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MSI chose to go its own way with its first Claw 7 in 2024.
Compared to the competition, it just wasnt a very good portable.
Thats way more than I could say about last years model.
What Specs Are Included In The MSI Claw 8 AI+?
What Exactly Are You Getting For The Price?
The face buttons are once again backlit, which is a practice I wish more companies would adopt.
All in all, the outer pieces of the Claw 8 are mostly on point.
The size difference made itself known pretty quickly.
To get it out of the way, the display isnt OLED.
Its usefulness will depend on the punch in of game youre playing, of course.
If you lean toward visual novels that arent as demanding, youll probably wish you had OLED.
But I promise you that VRR is worth it if you play anything that remotely pushes the hardware.
Custom image by Simone Ashmoore
The sound on the Claw 8, to me, seems totally fine.
But the speakers get the job done.
I was happy with how they performed.
Image credit: MSI
The larger area gives you more to grab without feeling too unwieldy.
Its also not a chore to hold and to use.
Weight distribution is solid.
There is some grip to get a hold of.
Its pleasant enough, and all sticks, buttons, and triggers are well within reach.
It is, quite simply, good.
Image credit: MSI
I think thatd improve the overall feel.
This is much harder to achieve on a handheld, where every millimeter matters.
Its not a dealbreaker, but its something I hope MSIs next Claw 8 factors in.
Image credit: MSI
Finally, theres the look of the MSI Claw 8 itself.
It doesnt scream, powerful gaming rig, which the Claw 8 is.
And its especially strange, as the packaging it comes in does exactly that.
Everyone, just: just make your handheld black!
If you do, it fades into the background.
If you dont, people like me spend a paragraph critiquing the colors you chose.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
But there just isnt a great deal of reliability, flavor, or customization here.
Responsiveness was a big issue throughout my review.
I had to reboot to get to get things working again.
OLED and QLED televisions are all the rage these days.
But what in the world is going on with these fancy QNED TVs from LG?
Let’s take a closer look.
The game library also stuck out to me as missing some tender love and care.
There’s no way to remap controls for certain games.
And you really don’t have much command over power.
You have only what MSI provides.
It is almost universally accepted at this point that Windows is not the best operating system for PC handhelds.
That has, fairly or not, shifted responsibility of the user-facing software experience to unit manufacturers.
Theres potential here if MSI can pour the time and resources into it.
The Claw 8 packs in a massive 80Wh battery, to boot.
I’ll now get into some notes about each of the power modes and their expected battery runtimes.
It should be noted that battery life estimates are worst-case scenarios.
Now, lets see how the MSI Claw 8 fared.
The Claw 8 has changed my thinking on this.With the appropriate power, 1200p is absolutely doable.
And then there’sRocket League.
This isn’t the most impressive game for a rig like the MSI Claw 8 to run.
you’re free to playRocket Leagueon the Nintendo Switch.
But to have that game running at high frame rates on an 8-inch, 1200p display is truly something.
A sense of depth in the 3D space is important in a game like this.
Instead, just set Manual to 30W and never touch it again.
Is it worth that price to anybody?
I think it is, but only those who are okay with what theyre getting in return.
It is technically very capable.
Im still deciding whether to buy one.
If you want something closer to perfect for $900, though,the Claw 8isnt quite there.
ScreenRant was provided a Claw 8 AI+ by MSI for this review.
