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Geeky Gadgets
23-05-2025
- Geeky Gadgets
New MSI Claw A8 AMD Handheld Games Console Unveiled
What if you could hold the power of a high-end gaming PC in the palm of your hand? The MSI Claw A8, powered by AMD's innovative Ryzen Z2 processor, is here to challenge the way we think about portable gaming. With its bold lime green and white design, this handheld device doesn't just perform—it makes a statement. In a market crowded with competitors, MSI's latest innovation promises to deliver stunning visuals, seamless multitasking, and enough customization options to satisfy even the most discerning gamers. But is the Claw A8 just another flashy gadget, or does it truly set a new standard for handheld gaming? ETA Prime explore how MSI has engineered the Claw A8 to be a fantastic option in portable entertainment. From its 8-core processor and RDNA 3.5 graphics to its immersive 1200p display and long-lasting battery, the Claw A8 is packed with features designed to elevate your gaming experience. We'll also uncover the thoughtful details—like Hall effect analog sticks and customizable RGB lighting—that make this device as functional as it is stylish. Whether you're a casual player or a hardcore enthusiast, the Claw A8 invites you to rethink what's possible in handheld gaming. Could this be the device that finally bridges the gap between portability and performance? MSI Claw A8 Overview Unmatched Performance with AMD Ryzen Z2 Processor At the heart of the Claw A8 is AMD's Ryzen Z2 processor, built on the innovative Zen 5 architecture. This 8-core, 16-thread processor is designed to handle demanding tasks with ease, making sure smooth multitasking and high-speed gaming. Paired with the Radeon 16 CUGPU, which uses RDNA 3.5 graphics technology, the device delivers stunning visuals and optimized power efficiency. The inclusion of 24 GB of RAM running at an impressive 8,000 MHz ensures the Claw A8 can tackle resource-intensive games and applications effortlessly, providing a seamless and responsive gaming experience. Immersive Visuals and Long-Lasting Battery The Claw A8 features an 8-inch 1200p display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, offering sharp and vibrant visuals that enhance gameplay. Equipped with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) technology, the screen minimizes screen tearing, making sure smoother and more immersive gaming sessions. With a brightness of 500 nits, the display remains clear and vivid, whether you're gaming indoors or outdoors. To support extended play sessions, the device is powered by an 80Wh battery, delivering hours of uninterrupted gaming without the need for frequent recharging. MSI Claw A8 AMD Handheld Watch this video on YouTube. Enhance your knowledge on AMD Ryzen systems by exploring a selection of articles and guides on the subject. Striking Design and Enhanced Controls MSI has crafted the Claw A8 with a unique lime green and white color scheme, making it stand out in the handheld gaming market. Weighing just 765 grams, the device strikes a balance between portability and durability, making sure it is easy to carry while remaining robust. The inclusion of programmable macro keys and customizable RGB lighting allows users to personalize their gaming setup. Additionally, the Hall effect analog sticks and rounded triggers provide precise and comfortable controls, enhancing the overall gaming experience. Comprehensive Connectivity and Superior Audio The Claw A8 is equipped with modern connectivity options to ensure seamless integration with peripherals and networks. Key features include: Wi-Fi 6E for fast and stable online gaming for fast and stable online gaming Bluetooth 5.3 for effortless pairing with accessories for effortless pairing with accessories Dual USB 4 ports for versatile connectivity For added security, the device includes a built-in fingerprint sensor, safeguarding your data and device. On the audio front, the Claw A8 features DTS sound technology and dual stereo speakers, delivering immersive and high-quality sound that complements its impressive visuals. Ample Storage and Expandability The Claw A8 offers exceptional storage capabilities with its 2280 M.2 SSD. This larger form factor, compared to the more common 2230 or 2242 SSDs in handheld devices, provides greater storage capacity and faster data transfer speeds. This ensures ample space for your game library, media files, and other applications, making it a practical choice for gamers who need extensive storage options. Customizable Performance with MSI Centerm Software The Claw A8 allows users to fine-tune its performance through MSI's Centerm software. This tool enables adjustments to the device's TDP (Thermal Design Power), allowing you to balance raw performance and battery life according to your gaming needs. Whether you're playing graphically demanding titles or prioritizing extended battery life for longer sessions, the Claw A8 adapts to your preferences, offering a tailored gaming experience. A New Standard in Handheld Gaming The MSI Claw A8 combines powerful hardware, innovative features, and a striking design to set a new benchmark for handheld gaming devices. Its AMD Ryzen Z2 processor, RDNA 3.5 graphics, and customizable options make it a versatile and compelling choice for gamers seeking both performance and portability. While MSI has yet to announce pricing or a release date, the Claw A8's specifications suggest it will be a strong contender in the handheld gaming market. Whether you're a casual gamer or a dedicated enthusiast, the Claw A8 promises to deliver an exceptional gaming experience tailored to your needs. Media Credit: ETA PRIME Filed Under: Gaming News, Top News Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.
Gizmodo
21-05-2025
- Gizmodo
MSI's Lime-Colored Claw A8 Will Make You Forget About the Missing Xbox Handheld
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 — 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.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Yahoo
How AMD's new FSR 4 tech could be the handheld gaming PC upgrade we've been waiting for
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Love it or hate it, frame generation software continues to be a major feature of gaming graphics updates. AMD's new FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 4 frame-gen software offers massive updates for the Radeon 9070 and 9070 XT discrete GPUs, allowing AMD's new GPUs up to 3.7x better performance over the pure silicon power of the new RDNA 4 architecture. While we aren't likely to see AMD release mobile variants of the new Radeon GPUs, we might see some of the RDNA 4 tech make its way to AMD's integrated graphics tiles on the Ryzen Z2 generation and the Ryzen AI 300 series chipsets. While there are some divisive opinions around frame-gen software, it can be a game-changer for handheld gaming PCs. After all, AMD's AFMF 2 update did smooth out performance on the Asus ROG Ally X. So, can FSR 4 do the same? Based on AMD's benchmark data, FSR 4 upscaling alone offers significant improvements to the pure silicon performance of the RDNA 4 Radeon 9000 series GPUs across multiple games. The Radeon 9000 series silicon offers 4K gaming speeds of 39-97 frames-per-second (fps), depending on the title. With FSR 4 upscaling, that range moves to 78-134 fps. With FSR 4 upscaling and frame generation enabled, the Radeon 9000 series offers frame rates of 144 to 233 fps for up to 3.7x performance gains. Now, these benchmarks are provided by AMD, and are using the Radeon 9070 XT GPU with FSR 4 in "Performance" mode, in a test configuration with an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, 32GB of DDR5 memory, and an MSI MEG x670E ACE motherboard. The games were run in 4K (3840 x 2160) at "Ultra," "Extreme," and "Maxed" presets. While we tend to prefer independently verified performance benchmarks, these GPUs were just announced, so we'll need to wait until the review embargo lifts to see how they held up in testing by media outlets and analysts. Based on these results, FSR 4 looks like a pretty solid update compared to previous versions of the software. It's also interesting to compare the FSR 4 gains to Nvidia's RTX 50-series, as Nvidia's flagship GPU also struggles to game in 4K at 60fps with more demanding titles, relying on Nvidia's DLSS 4 frame-gen software to fill the gaps. AMD announced the Ryzen Z2 series, a second-generation of gaming handheld chips, at CES earlier this year. We've only seen one system with a second-generation Ryzen Z2 chip so far, the Lenovo Legion Go S, which houses a Ryzen Z2 Go processor. If you take a look at the Ryzen Z2 generation, the Z2 Go is the most budget-friendly processor, as it uses old Zen 3 CPU architecture, RNDA 2 GPU architecture, and houses just 4 CPU cores. So, the Z2 Go is not exactly the most thrilling. The Ryzen Z2 and Z2 Extreme are far more impressive chipsets, though the Ryzen Z2 is very similar in terms of Zen 4 and RDNA 3 architecture compared to the Ryzen Z1 Extreme. However, software differences make a "night and day" difference between the Z2 and Z1 Extreme. While the Asus ROG Ally X will likely remain one of our favorite gaming handhelds, there's reason to look forward to a Ryzen Z2 series update. If AMD can bring the RDNA 4 updates to FSR to older architecture, or if FSR 4 tech can influence an update to AMD's Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) tech, that could help AMD level the playing field with Intel's Core Ultra 200V Lunar Lake. While Lunar Lake isn't a handheld chip, Intel does have internal teams dedicated to helping the handheld market, and the raw power of Lunar Lake's Intel Arc iGPU outperforms the Z1 Extreme as we saw on the MSI Claw 8 AI+. While we don't benchmark with super sampling tech, we did witness Lunar Lake perform better than the RDNA 3.5 architecture of AMD's "Strix Point" Ryzen AI 300 series in a head-to-head demo of F1 24 at 1080p with medium settings. FSR 4 is currently a Radeon 9000 series exclusive, but that may change in a few months if AMD can bring FSR 4 to older architecture. We also could see FSR 4 become available on future AMD chips like the Ryzen AI 400 series and Ryzen Z3 generation if the software requires RDNA 4 architecture. Not that either chip has been announced or even hinted at by AMD, but the Ryzen AI 300 series will be a year old come Summer 2025, so we will likely see some AI PC chip updates from AMD later this year. Regardless of personal feelings, frame-gen software can have a major impact on gaming experiences. Whether you choose to enable frame-gen is up to you. I see a better case for FSR, DLSS, and XeSS when it comes to laptops and handhelds rather than desktops because of the hardware limitations of those form factors. But that's a matter of my personal opinion. Valve's Steam Deck reminded me of what's most important in gaming — and it's not graphics I tried gaming on the Lenovo Legion Go S and now I want to buy a Steam Deck instead This ROG Ally and Steam Deck mount looks ridiculous — and its creators know it
