Latest news with #JasonEngland
Tom's Guide
24-05-2025
- Tom's Guide
The MSI Claw A8 could be a game-changer for PC handhelds — 3 reasons why I'm stoked
The MSI Claw 7 distinguished itself from the best handheld gaming consoles by featuring an Intel Core Ultra chip instead of an AMD processor. While that aspect made it unique, Intel's silicon largely kept the device from hitting its potential. Thankfully, we'll soon get an MSI handheld powered by an AMD chip with the MSI Claw A8. Revealed during Computex 2025, the MSI Claw A8 will be the first gaming handheld to utilize an AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor. This could make it one of the most powerful Windows 11 handhelds yet. On top of that, the Claw A8 features a more ergonomic design and even comes in a bold new color. It has all of that with that same 80Wh battery, up to 24GB of RAM and an 8-inch 1080p 120Hz display. Though I wish the MSI Claw A8 used SteamOS instead of Windows 11 as its operating system, I'm still excited about this potential Steam Deck OLED rival. Here are 3 reasons why. Let's start with the big one: the MSI Claw packs an AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip. While AMD announced this new mobile processor at CES 2025, it was up in the air as to which handheld would utilize it first. Now we have an answer, and I couldn't be more excited. In his MSI Claw A8 hands-on preview, Jason England said he was floored by the handheld's gaming performance. When playing Lies of P on his Asus ROG Ally, he sets the game to medium graphical settings and turns on resolution scaling to achieve 60 frames per second. With these same settings, Lies of P ran at an astonishing 100 fps on the MSI Claw A8! We'll need to test the handheld outside of MSI's controlled environment to truly gauge its gaming performance. But if what Jason experienced at Computex is an indication, the Z2 Extreme chip is going to be a monster for gaming performance on handhelds. I liked the design of the previous MSI Claw handhelds since they looked and felt great. MSI could have kept the same design as the Claw 8+ AI, and I would have been happy. However, the company chose to give its new handheld a bit of a facelift that should make it easier to use and more fun to look at. Per Jason's preview, the Claw A8 has squared-off grips that make it easier to hold. The two analog sticks feel smoother and more accurate, and the four face buttons now have a more tactile click. Lastly, the MSI Claw A8 sports a colorful front shell that immediately sets it apart from the typical black, white or gray handhelds. Though I'm boring and prefer all-black electronics, I always appreciate it when companies at least offer more colorful options. And since this is a gaming device, having a striking color just makes sense! Though I wish the MSI Claw A8 offered an OLED option, I won't complain too much since it seemingly keeps the same display as the MSI Claw 8+ AI. Like that handheld, the Claw A8 has an 8-inch 1200p IPS touchscreen with a 120Hz refresh rate. In our MSI Claw 8+ AI review, we said that colors pop and details are crisp in games like Red Dead Redemption and Cyberpunk 2077. The 8-inch screen also makes it easier to read small text, which can be an issue on smaller 7-inch screens. With more games that can potentially run at over 100 frames per second, the Claw A8's 120Hz refresh rate should ensure they run buttery smooth. The original MSI Claw 7 was a disappointment, but the company made a market improvement with the MSI Claw 8+ AI. Now that MSI is using an AMD chip for the Claw A8, we could see the strongest Steam Deck competitor yet. I'll need to check out the MSI Claw A8 for myself to see if it can live up to the hype. But based on what we've reported so far, this is definitely the handheld to keep an eye on.
Tom's Guide
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
Computex day 3: the most eye-catching tech from the world's biggest computing event
Computex is sailing towards the finish line for another year. The show is wrapping up its fourth day, so this is our whistle-stop look at what caught our eye during day three of the event. With most of the big announcements out of the way, we've given out our picks of the best products of Computex 2025 here, but there are still a few items that got our pulses up that didn't make the list. Like an incredible sim racing rig, a custom PC build that looks like a tank and a pair of earbuds that promise real-time language translation. So, let's take a look at what caught our eye on day three of the show. This all-new racing rig from Asetek is several months away from release. And while our resident sim racing expert Jason England got some time with it, we're still not allowed to tell you what it's called. According to Jason, it feels incredible to sit and drive in, but the real kick here is its price. With everything included (such as its wheel, wheel base, pedals and the seat to connect it all to), it'll be land at $1,000. Pricey? Yes, but from what it offers, you'd find other rigs cost twice as much — if not more. This gaming rig from Asus is an interesting proposition — it sports an RTX 5060 Ti GPU and an Intel Core i7-13620H CPU. The latter is a mobile processor made for laptops, so it's very weird to find it tucked away in a gaming desktop. It might seem strange, but there's method to Asus' madness. By bringing these two components together, the company can keep the cost down (it's looking locked at $1,099), and therefore use other high-quality components that would normally be too pricy to include in a budget gaming PC. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Of course, we'll need to wait and get our hands on it for some proper testing to find out if that laptop CPU and desktop GPU combo works out. We were marvelling at the custom PC builds on the show floor in yesterday's roundup, but this one takes the prize. It's a custom tank mod case from Thermalright complete with movable wheels. All of its ports and components are situated on the back, including its power switch, but the real fun is how it was made. Taking over three months to manufacture, it's built with 500 individual CNC parts and comes with that gamer-ready RGB glow on the railguns. Those who follow the world of Computex closely may recall MSI's MEG Vision X AI desktop PC from last year's show. Back then, it was just a concept; now it's the real deal. The form factor is the same: it's a gaming PC with an AI-powered touchscreen display on the front. But now we're playing with power, so to speak. For 2025, MSI has packed it with an Intel Ultra 9 285K processor, an Nvidia RTX 5090 graphics card and 64GB of DDR5 RAM. It means the $7,500 price tag isn't as hard to swallow as it may appear. My colleague Anthony Spadafora has been following this machine from concept to reality and got some serious hands-on time with it on the show floor this year. Acer can lay a strong claim to the MVP at Computex this year, the company is absolutely killing it with some solid new products. Alongside its new laptops and a smart ring, it also revealed an all-new pair of earbuds designed to break down language barriers. The Acer AI TransBuds offer real-time translation through earbuds, using AI-based speech recognition and semantic analysis, so you can have a two-way conversation in two completely different languages and know what the other is saying. And there's no overly long, awkward delay, either. Unfortunately, the company didn't give us any word on pricing or availability, but the Acer AI TransBuds look to be a must-have travel accessory in the future.
Tom's Guide
20-05-2025
- Tom's Guide
I saw a 500Hz QD-OLED monitor in action — and it was as fast as it was colorful
Imagine not having to sacrifice picture quality and brightness for speed. Well, that's exactly what MSI has done with its new 500Hz QD-OLED gaming monitor, which also has a nice trick up its sleeve to take the hassle out of preventing burn-in. The best gaming monitors keep getting faster and faster, and at Computex 2025, we've already seen loads of blazing-fast displays. For instance, our own Jason England went hands-on with the Zowie XL2586X+, which has an even faster 600Hz refresh rate. Faster isn't always better, though. You see, that Zowie monitor uses a TN panel while the MSI one I checked out uses a QD-OLED one. Though its refresh rate is 100Hz lower, you get wider viewing angles and, most importantly, vibrant, accurate colors with perfect to their fast response times and high refresh rates, TN panels have long been a mainstay in the competitive gaming scene. However, MSI is looking to change that by going all in with QD-OLED ones to give gamers the best of both worlds with colors that truly pop and high refresh rates that keep getting faster. If you have one of the best OLED TVs or an OLED gaming monitor, you know the fear of burn-in is all too real. Leaving a static image or a toolbar on your display for too long at peak brightness can have serious consequences. Fortunately, MSI's OLED Care offers several features designed to fight burn-in. With MSI OLED Care 2.0 and now 3.0, your monitor actively works in the background to prevent burn-in in two key ways. First off, you have Pixel Shift. As the name suggests, it moves a display's pixels at regular intervals, and you can adjust it between three preset intervals: slow, normal and fast. Then you have Panel Protect, which performs a Pixel Refresh automatically if the screen is active for more than four hours. One common complaint with Panel Protect, though, is that being prompted to run a Pixel Refresh can get annoying, especially if you're in the middle of playing a game. With its new MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 gaming monitor, MSI uses hardware and AI to address this. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Underneath the company's logo in the bottom center of the monitor, there's now an AI Care Sensor module with a CMOS image sensor. This allows for presence detection, and the monitor will automatically turn off when you walk away from your computer and turn back on when you approach it. So, how does this tie in with preventing burn-in? Well, when you're away from the monitor, it can run Panel Protect in the background to protect its display so that your game or your work won't be interrupted. Screen size 26.5 inches Resolution 2560 x 1440 Refresh rate 500Hz Brightness SDR 300, HDR 500 (peak 1,000) Ports 2 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1 x Type-C (DP alt) with 155W power delivery, 1 x 3.5 mm audio jack Other features 100 x 100 mm mounting, adjustable/rotatable stand Thanks to the MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50's built-in NPU, its AI Care Sensor can distinguish between people, pets and objects. This way, when your cat gets in front of your monitor, its display won't turn on. It's worth noting that while the AI Care Sensor does capture images for detection, it doesn't store them. Besides turning the monitor on and off, this sensor is also used for adaptive dimming. Let's say you look away at something on the other side of the room, the sensor will adjust the screen's brightness to save power and then turn the brightness back up once you're looking at the monitor again. The sensor also allows the display to automatically adjust to match the ambient light in a room, so the monitor won't be overly bright at night or too dim during the day. Right next to the MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 on the show floor at Computex 2025, MSI had another QD-OLED monitor set up. This display was one of MSI's first QD-OLED monitors, and to show its OLED Care tech for preventing burn-in, it's been running continuously for years. I have to admit, besides their higher price, burn-in is the main reason I've stuck with IPS and haven't upgraded to OLED or QD-OLED yet myself. However, back at home, I'm currently reviewing the MSI MPG 321URXW QD-OLED gaming monitor. At first, I was really worried about burn-in and even downloaded an animated wallpaper and hid my computer's taskbar just to be safe. I also got a few Panel Protect prompts while in the middle of a game. However, seeing how MSI is dealing with the issue of burn-in has certainly assuaged my initial fears. The new AI Care Sensor on the MAG 272QP QD-OLED X50 has the potential to be a game changer, both when it comes to preventing burn-in and with presence detection. Of course, we'll have to get this one in for review to test it in a much less crowded environment than the show floor at Computex.
