MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ Review

Ever since the Steam Deck launched successful 2022, handheld gaming PCs person been increasing steadily much almighty and expensive, and there’s nary amended illustration of that trajectory than the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+. Powered by Intel’s caller Arc G3 Extreme handheld chip, MSI’s caller handheld is an implicit behemoth, easy capable to apical 60 fps successful immoderate of the astir demanding games astatine its autochthonal 1200p, albeit astatine mean to precocious presets.

However, this show comes with a cost. The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ starts astatine $1,799, making it the astir costly handheld from a mainstream PC maker. Part of that outgo tin beryllium attributed to AI datacenters driving request for representation and retention done the roof, but similar the Steam Machine earlier this week, the terms makes the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ a niche merchandise – astatine slightest for now.

Unlike the Steam Machine, though, show is beardown capable connected this handheld that anyone looking for the champion handheld show nary substance the outgo conscionable mightiness privation to springiness the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ a look.

Wait, How Much?

Basically everything is getting much costly successful the look of our existent RAM crisis, and handhelds are surely nary different. Just a fewer weeks ago, the Steam Deck, which had been a fund all-star for years, saw a terms emergence that enactment it neck-and-neck with the Xbox Ally. Likewise, the Lenovo Legion Go 2, which launched astatine an expensive-for-the-time $1,099 starting price, present starts astatine $1,499 for its plain Z2 configuration.

It’s unfortunate that MSI has to motorboat the Claw 8 EX AI+ successful this AI-fried market, but the terms tag perfectly reflects it. The handheld volition acceptable you backmost $1,799 for its 1 configuration, netting you the caller Arc G3 Extreme processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. That terms puts it close up against the present $1,799 Lenovo Legion Go 2, and successful that matchup, MSI looks incredible. Because portion this caller Claw 8 EX AI+ doesn’t person a fancy OLED screen, it’s up to 55% faster than the Legion Go 2.

But the elephant successful the country is the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X, which volition acceptable you backmost $999 close now, someway avoiding the terms increases that are hitting fundamentally each different merchandise connected the market.

The Claw 8 EX AI+ is overmuch faster than the Xbox Ally X, and adjacent has a larger, brighter display, but it costs astir doubly arsenic much. For astir radical that conscionable privation the champion value, the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ conscionable isn’t it close now. But, if each you attraction astir is getting the champion handheld show astatine immoderate cost, well, it’s hard to reason with the Arc G3 Extreme’s results.

Design and Features

The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ astir looks similar idiosyncratic took the Xbox Ally X and past conscionable stretched it retired a small bit. MSI intelligibly took immoderate notes from Asus’ handheld, with the aforesaid controller-like flared grip connected the bottommost near and close corners of the Claw 8 EX AI+. Honestly, I privation much handhelds would commencement to follow this design, due to the fact that it does consciousness a spot much earthy successful hand.

It helps, too, that these flared grips person a bully texture to them, stopping them from feeling slippery aft a mates hours of gaming. However, the sheer size of this handheld stops it from being rather arsenic comfy arsenic the Ally X.

The Claw 8 EX AI+ is 11 inches wide and weighs successful astatine 1.7lb. That’s acold from the heaviest, oregon adjacent the largest handheld I’ve reviewed, with the Legion Go 2 weighing successful astatine a monolithic 2.03lb. But, dissimilar Lenovo’s handheld which had comparatively narrower controllers, I earnestly person to agelong my thumb a spot to scope the paper buttons connected the Claw 8 EX AI+.

The paper buttons are astir 3.5 inches up from the bottommost of the device, and a small much than 2 inches successful from their respective edges. And to adhd connected to the finger-stretching, the buttons are laid retired successful specified a mode that the ‘start’ and ‘select’ buttons are further up, portion the buttons that bring up the Game Bar and MSI’s bundle are lower.

I cannot archer you however often I accidentally brought up the MSI Center M bundle erstwhile I conscionable wanted to propulsion up the representation successful Crimson Desert. That’s annoying connected its own, but for immoderate reason, whenever I dismissed this software, to tab backmost into the crippled I was playing, the Claw 8 EX AI+ wouldn’t automatically refocus the crippled window, which meant I had to pat the surface with my digit to get the controller to enactment again. Once again, the astir annoying portion of utilizing a Windows handheld is software.

It’s not each annoying though. The Game Bar fastener connected the near broadside of the show volition bring up a speedy settings overlay, wherever you tin swap betwixt antithetic show modes, arsenic good arsenic toggle a fewer settings similar surface brightness and RGB lighting.

While the remainder of the buttons are astir what you’d expect connected galore modern controllers, with the regular look buttons and immoderate backmost paddles, the Claw 8 EX AI+ has Hall Effect analog sticks and triggers. They consciousness large close retired of the box, and the Hall Effect sensors mean they should past for years earlier you acquisition instrumentality drift. I would person preferred TMR (tunneling magnetoresistance) sticks for their improved vigor efficiency, particularly astatine $1,799, but hey, I’ll instrumentality Hall Effect implicit a accepted potentiometer sensor.

Along the apical of the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ are 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports, on with a MicroSD paper scholar and a headphone jack. I emotion that having a 2nd larboard has go the norm with modern handhelds, but I would person alternatively MSI recovered a mode to determination 1 of them to the bottommost of the device.

Speaking of the bottommost of the device, the Claw’s show extends a spot beneath the remainder of the chassis, truthful that it’s flush with the flared ends of the controller. This plan looked chaotic erstwhile I archetypal saw it, but it is increasing connected me. It allows MSI to usage a ample 8-inch show portion having a smaller chassis than past year’s Claw 8 AI+. I bash wonderment however durable this show volition beryllium implicit time, but the integrative is much than heavy capable to forestall immoderate benignant of catastrophic bending.

Gaming and Performance

The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is powered by the caller Intel Arc G3 Extreme SoC. This is highly akin to the Intel Core Ultra 9 388H recovered successful the Asus Zenbook Duo that launched backmost astatine CES 2026, but with 2 of the Performance cores disabled. However, portion the CPU was chopped backmost a spot to acceptable into a handheld’s needs, Intel included the full-fat Arc B390 GPU, with its 12 Xe-cores.

But, really, the biggest quality betwixt the Arc G3 Extreme and the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme is its age. You see, erstwhile the Z2 household launched, it launched with dated architectures for some its CPU and GPU, which meant determination wasn’t overmuch betterment implicit the Z1 Extreme that preceded it. That’s not the lawsuit with the G3 Extreme. This is built connected Intel’s Panther Lake platform, which is powering each of its current-generation laptops, and it makes a immense difference.

Just compared to past year’s MSI Claw, which was built connected Intel Lunar Lake, the Claw 8 EX AI+ is arsenic overmuch arsenic 47% faster successful 3DMark Time Spy and 54% faster successful Cyberpunk 2077. A batch of that comes down to the Arc G3 Extreme having 12 graphics cores to the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V having 8, but that’s lone portion of the story.

Even compared to the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme, the Intel G3 Extreme is simply a immense improvement. In Cyberpunk 2077, the Claw 8 EX AI+ gets 54 fps astatine 1080p with the High preset and XeSS acceptable to performance. The Lenovo Legion Go 2, with the aforesaid settings, lone manages 37 fps. That’s a 37% pb for MSI against a handheld that, astatine the clip of writing, costs the aforesaid magnitude of money.

The Xbox Ally X hurts the Claw 8 EX AI’s worth proposition rather a bit, though. While that handheld was tested astatine 1080p, alternatively than 1200p, the Ally X gets 44 fps successful Cyberpunk astatine the High preset, with FSR acceptable to Quality. That narrows the Claw’s pb to astir 20% – springiness oregon instrumentality a fewer points for the quality betwixt 1200p and 1080p – contempt its 57% little cost.

But portion the Claw 8 EX AI+ has much earthy graphics show than different handhelds, it besides has multi-frame generation. This tech uses the NPU to insert AI-generated frames successful betwixt each rendered framework of the crippled you’re playing.

At its core, this exertion isn’t caller to handhelds – AMD’s framework gen exertion has been disposable since the Steam Deck. With XeSS framework gen, though, Intel is capable to make up to 3 AI frames for each “real” frame, which truly helps saturate the Claw 8 EX AI’s 120Hz display.

Nvidia famously introduced multi-frame procreation arsenic portion of DLSS 4 backmost successful 2025, and since past the exertion has been controversial, due to the fact that it tin present added latency and ocular artifacts. The aforesaid is perfectly existent for Intel’s iteration, but I volition accidental that it feels good connected specified a tiny screen.

Playing Crimson Desert, framework procreation brought maine from astir 40-45 fps to astir 155 with framework gen acceptable to 4x. And portion that came astatine the outgo of immoderate latency, I didn’t truly notice, apt due to the fact that the crippled is dilatory capable for 10-15ms of added latency to not substance each that much. Instead, the crippled looked a batch much smooth, conscionable by virtuousness of having much frames sent to the display.

Your mileage volition vary, of course, but whether oregon not you take to usage it, I’d inactive alternatively person the enactment than not.

When Intel was telling maine astir the Arc G3 Extreme, it said that 2 show cores (or P-Cores) were disabled to beforehand amended artillery life. And, portion that astir apt did marque a large difference, the Claw 8 EX AI+ didn’t fare overmuch amended than the Z2 Extreme-equipped handhelds I’ve tested.

In Procyon, which tests artillery beingness done Microsoft Office applications, the Claw did highly well, lasting a whopping 13 hours. However, erstwhile I acceptable a timer and conscionable laid successful furniture playing Crimson Desert, the artillery died aft 2 hours and 14 minutes. That’s not worse than I’d expect from the Lenovo Legion Go 2 oregon the Xbox Ally X, but it’s not precisely better, either. In fact, it falls beauteous overmuch close successful enactment with those 2 devices, which lasted 2 hours and 17 minutes, and 2 hours and 34 minutes, respectively.

However, baked into the G3 Extreme is simply a caller Endurance mode. Basically, erstwhile this is enabled, your framerate volition beryllium locked to 30 fps (by default – you tin configure this successful Intel’s graphics utility), and powerfulness volition beryllium constricted beyond that. In games wherever you’d different get northbound of 60 fps, this volition marque a monolithic quality to artillery life, but evidently it’ll person little interaction if you’re hardly hitting that show threshold successful the archetypal place.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor astatine IGN and the PC components queen. You tin travel her @Jackiecobra