What do you actually want your gaming handheld to do for you? If you told me, “Play Nintendo games,” go buy a Switch 2. If next on your checklist is “Give me the best mix of performance and efficiency in something I can take on a plane,” then there’s only one answer now. It’s the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, an $1,800 handheld PC. At that price, you can claim a not-too-shabby desktop gaming PC. Thanks to obscene memory prices, this is the world we live in now.
If you want a TL;DR version of this review: the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ sets the new high-water mark for gaming handhelds going forward. Its Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip is a great fit for FHD gaming. Compared to the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme found inside handhelds like the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X and the Lenovo Legion Go 2, the Claw 8 EX AI+ can slip in 10, 20, or even more frames per second on the same graphics settings. A 30% to 40% increase in frame rate doesn’t seem like much, but it’s everything to a handheld that’s threading the needle between power and performance. The catch is obvious. You have to spend $1,800. An Xbox Ally X costs $1,000 at the time of this review. A Legion Go 2 costs $2,000, but it comes with a larger OLED display. The Claw 8 EX AI+ price makes me want to pull out my non-existent hair, strand by strand. When PCs of every stripe cost this much, it makes me want to strip down to my skivvies and go dancing out onto the streets of New York to proclaim the end of days. 4 MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ You can't get better handheld performance and efficiency anywhere else. I just costs way too much. Pros Great ergonomics Bright screen Performance is stellar Thunderbolt 4 ports Endurance mode offers better battery life Cons God, that price Thin-feeling sticks Display prone to reflections Software still needs work I can’t argue anybody should spend $800 more just for the sake of a 30% increase in frame rates. All I say is that the Claw 8 EX AI+ is now my favorite handheld. That point alone is what makes me so depressed about the PC industry at large. The Claw 8 EX AI+ should already be available to order (so you likely won’t secure it at the special preorder price of $1,700). MSI told Gizmodo the Claw 8 EX AI+ will be available to purchase at Micro Center soon.
