MSI's Lime-Colored Claw A8 Will Make You Forget About the Missing Xbox Handheld

Gizmodo

21-05-2025

Without any sign of that rumored Xbox handheld, the Computex computing conference in Taipei, Taiwan has been missing out on what's now one of the best avenues for gaming on the go—handheld PCs. MSI is now posing as the lone figure promoting a whole new class of handhelds with the Claw A8. It's a device that looks very, very close to what we've seen before—even in blinding lime green—but it may offer a glimpse of what's in store for handhelds beyond the Nintendo Switch 2, even though we still don't know how much it will cost.
The Claw A8 comes in two colors—a white and a very, very green hue. The shell looks familiar if you've seen MSI's other handhelds, and if you didn't know the device contained an 8-inch 120Hz IPS display with variable refresh rate, you may have assumed it was the original Asus ROG Ally or even a white version of the Claw 7 A1M. Unlike last year's Claw 8 AI+, the new handheld includes more severe, squared-off edges. That doesn't necessarily mean it's uncomfortable. MSI said it designed the device's underside grips to make it easier to hold while still letting your fingers reach the front thumbsticks and face buttons. The Claw A8's controls include Hall effect joysticks, which should make the device last longer without the usual fear of stick drift.
The other big difference between this device and last year's iteration is the CPU. The Claw A8 is one of the few of its kind confirmed to house an AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme. That chip is a sequel to the Ryzen Z1, one of the most-used handheld CPUs from the last two years. The new CPU is built on the chipmaker's Zen 5 microarchitecture, bringing it in line with AMD's latest family of Strix Point laptop CPUs. It's also supposed to offer far better graphics potential than its predecessor. We've seen the chip running with a few games on an early version of the Lenovo Legion Go 2, but without our own tests, we can only speculate on just how much better it will be over similar devices you can buy today.
MSI's Claw A8 is a confusing name if you've heard of the company's previous flagship handheld, the Claw 8 AI+. That device was a beast in terms of performance, not the least because it contained an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, a full laptop CPU that used Intel's Arc 140V graphics. That meant the device was far more hefty than the competition, but it offered solid performance for its $1,000 price (the cost has gone up since release, but you'll be lucky to find it available anyway). The Claw 8 AI+ also holds the edge in memory compared to the A8. The new handheld has a max of 24GB of RAM with a slower 8,000MHz speed compared to the 8 AI+'s 8,533MHz. At least the squatter handheld will weigh a little less than the last generation's bulky frame.
MSI moving to AMD It seems less a betrayal and more an acknowledgement that there's a benefit to a dedicated gaming CPU designed specifically for a device of this size. A laptop chip is simply built to handle more productivity tasks. Intel also seems to know it's missing out on this space. The chipmaker recently told Laptop Mag it was working on handheld-specific CPUs.
PC-class gaming, now in your hands. Pre-order the new Lenovo Legion Go S with Steam OS at https://t.co/3jqjW1logY pic.twitter.com/5qb5nyzcTn
— Lenovo Legion (@LenovoLegion) March 28, 2025
There hasn't been too much news about gaming handhelds in the months following CES 2025 in January. Lenovo opened up the year with the Legion Go S, a lower-powered handheld with Windows 11, and the still-unreleased Legion Go 2 with the Ryzen Z2 Extreme. That device with its brand-specific AMD Ryzen Z2 Go chip didn't knock our socks off, especially for its price, but we have a feeling a lower price that edges closer to the $550 Steam Deck OLED, combined with the console-like experience of SteamOS, will make it a much better handheld experience. That Legion Go S with SteamOS should be available May 25 for $600 with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
The gaming elephant still stomping around this crowded room is the Nintendo Switch 2. Those who want to get into Nintendo's sequel system for $450 may not want to drop even more money on a separate handheld. Nintendo's impending June 5 release date seems like a good excuse for both Asus and Lenovo to hold off on a more expensive, more powerful console until later. We should hear more about pricing in the following months. By that time, we'll be so overwhelmed with handhelds we'll need to grow more hands to try them all.