00:00Hey, I've got some good news.
00:02The MSI Claw A8 has finally made its way to North America, and in this review, I'm
00:06going to share what this gaming handheld does really well, where it falls short, and how
00:10it compares to two other very popular gaming handhelds, its sibling, the MSI Claw 8 AI
00:15Plus and the ROG Xbox Ally X.
00:20So let's start with one of the biggest questions that you probably have.
00:23How does the MSI Claw A8 compare to last year's MSI Claw 8 AI Plus?
00:28Confusing naming aside, the design here gets some really nice refinement.
00:33While the Claw A8 sticks to that same 8-inch 1920x1200 IPS 120Hz display, the chassis has
00:40more aggressive styling that's less rounded overall, and also has a slightly deeper grip
00:45on the back, which helps distribute the weight a lot better for those longer gaming sessions.
00:49Right now, it looks like the North American market is only going to get the white Polar
00:53Tempest color to start with, but a very good source has told me that we could see the neon
00:57green color, which I'm really excited for, arrive in a few months.
01:01But besides those little design upgrades, the most fundamental difference is actually
01:05going to be on the inside with the processor.
01:08The Claw A8 is powered by the newer AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme, which is the same chip powering
01:13other popular handhelds like the Lenovo Legion Go 2 and the ROG Xbox Ally X, making it the
01:19better choice for those who prefer more mature driver support, which are better optimized for
01:24certain games like Cyberpunk 2077 and even Forza Horizon 5.
01:28In contrast, last year's 8 AI Plus utilizes Intel's Lunar Lake chip, which has the edge
01:34with lower power efficiency and better performance in games which support Intel XESS upscaling,
01:40like Tomb Raider.
01:41Beyond their chips though, there are a few other hardware tradeoffs to consider.
01:44Last year's Claw 8 AI Plus boasts a beefier 32GB of RAM, whereas the A8 scales things back
01:50to 24GB of RAM.
01:51Where the new Claw 8 wins though is on its storage flexibility with native support for
01:57full-size M.2 2280 SSDs, which are often more affordable if you wanted to upgrade down
02:03the line, while the Claw 8 AI Plus sticks to the smaller 2230 form factor.
02:10Something else worth considering is their support for other operating systems.
02:13Both of these devices support Windows 11 out of the box, and while it may be better with
02:18a new Xbox full-screen experience, for getting into your games faster and having less background
02:22bloat, you still might prefer the leaner Steam OS or other Linux OSes like Bazite, which are
02:28currently only supported on AMD hardware, which is found on the Claw 8 AI.
02:34Things get a little bit more interesting if you're deciding between the MSI Claw 8 AI and
02:37the ROG Xbox Ally X.
02:40You're looking at two devices with nearly identical performance DNA.
02:44Both are rocking the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme, a massive 80-watt-hour battery for long-haul
02:50gaming, and so performance and efficiency between these two are going to be about on par.
02:55But where you might be swayed one way or another is with their designs.
02:58With the Claw 8 AI, you have that significantly more immersive 8-inch 1200p display, which makes
03:04a world of difference for readability and immersion for your games, and I think it's the best combination
03:08for size and portability in a handheld.
03:11While the ROG Xbox Ally X has a smaller 7-inch display, it doubles down on its ergonomics
03:16with its more Xbox-like controller grips, which, if I'm being honest, I definitely was a hater
03:21at first and thought they looked very awkward.
03:24But since actually getting to play my games on them, I think this is the most comfortable
03:28gaming handheld I have ever tested.
03:31And while it may be minor, I think it's also worth considering the whole Xbox factor that
03:35you get here.
03:36Thanks to the official Xbox branding, the Ally X may have the slight edge in polish, driver
03:42stability and feeling like a true console hybrid, thanks to its close partnership with Microsoft.
03:48So with those comparisons in mind, let's take a quick look at the gaming performance, which
03:52you can expect with the Claw 8 on its highest 35-watt power mode at native display resolution.
03:58The lower 24 GB of RAM on the Claw 8 versus the 32 GB on the Claw 8 AI Plus might seem
04:05worrying at first, but in reality, the extra RAM is probably going to be more beneficial
04:11if you're doing lots of multitasking rather than playing just one game.
04:15So in Forza Horizon 5, which I've been playing a lot recently, on its lowest preset, I'm usually
04:20getting between 90 to 100 frames per second and sometimes well into the 110s in the less
04:25dense areas of the map.
04:27Even during races with more car models rendered, driving around always felt very fluid and
04:32I never noticed any frame drops.
04:34Doom the Dark Ages is one of the more demanding games I play, and on its low preset with ray
04:39tracing, performance was sitting in the low to mid 40s, which I'd say is still pretty decent
04:45on a handheld.
04:46That said, this is a game where you may actually prefer to lower the display resolution to 720p
04:51in order to get closer to the 50s and 60s for that faster paced action.
04:56For Cyberpunk 2077, while this has been out for a few years now, it still looks gorgeous
05:02and is now very well optimized for handhelds.
05:05And no matter where I was running or driving around, I was getting anywhere between 40 to
05:0945 frames per second using its Steam Deck graphics settings preset.
05:13Personally, I actually prefer the extra fidelity from the higher resolution of the display over
05:19getting extra frames by dropping things down.
05:22But if you really want to get closer to 60 frames per second, that is an option.
05:26And all that to say, gaming performance on the Claw A8 is excellent and on par with the
05:30ROG Xbox Ally X, Lenovo Legion Go 2, and in some titles, even better than the Claw 8 AI+.
05:37One of my biggest complaints, which I have shared a ton in my previous gaming handheld reviews,
05:43has always been Windows 11.
05:46It's still not great on smaller touchscreens, but thanks to the relatively new Xbox fullscreen
05:51experience, you really don't have to deal with it as much.
05:54You now have the choice to boot directly into this fullscreen Xbox app with your games, Xbox
06:00Store and even other stores like Steam, Epic Games, GOG and Ubisoft Connect all quickly available.
06:06Besides getting you into your games faster, another really big advantage is that many
06:11unnecessary Windows services are no longer running in the background, which could have
06:16otherwise been hogging up precious system resources and draining your battery life.
06:21For the most part, unless I actually need to access my Windows apps like Chrome, I barely
06:26even touch the Windows desktop anymore, and I'm really thankful that that's an option.
06:32But here's where things get really awkward.
06:34Pricing, the MSI Claw A8 costs $1149, which is $50 more than the Claw 8 AI+, and $150 more
06:41than the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X.
06:43I mean, honestly, I think all of these new handhelds are extremely expensive and it puts them in
06:48the same territory where you could get a gaming laptop with vastly more power with the same
06:53price or even less.
06:54Of course, portability is the real selling point with handhelds, but it comes with a big trade-off
07:00to performance. I mean, I really miss the days of the original ASUS ROG Ally with the Z1 Extreme
07:06chip costing $699 for its top of the line model. It might be almost three years old now, but its
07:12performance is still pretty much on par with the newer handhelds running the AMD Z2 Extreme chip.
07:18In fairness, RAM shortages and tariffs are largely to blame for these price hikes, but I'm curious to
07:24know how you guys feel about $1,000 handhelds becoming the norm.
07:29If we can take a step back though, I gotta say the release of the MSI Claw A8 came as a bit of a
07:35surprise to me at first and has me genuinely curious if MSI will be all in with AMD going forward,
07:41or if they'll be partnering with Intel again for an update to the Claw 8 AI+.
07:47Early tests have shown that Intel Panther Lake can offer really impressive upscaling and gaming performance,
07:53rivaling mid-range laptop GPUs while still being very power efficient.
07:57Intel has confirmed that a special handheld version of the chip is coming, and if it scales down well,
08:03this could be the big performance bump that I and a lot of you are patiently waiting for.
08:08So for anyone who really liked the 8-inch display and form factor with the MSI Claw 8 AI+,
08:13but wish there was an AMD variant, the wait is over. Let me know what you think of MSI offering both
08:19an AMD and Intel handheld, and if you'd be picking up the new Claw A8, we're sticking with last year's
08:24Claw 8 AI+. Be sure to stay subscribed for more gaming handheld content, follow me to see what other
08:30cool tech I'm reviewing, and until the next one, I'll catch you later.
Comments