MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ review: this next-gen gaming handheld is a game changer
The most powerful PC gaming handheld in the world
🏆 Review score: 4.5/5
🏅 Editor’s Choice Award
✅ Pros
🎮 Wickedly powerful and long-lasting
📈 Approaching desktop Nvidia RTX 5050 graphics performance
🏃♂️ Endurance Mode sets the processor at lower 15-17W and 3-5W power modes
🕹️ Greatly improved inputs with Hall-Effect thumbsticks, rounder buttons, and a new metal-gated D-Pad
🫨 HD haptics converts simple rumble into nuanced vibrations
🧑🤝🧑 Intel XeSS 3 gives you Multi-Frame Generation on the go
❌ Cons
👾 Early graphical glitches cause glowing artifacts
↔️ This handheld is super wide and long-chinned
💰 $1,799 price is equal to that of a gaming laptop
🤑 $1,799 could also buy you a PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch 2
The Shortcut Review
The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is the most powerful gaming handheld in the world, and it’s all thanks to Intel’s new Arc G3 Extreme processor. This new chip allows this gaming handheld to completely leapfrog every past gaming handheld, delivering far higher fps, letting you play more games on the go, and with higher-quality settings. With up to 45W of graphics power, the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ and its Intel Arc G3 Extreme processor are so powerful that they can even outperform entry-level gaming laptops and rival mini desktops, including the new Steam Machine.
Benchmarking the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ and its Intel Arc G3 Extreme shows why this gaming handheld is truly next-gen. The up to 45W processor posted scores and frame rates so high that Intel is approaching desktop Nvidia RTX 5050-level graphics power. On the flip side, this chip can easily play AAA games like Forza Horizon 6 and Battlefield 6 and still deliver a playable 30 fps experience with high-quality graphics at full resolution. Or if you’re playing 2D platformers, RPGs, and other less graphically strenuous games, you can game for 10+ hours with the processor sipping 3-5W of power in efficiency mode.
It also helps the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ feel light and ergonomic, thanks to its Xbox-inspired controller handles. MSI has also improved all the inputs with Hall Effect thumbsticks, rounder ABXY face buttons, and a metal dome around the D-Pad. MSI is even evolving the rumble in the Claw 8 EX AI+ into what it calls HD haptics, which can precisely deliver vibrations to simulate their real-world feel. This handheld really now feels like a great controller that just happens to have a screen, while most gaming handhelds focus on being PC gaming devices with controller buttons added on.
Before you get too excited, the $1,799 price is way too high, even with the $1,699 introductory price included. You can thank RAMaggedon and tariffs for ballooning the price of everything, including a $949 Steam Deck OLED. For the same $1,799 price, you could buy a PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch 2 combined, or a full-on gaming laptop. If you’re really ready to pay that price, MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ won’t disappoint you; there really isn’t a better-performing or better-handling gaming handheld than it right now.
Full Review
🏋️♂️ Power stance. The Intel Arc G3 Extreme has proven itself more powerful than the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme in every one of our benchmarks. The increase in fps isn’t in the 10-15 range I saw from the jump going from AMD’s Z1 to Z2 chips either; the Intel Arc G3 Extreme shows a consistent 15+ frame-per-second increase over even the most powerful AMD-powered handhelds like the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go 2. The gen-over-gen improvement between the Lunar Lake chip in the original MSI Claw 8 AI+ is even more staggering. This is truly a next-gen gaming handheld.
📈 More games, higher settings. The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ not only plays all the games we’ve tested at higher frame rates but also runs them at higher settings. We’ve only run CyberPunk 2077 with CDProject Red’s Steam Deck preset on gaming handhelds, but the Claw 8 EX AI+ is still able to get 60fps even with high-quality settings. Other games that struggled to run smoothly on AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Extreme, even on low settings like Hogwarts’ Legacy and Borderlands 4, play at 60fps with medium settings on the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+. This also includes brand new titles like LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, which I could play at high-quality settings and full resolution.
⚙️ Intel inside. All of this gaming prowess comes from the Arc G3 Extreme that Intel derived from its Panther Lake series of processors. It’s the first chip Intel has truly developed for gaming, first by cutting down the CPU core count while maintaining 12 Xe3 cores. This chip has also been practically co-engineered by MSI, as Intel pulled from all of MSI’s learnings from its last two and a half years of building handhelds, starting with the original MSI Claw and, subsequently, the much-improved MSI Claw 8 AI+.
🪭 Cooling. MSI hasn’t forgotten to upgrade the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+’s cooling to match the more powerful processor. This handheld features MSI’s new Cooler Boost HyperFlow tech, which adds a second fan and two heat pipes, providing an additional five watts of cooling. Both fans also push 25% higher pressure airflow, which should keep temps low and steady. This all kept the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ just warm to the touch while testing, even as I asked the system to run games at high-quality settings and full resolution.
🎮 Gaming comfortably. The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ doesn’t just run like a dream, it feels like one. Thanks to a new pair of flared-out grips and a 20g lighter weight, the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is much easier to hold. Like the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X, MSI took inspiration from the Xbox controller to give its handheld a new shape while also adding a laser-etched micro-dot texture for just a little more grip. Unlike the smooth-skinned MSI Claw 8 AI+, this texture doesn’t require you to white-knuckle-grip onto it, further reducing hand strain.
↔️ Wide load. While I have to commend MSI for improving the ergonomics and controls of the Claw 8 EX AI+, it seems to have left the design on the sidelines. This is by far the widest gaming handheld I’ve wrapped my hands around. The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is also so wide and tall that it barely fits into even my oversized tomtoc sling case. This handheld also comes with a considerable chin that’s only there to help contain the battery. If you want a better-looking Intel Arc G3 Extreme-powered gaming handheld, the Acer Predator Atlas 8 will ship later this holiday season.
🕹️ More like a great controller with a screen. MSI has also improved every input on the Claw 8 EX AI+, starting with a new pair of Hall-Effect thumbsticks that should never degrade and are immune to stick drift. The ABXY face buttons have also been resurfaced with rounded edges, making them more comfortable to press. Even the D-Pad has been upgraded with an additional metal gate, making it snappier for fighting games.
🫨 HD Haptics. The last thing I expected MSI to improve upon was rumble, but MSI has really developed a new system here. First, MSI replaced the bog-standard rumble motor with a 6-axis IMU vibration motor that can convey subtler haptic feedback. At the same time, MSI developed a new algorithm that translates native rumble into HD Haptics to simulate more immersive feedback, such as the reverberation from stepping onto a metal floor. I personally felt the most difference in vibration while playing Forza Horizon 6, with a distinct difference in feel between the engine rumble, spinning my tires, and a full-on crash.
📼 Rerun specs. While there’s a lot new outside and inside the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, there’s a fair bit that’s the same as MSI’s last Intel-powered and even the AMD-powered MSI Claw A8. Namely, this Claw still features an eight-inch IPS display that tops out at 500 nits, making it yet another PC gaming handheld that can’t display HDR when the Switch 2’s screen is just as bright. MSI has also stuck to 1TB of storage and 24GB of shared memory.
🔋 Battle-ready battery. Like all other modern handhelds, the Claw 8 EX AI+ comes with an 80 Whr battery, but MSI has managed to squeeze more longevity out of it with AI and power-efficiency algorithms. Once again, MSI has come out on top with our battery benchmark with the longest two-hour and 37-minute run. This handheld lasts even longer while playing actual games. I could play Battlefield 6 for more than three hours.
🏃♂️ Endurance mode. If you want even longer battery life, Intel has implemented a new endurance mode that limits your frame rate to 30fps but puts the processor into a lower-power state that sips just 3-5W of juice. In this mode, I played Hades II for nearly 10 hours. Endurance mode also works for hearty AAA games like Forza Horizon 6 and LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight. Both games still ran at a playable 30 fps without having to turn down the settings from high quality, and the processor only needed 14-17W of power.
Should you buy the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+?
✅ Yes, if…
You want the most powerful gaming handheld in the world
You want nearly Nvidia RTX 5050 graphics power on the go
You want to play more games on a handheld with higher settings
You want to play games on battery for more than 10 hours
You’re selling your AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme-powered gaming handheld right after reading this
❌ No, if…
You want a better-looking and smaller handheld (wait for the Acer Predator Atlas 8 instead)
You’re in the market for a gaming laptop instead
You’d rather buy a PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch 2 for the same price
Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam