

    Basically, with any of these hardware packages (Tegra 4 and Tegra K1), both HP Slate 7 Extreme and NVIDIA Shield Tablet are really powerful for playing games.

    And any of these tablets is more than adequate to handle not only all Android games, but even the latest and most graphics intense titles like Modern Combat 5, GTA San Andreas or Asphalt 8: Airborne – all in buttery smooth performance without any lag whatsoever, even in full highest graphics setting.

    So if you love playing Android games, you can totally count on any of these Tegra-powered tablets, which is not so surprising given that both of these devices are intended by the manufacturers as pure gaming tablets in the first place.

    However, if compared side-by-side against each other, of course NVIDIA Shield Tablet with its latest-gen Tegra K1 processor is far more superior than HP Slate 7 Extreme, especially in terms of graphical and gaming performance.

    HP Slate 7 Extreme may be able to play GTA San Andreas or Modern Combat 5 smoothly in full highest graphics, however, NVIDIA Shield Tablet is more powerful because it’s also capable to execute even the next-gen games that have console-quality graphics and visual effects.

    And that’s shown perfectly on the PS3 and PC games – Trine 2 and Half Life 2, which are ported straightly to Tegra K1 devices.

    And thanks to NVIDIA’s close partnership with many famous console/PC game developers, the future of gaming on NVIDIA Shield Tablet is also much brighter than HP Slate 7 Extreme because in the future, there will be many other console-quality games that are ported from consoles or PC specifically to Tegra K1 tablets like NVIDIA Shield Tablet.

    And this probably will never be experienced by the users of HP Slate 7 Extreme.

    Although its Tegra 4 processor is also powerful, it may not be able anymore to handle the next-gen games in the future that have console-quality graphics and visual effects, especially because its GPU is less powerful than the 192-core Kepler GPU found on NVIDIA Shield Tablet.

    Not to mention, the fact that NVIDIA Shield Tablet comes with its own gaming controller from NVIDIA (that looks similar like the Project Shield gaming controller) also makes the whole gaming experience of NVIDIA Shield Tablet far better than HP Slate 7 Extreme.

    However, it’s worth noting that most of the console-quality games like Half Life 2, Trine 2, Oddword Stranger's Wrath and some other more on NVIDIA Shield Tablet, can only be played with NVIDIA gaming controller. And it’s sold separately with the device.

    So if you don’t have huge enough budget, you must be patient for a bit because you probably won’t be able to play most of the console/PC ported games on this device.

    But even so, for other regular Android games, of course you can still count on its virtual on-screen keys.

    Between HP Slate 7 Extreme and NVIDIA Shield Tablet, it’s quite obvious that NVIDIA Shield Tablet is a much better gaming tablet overall than HP’s device.

    And it’s not only in terms of graphical and gaming performance, but also with the capability to handle console-quality games.

    However, HP Slate 7 Extreme is still a decent gaming tablet though. In fact, in the price range of $200, this device is actually one of the best gaming tablets on the market right now.

    But of course, if you have more cash in your budget, buying NVIDIA Shield Tablet is definitely a better decision to take.

    Cameras

    The camera quality of NVIDIA Shield Tablet – especially the rear one - is actually not such a huge improvement over the rear camera on predecessor. It still comes with the same 5MP camera on the back, just like on the HP Slate 7 Extreme.

    However, the big improvement actually takes places on the front-facing shooter. NVIDIA Shield Tablet now has a 5MP camera on the front, as opposed to the VGA quality camera found on HP Slate 7 Extreme. So when it comes to sharpness, of course NVIDIA Shield Tablet is more prominent with its front-facing camera.

    But despite that, the overall quality of rear-facing camera on both devices is actually not far different against each other.

    According to what i’ve seen on some video reviews on YouTube, the 5MP camera of HP Slate 7 Extreme impressively takes some decent quality shots, even slow-mo videos.

    And this also is the same thing found on NVIDIA Tegra Note with the same 5MP shooter on the back.

    So basically, you can totally expect the same thing on NVIDIA Shield Tablet. It’s still decent for taking photos and recording videos, just like HP Slate 7 Extreme or the predecessor.

    However, if you also happen to love doing selfies, i believe NVIDIA Shield Tablet is a much better choice for you than HP Slate 7 Extreme because its 5MP camera takes much sharper selfies than on HP’s device.

    Battery Life

    NVIDIA Shield Tablet comes with a much larger 19.75Wh battery or equal to around 5400mAh battery (if i’m not mistaken), as opposed to the smaller 4100mAh battery found inside HP Slate 7 Extreme.

    However, this is actually not quite shocking given that the second-gen model is now equipped with a larger and much sharper 1080p resolution on its 8-inch display, compared to the 7-inch screen sporting the 720p resolution on HP Slate 7 Extreme.

    So it probably requires more juice from the battery especially in order to stay alive for a solid one day.

    Basically, with their battery capacity and display resolution, both of HP Slate 7 Extreme and NVIDIA Shield Tablet are more than capable to deliver a solid all-day-long battery life to users, especially thanks to the use of stock Android UI that is much lighter and more efficient with the use of battery and memory/RAM.

    But of course, that also depends on the use cycle of each user. I mean, if you’re not a power user and will only use any of these devices to do some daily basic stuff in your spare time – like when taking rest from your work or school -, then you can expect to see any of these tablets last in one day, of course on a full charge.

    However, if you are a power user, the story would definitely be different here.

    So if you use these tablets to do some heavy intense tasks without resting the screen at all or in the long long hours without stopping – like watching HD movies in marathon or playing game in the row -, of course their battery life would drop drastically to just around 4 to 6 hours, maybe more maybe less.

    In fact, according to some reviews on NVIDIA Shield Tablet, this tablet could only last for about 2 – 3 hours when used to play some heavy 3D games (maybe console-quality or Tegra K1-optimized games, Trine 2 or Half Life 2).

    The good news is, this tablet is now upgradable to Android 5.0 Lollipop from NVIDIA itself. And i know that Android Lollipop brings some huge improvements and tweaks on the battery life – like Project Volta, battery saving mode on the lockscreen, more optimized system and some other more.

    So i believe this could really help a lot in improving the battery life of NVIDIA Shield Tablet more efficient especially for doing some intense gaming – which is the main reason why NVIDIA creates this tablet in the first place.

    My Personal Opinions

    So in my final conclusion, i think it’s quite clear that NVIDIA Shield Tablet is a much better offering than HP Slate 7 Extreme, either on the software or hardware department.

    It now has a much larger and sharper 8-inch 1080p display, a more powerful graphical and gaming performance (thanks to Tegra K1 processor), much bigger 2GB of RAM, huge microSD card expandability for up to 128GB, much sharper and better quality cameras, bigger battery capacity, newer build of software and pretty much everything about this tablet is just much much better than HP Slate 7 Extreme.

    However, HP Slate 7 Extreme is actually still a decent quality tablet overall, either for gaming or note-taking device.

    And that’s thanks to its good-grade of hardware and stock Android UI that ensures the great overall quality on this device.

    HP Slate 7 Extreme also has a pretty sharp 7-inch 720p display, a powerful gaming performance (thanks to Tegra 4 processor and 72-core GPU), good amount of 1GB of RAM, big microSD card slot for up to 32GB, great quality cameras, good battery life and not to mention, an amazing quality stylus that even matches the writing and drawing experience on S-Pen of Samsung GALAXY Note device.

    So picking up any of these tablets is still a great decision for you. They both are great for watching HD movies, playing games (the most importantly), taking notes, drawing pictures, browsing the web, taking photos, recording videos, reading books/magazines and pretty much anything.

    But of course, in terms of gaming performance – as mentioned already above -, NVIDIA Shield Tablet is no-brainer a far more powerful gaming tablet than HP Slate 7 Extreme.

    Not only does this tablet have the power to play any kind of Android games, but it’s also capable to handle even console-quality games like Half Life 2, Trine 2 and Oddword Stranger's Wrath, which are ported straightly from consoles and PC.

    Even so, as a gaming tablet, HP Slate 7 Extreme is actually still a powerful device for that matter. It’s still more than adequate to execute even the latest graphically demanding games like Modern Combat 5, Asphalt 8: Airborne or GTA San Andreas – even in full highest graphics.

    In the whole aspect, it’s quite obvious that NVIDIA Shield Tablet is a much better tablet than HP Slate 7 Extreme, not just on paper, but also in entire quality.

    It has better stylus, sharper display, more powerful gaming performance, better quality cameras and longer battery life, especially thanks to the newer build of Android 5.0 Lollipop.

    Not to mention, it also ships with the dedicated gaming controller from NVIDIA (but sold separately).

    But with better quality hardware, comes higher price tag.

    NVIDIA Shield Tablet now costs around $399 for the basic model, while HP Slate 7 Extreme is priced at just affordable $199. Any of these tablets is actually great, either in terms of hardware or software.

    But if you don’t have such a huge budget in your pocket, HP Slate 7 Extreme can still be a great option for you.

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