A contact late and bit too dear

Considered one of my favourite PC developments has been the explosion of . Even after large names like ASUS and Lenovo entered the market final yr with the and , extra producers proceed to affix the fray. However with the Claw A1M, MSI is taking the highway much less traveled by choosing an Intel chip as an alternative of one thing from AMD. And that has made all of the distinction, even when a lot of these adjustments are usually not for the higher.

Design and show – Easy however efficient

Whereas MSI might have zagged with the Claw’s processor, its design is extremely acquainted. That’s as a result of apart from being black as an alternative of white, it nearly appears like a carbon copy of the ROG Ally. That mentioned, just a few refined adjustments have a little bit of an influence. The Claw’s grips are extra pronounced, so it’s extra snug to carry, whereas its rear paddles are smaller and positioned a bit additional down so there’s much less of an opportunity you press them by chance.

MSI additionally opted for Corridor impact joysticks, so they’re a contact extra exact and will put on higher over time. Nevertheless, the springs inside are reasonably gentle, in order that they don’t really feel fairly as tight as I sometimes desire. Sadly, whereas its triggers are good, the Claw’s bumpers are a bit too spongy.

In the meantime, practically your complete rear panel on the Claw is vented to offer ample room for cooling. And alongside the highest there’s a built-in microSD card reader, 3.5mm audio jack, a quantity rocker and a single USB-C port with help for Thunderbolt 4. That final one is a really good inclusion because it’s quick sufficient to hook up peripherals like an exterior GPU dock. I simply want there have been two of them so I had a spare slot for equipment.

In fact, within the center there’s a 7-inch 1080p IPS LCD show. It’s comparatively colourful and with a examined brightness of round 450 nits, it’s simple to view even in sunnier rooms (although direct daylight continues to be a problem). Nevertheless, apart from a 120Hz refresh charge, there’s not a lot else happening. There’s no variable refresh charge to assist scale back tearing in additional trendy video games and it may well’t match the dimensions or extra saturated hues of the Legion Go’s 8.8-inch OLED panel. And whereas this isn’t actually a design consideration, with the Claw priced at $750, I want MSI shipped it with an included case like Lenovo does with the Legion.

Efficiency – Maintaining, however simply barely

Right here’s the place issues get a bit difficult, as a result of not less than on paper, the Claw is fairly well-equipped. Our overview unit options an Intel Core Extremely 7 155H CPU with Arc graphics, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. There’s additionally a cheaper mannequin with an Intel Core Extremely 5 135H chip and a 512GB SSD. Sadly, the Claw’s real-world efficiency lags behind MSI’s claims and rival handhelds. Again at CES 2024, MSI touted that the Claw could be 20 to 25 % quicker than AMD-based options. However it doesn’t matter what I do or how a lot time I spend tweaking settings, I merely can’t produce numbers wherever in that ballpark.

In Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1280 x 720, excessive graphics and in Balanced Mode (30 watts), the Claw hit 52 fps, which is barely behind the 54 fps I received from the ROG Ally at simply 15 watts. To make issues a bit worse, these numbers didn’t enhance a lot once I switched to the Claw’s 35-watt Excessive Efficiency setting, which solely bumped the framerate as much as 59 fps in comparison with 60 fps for the Ally when set to 25 watts. So regardless of operating at a better TDP (complete machine energy), the Claw is simply barely maintaining.

It’s an analogous story in different titles too. In Cyberpunk 2077 at 720p on medium graphics, the Claw hit 50 fps in Balanced mode, which is similar because the Ally. Lastly, in Returnal at 720p on medium, it was primarily a tie once more with the Claw hitting 32 fps versus 33 fps for the Ally. General, the Claw’s efficiency isn’t unhealthy, however it’s not as prodigious as MSI promised.

The underlying situation appears to be the Claw’s optimization and graphics drivers. I’ve been utilizing the Claw for a couple of month, and in that point it’s gotten a ton of updates together with two or three BIOS flashes and a seemingly limitless variety of new graphics drivers. There was even that boosted efficiency by as a lot as 30 % in some titles. So simply think about how tough efficiency was at launch earlier this spring.

In some respects, this degree of help is reassuring as a result of it exhibits Intel’s dedication to enhancing the graphics on its newest chips. That mentioned, the Claw has been in the marketplace since as early as April relying in the marketplace, so it clearly wasn’t prepared at launch and its efficiency continues to be a piece in progress.

Battery life – Nothing particular

With a 53Wh cell, there was hope the Claw might present considerably longer runtimes than the Ally and its smaller 40Wh energy pack. However due to the Claw’s greater TDP, the distinction in real-world longevity isn’t fairly as pronounced. Once I performed Diablo IV on medium graphics, the Claw lasted an hour and 43 minutes, which is 12 minutes higher than the Ally’s time of 1:31, however greater than 20 minutes lower than the Steam Deck’s mark of two:07.

Software program – Clunky at greatest

One of many greatest points with Home windows-based handhelds is that whereas they’re nice for gaming, doing the rest with out an exterior mouse or keyboard generally is a chore. Home windows 11 usually works as you’d anticipate, however the MSI Middle app feels a lot much less polished. Much like ASUS’ Armoury Crate, MSI Middle is supposed to be a one-stop store for launching video games, tweaking settings and downloading updates. And whereas it really works, it simply feels clunky. The app usually stutters once you open it and I bumped into a few situations when patches stalled whereas making an attempt to replace software program.

Wrap-up

Finally, timing often is the Claw’s greatest enemy. If it had come out final yr when the ROG Ally and Legion Go hit the market, the Claw might have been a extra attention-grabbing rival. However ASUS is about to launch a successor to the Ally – – subsequent month with a very redesigned chassis, 24GB of RAM and an enormous 80Wh battery. That leaves the Claw in a very tight spot. And our top-spec overview unit , which is (albeit with half the storage) and has mainly the identical efficiency and an nearly equivalent design.

In the meantime, due to latest value cuts, the Claw can be costlier than the , however doesn’t have the OLED display, kickstand and removable controllers present in Lenovo’s handheld. This doesn’t even consider Intel’s drivers, which clearly weren’t prepared at launch and even now after a number of updates, don’t provide a big benefit in efficiency. However the Claw’s greatest opponent could also be MSI itself, as a result of whereas we’re nonetheless ready on an official launch date, the corporate has already introduced a successor within the The Claw isn’t a foul handheld gaming PC; it simply arrived too late and with out the tuning it wanted.