I’m sure I’m not the only one who remembers the squeaky toy aliens from Toy Story every time I hear the name of MSI’s series of handhelds. The Claw is back, and just as the aliens saved Woody and Buzz in Toy Story 3, the new Claw 8 EX AI may finally reach its full potential with a new Intel chip and refined controls that seem extra comfortable… for a price.
First, let’s not get this new handheld confused with MSI’s previous Claw 8 AI+. The “EX” in this one’s name comes from the processor it uses, Intel’s new Arc G3 Extreme. The chip promises to be Intel’s first handheld-centric CPU that includes the same Arc B390 GPU as the company’s recent Panther Lake laptops. We’ve seen laptops with these chips perform just fine in 1080p gaming, so it’s not a stretch to believe they’ll do well in handheld form. The handheld can hit a max TDP, or thermal design power, of 45W. That’s more than the max 35W of many other AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme handhelds when plugged in. You’ll likely not run the system on those settings unless you have an outlet handy. It also necessitates better cooling, so we’ll see how well the MSI Claw 8 EX AI handles the heat. All that promised power will come for a price. The company told The Shortcut it’s aiming for around $1,500. That’s probably referring to the version with the Intel Arc G3 Extreme, though MSI is unlikely to offer an option with any lower-end processor. The company is also reportedly aiming for a release date of around June 23.
