I’ve been testing the MSI Claw 8 AI+ and Asus ROG Ally for weeks – and so far, there’s a clear winner

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is the 8-inch handheld gaming PC I’ve been looking for, and it has enough processing power to effortlessly run triple-A titles. All handheld gamers would like it for its spectacular 1,920 x 1,200 display resolution and Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor.

Improved 1% lows (the lowest frame rates) and faster frame pacing at lower wattages are two examples of how new software and driver upgrades are significantly improving gaming performance.

Setting the TDP (Thermal Design Power, or basically, power consumption) to 17W is one of its distinguishing features. This prolongs battery life and, of course, lowers high temperatures while maintaining high frame rates.

It’s the only portable device I’ve experienced where I can play some games on high graphics presets with confidence without significantly sacrificing performance. The same thing can be done on other portable gaming PCs, but it requires a lot of upscaling through AMD’s FSR 3 or Intel’s XeSS, which results in a sharp decline in image quality. This would be less of a problem if FSR 4 were made accessible for handhelds, but I’m getting off topic.

I can say without giving too much away that the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is the best portable gaming PC I’ve ever played, but this isn’t a full review yet. That’s not the whole picture, though, as it’s not a clear victor when compared to other handhelds at the moment.

The Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme is the victor in the battle against the MSI Claw 8 AI+, for now…

I understand that you may find it unexpected, but give me a chance. After more than a year of owning my Asus ROG Ally and playing a ton of triple-A and independent games, I have a solid understanding of how fantastic this device is. No pun intended, AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme is still incredibly durable.

The MSI Claw A8 has the new AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme processor, which according to recent benchmarks shows a slight performance improvement over the Z1 Extreme (at least compared to what many were expecting).

Additional benchmarks show that the Ryzen Z2 Extreme performs similarly in games to the Core Ultra 7 258V of the Claw 8 AI+. The Claw A8 and the Claw 8 AI+ are about the same price; the Claw A8 starts at €975 (about $1,140 / £840 / AU$1,750) in Germany, while the Claw 8 AI+ retails for $900 / £899 / AU$1,799, with costs rising owing to tariffs.

Although the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is undoubtedly the most powerful popular handheld gaming PC now on the market, I have been quite critical of handheld PC manufacturers and the pricing of new handhelds. In my opinion, the price is still not justified.

The Asus ROG Ally offers great performance in a variety of games and is frequently significantly less expensive than the $649, £599, or AU$1,299 original price. Yes, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is the best option for more power, performance, and battery life, as I’ve mentioned, but I frequently use my handhelds with a charger, and I don’t believe the performance boost from a ROG Ally is substantial enough to justify the higher price.

With the graphics settings configured to 1080p, games like Cyberpunk 2077 on the ROG Ally can reach 60 frames per second and higher. It’s even better when frame generation is used in-game or with Lossless Scaling.

The most crucial element is perhaps the fact that, in my experience, Bazzite, a SteamOS clone, is almost perfect on the ROG Ally and is far superior to Microsoft’s Windows 11 for portable gaming. This is because SteamOS has superior gaming performance than Windows 11 because it doesn’t have bloatware or inconsequential background activities.

Bazzite is currently not the best option to install on the MSI Claw 8 AI+ because compatibility is still in development and the device does not use AMD hardware. It’s a crucial point to highlight since, in my opinion, the MSI Claw 8 AI+’s Windows 11 experience—along with its MSI Center M software—is what really limits its potential.

On the Claw 8 AI+, some games don’t run smoothly (like Devil May Cry 5) or won’t run at all (like Batman: Arkham Knight), which appears to be caused by Intel driver problems. Please understand that these issues are not common in games, but they are significant enough to cast the ROG Ally in an unfavorable light.

If the price of the MSI Claw 8 AI+ drops and Bazzite fully supports it, I’ll change my tone

Not to be repetitive, but the only handhelds that should cost close to or more than $1,000 are the Ayaneo Flip 1S DS, which uses one of AMD’s top APUs, the Ryzen AI 9 370, and has two screens, the primary one being an OLED. It retails for $1,299, £961, or about AU$1,990 in early bird pricing, which is comparable to the MSI Claw 8 AI+.

The recently revealed GPD Win 5, which will use the highest AMD APU, the Ryzen AI+ Max 395, to compete with Nvidia laptop GPUs, has an even stronger argument. I’m not claiming that I would purchase those because I don’t require a handheld gadget with that much power. In other words, gear that is substantially more powerful than what is currently on the market justifies premium prices.

Therefore, I’m all in if Bazzite eventually has complete support for the Claw and the MSI’s pricing drops to a more reasonable level, which I honestly don’t see happening.

Because of its eight-inch display, the Lenovo Legion Go S Z1 Extreme is exactly what I’m looking for, but it’s not available in the UK. I should continue using the Asus ROG Ally for the time being.