5 Things The Steam Machine Can Do That Nvidia Shield Can’t – BGR

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At first glance, comparing the Steam Machine to the Nvidia Shield Pro might seem like an apples-to-oranges comparison, but they offer many of the same things. You can stream media on either, and both of them are marketed as being able to run games. However, the Steam Machine costs $1,049, while you can get an Nvidia Shield TV Pro for a much more modest $200 on Amazon.

If you’re wondering why the Steam Machine is priced so much higher than the Shield Pro, the answer is simple: they’re devices made for different purposes. The Steam Machine is a mini-PC and console hybrid released in 2026 that’s focused on providing a solid gaming experience, whereas the Nvidia Shield Pro is a media streaming device that also supports Nvidia GeForce Now to play games via the cloud.

While the Shield Pro is still an amazing media streaming device, Valve’s Steam Machine is a much more flexible device. From running AAA titles locally to running Windows and supporting a much larger pool of applications, here’s everything that the Steam Machine can do but the Shield Pro can’t.