I’ve been pursuing an 8-inch handheld gaming PC with enough processing power to storm through triple-A games easily, and simply put, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is the answer. Not only does it have an immersive 1,920 x 1,200 display resolution, but the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor is what all handheld gamers would want.
New software and driver updates are proving significant in enhancing performance in games, with improved 1% lows (the lowest frame rates) and better frame pacing at lower wattages.
One of its trademarks is the ability to set the TDP (Thermal Design Power, or essentially, power consumption) to 17W, which extends battery life and, of course, decreases high temperatures, while still managing to provide high frame rates.
It’s the first handheld I’ve used where I’ve been able to confidently run certain games on high graphics presets, without a heavy compromise on performance. You can do the same on other handheld gaming PCs, but not without heavy use of upscaling via either AMD’s FSR 3 or Intel’s XeSS, so there’s a significant nosedive in image quality – which would be less of an issue if FSR 4 became available for handhelds, but I digress.
This isn’t a full review just yet, so without giving too much away, I can at least say that the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is the best handheld gaming PC I’ve ever used so far. However, that’s not the entire picture, as it’s not exactly the winner in competition with other handhelds for now, and one in particular.
The Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme is the victor in the battle against the MSI Claw 8 AI+, for now…
Now I know that might be a surprising read for you, but just hear me out. I’ve had my Asus ROG Ally for over a year now, playing plenty of triple-A and Indie games, so I have a good grasp of just how great this device is. AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme still holds up extremely well (no pun intended).
The new AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor is present in the MSI Claw A8, and recent benchmarks indicate a performance boost over its predecessor, the Z1 Extreme, but not by much (at least with what many were anticipating).
Further benchmarks also indicate that the Ryzen Z2 Extreme has similar in-game performance results to the Claw 8 AI+’s Core Ultra 7 258V. Both the Claw 8 AI+ and the Claw A8 are around the same price; the Claw 8 AI+ retails at $900 / £899 / AU$1,799, with prices increasing due to tariffs, and the Claw A8 starts at €975 (around $1,140 / £840 / AU$1,750) in Germany.
I’ve been very critical of handheld PC makers and the price point for upcoming handhelds, and I must note that while the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is easily the most powerful mainstream handheld gaming PC available now, the price is still not warranted in my book.
The Asus ROG Ally can often be found much cheaper than the $649 / £599 / AU$1,299 retail price, and you’ll get fantastic performance across several games. Yes, as I’ve said, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is the go-to for more power, performance, and battery life, but I often use my handhelds plugged in, and I don’t think the jump in performance from a ROG Ally is significant enough to pay so much more.
Games like Cyberpunk 2077 on the ROG Ally can hit 60fps and above with adjusted graphics settings at 1080p, and it’s even better when using frame generation in-game or via Lossless Scaling.
Perhaps the most important factor is that Bazzite, a SteamOS clone, is significantly better than Microsoft’s Windows 11 for handheld gaming, and is nearly flawless on the ROG Ally in my experience. That’s because performance in games is better on SteamOS compared to Windows 11, since there are no issues with bloatware or unnecessary processes running in the background.
As for the MSI Claw 8 AI+, compatibility is still in beta, and it’s not using AMD hardware, so Bazzite, for now, isn’t ideal to install on the device. It’s an important point to make, because I genuinely believe that the Windows 11 experience on the MSI Claw 8 AI+ (alongside its MSI Center M software) is what hogs its potential.
Certain games don’t run well (like Devil May Cry 5), or won’t run at all (notably Batman: Arkham Knight) on the Claw 8 AI+, which seemingly stems from Intel driver issues. These problems aren’t prevalent in games, don’t get me wrong, but enough for it to be a negative against the ROG Ally.
If the price of the MSI Claw 8 AI+ drops and Bazzite fully supports it, I’ll change my tone
I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but the only handhelds that warrant prices close to or over $1,000 are ones like the Ayaneo Flip 1S DS at $1,299 / £961 / around AU$1,990 in early bird pricing (close to the MSI Claw 8 AI+’s price), which uses one of AMD’s best APUs, the Ryzen AI 9 370, featuring two screens, with the main one as an OLED.
There’s an even stronger case for the recently announced GPD Win 5, which is set to use the best AMD APU, the Ryzen AI+ Max 395, that rivals Nvidia laptop GPUs. I’m not saying I would buy those, because I don’t need that level of power in a handheld device. What I’m saying is that high prices are justified with significantly more powerful hardware than what is currently available.
So, if the MSI’s pricing falls to a more reasonable standard, which I honestly don’t see happening, and Bazzite finally has full support for the Claw, then I’m all in.
I would love to get a Lenovo Legion Go S Z1 Extreme, as that is up my alley thanks to its eight-inch display, but it’s nowhere to be found in the UK. For now, it makes more sense for me to stick with the Asus ROG Ally.
