MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ Review: Intel Arc Takes the Lead

The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is the first handheld gaming PC to carry the Intel Arc G3 Extreme processor, setting aside the China-exclusive One XPlayer. It is a new variant of the Taiwanese brand's handheld range, with the 8-inch IPS screen still present and, notably, Hall effect joysticks.

The name is convoluted for hardware that is otherwise very close to earlier models in the family. What sets the 2026 machine apart is the new Intel G3 Extreme chip, designed for gaming, which draws on the Xe3 graphics cores introduced with Panther Lake and is cut out for the portable gaming market.

The Claw 8 EX AI+ is offered in a single configuration with 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage. That is the configuration assessed throughout this review.

MSI has not reinvented the wheel for this Claw, but it does make a few distinct changes compared with its predecessor, starting with the 8-inch screen that now overhangs the body of the console. The panel is no larger than that of the other Claw 8 models, but the approach allows more defined lines for the side grips, and grip is noticeably improved as a result.

Its imposing dimensions of 29.6 x 13 x 2.5-4.8 cm and substantial weight of 722 g make it a difficult object to take out of the house, even by handheld PC standards, and also fairly heavy in the hands after several hours of play. Resting the forearms on a desk makes the weight easier to manage during longer sessions.

It is hard to tell the difference between an Xbox Series controller and the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ where the grips are concerned: the textured surfaces are similar, as is the feel of the joysticks, which have the good sense to use Hall effect sensors in place of conventional potentiometers. Those sensors are designed to resist the drift that can develop in conventional potentiometers. There are no trigger stops, although the rear paddles are appreciated.

The directional pad, by contrast, needs a complete rethink. Convex and fitted with very pronounced edges, it tries to emulate the feel of the Xbox Series controller's D-pad. In reality it proves very stiff and is absolutely not suited to 2D platform games, for instance: moving from one cardinal direction to another risks triggering a diagonal by accident. The glossy coating also clashes with the textured chassis. In short, the brand could have done better on one of the most important elements of a console of this type.

On connections, the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ holds no great surprise, with two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, a microSD Express reader, a headphone output and a power button incorporating a fingerprint sensor. That is comfortably enough to cover the needs of this type of machine. On the wireless side, the presence of Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 is welcome and ensures good connectivity.

MSI has revised the cooling system for this version. The pair of fans is now backed by a much larger radiator, which keeps temperatures entirely reasonable even after several hours of play on graphically demanding titles. In exchange, the airflow is clearly heard during intensive use, with a peak measured at 38.7 dB. It does drop to a murmur, or disappear altogether, on less demanding games.

The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ carries the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip and its 14 logical compute cores clocked at a maximum frequency of 4.7 GHz, along with 12 Xe3 graphics cores. Expectations around this new processor are high, since it has to stand up to the AMD APUs usually seen in machines of this kind. Intel has ground to make up against AMD in integrated-graphics chipsets, but its recent efforts, supported by considerable software development, have given it fresh momentum.

The MSI Center software, which manages the thermal envelope (TDP) of the Claw 8 EX AI+, offers only two performance modes: AI Engine, which adjusts consumption on its own according to the resources a game demands, and Endurance, which favours battery life. The recorded benchmarks were run on the first of those, as with its predecessors, without manual TDP adjustment of the CPU or GPU in order to avoid any overclocking. The benchmark results were obtained in rasterisation only, with no ray tracing, at a definition of 1920 x 1080 pixels, or 1200p where applicable.

The outcome is decidedly positive: between 10% and 25% additional performance compared with the ROG Ally X and its AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme chip across the four games common to both benchmark sets. On Forza Horizon 6, which is particularly well optimised, it is possible to come close to 60 fps on the High preset, which looks excellent on the console's 8-inch screen.

The Arc G3 Extreme chip copes so comfortably that dropping back to 720p appears unnecessary for the sample of games tested, since the component is thoroughly capable of handling FHD+. Enabling ray tracing logically has consequences for performance: still on Forza Horizon 6, the High preset with ray tracing averages 43 fps, while Ultra with ray tracing falls to 30 fps. Compatibility with XeSS upscaling also allows a substantial improvement, and on the High preset with XeSS Performance, Forza Horizon 6 holds 61 fps without flinching.

The Intel Graphics Software installed on the machine is not included in the default application shortcuts of Xbox mode, an entirely obscure decision given that XeSS features, along with the Multi Frame Generation override switch that can generate up to three interpolated frames between two rasterised frames, end up buried in the menu of an application tucked away inside the console's desktop mode. It is worth noting that no compatibility certification exists, so titles have to be tested case by case.

The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ carries an 8-inch IPS touchscreen with FHD+ definition of 1920 x 1200 pixels at 120 Hz. That is standard for a handheld PC of this calibre, although the absence of an OLED option remains disappointing.

Calibration is within acceptable bounds, with a delta E measured at 2.3, below the threshold of 3 at which colour drift becomes perceptible to the naked eye. The contrast ratio of 1412:1 is fairly good and in line with expectations for an IPS panel, which by definition cannot rival the depth of OLED, while persistence, measured at 12 ms, is sufficient for gaming.

There are two black marks, however. Colour temperature is disappointing at 7288 K, well above the ideal of 6500 K, a tendency often found on handheld PCs and supposedly intended to flatter players' presumed taste for cool tones, in defiance of good calibration sense. The reflected-light figure of 48% also makes this a particularly glossy panel, in the bad sense of the word. Fortunately, maximum brightness measured at 499 cd/m² helps counter any reflections, provided you play in the shade.

The speakers on the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ play loudly, very loudly indeed, to the point where the woofers can be felt through the outer chassis once the volume passes 80%. What is gained in level is lost in fidelity, with an already fairly limited soundstage but relatively present bass. The headphone output also benefits from a very high output level, but suffers from notable distortion and limited channel separation.

Evaluating the battery life of a console is a delicate exercise, since games can call on hardware resources in very different ways. The reported portable battery test used LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight with the Medium graphics preset, XeSS upscaling in Performance mode and Frame Generation X2.

The power profile was left on AI Engine, which adjusts consumption according to the scene, so the TDP oscillated between 20 W and 35 W on the generous 80 Wh battery. Calling it an afternoon is generous: the console gave up after a session of 2 hours 20 minutes, which remains within the average for other handheld PCs on titles this demanding.

The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ runs Windows 11 with the Xbox Full Screen Experience overlay enabled by default. It is important to understand that this is an entirely standard image of the operating system: switching to desktop mode confirms the presence of all the usual Microsoft software, which means Teams and Copilot are enabled by default. On a handheld gaming PC that is superfluous, but no major change is expected from Microsoft on that point, since the company is doing the bare minimum for handheld PCs running its operating system.

Earlier testing treated the first iteration of the Xbox full-screen experience fairly leniently when it launched alongside the ROG Xbox Ally X. Little effort has evidently been made since to smooth out those teething problems, and the user experience remains laborious in the extreme. The initial configuration alone, identical to that of a laptop, has no place on a machine sold exclusively for gaming. All the problems inherent in the operating system are present, whether that means having to link a Microsoft account or having to lock access with a PIN code, all of them barriers to fluid use. SteamOS is incidentally installable on the machine following recent updates from Valve, but that falls outside the scope of a review focused on the state of the product as it leaves the factory.

Adding insult to injury, the new Claw is still fitted with the MSI Center software overlay, divided into a dedicated application and a side menu, which governs the TDP, button assignment and other hardware-related settings. Its austere interface, devoid of animations and therefore of visual feedback, already looked out of place in the era of the older Claw models and appears even more so today. Switching from the application back into a game repeatedly stopped the controller inputs working, unless the touchscreen was pressed.

The purpose of its game launcher is unclear when Xbox mode does the job perfectly well. Worse still, the button dedicated to opening the side menu duplicates the Xbox Bar button. In practice that means one press first brings up the Xbox widgets before switching to the MSI Center menu half a second later, which is enough to tear your hair out in the heat of the action. The ROG Xbox Ally X had the good idea of including an additional button dedicated exclusively to the Xbox ecosystem, and it is sorely missed here.