Looking for precise specs? Okay, we've got those, too: The Shield tablet measures 8.8 inches (221mm) long, five inches (126mm) wide and 0.35 inch (9.2mm) thick. The tablet's folding, magnetic cover (sold separately) soon became my favorite way of waking the device: just flip it open, and the screen is on. Did it go down all the way? Did I miss it? Until the screen reacted, I just couldn't tell.
The soft depressions are okay for tweaking volume, but I was never sure if I was using the power button correctly. It's not that it feels cheap or painful to hold (a tiny, chamfered edge between the screen and tablet sides ensures a comfortable grip), but the buttons' tactile response is a little mushy. Putting all of the Shield's ports on one half of the top edge leaves it feeling a little crowded, and thumbing its physical toggles gave me second thoughts about its build quality. Classy.Īlthough the tablet feels sturdy and well-built, it isn't perfect. Oh, and that backside? Just a smooth, matte surface accented only by the word "Shield," etched in glossy black lettering.
The top has a little more going on: another bass vent, a headphone jack, micro-HDMI connectivity and the all-important power/micro-USB port. The bottom edge is host to a simple bass speaker vent, while the left side is marked only by the magnetic connectors that latch onto an optional screen cover. The WiFi model also features a walled-in cutout for a micro-SIM card slot - an ever-present reminder that you could have purchased the LTE model (more on that device below). Most of the action is on the right: a power button, volume toggles, a microSD slot and an embedded, passive stylus for pen input. Let's not flip the tablet over just yet, though - a handful of ports, holes and buttons run around the edges. The top speaker bar is split in half by a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with an same shooter (sans autofocus) on the rear of the device. If anything, it looks more like an HTC One than a Nexus 7, sporting long, matte black speakers on the device's top and bottom edges. It's a clean, if less distinctive, look, but the absence of color doesn't mean the Shield is just another cookie-cutter tablet. Black, green and silver were the colors that defined the original Shield, but this year's model is decidedly more monochrome: The slate is draped in a mix of glossy and reflective blacks.