MSI Claw 8 AI+ Evaluate: Plush And Premium Handheld Gaming

	MSI Claw 8 AI+ Home windows Gaming Handheld: $899 at Amazon, 7″ Mannequin for $799 MSI’s second-gen Claw 8 makes use of an environment friendly Lunar Lake CPU to ship higher gaming efficiency and battery life on a beautiful 8-inch show.
	Wonderful Gaming Efficiency Corridor-Impact Sticks And Sturdy Chassis Versatile Thunderbolt 4 Connectivity Giant And Vibrant 8-inch VRR Display screen Robust Combine Of Velocity And Battery Life	Might Be Cumbersome Or Heavy For Some Premium Value For A Premium Product Drab Greige Aesthetics

MSI’s first-generation Claw was a PC gaming handheld based mostly on an Intel processor that was technically by no means meant for handheld use. We had a robust suspicion the second technology can be higher, even earlier than we knew a lot about Intel’s spectacular Core Extremely 200V processors, code-named Lunar Lake. These chips are small, environment friendly, and speedy, significantly because of their highly effective Xe2-based built-in graphics.

MSI has since launched two second-generation Claw handhelds round Lunar Lake chips. The primary, the MSI Claw 7 AI+, is actually a refresh of the first-gen Claw mannequin that swaps out the Meteor Lake half within the unique recipe for a skinny & gentle Lunar Lake SoC that provides radically improved gaming efficiency. In the meantime, the machine we have now right here is the Claw 8 AI+, a essentially new design that sports activities a much bigger display screen, a much bigger battery, and higher cooling.

We have spent a couple of month with the Claw 8 AI+ as our main gaming system throughout downtime, and we have additionally in contrast it instantly towards one in all its closest rivals. It is a battle for the ages: ASUS versus MSI, AMD versus Intel, Radeon versus Arc. The conclusion may not go precisely the way you assume, so stick round for the entire knowledge and our full impressions on the finish.

For now, let’s check out the specs of this beefy little machine:

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is strictly what you’ll count on from a Lunar Lake-based gaming handheld. You get a cheap mannequin of the Lunar Lake design, with the full-fat GPU and full 12MB of L3 cache, however with out the elevated clock charges of the 268V or 288V fashions. That is advantageous; the system is GPU-limited anyway. MSI was intelligent to equip this machine with one of many 32GB Core Extremely SKUs. Should you recall, on Lunar Lake, the reminiscence is on the identical bundle with the CPU, so it’s a must to choose your RAM configuration when selecting the processor. (Should you weren’t conscious of that, head over and browse our deep dive on these chips.)

We’ll speak concerning the display screen and the bodily traits of the Claw 8 AI+ in our walk-around in only a second, however we did wish to level out just a few different specs, just like the 1TB SSD, the Intel-powered Wi-Fi 7 chip, and the truth that this machine has twin Thunderbolt 4 ports for exterior connectivity reasonably than being restricted to USB 3.x or only one Thunderbolt port, like lots of its rivals. It additionally has a big 80-Whr battery, which contributes to its sturdy battery life. Let’s go forward and take a look at this method intimately, we could?

MSI Claw 8 AI+ Gaming Handheld Design And Options

As you’ll be able to see, the system itself has a reasonably normal structure. On the left facet you could have a Corridor-effect analog stick, two “operate” keys (view and MSI Heart, on this case), and an uncommon D-pad with a deeply concave design. Over on the precise you could have one other Corridor-effect analog stick, two extra operate keys (menu and overlay), and naturally the same old 4 face buttons. The beautiful show is touch-capable, and the audio system are surprisingly brilliant and clear—if missing in bass response, as you could possibly solely count on from 2W handheld audio system.

The Claw 8 AI+, like competing ASUS’ ROG Ally machines, comes with a stand, however not like these it’s a must to carve it out of the machine’s packaging after which fold it collectively like a chunk of horrible origami. We applaud MSI for encouraging customers to upcycle the field, however we in all probability would have most popular a barely extra sturdy stand for taking these images. Nonetheless, it labored effectively sufficient—when augmented with paperclips, anyway.

The display screen on the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is the star of the present and deserves particular consideration. It is not an OLED and it isn’t even HDR. Nevertheless, it’s a 120-Hz LCD with VRR help and exceptionally good movement readability for the sort of display screen. It is also an IPS-type, so it would not expertise shade shifting while you’re shifting the system round in your fingers. General, the massive display screen is not the most important we have examined in a tool of this kind—that honor nonetheless goes to Lenovo’s Legion Go—and but it is nonetheless a lot large enough to impress visually.

One other wonderful high quality of the show on the Claw 8 AI+ is that it’s a native panorama show. Which means that it isn’t a rotated portrait show. That is vital, as a result of it implies that should you ever fresh-install an working system, or should you launch sure video games that set the display screen mode in deprecated methods, you do not have to fret concerning the display screen being rotated 90 levels from what you’d count on. That is additionally true of the ROG Ally techniques that we’re evaluating towards, however another handhelds, notably the Steam Deck and Legion Go, use native portrait screens which might be rotated in software program, which could be a ache.

Alternatively, the odd beige or “greige” handgrips on the Claw 8 AI+ are an attention-grabbing aesthetic selection. We do not thoughts the take a look at all, however others have commented that the system is just not significantly enticing and “like a chunk of utilitarian navy tools.” Virtually all different gaming handhelds are pure black, pure white, or some mixture of black and white, so we have now to applaud MSI for doing one thing totally different, however “totally different” would not at all times imply “higher.” Maybe swappable handgrips in quite a lot of colours could be a pleasant improve for the following technology.

Across the again of the system you could have an enormous MSI Protect emblem, massive vents for cooling the machine, two configurable macro buttons, and never a lot else. What else may very well be on the again? Nicely, we might have preferred to have seen a kickstand, really. The controllers aren’t removable, however the display screen on the Claw 8 AI+ is large enough that it might simply be used to observe movies whereas propped up on a desk, and you may at all times use bluetooth controllers, too. It is not a crucial failure, however we do assume the omission of a stand is a missed alternative.

On the highest of the Claw is the place the magic occurs; that is the place the entire I/O for the system is. From left to proper, you could have a pair of very nice-feeling buttons—the triggers are totally analog—a quantity rocker, the three.5mm headphone jack, a cool Claw emblem, the twin Thunderbolt 4 ports, the MicroSD slot, the ability button (which doubles as a fingerprint reader for Home windows Howdy), after which lastly the left bumper and left set off. The system exhausts out of the highest, primarily at both finish of the massive vent there the place the twin followers are, however it actually would not make that a lot warmth—definitely nothing just like the ROG Circulate z13 we simply reviewed.

Then, on the underside, there’s not a lot to see in addition to some regulatory labeling, though we have now to notice that the system is formed such that it can not rise up on its base. That is certainly not a singular fault to the Claw so we’re completely not dinging MSI for this, however simply know that regardless of this picture making it look fairly flat, it isn’t.

We needed to speak a bit extra concerning the controls earlier than we transfer on. The Claw 8 is a fairly large system and yours really is a fairly large man. In my fingers, the Claw 8 feels very comfy and pure, whether or not utilizing the odd-but-pleasant D-pad or the responsive analog sticks. Nevertheless, for somebody with smaller fingers, significantly a toddler or younger lady, this machine could also be more durable to sport on. Concerning the D-pad particularly, it feels nice for retro video games and indie video games, however titles that need fast faucets (for e.g. deciding on weapons) could take some observe because the strong nature of the pad could make it a bit of onerous to seek out your house on it.

In fact, earlier than we even speak concerning the dimensions of the sport controls, we have now to speak concerning the weight of the system. The Claw 8 AI+ weighs 794g in line with MSI; our machine weighs in at 789g, which is shut sufficient to be measurement error. The purpose is, it is comparatively heavy and almost a full 200 grams heavier than the ASUS ROG Ally and Steam Deck OLED, to say nothing of the Nintendo Swap which is a measly 420 grams with its Pleasure-Cons connected. Put merely, the Claw 8 AI+ might be taxing to make use of for lengthy intervals. Should you’re after one in all these, you’d higher have some fairly vital forearm power, particularly if you wish to make use of the gyro operate that requires exact actions.

We do not actually contemplate this to be a fault of the system as a result of it’s simply the character of the beast, as a bigger handheld. should you’re contemplating a purchase order of one in all these units, it is best to know what you are stepping into. The Claw 8 AI+ continues to be lighter than the Lenovo Legion Go by round 50 grams.

That is sufficient leering on the system. Let’s check out the MSI software program earlier than hitting the benchmarks.