The MSI Claw 8 AI+ Is More Than A Gaming Device

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The portable PC market has exploded since the Steam Deck came onto the scene a few years ago. And why not? Playing full-sized games on a tiny device is totally rad. On the other hand, the more complex you make the device, the more problems you run into. The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is definitely more complete than your average portable gaming rig. But is this a good thing? After spending a few weeks with the device, I’m still not quite sure.

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ sports an 8-inch full HD 120Hz screen with VRR (variable refresh rate). Inside, there’s an Intel Core Ultra 258V processor. It’s got 32GB of LPDDR5x-8533 ram, along with an Arc 140V GPU. The battery is 80Whr in size, and the speakers are built with 4th-gen rubber insulation. The Claw 8’s grip is the result of years of automated data gathering, so it’s finely tuned to your hands. You can also swap out the SSD quite easily if you’re looking to do any upgrades. It’s also built with Hall Effect analog sticks and triggers, to prevent wear, tear, and stick drift.

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Specs aside, how does the Claw 8 feel in your hands? It’s got a satisfying heft to it, for one thing. The buttons click and press with appropriate give, the triggers have decent heft, and the thumbsticks feel great. So even though it weighs a fair bit, it’s not uncomfortable during use. The touchscreen is properly responsive, which I appreciate. This is important, since you’ll be using said touchscreen quite a bit. Plus, the unit never gets too hot. The fan setup is apparently very efficient.

I tested a bunch of games and found the Claw 8 quite satisfactory. It can’t run Forza Horizon 5 perfectly on high settings, but you can make do with medium well enough. Hades runs pretty well, along with Sonic Forces and Vampire Survivors. But while testing Street Fighter V, I ran into a curious problem. If you use the device on battery saver mode, certain games will run in slow motion. So there’s a good chance you won’t get that four-hour runtime they advertise. Although even without battery saver, you can get a couple hours of playtime in before your next charge.

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The Claw 8 runs in two different modes, desktop mode and gamepad mode. This just changes what certain buttons do, how the mouse is moved, and things like that. In theory, you’re supposed to switch between the two settings automatically. In practice, this often fails. Hades was repeatedly rendered unplayable until I dug into the settings and manually activated gamepad mode. So it’s a solvable problem, but it’s still downright aggravating.

Because this system runs on Windows 11, you can use the Claw 8 as a mini PC. Monitors and keyboards can be plugged in, and you can do all sorts of regular PC business with it. Actual mice and keyboards work beautifully, and you can plug in a whole grip of accessories with something like a docking system. Of course, different games respond differently to certain peripherals. For example, plugging in an actual controller produced very mixed results. I could game well in portable mode, and type nicely when the Claw 8 was docked. But gaming while docked presented a lot of control issues.

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is a pretty good portable gaming device. But, it’s also a pretty good mini PC. That goes a long way in terms of merit. Because this machine runs Windows 11, you can run pretty much any program that runs on Windows. If you’ve got a docking system, it can run like a normal PC (with some minor caveats). Beyond Steam, the EGS, and Xbox, all of PC gaming is more or less at your fingertips. You can’t play modern AAA games at the highest settings, but the Claw 8 can keep up with the Steam Deck, and that’s not bad at all. If you’re in the market for a more versatile portable gaming solution, the Claw 8 AI+ might be perfect for you.

***A retail version of the product was provided by Intel***