MSI Claw 8 AI+ - The only Intel 7 Handheld in an "affordable" range worth looking at
I bought this one directly from MSI's online store back in...hmmm...end of October, I guess? It was a decision informed at least in part by watching way too many Youtube videos talking about the various MSI Claw types, and how this one was rather better than its predecessors. It was also incredibly difficult to find a preorder of the Xbox Rog Ally X that wasn't booked out to Xmas, although I did manage to snag a preorder on the Legion Go 2 by chance, and yes I did keep that preorder so I now have both the MSI Claw 8 AI+ and the LeGo 2, so I can definitely compare and contrast. Oh and I finally snagged the Xbox Ally X, so yeah, someone please stop me before I tank my credit card.
Anyway, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is nice enough that I could in theory have stopped right there and I think I'd be able to say I had an ideal handheld PC gaming device and really didn't need to go any further. I bought it for $1049 on MSI's site, and for that price I definitely feel like I got my money's worth. Here's its specs, for the A2VMX Polar Frost edition: it is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor, has an 8 inch IPS touch screen at 120hz, 80 Watt Hr battery, 1 TB M.2 SSD, and the thing has some noteworthy internal speakers.....like, the best speakers you can get in any of these handhelds.
Because the device uses an Intel chip, it also can use the Intel XeSS upscaling technology. What I have discovered is that no only does this thing run everything I load on to it like a boss, it runs them with much nicer performance figures if the game in question supports XeSS....pretty much if the game has this option, you will want to enable it, its absolutely worth the boost.
In watching endless enthusiast videos about the MSI Claw 8 AI+, I have learned a few things. They are, as follows:
Not all Claws Are Alike: Not all MSI Claws are worthwhile. There is an A8 model which I think is mostly available outside of the US right now that utilizes the Z2 Extreme architecture from AMD, and that one allegedly does not run as well as other Z2 Extreme powered devices already on the market (Xbox Ally X and LeGo 2).
There is an older 7 inch screen model of MSI Claw with an older model intel chip that is pretty cheap, but also completely not worth the price, allegedly. I am not going to grab one just to find out, I've already got a range of older devices collecting dust on my shelf, don't need one more.
Amazing Speakers: Everyone universally agrees that MSI Claw knows how to pack high quality speakers into a device, and this one demonstrates that amply; the MSI Claw 8 AI+ (I specifically keep using the proper name because the MSI Claw naming conventions are damned confusing) has amazing speakers, absolutely top notch for a device of this size.
Top Performance: The performance metrics of the MSI Claw 8 AI+ are generally better, sometimes slightly, sometimes by a wide margin, than every other device on the market except maybe Legion Go 2. There was a general concern for a while that Intel's coverage of the graphics processor would lag if the device wasn't successful, but I think based on the fairly stellar performance of this device that Intel must be keeping up.
Okay Ergonomics: The device is fairly comfortable to hold and use, but it could use better "grips" on the sides, as the device can be tedious to keep holding for long play sessions. A popular accessory for the device is a set of side grips you can snap on (these can be 3D printed but a zillion Chinese companies also sell them for varying prices) and they make a huge difference in improving the comfort of the device for long play sessions.
Aesthetics: It's either pretty or ugly depending on your personal aesthetics. I happen to have the newer Arctic White model, which I think looks pretty distinct and cool, but I can concede the older one that came out earlier in 2025 with a mud-brown coloration was not the prettiest.
Hard to Find: I bought it directly from MSI, and I do see it is intermittently available on some websites like Best Buy now, but this thing can be hard to find in stock.
The Micro SD Card Reader Works: this may sound odd, but it's not; the Micro SD card reader works well and you get fast transfer rates. I have had no problem with this one with any games loaded on the card, unlike the Xbox ROG Ally base model and original ROG Ally models. Worth noting that I am using a Micro SD Express card with it; it's not an Express card reader, but it still works and the transfer rate is still better than a normal SD card.
The RGB Lighting Lights up the buttons: it's actually the only handheld that does this, and it is very cool to have the ABXY buttons illuminate like this.
So why get this device over any of the other handhelds? I would suggest that Intel's Core Ultra 7 processor is generally better at this than the AMD Z2 Extreme, although that chip is pretty amazing, too. While I did try the Microsoft FSE experience on this, I found that MSI Claw works better in regular mode. The Claw's own software is "okay" but not great. Still, it doesn't get in the way, either, which is important.
Overall in terms of raw performance and general grip comfort, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is a stellar device. I would argue that it is a superior product to the Xbox ROG Ally X, but as I am still testing that one out I will reserve judgement there until later in the year.....the comfort of built in controller grips cannot be understated. But the ability to load up and comfortably play pretty much anything with decent graphics and a nice 8 inch screen with good color depth and amazing speakers cannot be ignored, either.
I hooked up the Claw to a docking station and used it on my external 2K monitor, both for general tasks and for gaming. It ran very smoothly and without issue, so it actually could work as a "big screen" replacement if so desired. I bought a slim bluetooth keyboard and mouse which I connected to it and it worked great....in fact a plurality of my blog posts in the last 6-8 weeks were written on the Claw with this setup. I have since disconnected it but only because I discovered that there is, in fact, one device which does the "big screen" experience even better: the Legion Go 2.
On the Claw I'm currently playing Deadzone Rogue, Atomfall, The Outer Worlds, Division 2, Hail to the Rainbow and The Callisto Protocol and pleased to be making progress in games I have long ignored despite having them in the Steam collection. I also loaded the Xbox app on it and have tried out Forza Horizon 5 and Starfield on it, to great effect. To contrast with the much lower-powered Xbox ROG Ally base model, it probably took a couple minutes for those two games to load into the device, though they ran fine (Starfield was at the edge of "acceptable") but on the Claw they both loaded up almost as fast as on the laptop, and ran like beasts; I capped the framerates at 60 on both, but they otherwise ran at the 1200p resolution of the screen just fine in high graphics settings. Pretty slick.
So barring when I talk about the Legion Go 2 and the Xbox ROG Ally X, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ (that one specifically! Not the others!) is a solid A and if you shop around I have spotted a few in the wild on places like Ebay for less than the $1049 price tag, so you may be able to get it on a deal if you're willing to pay that sort of cash. If you do get one, keep in mind I think it works best as a Windows device, and I have not heard of many having much success with SteamOS on it, probably due limited support for this chipset in Linux.
One last item: you may be wondering about the AI+ element of this device. It's a feature that exists, and supposedly the AI component can help modulate your play experience. I followed an online tutorial designed to maximize the actual power and output of the MSI Claw and killed the AI feature, which was resoundingly considered to do a poor job in this regard. I still seem to get decent battery life even with playing it on "max" TDP and no AI regulation.
Next! We'll chat Steam Deck OLED and its viability in 2026, then the Steam Deck successor of 2025, the Legon Go S.
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