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Large, colorful, and bright display -
Intel Lunar Lake delivers the highest benchmark scores in our tests -
Sips power for three hours of AAA gaming -
Fantastic controls, particularly the hall-effect thumbsticks -
Lovely design that combines a clean aesthetic with practical -
Cool and near silent even when running tough games
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$900 to play most games at low-quality settings on a handheld -
Struggles to maintain 60fps in all games -
Still not an HDR display -
Large and heavy device for portable gaming -
Software still needs visual and performance improvements
The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is one of the most fun gaming handhelds I’ve ever played with. It’s a gorgeous device with an even prettier large 8-inch screen. The Intel Lunar Lake processor meanwhile delivers excellent FHD 60fps performance for most games and more than a playable experience with graphically challenging titles. It’s also a long-lasting device with up to three hours of AAA gaming, and AI helps it maintain power efficiency better than any other handheld.
That said, it’s also the most expensive gaming handheld I’ve used at $899 – $100 more than its closest rival, the Asus ROG Ally X. The MSI Claw 8 Ai+’s price really makes consider whether this handheld is better than a laptop that would offer better cooling and longer battery life. It’s also the biggest handheld I’ve ever held, so try it in your hands if you can before you make the plunge. Expensive as it is, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ has become the handheld I reach for whenever I’m gaming at home. Its large screen, fantastic controls, and largely great performance have sold me on an Intel-powered gaming handheld.
What a looker. The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is one of the cleanest-looking gaming handhelds I’ve ever seen. The front of the device features a sleek black and greyish-tan two-tone design that looks spectacular. Turn the device around, and you’re presented with a Lamborghini-like arrangement of grooves that aren’t just visually appealing but also make it easier to grip the device. It’s a nice-looking handheld and a fairly thin one, no matter how you look at it.
Pocket theater experience. The other most visually appealing thing about the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is its eight-inch 1,920 x 1,200 resolution 120Hz display with variable refresh rate support. It features thin bezels around the screen and is plenty bright at 500 nits, though it’s still not rated as an HDR display. The two-watt speakers also add plenty of auditory oomph to the Claw 8+, letting me hear my games clearly whenever I don’t have my gaming earbuds in ready reach.
Intel inside. The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is the first Intel Lunar Lake-powered gaming handheld and it dominated AMD-powered systems like the Steam Deck OLED. Our benchmark tests prove why MSI stuck with Intel over AMD. Despite only having eight Xe² GPU cores, it completely trounced the Asus ROG Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go S. That’s surprising since this chip wasn’t made for gaming like the AMD Z1 Extreme, Z2 Go, or the Steam Deck OLED’s specially designed chip – it’s just a plain old laptop processor you would also find in the latest Ultrabooks.
Silver medal performance. Here’s the but – the MSI Claw 8 AI+ isn’t the most powerful handheld. Outside of benchmarks, it struggled to hold a steady 60fps in games like Helldivers 2 and even Deeprock Galactic Survivor – something the Asus ROG Ally X could easily do. An even more challenging game like Stalker 2 brought the Claw 8 to its knees with a frame rate waffling between 21-30fps, the Ally X, meanwhile, maintained an almost 30fps minimum frame rate.
Battery life you need, power you want. The MSI Claw’s most impressive feat is its 80Whr battery can give you three hours of AAA gaming. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but that’s an hour more than you get with the Asus ROG Ally X and its equally large battery. It’s all thanks to how the Claw 8 leverages MSI and Intel’s AI to balance power consumption and performance as running this handheld at its full 30W power mode only provided two hours of AAA gaming time.
Take the wheel AI. Running the MSI Claw 8 AI+ in AI mode lowers performance slightly in favor of battery life with only a small performance impact. It reduced frame rates in games like Helldivers 2, Stalker 2, and Deeprock Galactic Survivor by only 5-10 frames. Luckily, the Claw 8’s VRR-enabled screen helped smooth over any FPS peaks and valleys into a playable experience.
Major cooling. The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is also one of the coolest running and quietest handhelds I’ve tested. That makes sense, given its two cooling intakes and the exposed heatsinks on the back of the device. The fans only make a slight whirr even on full load, which also allows the speakers to stand out more since they’re not competing on decibels.
Hall effect thumbsticks and triggers. Another thing that makes the MSI Claw 8 AI+ such a pleasure to use is its excellent controls. MSI developed a new set of hall-effect thumbsticks and triggers – though I wished they weren’t oddly square-shaped – to extend the longevity of these most often-used inputs. MSI also returned to the drawing board with a new set of bumpers that go down instead of inward. I also like the deeply inset D-pad
This is heavy man. Even in my average-ish-sized hands, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ feels a little too big. Measuring in at and weighing 1.75 pounds, it’s one of the largest and heaviest gaming handhelds around. The Claw 8 is just too massive for its own good and so heavy that I almost always had it resting against my lap or a table whenever I played with it. MSI or any company has yet to release a case for the Claw 8, so I’ve actually had to go out and buy a new bag for it, too – another strike against its portability.
Center M gaming software. MSI has greatly improved its Center M software since the first MSI Claw launched last year. The app conveniently collates all your games and launchers into one UI, so you never have to tap on Windows 11. The MSI Center M shortcut overlay includes all your usual convenient shortcuts for changing power modes, frame rates, and system monitor. It also integrates Xbox’s Game Bar and Social menus. The latter is more useful to give me quick access to messages.
Software woes. Unfortunately, MSI’s Center M software is still a little glitchy, and over time, it can become unresponsive. But this rarely happened to me, and I could get it running properly again by relaunching the app. Also, compared to Asus’ Armory Crate and Lenovo’s Legion Space, MSI’s Center M takes the most work to look good. The app only displays games with their small Windows icons while also trying to blow up that same small image into a large blurred background. You can find and upload your own high-res game art, but it’s a step down from Asus (and, to a lesser degree, Lenovo) apps that can pull in high-res art on their own.
$900 price. The biggest knock against the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is its $899 price, which makes it one of the most expensive gaming handhelds to date. You’re paying close to a grand for a device that you’ll largely play games at their lowest settings just to maintain a playable frame rate. It also comes dangerously close in price to an Ultrabook that features the same processor with likely more room for better cooling and a larger battery. The MSI Claw 8 Ai+ is one of the best put-together gaming handhelds, but it’s slick design and solid performance are expensive out of the gate, so watch out for deals that bring its price back down to Earth.
Yes, if…
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You want a big-screen gaming handheld
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You don’t want to mess with tweaking wattage and power modes -
You want a long-lasting gaming handheld
No, if…
Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam.
