Monday, January 8th 2024
MSI Unveils the Claw, World's First Gaming Handheld with Core Ultra
With the zeitgeist of AI technology taking the world by storm, MSI, a world-leading premium laptop brand, has taken it in stride through its professionalism over luxurious aesthetics, extreme performance and innovative technology. Announcing the world's first gaming handheld powered by Intel Core Ultra Processor - the Claw. Equipped with ARC graphics featuring up to 8 Xe cores and advanced XeSS technology, the Claw ensures smooth gameplay across various AAA titles. Its robust HyperFlow cooling system and a large 53Wh battery, coupled with Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, make it an exceptional handheld gaming device for gamers.
"In our commitment to enhancing the gaming experience for our users, we aim to address market pain points and dedicate efforts to the handheld space," said Eric Kuo, the Executive Vice President& NB BU GM of MSI. "We have fine-tuned specific designs tailored exclusively for gamers, debuting our very first handheld, Claw, which redefines the standards in the handheld market."
"We're proud to partner with MSI to deliver unparalleled experiences for users around the globe. The new MSI Claw is an exciting new gaming handheld powered by an Intel Core Ultra processor that provides an unparalleled gaming experience to be enjoyed anywhere, anytime." - Michelle Johnston Holthaus, Executive Vice President and GM, Client Computing Group, Intel
Intel Core Ultra with ARC: Revolutionizing Integrated Graphics
The Core Ultra stands out with its new silicon architecture, AI capabilities, and the pioneering ARC integrated graphics, boasting up to 8 Xe cores. This configuration delivers twice the graphical performance of previous generations. Enhanced by XeSS super-sampling technology, the ARC offers smooth gameplay at 1080p resolution and medium settings. Its SOC tile includes a media engine supporting advanced video codecs like AV1, H.265, and VP9, ensuring high-quality streaming with reduced performance demands.World's first Gaming Handheld with Core Ultra: Claw
World's First Gaming Handheld with Core Ultra: The Claw
MSI's Claw represents a breakthrough in handheld gaming. Equipped with Intel Core Ultra processors and Intel XeSS technology, it elevates FPS for smooth, immersive gameplay, even in demanding AAA titles. The device incorporates MSI Cooler Boost Hyperflow technology, featuring dual fans and heat pipes that efficiently dissipate heat. The intraflow thermal design optimizes airflow to cool internal components, ensuring top gaming performance. The Claw boasts a class-leading 53Whr battery, offering an impressive 2-hour battery life under full workload, allowing gamers to enjoy prolonged sessions. It features the MSI Center M UI, providing easy access to key features and settings, including a quick game launcher and instant platform access. The Claw also supports the MSI APP Player, expanding gaming options to include both Windows and Android mobile games.
Ergonomically designed, the Claw fits comfortably in various hand sizes, enhancing the gaming experience. It features a 7-inch Full HD touchscreen display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, ensuring a visually stunning and responsive gaming environment.
In summary, MSI's Claw is a groundbreaking addition to the gaming world, offering unparalleled portable gaming with its advanced technology, ergonomic design, and powerful performance features.
"In our commitment to enhancing the gaming experience for our users, we aim to address market pain points and dedicate efforts to the handheld space," said Eric Kuo, the Executive Vice President& NB BU GM of MSI. "We have fine-tuned specific designs tailored exclusively for gamers, debuting our very first handheld, Claw, which redefines the standards in the handheld market."
Intel Core Ultra with ARC: Revolutionizing Integrated Graphics
The Core Ultra stands out with its new silicon architecture, AI capabilities, and the pioneering ARC integrated graphics, boasting up to 8 Xe cores. This configuration delivers twice the graphical performance of previous generations. Enhanced by XeSS super-sampling technology, the ARC offers smooth gameplay at 1080p resolution and medium settings. Its SOC tile includes a media engine supporting advanced video codecs like AV1, H.265, and VP9, ensuring high-quality streaming with reduced performance demands.World's first Gaming Handheld with Core Ultra: Claw
World's First Gaming Handheld with Core Ultra: The Claw
MSI's Claw represents a breakthrough in handheld gaming. Equipped with Intel Core Ultra processors and Intel XeSS technology, it elevates FPS for smooth, immersive gameplay, even in demanding AAA titles. The device incorporates MSI Cooler Boost Hyperflow technology, featuring dual fans and heat pipes that efficiently dissipate heat. The intraflow thermal design optimizes airflow to cool internal components, ensuring top gaming performance. The Claw boasts a class-leading 53Whr battery, offering an impressive 2-hour battery life under full workload, allowing gamers to enjoy prolonged sessions. It features the MSI Center M UI, providing easy access to key features and settings, including a quick game launcher and instant platform access. The Claw also supports the MSI APP Player, expanding gaming options to include both Windows and Android mobile games.
Ergonomically designed, the Claw fits comfortably in various hand sizes, enhancing the gaming experience. It features a 7-inch Full HD touchscreen display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, ensuring a visually stunning and responsive gaming environment.
In summary, MSI's Claw is a groundbreaking addition to the gaming world, offering unparalleled portable gaming with its advanced technology, ergonomic design, and powerful performance features.
18 Comments on MSI Unveils the Claw, World's First Gaming Handheld with Core Ultra
Z1 Extreme running at 25W (Unplugged Turbo) on the Ally and Go only nets just over an hour of gameplay at 60 Hz, native resolution, 50% brightness with modern 3D games.Most likely they will hard limit PL2 to around 30W or 45W, with PL1 being 15W.
Unless Intel is really putting their weight behind this on optimizing the SoC for low power gaming, there's little reason to buy this over the reasonably mature ROG Ally.
You don't need this. The Zen APU is much better, Intel has no place here whatsoever with their ancient tech, and whats around this CPU can't even be saved to begin with
I doubt it will be able to maintain two hours...
i am glad i did not wait on that one...
i love my ally, on the go (no not the Legion "go" ) i play offlines retro titles at 15w, which is more than enough, at home i wire it for 30W Turbo for some heavier games (including CP2077) when i turn into a couch potato and don't want to turn on the main PC ... at home again, docked with mouse keyboard and plugged on my TV, i feel like it could replace my secondary PC (well not a hard feat given my secondary PC is a i7-3770+8gb DDR3+GT730 2gb :laugh: ) i could almost replace my main PC too and keep the ally for everything :laugh: (well, not doing it, anyway, i've been long enough with just a laptop from ~2003 to 2010, i cherish my main rig :laugh: )
Legion Go well ... that one i regret just a tiiiiny bit not waiting until it was in stock (but then again, i got my Ally at bargain price second hand ... :oops: )if, from what i see, they are betting all on XeSS ... it will be ... amusing
"smooth gameplay across various AAA title" yeah right ...
unless Intel pulled a rabbit out of their hat ... i hardly see that being the case ... maybe at 480p low graphic settings and XeSS on performance setting?
Price will be interesting also :laugh: the Legion Go is 99chf more than the Ally for me (799chf vs 700chf ) and given it will have an Intel SOC it will be anything north of 800 then
and unlike the Legion Go .... MSI did not innovate and just blatantly copy pasted the Ally design, ah, wait, no, they changed the speaker grid placement in a position that can be half obstructed by the hands ... wow, i am impressed now, ah well the back shape and M1, M2 back buttons are better on the Claw (subjective tho)
basically 13wh more than the Ally ... or the OG Steamdeck and 3wh more than the Deck Oled ... but that's battery ...
so 2hrs at 53wh, as some mentioned, mean a 26.5w total power draw, my ally at 40wh last a bit more when i use it on 15w eco for what i mentioned above and at, 25w almost 1,5hr, so the Claw has roughly half an hour more, that's something but it's not a decisive factor, the decisive factor will be the SOC, because the Ryzen Z1 Extreme is excellent for that usage scenario
yep need a review indeed ... interested of what "optimization" MSI and Intel did put in place (and if it will turn out to be vulnerabilities that need to be patched later :laugh: if it's like Intel's previous "optimizations")
I cannot see this making a dent to the Deck either as the deck is cheaper and does not need to be a Windows handheld.
The Ally and the Legion are it's current competition but what is going to happen when the next gen of AM5 Mobile actually start coming into the new handhelds in the coming months?
I guess MSI is hoping that there are enough people that are Intel Fanboys that they will be able to sell this. It's not like Intel have any influence on the Gaming scene but they are getting better with drivers.
but it has a mode that eat 53w? that's weird for a 28w SOC, but i doubt the Claw will use it to 53w,
also in the video he said 45w not 53 ;) and he also said the Ally lowest setting is 9w (it's 10w, ok, I'm nitpicking :laugh: )
in term of performance from what i gathered it's about the same a R7 Pro 7840U in term of computational power, and slighly below in term of graphic (above in some case, but not by much)
so the Claw will have a battery incentive at 15w and not full power, imho
so, basically, same SOC performances but a year laterwell for me the Deck 512gb is priced higher than a BNIB Ally :laugh:
the fact that's a Win handeld out of the box made it more interesting than the deck, cheaper than a gaming laptop while being able to (again imediate out of box, no tinkering) take advantage of, not only, STEAM but also EGS (where i have hundreds of title i got for free, aside one title :laugh: ) and with the dock i can use it like a full blown PC when i am on holiday, only requiring a TV or a monitor. (which is also why i have a 65% keyboard and a trackball ;) )
although as i mentioned once i got my Ally at a real bargain price, to the point that even adding a 2tb SN770M, a 1tb uSD and various accessories (dock/carry case/protective shell/body wrap) did not make it more expensive than taking a full price Deck 512gb or a Legion Go where i live :oops: (bascially got it at the price of a Deck 512gb where you live then :) )