MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ review roundup: Unmatched power, unhinged price

MSI’s third-generation gaming handheld, the Claw 8 EX AI+, was announced earlier this month at Computex 2026 in Taipei, and early reviews look excellent, though one unsurprising concern remains.

Performance is thankfully not that issue, and Intel must be thrilled to see the unanimous love the Intel Arc G3 Extreme in the handheld has garnered. While the Intel partnership appeared to be holding MSI back with the early Claw that I got to handle at CES 2024, it was good that MSI stuck with Intel, because all signs point to this being the most powerful handheld gaming PC available today.

If you bet that pricing would be the big concern, you won that bet, at $1,799 (no word yet on pricing outside of the U.S.), it is far from the bargain alternative to a Windows gaming laptop that we enjoyed when gaming handhelds first debuted a few years ago.

With that said, pricing is a universal issue in the computing world that won’t go away soon, so we can’t hold it against MSI. Let’s take a closer look at what all of the early reviews have to say about the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ to see if it’s worth picking up.

The Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip crushes the competition

If there is one thing that every reviewer agrees on, it’s that the new Intel Arc G3 Extreme processor is a literal game-changer. As I mentioned, I used the original MSI Claw alongside the Asus ROG Ally, and the former couldn’t begin to keep pace with its AMD-powered rival. The Claw 8 EX AI+ completely flips that trend on its head with unparalleled frame rates.

Matthew Buzzi at PCMag wrote that “It’s the most power I’ve seen from a gaming handheld yet.” This sentiment was echoed by Sam Rutherford for Engadget, who noted that across the games he tested, he “saw framerate increases of 50 to 75 percent (and sometimes more) when compared to rivals like the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go 2.”

Jacqueline Thomas at IGN pointed out that the 12-core Arc B390 GPU allows the handheld to easily top 60 fps in demanding games at its native 1200p resolution, concluding that “if all you care about is getting the best handheld performance at any cost, well, it’s hard to argue with the Arc G3 Extreme’s results.”

The exorbitant $1,799 price tag is a tough pill to swallow

While the victory lap on performance is certainly well-earned, it doesn’t come cheap. At $1,799, it is one of the most expensive gaming handhelds around, though notably it is still undercutting the top-tier Lenovo Legion Go 2, which jumped from $1,349 to $1,999 back in April.

Jason England of Tom’s Guide explained that “RAMageddon has sent prices spiraling out of control,” admitting he is “conflicted that this handheld is so good, but also so expensive.” Daniel Rubino from Windows Central agreed, stating that the machine arrives at a “painfully complicated time” for component costs, pushing it “firmly in ultra-premium territory.”

Adding insult to injury for some, there are still hardware trade-offs, such as the lack of an OLED screen. Brandon Hill over at Tom’s Hardware noted, “We can’t argue with the performance of the Claw 8 EX AI+, but $1,799 is quite the stretch when it doesn’t even include an OLED display.”

A chunky design hides surprisingly great, Xbox-style ergonomics

At first glance, the Claw 8 EX AI+ is a large device with an unusual protrusion at the bottom that houses its 8-inch screen. However, once they got to handle it, reviewers found it surprisingly comfortable and heavily praised its grips.

Rubino called the chassis a “massive love letter to Xbox fans,” highlighting the “beautifully sloped, flared grip design that heavily mimics the curvature of an official Xbox controller.” Despite its size, he found it felt “surprisingly nimble in the hands.”

Rutherford also appreciated the “subtly textured grips that vaguely ape the size and shape of those on an Xbox Series S/X controller.” Meanwhile, England noted that despite the awkward visual of the screen protruding from the bottom, “those contours fit into my average-sized hands almost perfectly.”

The ‘Xbox Full Screen Experience’ is an improvement, but it isn’t perfect yet

Windows 11 handhelds often suffer from clunky software, but MSI wisely adopted the “Xbox Full Screen Experience,” which boots users directly into a console-like interface.

Andreas Osthoff of Notebookcheck praised MSI’s new quick settings menu integrated directly into the Xbox Game Bar, noting it “offers all important settings at the touch of one button.”

However, the experience isn’t entirely seamless yet. Thomas experienced “fiddly MSI software problems,” mentioning she frequently brought up the MSI Center M software by accident during gameplay, which then failed to refocus the game window properly when dismissed. Rutherford also noted that if you prefer buying games on Steam, “It often feels like you are juggling three different launchers just to get to your games.”

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Should you buy the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+?

The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is a triumph for Intel’s new chipset and another win for the Panther Lake family of processors. While I’ve enjoyed several Windows gaming handhelds already, this appears to truly achieve the dream of high-fidelity, high-framerate PC gaming on the go. If you want the absolute fastest handheld on the market today and have the cash to burn, this is the device to get. However, for the average gamer, the $1,799 asking price makes it an incredibly tough sell. With that said, I have some travel coming up this summer, and I know this will be tough to resist.

Full specifications of MSI Claw 8 EX AI+

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