MSI's new Claw 8 AI+ already looks more promising than its predecessor, the Claw 7. With upgraded specs and a somewhat competitive price, the Claw 8 AI+ could be MSI's last chance to make a real impact in this contested market, and according to the benchmark results shared by the manufacturer, it sure has a chance.

The original Claw 7, hampered by its underpowered Meteor Lake processor and high price tag, struggled to compete with the likes of the Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go. But the Claw 8 AI+ appears to be a different beast altogether. Powered by the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor with 8 CPU cores and 8 Xe2-Cores, coupled with 32 GB of LPDDR5X-8533 memory, it packs the horsepower needed to compete with the best in the market.

MSI seems confident in its latest creation, inviting reviewers and influencers like ETA Prime for early hands-on previews. A leaked performance slide from MSI shared by the Youtuber compares the Claw 8 AI+ to the refreshed ROG Ally X, both running at 17W. In this chart, MSI claims an average 20% performance advantage at 1080p with low settings and super-resolution enabled. The best case would be Metro 2033, where we see a 113% increase in performance when going from the Ally X to the Claw 8 AI+.

The Claw 8 AI+ is expected to launch between December 26th and January 15th, with pricing rumoured to be around $900 for the 32 GB version. A more affordable variant with the Core Ultra 7 256V processor and 16GB of RAM is reportedly in the works. Alternatively, there will also be similarly-specced Claw 7 AI+ consoles that should be slightly cheaper than the Claw 8 AI+ counterparts.

KitGuru says: With Asus yet to announce a successor to the ROG Ally and Lenovo's Legion Go 2 potentially using the upcoming Ryzen Z2 series, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ has a window of opportunity to capture the attention of handheld gaming enthusiasts. Whether it can capitalise on this opportunity and establish itself as a leader in the market remains to be seen.

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