Customer Ratings & Reviews

Man, I’ve been deep into handheld gaming for years now, bouncing between devices that promised the world but often left me frustrated with weak battery life, wonky software, or just feeling cheap in hand. Then I grabbed the MSI Claw 8 AI+, and well, it’s honestly one of the best things I’ve owned for on-the-go gaming. Unboxing it felt like a win right away — the build is straight-up premium. Solid chassis, perfectly sculpted grips that just mold to your hands, hall-effect sticks that glide smooth as butter with zero drift fears, and triggers with that crisp, satisfying feel. It’s got some weight to it, but the balance is spot-on, so it never feels like a brick — more like a tool made for serious play. That 8-inch display is ridiculous in the best way. Bright, vibrant colors that make everything pop, high refresh rate for buttery-smooth motion, and just enough real estate to feel immersive without being unwieldy. The Intel Lunar Lake chip is killing it on efficiency — battery life is legit now. I’m pulling solid 2-3+ hours on demanding games, and way more on lighter titles or when I tweak settings. No more constant charger anxiety; it actually lets me play when I want without babysitting power. MSI really stepped up on the software side too. Whatever jank was in the first-gen Claw? Mostly gone. Updates have made MSI Center actually helpful for quick TDP tweaks, fan curves, and performance modes without forcing you into Windows nightmare menus every five minutes. Steam integration is seamless, emulation runs like a dream, cloud streaming is smooth when I’m feeling lazy — it just handles whatever I throw at it. At the end of the day, this thing delivers where it counts: comfort, killer screen, real performance without compromises, and battery that doesn’t ruin the vibe. If you’re tired of settling for “good enough” handhelds, the Claw 8 AI+ feels like the one that finally gets it right. It’s become my daily driver for gaming sessions, no question. If you’re on the fence, trust me — snag one. This thing’s a beast and it’s redeemed everything for me.

High performance compared to the Z1 and Z2 Extreme and above all it has better ergonomics and has a reasonable weight.

I looked up so many reviews on different handhelds and I really didn't like the way the Xbox Rog ally X looked so I went with the Claw and it was the best decision! Not only are the specs better but it also looks great and it plays pretty much everything I like perfectly fine. This is great device and I recommend it to anyone looking for a good handheld in today's market.

I upgraded from lego. Its double in performance and battery. Perfect display 8 inch 120hz. Spekers are swesome. Easily getting 60+ fps in all games in higher graphic setting. Little pricey but worth every penny. Love it

It is more than I expected!! I am really surprised about the way how this handheld runs triple A Games..!! Really worth the price!!

Easily one of the best handheld gaming devices out on the market right now. Almost a year old and it’s still one of the top dogs.

This machin e is incredible. It's fast, it's quiet and the battery lasts so long sometimes I forget to charge it. It runs everything I throw at it. It's quite an amazing piece of hardware. The biggest problem is the MSI software. It's so bad I try to avoid it at all costs. The XBOX FSE is making it easier to do that but still not really a console experience like what you get from the steam deck. If you are computer savvy and don't mind/ enjoys a little problem solving, this machine will be incredible. If you want a more console experience I would recommend the steam deck of the ROG Xbox ally X.

Great screen, great performance, great sound, great ergonomics. Play GoW-R and HFW buttery smooth at medium with quality upscaling. However, the MSI software leaves room for improvement and its cluncky and not particularly user friendly. But having had MSI laptops and motherboards before, i knew to expect that. The device is also quite heavy, getting close to uncomfortably heavy. Still on the fence on if i will be keeping it.

Device is great, I had the Ally x when it first came out for about a week and the screen size was just too small for me. I even tried the Legion Go, but that cpu was not really ment for a 1600p panel and horrible battery life. This 8in screen is the sweet spot for me, it has great performance and all the games I've played run well at the 17w mode with the ability to still bump up the wattage if needed. The device is very quiet too even if I am playing at max wattage the fans keep everything cool and is barely noticeable. I was really impressed by this intel chip and hope they stay on their driver updates. Only down side i have run into is the MSI M Center app sometimes is slow or unresponsive to control buttons, but I think they should be able to fix this or hopefully the new Windows overlay coming to the Ally xbox comes to this device. Overall very happy with this device.

Ive owned all pc handhelds available in the US. The MSI had a ricky start but aftwr updates it is now the clear winner. Once its set up, updated and tweaked, it has the best performance (yes really,) best battery life and costs less than its main competion. No it isnt oled but once you download the tooth and claw widget (ypull learn while researching setup) it is the best looking ips display and myself and my GF can barely tell the difference between it and an oled. Do yourself a favor and grab this. Its already being realized as one of if not the best handhelds available by reviewers now after its updates that itll likely start to sell out. Mark my words.

After running some updates out of the box, this thing runs like a champ!! I definitely recommend upgrading the SSD or getting an external SSD. All in all, it is a solid choice.

Better then expected if you like to tinker with settings. It is one of the best handhelds on the market. If you are looking to buy a game machine that you can just pick up and play this might not be the device for you. There are a lot of updates and settings needed to give you the best performance . Once everything is set i would put this machine up against any other handheld. Its powerfull and plays everything. AAA Titles and everything else. The key is you need to take the time to configure it. It has replaced my legion go. The speakers are fantastic and battery life is great. I think i have fallen in love .

This is a very solid device. it’s run anything i’ve thrown at it, the screen is very satisfying despite not being OLED. The sticks are a little loose, but you get used to them. I think the ergonomics could use a little work, but all things considered i think this is the best performing handheld in its price tier. can support a wide range of use cases and software support has been consistent, specifically from intel.

This is by far the best handheld I have ever used, I had a steam deck and Asus ROG Ally x and my MSI Claw out performs and outlast with its huge battery, I play Hunt Showdown which is a heavy game with beautiful graphics and the Claw runs its perfectly along with COD, Battlefield and Escape from Tarcov

Atter using the original Legion Go that was too slow and heavy, and the new ROG xbox ally x, i can confirm this is the best choice for a handheld at the moment! Perfect amount of screen to weight ratio and the performance has been amazing!

I have the og ally,X, sd oled, and legion go but Claw 8 is definitely worth the upgrade!

Owning a Rog Ally X, I was hoping to upgrade to a larger screen with similair battery life. The MSI Claw 8Ai seemed to check all the boxes. I will say that the screen size (8”) is very nice and bright. It feels lighter than it actually is. Its quiet even when the fans are going. Unfortunately the M Center software has all functionality of a bad web page. Theres no option to control TDP. The update function still shows updates after they have been installed. Games take longer to load than they do on my Ally X, and there is a lot of stutter/framerate issues making certain games unplayable, even with the lowest settings. I ended up returning this, not because it isnt a good handheld, but because it is just light years behind Asus and possibly Lenovo in terms of refinement. My other concern was that it is the only handheld with an intel chip/gpu and MSI intends to release a new 8A with a AMD Z2E chipset. That makes me think that this may be more of a unique handheld that will probably not get prolonged support by Intel.

Definitely worth it. Probably the strongest handheld with a bigger screen and better resolution

Setup takes a little bit and the settings need to be tinkered with. Its all worth it. Playing battlefield 6 beta easily. Jedi Survivor, cyberpunk, the works.

Having tried several handhelds, this one excels in almost all fronts. The audio is unmatched, that buttons are extremely smooth and well built, the battery is a beast, and almost all aaa games are above average settings. hard to go wrong. My only gripe is the grips are not as comfortable as the a8 or the 7ai+