(Image credit: Future)
Intel Arc G3 handhelds are the talk of the town here at Computex 2026, and I just got an early hands-on with the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+. In short, believe the hype — this is the next generation of gaming on-the-go unlike anything you’ve seen before.Of course, a lot of this comes from that new silicon, which copies a lot of Panther Lake’s homework including that monster integrated GPU with XeSS 3 support to deliver some blistering frame rates (more on those later) while being much more power efficient than any AMD-filled handheld I’ve tested.But the secret sauce here is MSI’s DNA — learning from previous Claws and dramatically upgrading the design, vastly improving airflow to keep it cool, bringing a gorgeous new display, tweaking the ergonomics and tactility of the vibration, and making it even easier to upgrade.What’s the price? I asked MSI and the answer was “stop asking about it,” which does make me nervous in the current state of RAMageddon, but I can’t deny this is utter brilliance.MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ specsSwipe to scroll horizontallySpecMSI Claw 8 EX AI+CPUIntel Arc G3 Extreme (14-core CPU)GPUIntel Arc B390 (12 Xe3 core GPU)RAMUp to 32GB LPDDR5x 8533 MT/sStorageUp to 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSDDisplay8-inch 1920 x 1200 Touchscreen IPS display, 500 Nits, 48-120Hz variable refresh rateBattery80WHrAudio2x 2W speakers, 1x 3.5mm audio jackConnectivity2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x microSD card reader, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6Dimensions12.6 x 5.1 x 1.9 inchesWeight1.7 poundsRaiders of the lost Arc
