Meet Maggie, PCMag'sSince Valve’s Steam Deck landed in response to the Nintendo Switch, PC gaming handhelds have become all the rage, with major vendors like Asus and Lenovo becoming significant players in the category. Asus, Lenovo, and Valve's handhelds share one big commonality: They run on AMD processors, with its handheld-optimized Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip found in both the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go 2. MSI, however, had other plans.
Paired with Intel from the jump, MSI's latest Claw 8 EX AI+ ($1,799.99) adopts Intel's new Arc G-Series processors as an alternative to AMD’s rival silicon. On paper, it's one of the best handhelds to date, but it couldn’t have arrived at a worse time, with rising memory prices driving up costs across all computer hardware—PC handhelds included. Because of its price, the Claw doesn’t knock the ROG Xbox Ally X out of our top spot, but if you’re willing and able to spend nearly $2,000 on a handheld, the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is the most potent PC gaming handheld money can buy.
When I got my claws on the first attempt at the MSI Claw back in 2024, I could see potential in the machine. However, its fatal error was relying on the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H rather than a specialized processor designed with handhelds in mind. The follow-up, MSI's Claw 8 AI+, improved the machine's design, but again, the processor just didn’t deliver the game performance we expected.
Regardless, I’ll never claim that MSI doesn't listen to feedback. For starters, MSI finally decided to go with a line of processors designed for PC gaming handhelds. The new Intel Arc G3 series consists of two chips: the plain G3 and the G3 Extreme. Both are based on Intel’s “Panther Lake” architecture, which we’ve seen find its way into a variety of high-end laptops over the last few months.
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Lenovo Legion Go S (Z2 Go, SteamOS)
While the Arc G3 shares the same Arc B390 graphics chip as other Panther Lake laptops, the attached CPUs are different. Even if they were the same, handhelds perform in a far more constrained thermal and component-design environment than any laptop does.
The G3 Extreme is also AI-ready with a dedicated neural processor (NPU) rated for up to 46 trillion AI operations per second (TOPS). NPUs offload AI processes from the CPU and GPU. That means the system works well with Microsoft Copilot and other AI services. What's most interesting is how the new G3 Extreme compares with the Ryzen Z2 Extreme 2. For now, let's examine what else is new about this year's Claw.
MSI's Claw 8 EX AI+ has gone through a significant redesign since the last Claw release. Taking a page from the Xbox Ally machines, the handheld now has what MSI calls “console-grade ergonomics.” Simply put, the body is designed to feel like you’re holding a traditional game controller. The grips are contoured to give your fingers plenty of space to hold the unit comfortably while evenly distributing its weight.
This is ideal for long play sessions, and something I struggle with when playing my Steam Deck and even my Nintendo Switch 2. I don’t think it’s as comfortable as the ROG Xbox Ally X, mostly because of its size, but I like the textured grip, which feels rigid in my hand.
At 1.89 by 11.7 by 5.1 inches (HWD), the new Claw is bigger than the Legion Go 2, but it somehow doesn’t feel as bulky as that device does. It’s also considerably lighter, weighing 1.73 pounds, though not as light as the ROG Xbox Ally X’s 1.5 pounds or the Steam Deck OLED’s 1.4 pounds. What’s interesting about the Claw’s design this time around is that the screen extends away from the console’s body. In that way, it somewhat resembles the PlayStation Portal’s design. The machine comes in one color, Void Purple, and it has a matte finish that doesn’t smudge.
Otherwise, the design is similar to that of other gaming handhelds released before. You’ll find two Hall Effect control sticks, a D-pad, and face buttons that resemble an Xbox controller. Two buttons flank the top left and right corners of the device’s 8-inch screen. On the top edge are your bumper buttons and Hall Effect trigger buttons, volume control, an always-welcome headphone jack, and a MicroSD Express card reader. Two Thunderbolt 4 ports sit beside the power button with both DisplayPort capability and power delivery. When you turn the handheld over, you’ll find two macro buttons sitting just inside the left and right handles.
The new Claw handles ventilation a little differently than the previous model. Using what MSI calls the Cooler Blast Hyperflow, the new thermal design redirects internal airflow to cool components, flushing hot air out through the system's top vents. With larger fans that promote more airflow, MSI claims a 9% improvement and a cooling capacity that's 5 watts higher than previous generations.
MSI's system runs quietly and never grows too hot, whether I am on or off the charger. When I put it in a higher performance mode, it feels safe, not like it's about to catch fire in my hands. That's all to say that the Claw feels like a premium device. A major point in the Claw’s favor is how easy it is to upgrade the SSD by simply removing the back cover. While the system comes with a 1TB SSD, it's compatible with higher-capacity 2TB or 4TB M.2 2280 drives.
The Claw 8 EX AI+ uses an 8-inch, 120Hz IPS touch screen, though this time it supports a 1,920-by-1,200-pixel (1200p) resolution, a slight bump from the 1080p screen on the previous model. It refreshes at 120Hz with variable refresh support to avoid screen tearing, both of which are standard for gaming handhelds. While I couldn't test this, MSI says the screen shines with a typical brightness of 500 nits and displays 100% of the sRGB color gamut. To my eye, it all looks and plays with smoothness and vibrance. However, the display shows significant glare when viewed in direct sunlight.
Rounding out the handheld’s features are two 2-watt speakers, HD haptics, an 80-watt-hour battery, and support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 with LE audio. The speakers provide a lush sound profile, though you'll notice a lack of bass. While the speakers are suitable in most situations, I'll never turn down a quality pair of headphones.
Asus' ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X were the first handhelds to introduce the Xbox Full Screen Experience, Microsoft’s attempt to bring the Xbox console experience to handhelds. Since then, it's become standard in PC gaming handhelds (or Windows models, anyway). The Xbox Full Screen Experience is Xbox’s attempt to create a SteamOS-like app to manage your game library and make navigation easier by using the controller sticks and face buttons.
The real reason you’d want to launch your games here is that the Xbox partition addresses some of the performance challenges caused by Windows 11. The Xbox Full Screen Experience eliminates all but the most essential Windows 11 processes in the background, freeing up additional RAM for game performance. These gains are minor, but they can matter when trying to reach a stable frame rate in demanding games.
If you’re an Xbox-only gamer or someone subscribed to Xbox Game Pass, the Xbox app will likely provide everything you need. However, if you want to access games from other launchers like Steam and Epic Games Store, you’ll still have to navigate over to the Windows 11 side and download them as you would on a computer or laptop.
The addition of Wi-Fi 7 is welcome, so long as you have a wireless router that supports it. If you do, Wi-Fi 7 can noticeably reduce download times.
Navigating the Windows side of these machines is always where the seams start to show on these consoles. While you can navigate with the touch screen, the ideal way to control it is with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. It’s no different from navigating a laptop or PC, and while the awkward shuffle back and forth between the Windows and Xbox sides has become easier, it's still not perfect. I often had to restart a game because it opened on the Windows side and not the Xbox side, or sometimes the console got hung up on one screen and wouldn't load.
As I discovered while testing the Legion Go S (Z2 Go, SteamOS), Windows 11 can significantly degrade game performance. You could go out of your way to ditch Windows 11 entirely, but if you don’t want to, the Xbox's full-screen experience does limit the time you need to interact with it.
MSI Center M is also accessible with the press of a button. (It's emblazoned with an "M"—you can’t miss it.) This redesigned launcher is where you’ll manage the machine's functions, including its RGB lighting, performance modes, and quick settings such as screen recording, refresh-rate adjustment, and screenshot capture. While it’s a little redundant in the face of the Xbox app, MSI Center M has never looked better and will see use if you're looking to monitor system and game performance.
My colleague Matthew Buzzi got his hands on the Claw before I did, benchmarking the device and comparing it with some similarly configured laptops. (Hit up that story at the preceding link for a testing deep-dive with the Claw and Intel's Arc G3 Extreme.) However, in a review context, you more likely want to know how the Claw stacks up with other gaming handhelds. So let's do that here.
I compared the Claw 8 EX AI+ against the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X ($999.99), the somehow even pricier $1,999.99 Lenovo Legion Go 2, the $799.99 Lenovo Legion Go S (SteamOS), and the Steam Deck OLED ($949). Here’s what we found.
The first game we benchmarked on the system was Cyberpunk 2077. It’s wild to think this game from 2020 that destroyed last-generation consoles and demands top-of-the-line hardware can now run on handhelds like these, Switch 2 and Steam Deck included. We ran the game across three different presets: the Steam Deck preset, as well as the Ultra and Ray Tracing Overdrive presets.
Take a look at how the G3 Extreme outpaced the Xbox ROG Ally X’s Ryzen Z2 Extreme, especially at Ultra settings with no upscaling applied. Performance collapsed with ray tracing enabled, but you were never going to see that type of speed from a handheld anyway.
We also tested Shadow of the Tomb Raider, a pretty demanding title from a few years back that can still put modern rigs through the wringer. Testing the Low visual presets, the Claw squeezed out nearly 20 more frames per second than the Xbox Ally X.
Anecdotal testing included playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered and Halo: Campaign Evolved, both Unreal Engine 5 games that ran surprisingly well on the handheld. Halo, in particular, managed to keep close to 60 frames per second (fps) on the Very Low preset, though I saw drops to the high 40s. I stuck to low settings while playing Oblivion and observed frame rates that fluctuated far more than Halo, but it was perfectly playable.
Our game benchmark tests charted here used FSR (AMD's XeSS competitor) for consistency in just one instance (with the Steam Deck preset in Cyberpunk; it's innate to the preset). Otherwise, the handhelds were all tested without it at the indicated setting at their native resolutions, which vary. I should highlight, though, that the Claw uses Intel XeSS natively.
XeSS (short for "Xe Super Sampling") is an AI-powered upscaling technology from Intel. XeSS (short for "Xe Super Sampling") is an AI-powered upscaling technology from Intel. Like FSR and Nvidia's DLSS, it's designed to boost frame rates in compatible games by rendering at a lower resolution and then using a machine-learning algorithm to reconstruct the image. This preserves image quality while maintaining higher performance. It’s the secret sauce for all of these gaming handhelds.
The Claw 8 EX AI+ uses XeSS 3, and it includes a feature called multi-frame generation (MFG). Standard frame generation also leans on AI, here to insert "artificially predicted" frames of a game in between the real frames rendered by your hardware. MFG takes this to the next level by inserting up to three additional artificial frames between each pair of real frames, seriously boosting the final frame rate.
We don’t normally test Cyberpunk with any upscaling aid (outside of the FSR applied in the Steam Deck preset), but I took a look at how XeSS and MFG can make a real difference in game performance. On Cyberpunk’s Ultra preset, but with XeSS 2 tuned to the “balanced” level, I observed the frame rate jump from 35fps to 56fps. With frame generation set to 1 under the same settings, the average frame rate rocketed to 92fps. Finally, after enabling the XeSS 3 override at 4X MFG, it exploded to an average frame rate of 153fps. That's a huge leap over the typical frame-rate boost you see from using FSR.
Any upscaling technology comes with some visual concessions; it’s just unavoidable. You’ll notice plenty of pop-in and noisy background images, and you’ll lose detail in complicated renderings, like hair. You'll find more noticeable ghosting with MFG active, particularly at the highest level. Regardless, the smaller 8-inch screen hides many of these blemishes, and considering the performance trade-off, it might not bother you.
What might bother you most is the price to reach that performance: a whopping $1,800. A combination of factors, from tariffs to the AI explosion driving up RAM prices, is to blame for this. The Steam Deck itself was recently subject to a major price increase, with the two models now priced at $789 and $949, for nothing new, while the Steam Machine ended up priced far higher than anyone predicted.
I can’t fault MSI for pricing the Claw at nearly $2,000, but it’s hard to wholeheartedly recommend it when its performance isn’t much better than the ROG Xbox Ally X, which is still $800 cheaper. However, if you factor in XeSS 3, you see a tremendous difference in performance. If you own a gaming handheld already, the gains might not be enough to win you over, but if you have yet to buy one and the handheld factor is more appealing than grabbing a desktop, the latest MSI Claw is the best one money can buy.
This year's Claw has an 80Whr battery, the same as the Xbox ROG Ally X, but bigger than the Lenovo Legion Go 2's 74Whr battery, the Lenovo Legion Go S's 55.5Whr battery, and the Steam Deck OLED’s 50Whr battery. MSI estimates about five hours of play before the battery gives out, but that number is based on a specific Diablo IV configuration. In short, judging from other handhelds I've seen, you can enjoy anywhere between three and 12 hours from a single charge, depending on the use case. Battery life depends on the game you’re playing. A graphically intensive game will draw more power than something simple.
The handheld has three battery modes. MSI's AI Engine automatically adjusts your fan speed based on your game settings. If you're running a graphically demanding game with High presets enabled, the AI Engine will adjust settings accordingly. The Endurance mode, on the other hand, is essentially the machine's battery-saving mode. Finally, it has a custom mode to tweak settings to your liking.
To see what the battery could handle under "normal" gameplay settings, I set the system to 50% brightness and 100% volume, deactivated all the Dim Display and Sleep options, and turned the device to Airplane mode. We set each system's power profile to Performance. Using Cyberpunk’s Steam Deck preset, I left the game idle and found it lasted for 3 hours and 32 minutes.
Just for good measure, I tested the system's battery life by playing a locally stored 720p video file (the open-source Blender movie Tears of Steel) with display brightness at 50% and audio volume at 100%. We make sure the battery is fully charged before the test, with Wi-Fi and backlighting turned off. I chose the Endurance mode for my testing. Under these settings, the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ lasted 18 hours and 11 minutes. Obviously, the Intel chip handles video playback far more effectively than it can gaming, sending most of the battery-draining CPU and GPU resources off for a nap while performing that light task. In contrast, they, and the battery life, get munched up with a game like Cyberpunk running.
Despite the similarly sized battery, the Claw outpaced the Xbox Ally X on video playback (the Ally X lasted 13 hours and 42 minutes) and real gameplay (2 hours and 11 minutes). According to these tests, the new Claw is the more efficient system.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
MSI Claw 8 EX AI+
- 5.0 - Exemplary: Near perfection, ground-breaking
- 4.5 - Outstanding: Best in class, acts as a benchmark for measuring competitors
- 4.0 - Excellent: A performance, feature, or value leader in its class, with few shortfalls
- 3.5 - Good: Does what the product should do, and does so better than many competitors
- 3.0 - Average: Does what the product should do, and sits in the middle of the pack
- 2.5 - Fair: We have some reservations, buy with caution
- 2.0 - Subpar: We do not recommend, buy with extreme caution
- 1.5 - Poor: Do not buy this product
- 1.0 - Dismal: Don't even think about buying this product
Read Our Editorial Mission Statement and Testing Methodologies.
The Claw 8 EX AI+ is MSI’s best attempt at a PC gaming handheld and is an excellent showcase of the Intel Arc G3 Extreme. Regardless, the most powerful PC handheld yet couldn’t have come at a worse time, as the sky-high price takes the wind out of its sails.
If you’re in the market for a gaming handheld and you want the best of the best, the new Claw is worth checking out. XeSS 3 and frame-generation technology take its gameplay performance to the next level, but even without that, the latest Claw is hands-down the most powerful PC handheld we've tested. As long as the Xbox Ally X holds steady at $1,000, however, the performance gains you'll enjoy from the Claw might not be enough to pay for an extra $800 for.
About Our Expert
I’m a PCMag reviewer and ISF-certified TV calibrator focused on computer accessories, laptops, gaming monitors, and video games. I’ve been writing, playing, and complaining about games for as long as I remember, but it wasn’t until recently that I’ve been able to shout my opinions directly at a larger audience. My work has appeared on iMore, Windows Central, Android Central, and TWICE, and I have a diverse portfolio of editing work under my belt from my time spent at Scholastic and Oxford University Press. I also have a few book-author credits under my belt—I’ve contributed to the sci-fi anthology Under New Suns, and I’ve even written a Peppa Pig book.
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