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The MSI CLAW is no longer shrouded in mystery — we finally have all the nitty gritty on MSI’s very first handheld gaming PC and, fortunately, it is going to offer a slightly different experience than most of its competitors, along with a few truly unique bells and whistles.
On the surface, it looks (and probably feels) a lot like the ROG Ally. Beneath its matte black enclosure, however, is a 28W Intel Meteor Lake processor. There’ll be three different SKUs at launch: the “base” model will sport a Core Ultra 5 135H (with a 512GB SSD), the middle one will have the Core Ultra 7 155H (512GB) and the third the same chip but with double the storage. The first will retail for $699, the second for $749, and the third for $799, a whopping $100 more than both the Ally and the Legion Go (to say nothing of the Steam Deck).
Pricing-wise, we don’t really understand what MSI is going for. The CLAW might have a few interesting additions and features, but that in no way justifies such a steep MSRP.
MSI CLAW Handheld Gaming PC — Spec Sheet Breakdown
On the front, there’s a 7″ IPS touch-sensitive display that’s 1080p with a 120Hz refresh rate (VRR) and 500 nits of peak brightness. It is, quite literally, the exact same panel used in the ROG Ally — which is to say it’s pretty darn great.
The biggest surprise, other than the fact that the MSI CLAW will support Thunderbolt 4 — which makes it only the second mainstream handheld PC with such a feature — is its 53Wh battery. That’s 3Whs more than the Legion Go and Steam Deck OLED which, while by no means earth-shattering, will nonetheless come in handy. The more the merrier.
It’s also reasonably heavy at 675g which is just a few grams more than the original Steam Deck LCD. It’s not lightweight by any stretch of the imagination, but still wholly acceptable (especially given the size of its battery).
There’s also Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, hall effect triggers and joysticks, a dual-fan cooling assembly, and a much higher maximum TDP — the MSI CLAW will be able to draw up to a whopping 40W! That alone could make it a better pick for AAA titles as opposed to any other option on the market, even if Intel’s drivers don’t end up being all that impressive. You won’t be able to game for long with such a TDP (less than an hour, most likely), but it’s still nice to have the option if you’re plugged in and want the absolute best performance.
MSI CLAW — Different Handheld, Same Problems?
MSI’s inaugural handheld PC will also have a microSD card slot for expansion but, much like the Ally, it’s located right next to one of the exhaust vents. A puzzling decision, to say the least. If the ROG Ally can roast microSD cards at its 25-30W TDP, then what hope does the CLAW have when pushed to 40W? It’s obviously way too early to label this as a catastrophe in the making, but it’s impossible not to be skeptical and wary about the whole thing.
The MSI CLAW is expected to be released in either February or March, although there are numerous other reports of it having a much wider H1 2024 release date, so we’re probably still a few months away from it actually seeing the light of day.