MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ hands-on: the most capable gaming handheld yet, at a brutal $1,500

MSI's Claw 8 EX AI+ is powered by Intel's new G3 Extreme chip from the Panther Lake family, and it's shaping up to be the handheld gaming PC everything else gets measured against. It launches in late June with a single model at launch — and a price tag of $1,500, assuming MSI can hold production costs steady.

Inside you get the full G3 Extreme: 14 CPU cores (two Cougar Cove P-cores, eight Darmont E-cores, four low-power E-cores) paired with a 12 Xe core Arc B390 iGPU, 32 GB of LPDDR5x-8533 memory, and a 1 TB NVMe SSD in a standard 2280 slot — easier to upgrade than some rivals, though only single-sided drives fit the chassis. The 8-inch 1920×1200 IPS-level display carries over from the previous Claw, with 48–120 Hz VRR and 500 nits peak brightness. So does the 80 Whr battery. New additions include a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, a fingerprint sensor on the power button, a MicroSD slot, and HD haptic LRA vibration modules in the grips. Weight drops slightly to 785 g from the old model's 795 g. A new Endurance mode clamps the CPU to 8 W for a total ~17 W TDP; plug it into the wall and you can push the G3 Extreme up to 45 W in console mode.

Battery life is a genuine highlight. MSI's product manager promised results better than the Lunar Lake Claw, which cleared around two hours in the PC Mark gaming battery test. One Intel rep on the flight to Taipei played 007 First Light for roughly four hours without reaching for a charger. MSI isn't publishing an official figure yet. Performance is strong too: Hogwarts Legacy and F1 25 hit the 120 Hz cap at native 1200p with XeSS frame generation running, Battlefield 6 clears 60 fps at 1080p without frame gen. Hooked up to a TV at 4K, F1 25 ran at 80–90 fps with frame gen, though the visual stability wasn't perfect. SteamOS is not officially supported — MSI tested it after Intel suggested trying alternative OSes, but says "there are still technical barriers"; other Linux builds are "workable, but just for engineers." The device ships with Windows 11 and a lightweight quick-settings overlay MSI built to mirror what Asus does with Armoury Crate. TMR sticks were tested in the lab but didn't make it into this version.

The $1,500 price is the obvious sticking point, but context matters: Steam Deck just got a significant price hike and still sold out across North America at around $1,000. MSI is pitching the Claw 8 EX AI+ as the new benchmark for the category, and the hands-on impression backs that up — the flared grips inspired by the ROG Ally X feel noticeably more comfortable than the previous Claw, the Void Purple colorway looks sharp, and the overall build quality feels premium. Whether enough buyers will agree it's worth the premium is the question MSI needs to answer by the end of June.