MSI Claw: A Second Chance at Handheld Gaming Dominance

MSI's New Handheld Might Be the Redemption It Needs

We still don't know much about the Claw 8 AI, but it already feels better in your hands. MSI has kept its Claw 8 AI gaming handheld behind closed doors for months on end, arguing it couldn’t show too much of its bigger handheld until Intel finally unveiled its Lunar Lake chips. Good news: Intel finally offered the full rundown of the Core Ultra series 2 during this year's IFA showcase in Berlin. So, now we can know everything there is to know about MSI’s sequel to the maligned, pricey Claw 7 before it hits store shelves in January 2025. Right? Right? Sorry, but no. We only learned half of what we'd hoped about the upcoming handheld. The Claw 8 AI features an all-new updated design that’s easier to hold and has a brighter, 8-inch display. It’s sporting new Center M software that looks like something you can actually use this time. All that's great to see, but we still don’t know the exact specs on CPU capabilities or battery life to expect from its new 80Whr battery and more efficient chip. I spent around 30 minutes playing around with the bigger, eight-inch screen and was impressed by the obvious jump in quality compared to the last version. The Claw 8 resembles a PlayStation 5 DualSense controller with a white-on-black motif and smooth sides. It’s more ergonomic than the top-end $800 Claw 7 by miles. My fingers rest neatly into the grooves carved along the back, and the back buttons are much shallower and easier to handle. MSI told me both the triggers and joysticks are Hall effect. The triggers and bumpers on the Claw 7 were too jagged to wrap your finger around comfortably, but the Claw 8 AI feels more smooth. The sticks are just on the wrong end of thin for my taste, but I wasn’t too bothered by the overall feel of the controller in hand. Plus, MSI has kept all the cute RGB lights in both the sticks and face buttons. What can I say? I like it when my face buttons glow in the dark. Despite all that, we have to remain skeptical. I only got to play through the beginning sections of Hi-Fi Rush. The game looked nice on the new screen, supporting up to a stated 500 nits peak brightness. It's a colorful game, though it’s not the title that will push any modern handheld PC to its limits. We don’t know what kind of TDP it will support, though MSI told Gizmodo that, thanks to the new efficient chips, it should be able to support solid gameplay at lower wattage. We know that MSI is planning to use some version of the new Intel Core Ultra 7, but Intel is selling four different kinds, each with slightly different GPU processing capabilities. Those latest x86 chips are supposed to be much more efficient than AMD's or even Qualcomm's recent mobile CPUs. The next-gen laptops sporting series 2 Ultra chips are promising 20 to 30 hours of battery life. We hope the Claw 8 can stay on for longer than even the Asus ROG Ally X, but we can only speculate. At the very least, everything looks better than before. MSI’s first attempt at a handheld UI, called Center M, was lacking in both speed and accessibility. MSI told me it's still testing out the new version of Center M, but it’s clearly a step up in terms of looks. Every game you select comes with its own poster that blows up the entire screen. MSI is also integrating the Xbox app’s FPS tracker and game capture widgets directly into Center M through a set of new tabs. I don’t know yet how well it does papering over the issues with Windows 11 on handheld. Then again, no current Windows-based handheld that has what I would consider a working UI for this form factor, unlike the Linux-based Steam Deck. MSI still needs to finalize so much about this console, and I’m wondering if MSI is kneecapping itself with its release date. This device would be poised to compete well in 2024. At IFA, AMD confirmed it has a new Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip in the works. Most handhelds like the ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and (essentially) the upcoming Acer Nitro Blaze 7 all use the Z1 Extreme. AMD top brass told Digital Trends it was getting far better battery life in some recent titles, but the chipmaker has yet to reveal anything more about the new chip. The thing is, AMD will reveal more about the Z2 Extreme early next year. If you’re looking to get something for the holidays, you might instead opt for the Ally X if money’s no issue or the Steam Deck if you just want something that works and looks good doing it. As for next year, I want to believe in MSI, especially if Lunar Lake’s big performance claims shake out. If MSI can make something priced competitively with others on the market, then the Claw could have a real shot at redemption.

Hands on: MSI Claw 8 AI+: will the second time be a charm for MSI? It sure feels that way

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you're buying the best. Find out more about how we test. The MSI Claw, announced back at CES 2024, was a PC gaming handheld that had a lot of hype built up around it (myself included), and it didn't have the most auspicious launch earlier this year. Beset by performance issues that could rightly be laid at Intel's feet (Meteor Lake has been rather meh), I wouldn't blame anyone for looking at the MSI Claw 8 AI+ with a good bit of side eye and skepticism. I also wouldn't blame folks if they gave me some as well, since I was definitely excited for the Claw's release, only to be just as disappointed as everyone else when the handheld finally shipped out. So, I won't ask you to take my excitement for the new MSI Claw 8 AI+ without a heap of salt, but having spent more than half an hour taking the Claw 8 AI+ for a spin at IFA 2024 this weekend, I'm going to ask that you bear with me. I've seen what these new Lunar Lake chips are capable of, and I really do think that Intel and MSI have ironed out what was wrong with the original Claw and are set to deliver a very impressive gaming handheld that will easily challenge the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally X, and Lenovo Legion Go in an increasingly competitive market. That's not to say there won't be issues with this handheld, sadly. Intel's graphics drivers for its Intel Arc GPUs simply lack the legacy support for older games that Nvidia and AMD graphics drivers do, and they always will, as many older studios aren't even around anymore to help Intel work out the bugs in DX10 games and earlier. If what you're after is playing the classics from the mid-2000s and early 2010s, an AMD-powered handheld is going to do that better. But if what you're looking for is a chance to play the latest PC games on the go, the Claw 8 AI+ may be the gaming handheld to beat in 2025. A huge part of that is Lunar Lake. Rebuilt from the ground up in a way that Meteor Lake really wasn't, Intel Lunar Lake promises significantly improved performance over previous Intel chips while using substantially less power in the process. This translates directly into better battery life for when you're on a flight, on the road, or just chilling on the couch and you don't want to be married to a wall outlet. In terms of gaming performance, I've seen the same Intel Core Ultra 7 chip that'll ship in the Claw 8 AI+ average nearly 70 fps in Cyberpunk 2077 on medium settings at 1080p and it looked fantastic, and it'll look even better on the smaller 8-inch screen which significantly ups the pixel density over a 14-inch ultrabook. Plus, with an 80WHr battery packed inside, it'll almost certainly get some of the longest battery life of any gaming handheld on the market. Of course, we aren't talking more than an extra hour or two, but there's a huge difference between playing GTA IV for two hours on a flight and stretching things out to four hours (assuming the Claw 8 AI+ can effectively run this particular DX9 title). The final specs for the Claw 8 AI+ aren't final yet, though it will come with an Intel Core Ultra 7 200-series chip in either 16GB or 32GB of memory. Whether a Core Ultra 5 or Core Ultra 9 configuration is in the cards isn't known yet, and as such, there's not much we can say about pricing at this time. But an MSI rep did tell me that MSI is targeting a January 2025 launch window, so we're bound to hear a lot more about the MSI Claw 8 AI+ in the weeks and months ahead. The MSI Claw 8 AI+ has been redesigned somewhat from the original Claw, especially in terms of its aesthetics. Gone is the boring all-black chassis of the first-gen Claw, as there is now a matte silvery-copper panel around the controls that nicely accents the otherwise black plastic chassis. MSI wasn't able to provide a full spec sheet for the Claw 8 AI+, so I can't tell if there is anything new about the ports on the new Claw other than the addition of a second USB-C port. This will likely be a Thunderbolt 4 port, but I didn't have an opportunity to confirm that. The back of the Claw 8 AI+ looks pretty much the same as the original Claw, featuring two programmable macro buttons and an air intake for the cooling system. One very welcome change though is the revamped MSI Center, which is accessible from the touch of a button and features as close to a modern console interface as I've seen on any handheld other than the Steam Deck. It will even change the background to reflect the game that you're highlighting. Windows 11 is still a terrible platform for PC gaming handhelds, so getting the MSI Center software right will be critical, and MSI is still tweaking the interface to improve it ahead of launch. Even as it is today, however, it's a much better experience than you'll find in other handhelds. I didn't get to really push the Claw 8 AI+ to its limits during my time with the device since MSI is still fine-tuning the power profile for the chip, but I got a chance to play some Hi-Fi Rush and Sonic the Hedgehog to see how the device handled. True, these are not the most demanding games around, but even in the early production state my Claw was in, the two games looked fantastic and played without issue, consistently getting very high frame rates. The spec sheet for the MSI Claw 8 AI+ isn't finalized yet, so there's no way to price this system out, either from MSI or my own estimates based on the hardware profile. As for availability, MSI is targeting a January 2025 launch for the Claw, but that's not an official release date, so it might slip a bit deeper into 2025. We'll hopefully know more about that soon as we get closer to the holiday season. It's too soon to tell how the MSI Claw 8 AI+ will perform, much less whether it will be a success, but there's no question that this is a very different experience than I've had with the first-generation model. Everything I've seen from Lunar Lake makes me optimistic though, and the improvements that MSI has made to the Claw's design are also stand-out arguments in this second-generation Claw's favor. We won't know for certain until we get an actual production unit in hand to benchmark and review, but given what I've seen so far, I can definitely say that I am very eager to see what this gaming handheld is capable of in a few months time.

I'm giving MSI a second chance with the MSI Claw 8 AI+ and you should, too

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ strives to correct the mistakes of its predecessor, earning it our award for best gaming gadget at IFA Berlin 2024 MSI got off to a rough start in the handheld gaming PC world, but its second entry, the MSI Claw 8 AI+, is proof MSI may be listening to its critics. The display of Claw handheld gaming PCs was right at the front of MSI's booth at IFA Berlin 2024. The original MSI Claw and the more recent Fallout special edition were familiar faces, but this is the first time we got our hands on the upcoming MSI Claw 8 AI+. Bouncing between the new Claw and the original, I immediately noticed some key improvements. The Claw 8 AI+ will be MSI's first full refresh since it launched the original Claw earlier this year and the second-generation device has a lot to accomplish. The original Claw stumbled at launch due to a slew of performance issues. MSI has since worked to correct those issues through software updates and a light refresh with the Fallout edition of the Claw, but the Claw 8 AI+ is a complete overhaul. It features a larger display, updated specs, a larger battery, and better joysticks and controls. If gamers are willing to give MSI a second chance, the Claw 8 AI+ might just be a worthy improvement over its predecessor, earning it Laptop Mag's award for best gaming gadget at IFA Berlin 2024. The MSI Claw 8 AI+ has a similar design to the original Claw, but there are some noticeable updates. Most notably, it features a larger 8-inch display without the thick plastic bezels that wrapped around the previous model's edges. The larger display means the Claw 8 AI+ is a bit wider and heavier than the previous Claw, but it didn't feel uncomfortable or bulky in my hands. I also immediately noticed the improved joysticks. They felt smoother and sturdier compared to the original or even the Fallout edition. It's a minor change, but it makes the gaming experience on the Claw 8 AI+ feel more comfortable and high-quality. The buttons still feature Hall Effect switches as on the original Claw, but MSI tweaked them to improve tactile feedback and adjust the placement of the paddles on the back of the Claw. While playing a bit of Hi-Fi Rush on the Claw 8 AI+, all of the buttons felt clicky and responsive. I also noticed that the MSI Claw 8 AI+ didn't get hot while I was trying it out. Of course, we'll have to wait until our lab testing team can run Laptop Mag's thorough thermal tests to see exactly how well the new-and-improved Claw handles heat. However, after playing a bit of Hi-Fi Rush on it for about 10 minutes, I didn't notice it getting warm to the touch anywhere. That might not sound like much to brag about, but it's a good sign considering the original Claw grew hot in just 15 minutes during our testing. MSI also gave the Claw 8 AI+ a major 80Wh battery upgrade. The original had a smaller 53Wh capacity that died after just over an hour and 20 minutes during our gaming tests. Handheld gaming PCs frequently struggle with battery life, so hopefully the larger battery of the new MSI Claw will give it a significantly better test score in this area. The MSI Claw 8 AI+ makes a positive first impression, one that gives me hope it could live up to the promises of the original, and maybe even exceed them. We'll have to wait until we put the Claw 8 AI+ through the paces in our lab tests to see just how much MSI improved things, but its first outing at IFA Berlin 2024 hints at a fresh start for MSI's handheld gaming PCs and more than earns itself a shot at redemption in the handheld gaming PC space. Laptop Mag's IFA Berlin 2024 Issue celebrates one of the world's longest-running consumer tech expos, Germany's own Internationale FunkAusstellung Berlin. Our on-the-ground team will bring you all the news emerging from the showroom floor of Messe Berlin and highlight the best in consumer tech as we announce our inaugural Laptop Laurel winners for best-in-show products.