MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ Evaluate: Massive Cash For Massive Efficiency

Not like most of its rivals, MSI aligned itself with Intel as a substitute of AMD when it made final yr’s Claw 8. The consequence was one of the vital highly effective PC gaming handhelds of its technology. For its newest endeavor, MSI partnered up with Staff Blue once more to include a good beefier chip, the Arc G3 Extreme, which Intel says has been custom-made explicitly for moveable gaming PCs. So not solely is that this handheld even sooner, it presents smoother efficiency and higher endurance. Nonetheless, at $1,800, the brand new Claw 8 EX AI+ can be one of the vital costly portables from any mainstream PC producer, which makes you query if the unending quest for greater body charges is admittedly well worth the asking value.

Editor’s Word: This evaluation was carried out utilizing an engineering pattern supplied by Intel and required us to put in pre-production software program and drivers, so our expertise might differ barely from retail fashions.

Apart from its eggplant purple exterior, the Claw 8 EX has a really easy structure. You get an ordinary assortment of face buttons, analog sticks, a D-Pad and shoulder triggers together with two customizable paddles in again. MSI included the requisite RGB lighting you get on fashionable gaming {hardware} by putting in two LED rings on the base of the analog sticks. A pair of two-watt audio system disguise behind the front-facing grilles on both sides of the show. MSI additionally added extra pronounced, subtly textured grips that vaguely ape the scale and form of these on an Xbox Collection S/X controller. It is a good contact, particularly if you happen to like a tool with full-bodied handles.

That stated, whereas the Claw 8 EX won’t have probably the most progressive design, all of its parts really feel fairly premium. Each its analog sticks and shoulder triggers function Corridor Impact sensors for improved precision and sturdiness. Relating to connectivity, the Claw helps Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6 with LE audio and a stable mixture of ports — together with two USB-C with Thunderbolt 4, a microSD card reader and a 3.5mm headset jack. There’s even a brand new linear resonant actuator and voice coil motor to supply stronger haptic suggestions together with a fingerprint sensor constructed into the ability button. The latter of which makes it tremendous simple to unlock the system and get again to gaming with a single contact.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

I do have one small gripe with the design although. Whereas the D-Pad has a steel dome beneath that ends in a satisfyingly clicky really feel, its general stiffness, mixed with its concave form, is not my most well-liked setup for issues like combating video games. That stated, if you happen to’ve grown up utilizing Xbox controllers, you may in all probability really feel proper at residence.

As for its show, MSI did not skimp there both. The Claw 8 EX options a big 8-inch IPS show with a 1,920 x 1,200 decision, a 120Hz refresh fee with VRR and as much as 500 nits of brightness. Now I’ll admit that the way in which its display screen stands out from the underside of the hand held seems to be a bit clunky, however that is purely beauty. Positive, MSI may’ve opted for an OLED panel to get much more vivid colours and improved distinction, however except for that, there’s actually not a lot to complain about. And given the Claw 8 EX’s already wallet-busting price ticket, I am undecided paying additional to improve to a fancier panel would make the general package deal that rather more interesting.

The lynchpin of the Claw 8 EX is the beforehand talked about Intel Arc G3 Excessive processor, which includes a complete 14 cores: two for efficiency, eight for effectivity and 4 for low-power effectivity. You additionally get 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, and when mixed with that chip, MSI is delivering a complete new world of handheld PC efficiency. Sadly, there aren’t any plans to provide a mannequin with the usual Arc G3, so this config is all you get.

Relying on the title, I noticed framerate will increase of fifty to 75 p.c (and generally extra) when in comparison with rivals just like the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go 2. These aren’t simply minor beneficial properties, however large jumps versus rivals which can be lower than a yr outdated. For instance, in Cyberpunk 2077 at 35 watts, FHD decision, medium graphics and XESS set to efficiency, the Claw 8 EX hit a really spectacular 95 fps. That sort of makes the Xbox Ally X and Legion Go 2 appear sluggish at 62 and 57 fps, respectively.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

What’s much more outstanding although is that you may decrease the Claw’s TDP and nonetheless get very playable body charges whereas preserving battery life. In Returnal at FHD and a really affordable 17 watt TDP with medium graphics, the Claw considerably outperformed ASUS (42 fps) and Lenovo’s (39 fps) flagship handhelds by hitting 59 fps. And it was an analogous story once I booted up Clair Obscur Expedition 33 with the identical settings, the place MSI’s moveable averaged round 45 fps in comparison with 30 fps for the Xbox Ally X and 25 for the Legion Go 2. Briefly, if you happen to care about efficiency and effectivity above the whole lot else, the Claw 8 EX simply leapt forward of virtually all of its competitors.

Following within the footsteps of the ROG Xbox Ally, the Claw 8 EX comes with the fullscreen Xbox experience. This makes it very easy to make use of, particularly if you are going to buy quite a lot of video games from Microsoft’s on-line retailer or have an Xbox Sport Cross subscription. It additionally eliminates a few of the processes that run within the background on normal Home windows 11 handhelds, which contributes (at the very least partly) to the system’s top-notch efficiency. 

The place issues get just a little muddy is that you just nonetheless want to make use of the MSI Middle app for lots of issues like adjusting the Claw’s lighting, updating drivers and tweaking settings. Fortunately, there’s a Fast Settings menu you may simply entry on the left of the display screen. Nonetheless, if you happen to desire to purchase content material through Steam like I do, issues can get much more jumbled. It typically appears like you might be juggling three completely different launchers simply to get to your video games. 

Sadly, there is not a straightforward strategy to entry extra area of interest controls, like the power to vary the goal body fee for the Claw’s Endurance mode, as on the time of publishing, you have to open the Intel graphics software program to regulate issues. This setting presents higher management over how exhausting you must push the chip whereas attempting to protect battery life by letting you choose targets of 30, 40 or 60 fps. Intel says it is working with MSI on including a tile to the Fast Settings menu for this, however it’s not prepared but. Moreover, whereas Intel’s multi-frame technology tech did an ideal job smoothing out graphics and animations, the power to make use of body technology whereas Endurance mode is on will not be out there at launch.

Between an 80Whr battery that is bigger than what you get in quite a lot of ultraportable laptops and the effectivity of Intel’s Arc G3 Excessive, the Claw 8 EX can ship glorious battery life. After working benchmarks in Clair Obscur, I turned on the Endurance Mode and saved enjoying for over three hours. That is actually good for a comparatively new title on medium settings that are not tremendous optimized. And if you happen to’re enjoying older video games with much less demanding graphics, you are able to do even higher with upwards of 4 hours. So relying on what you need, you may both get large efficiency or class-leading longevity on the Claw 8 EX.

The Claw 8 EX’s purple exterior and moderately plain design generally makes MSI’s newest handheld look like the Grimace of moveable PC gaming. However identical to the Millenium Falcon, it won’t appear to be a lot, it is acquired it the place it counts. The particular modifications Intel made to the Arc G3 Excessive have resulted in large dividends in terms of top-end efficiency and effectivity. In the meantime, the hand held’s parts are extra than simply ok, because the Claw boasts a vibrant 120Hz display screen with VRR, a stable collection of ports and connectivity and cozy, correct controls.

The one large sticking level is its value. At $1,800, it appears like the price of a premium gaming handheld has gone ballistic. These sorts of machines was positioned as complementary gadgets, ones that you might carry alongside your different gear, as they provide a cozier and extra moveable strategy to play PC video games on the go. However now, you kind of have to decide on between the Claw and a brand new laptop computer. That is a troublesome promote, until you are planning on pairing it with an exterior monitor, keyboard and mouse and asking it to tug double responsibility as your primary PC. In MSI’s protection, the worth of the closest equal OLED Steam Deck is now $950, so it is exhausting responsible PC makers an excessive amount of for value hikes attributable to the AI-induced world RAM scarcity.

The Claw 8 EX is a beastly handheld that has pushed cell PC gaming efficiency to new highs. It simply sucks that the worth principally makes it off limits to most people, until you might have severely deep pockets.