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.
00:32While 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
01:24for certain games like Cyberpunk 2077 and even Forza Horizon 5.
01:28In contrast, last year's 8AI 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
01:39like Tomb Raider.
01:40Beyond their chips, though, there are a few other hardware trade-offs to consider.
01:43Last year's Claw 8 AI Plus boasts a beefier 32GB of RAM, whereas the A8 scales things back
01:50to 24GB of RAM.
01:52Where the new Claw A8 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.
02:09Something 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
02:18the new Xbox full-screen experience, for getting into your games faster and having less background
02:22bloat, you still might prefer the leaner SteamOS or other Linux OSes like Bazite, which are
02:28currently only supported on AMD hardware, which is found on the Claw 8.
02:33Things get a little bit more interesting if you're deciding between the MSI Claw A8 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 gaming,
02:50and so performance and efficiency between these two are going to be about on par.
02:54But where you might be swayed one way or another is with their designs.
02:58With the Claw 8, you have that significantly more immersive 8-inch 1200p display, which
03:03makes a world of difference for readability and immersion for your games, and I think
03:07it's the best combination for size and portability in a handheld.
03:10While the ROG Xbox Ally X has a smaller 7-inch display, it doubles down on its ergonomics with
03:16its 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, but since actually getting to play my games
03:26on them, I think this is the most comfortable gaming 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
03:47Microsoft.
03:47So, with those comparisons in mind, let's take a quick look at the gaming performance,
03:52which you can expect with the Claw 8 on its highest 35-watt power mode at native display
03:57resolution.
03:58The lower 24 gigabytes of RAM on the Claw 8 versus the 32 gigabytes on the Claw 8 AI Plus
04:04might seem worrying at first, but in reality, the extra RAM is probably going to be more
04:10beneficial if you're doing lots of multitasking rather than playing just one game.
04:14So, 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.
04:27And even during races with more car models rendered, driving around always felt very fluid
04:32and I 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, but if you really want to get closer to 60
05:24frames per second, that is an option.
05:25And 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+.
05:38One of my biggest complaints, which I have shared a ton in my previous gaming handheld reviews,
05:43has always been Windows 11.
05:45It's still not great on smaller touchscreens, but thanks to the relatively new Xbox fullscreen
05:50experience, 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,
05:59Xbox Store, and even other stores like Steam, Epic Games, GOG, and Ubisoft Connect all quickly
06:05available.
06:06Besides getting you into your games faster, another really big advantage is that many unnecessary
06:11Windows services are no longer running in the background, which could have otherwise been
06:17hogging up precious system resources and draining your battery life.
06:20For 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.
06:31But here's where things get really awkward.
06:34Pricing.
06:34The MSI Claw A8 costs $1,149, which is $50 more than the Claw 8 AI+, and $150 more
06:41than
06:41the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X.
06:44I 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 price
06:53or even less.
06:54Of course, portability is the real selling point with handhelds, but it comes with a big
06:59trade-off to performance.
07:00I mean, I really miss the days of the original ASUS ROG Ally with a Z1 Extreme chip costing
07:08$699 for its top-of-the-line model.
07:10It might be almost three years old now, but its performance is still pretty much on par with
07:14the newer handhelds running the AMD Z2 Extreme chip.
07:18In fairness, RAM shortages and tariffs are largely to blame for these price hikes.
07:23But I'm curious to know 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
07:35a
07:35bit of a surprise to me at first and has me genuinely curious if MSI will be all in with
07:39AMD going forward or 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
07:52performance rivaling mid-range laptop GPUs while still being very power-efficient.
07:58Intel has confirmed that a special handheld version of the chip is coming, and if it scales
08:02down well, this 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 A8 AI+,
08:13but wish there was an AMD variant, the wait is over.
08:16Let me know what you think of MSI offering both an AMD and Intel handheld, and if you'd be picking
08:22up the new Claw A8, or sticking with last year's Claw 8 AI+.
08:25Be sure to stay subscribed for more gaming handheld content, follow me to see what other cool tech
08:30I'm reviewing, and until the next one, I'll catch you later.
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