Shadow Remote PC Review
© Shadow ZeroShadow is an all-in-one game streaming and remote desktop service that gives you full access to powerful cloud computing from all your devices.
We're not kidding about "strong". Shadow is unencumbered with hundreds of vulnerable virtual machines hosted on virtual servers. Whenever you connect to Shadow, you get the full power of a high-end gaming PC that requires at least a GeForce GTX 1080 GPU (or equivalent), i.e. a 3.5 GHz Intel Xeon processor (4 cores, 8 threads). 12GB RAM, 256GB internal memory and Windows 10 Home.
There is a big bonus in the form of a 1 Gbps internet connection which provides better gaming performance and fast loading times.
You can access all of these features from any Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, or Android device, including smart TVs. Connected devices (game controllers, mice, external drives) work as local devices. And it doesn't require a fast local internet connection: Shadow's minimum speed is just 15 Mbps.
Shadow: prices and plans
The Shadows is priced at $29.99 / £28 / AU$50 and releases monthly. In theory, there is also a one-time activation fee of $29.99, although Shadow did not charge for this at the time of writing.
Paying an additional $14.99 / £14 / AU$25 for the Power Upgrade plan will upgrade your system to a GeForce RTX 3070 with Raytrace (or AMD equivalent, depending on location) with an upgraded 2.8GHz AMD EPYC 7543P processor. or similar and 16 GB of RAM.
If you don't like the standard 256GB of memory, no problem, you can add additional 256GB units for $2.99 / $2.80 / AU$5 each, up to a maximum of 5TB.
Combined, quality Shadow PCs with Power Upgrade and 1TB of storage cost $53.95 / £45 / AU$80 per month.
If you're only interested in streaming games, there are cheaper services out there. PlayStation Plus gives you access to a library of hundreds of games (plus lots of other bonuses) as part of an annual plan for £10/9/AU$15 per month. GeForce Now configurations The GeForce RTX 3080 costs $16.67 / £15 / AU$25 per month on a six-month plan.
However, compare Shadow to similar remote PC services and it's a very different story. For example, Microsoft Windows 365 Premium has less processing power, 16GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and no GPU, but costs more at $66 per month. If you use shadow power it looks good.
Shadows: how they work
Sign up for Shadow and the company will start building and activating your remote computer. It doesn't happen right away, but it should work within an hour and the service will send you an email while your computer is up and running.
Shadow Installer for Windows installed a simple application on our local system. We turned it on and watched as the program powered up our cloud computer then opened and displayed the desktop, all in 30 stunning seconds.
Every Shadow Cloud PC starts with a standard Windows 10 install, so your first task is to install any games or tools you need. Download Chrome, say Steam: whatever you prefer, powerful hardware and 1Gbps download speeds won't take long.
All of this happens in Shadow desktop full-screen mode. The app configures this to use the same screen resolution as your host device for easy switching. We found that with smooth mouse movements on our Shadow PC, windows appeared almost as soon as they were opened, with no annoying lag. It's easy to forget that your computer is actually hundreds or even thousands of miles away.
Most game controllers (Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and others) should be automatically detected and available on your Shadow. However, there are quirks with hardware that are less common: for example, some Logitech controllers are supported on Windows but not on Mac. If controller compatibility is important to you, visit the website to see what's supported and where.
USB support is a bit easier. For example, we connected a USB camera and an external hard drive, and the program automatically recognized them. After authorization, the application connects it to our Shadow and we can use it as usual. Transferring files to and from our shadows was then as easy as saving to a USB stick.
Shadow: Mac and Mobile Apps
Shadow for Mac looks and works almost exactly like the Windows version. The installation went smoothly, and within minutes we could see the Windows Shadow desktop on the Macbook Pro's screen.
Everything didn't work out the way I wanted. Trackpad scrolling is much faster in the Shadow desktop than in the native Mac app, for example, which can hurt the user experience. But overall, the desktop is as fast and responsive as Windows.
The Shadow apps for Android and iOS were just as easy to set up, and we had no trouble getting to the remote computer. Using it on hardware without a physical keyboard can be inconvenient, as Shadow doesn't automatically display your device's on-screen keyboard when you tap a text field (you have to open it yourself). But in most cases, if you just point and click, this shouldn't be a problem.
The rest of the desktop is easy to use for us, but if you're out of luck there are plenty of tweaks to help out. For example, you can adjust the screen resolution for smaller devices or apply other settings to get better results on slow internet connections.
Another nice bonus of Shadow is the ability to connect multiple devices at the same time. Only one of the two can control the desktop at the same time, but the other can see what's going on, which is a useful added sensor.
Shade: support
Shadow is a complex system capable of solving any problem or difficulty, so you can count on great support to help you solve any problem. But the reality is a little different.
There are several articles on the help page, for example, some are a few years old, have little detail, and don't cover all app settings (some are barely mentioned).
No live chat for instant feedback. We created a ticket to check response time, but did not receive a response within 23 hours. (He was spot on, helpful, and friendly, though, so it was worth the wait.)
A great addition to busy web forums. They usually don't answer questions here either, but being able to look up similar issues can be very helpful. And if you still haven't decided to sign up, it's worth digging through the forums to find out what paying customers are talking about.
Shadow: Performance
Shadow sells partly on the power of your remote computer, but is it really as fast as the company claims? We ran some tests to find out more.
3DMark's gaming test gave our Shadow a score of 10141, which is better than 61% of the other systems tested. The 3DMark score indicates that it is better than "gaming PC", but not as good as "high-end gaming PC".
PCMark gave Shadow a score of 6049. For comparison, we also ran PCMark on a high-end Windows 365 cloud PC and Shadow outperformed it in most areas: spreadsheets (9296 vs 4857), typing (7138 vs 5797), web browsing (8269 vs 5797 ). . 5557) and of course all the GPU testing, the Windows 365 install doesn't work at all.
A 1 Gbps internet connection is a huge plus whether you're gaming or not, and we'd love to know how it works in real life. The results were outstanding, with SpeedTest reporting an average download speed of 950Mbps on our test system. And it's not just the highest "Best Case" score; Every time we checked, we saw the same horrible downloads.
Shadow: The Last Judgment
Shadow is a very fast cloud computer, and its wide range of easy-to-use applications means you can use it effectively almost anywhere. The service may not be for everyone: gamers can find game streaming services much cheaper, and office users need more support and PC management tools. The prices are reasonable for what you get, and if you like Shadow's powers, we recommend giving it a try.
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