The first handheld from MSI: The Claw. (Image: MSI)
MSI uploaded a short teaser to Instagram last week showing a PC handheld. The tension didn’t last long: the handheld was leaked less than 24 hours later.
Today the company officially unveiled the new Steam Deck challenger at CES 2024: the MSI Claw.
This is the most important information
The MSI Claw is a PC handheld with Windows and competes directly with the Asus Rog Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go. In contrast to the two, there is an Intel chip in the Claw.
Perfomance: The integrated Intel Arc graphics with 8 Xe cores should be able to shine in AAA games at 1080P resolution and medium settings. Initial benchmarks show that the processor has roughly the same performance as the Ryzen 7 7840U, which is almost identical to the Ryzen Z1 Extreme found in the Legion Go and Rog Ally.
The colleagues of Notebookcheck gave the two chips the same score of 41.9 points.
The technical data of the processor:
- Name: Intel Core Ultra 7 155H
- Clock speed: 3.8 to 4.8 GHz
- Core number: 16 / 22
- Threads: 6 x 4,8 GHz P-Kerne, 8 x 3,8 GHz E-Kerne, 2 x 2,5 GHz E-Kerne
- TDP: 28 Watt
- Manufacturing technology: 7nm
- GPU: Intel Arc 8-Cores iGPU mit XeSS-Technologie
There is also 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and an NVMe M.2 2230 SSD with a maximum of 1 terabyte. The storage can also be expanded via a microSD card slot.
The MSI Claw from above. (Image: MSI)
Case and design: Viewed from the front, the MSI Claw looks like a black variant of the Asus ROG Ally. In contrast to this one, however, it has deeper handles. On the front there are the buttons arranged in the Xbox layout.
The joysticks and ABXY buttons have RGB lighting. The former use Hall effect technology to prevent drifting. There are two freely assignable buttons on the back. There is also a vibration motor on board – what is missing is a touchpad.
At 675 grams, the MSI Claw is slightly heavier than the Asus ROG Ally and Steam Deck OLED, but lighter than the Legion Go:
- Lenovo Legion Go: 854 grams (with controller)
- MSI Claw: 675 Gramm
- Steam Deck OLED: 640 Gramm
- Asus ROG Ally: 608 Gramm
Battery pack: MSI relies on a particularly large 53 Wh battery. This puts them at the top compared to Steam Deck OLED, Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go:
- MSI Claw: 53 Wh
- Steam Deck OLED: 50 Wh
- Lenovo Legion Go: 49,2 Wh
- Asus ROG Ally: 40 Wh
MSI states that the handheld should be able to last 2 hours under full load. An employee stated opposite The Verge stated that the Claw lasted two hours in Forza 5, while the ROG Ally only managed one.
The TDP can be set to a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 40 watts. There should also be an AI-supported power profile that can dynamically adjust the TDP and screen brightness. The NPU of the Intel Core 7 155H is used for this. Tests have to show how good the battery life really is. Once the battery is empty, you can recharge it using the included 65-watt USB-C power adapter.
What is an NPU?
Screen: The touch screen measures 7 inches diagonally, has a Full HD resolution and a screen refresh rate of 120 Hz. The YouTuber Dave2D was able to compare the Claw’s screen with that of the ROG Ally in a first hands-on and he thinks so that they both installed the same one.
Link to YouTube content
Cooling: The Claw has two coolers with two heat pipes on the back. MSI calls the cooling system “HyperFlow”. The air flow in the housing is designed to reliably cool all system components. The Claw has particularly generous fan openings.
The back of the MSI Claw. (Image: MSI)
Other features: The Claw supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. Stereo speakers and a headset connection are available. External graphics cards can be connected thanks to Thunderbolt 4. Windows 11 Home is preinstalled as the operating system, with MSI Center M as the game launcher.
Price and availability: The MSI Claw will be released in the first half of 2024 and will cost $699. Here in Europe the price will probably be 799 dollars.
What do you think of the MSI Claw? Are you going to get the handheld? Which features particularly appeal to you and which do you miss? What do you think about the fact that an Intel chip was installed? Or do you ultimately not care as long as the performance is good and your games run? Write us your opinion about this new PC handheld in the comments!
