First of all, let’s not confuse this new handheld with MSI’s previous Claw 8 AI+. The “EX” in its name comes from the processor it uses, Intel’s new Arch G3 Extreme. The chip promises to be Intel’s first handheld-focused CPU to include the same Arc B390 GPU as the company’s recent Panther Lake laptops. We’ve seen laptops with these chips perform well at 1080p gaming, so it’s not hard to believe they’ll perform well in handheld form.
The handheld can reach a maximum TDP, or thermal design power, of 45W. That’s more than many other AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme handhelds’ maximum of 35W when plugged in. You probably won’t run the system at those settings unless you have an outlet. It also requires better cooling, so we’ll see how well the MSI Claw 8 EX AI handles the heat.
All the promised electricity will be available at cost. The company told The Shortcut its target is about $1,500. This is presumably referring to the version with the Intel Arc G3 Extreme, although MSI is unlikely to offer an option with any lower-tier processors. The company is also reportedly aiming for a release date around June 23rd.
MSI claims it has revised its controls this time around, and the device now features Hall effect joysticks and triggers, similar to Lenovo’s Legion Go 2. The Taiwan-based gaming hardware company also says it has modified the haptic motors inside the grips to provide better feedback and rumble. For comfort, the grips now have a more controller-like shape, similar to the Asus ROG Xbox Ally
For the 1200p screen, MSI has opted for an 8-inch display with a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz. The device also supports Variable Refresh Rate or VRR to reduce the risk of screen tearing when you try to increase the frame rate. Since it supports the new Intel chip, Claw 8 eX AI also enables XeSS 3 multi-frame generation in all games that support it. We can look forward to the promise that we can finally reach the maximum refresh rate on a handheld device without any trouble, as long as you don’t mind using so-called fake frames.
MSI has also promised that the new handheld will support Xbox Mode. This means the device will run a more gamepad-friendly version of Windows 11 with its own Center M software to handle settings.
Acer included in new roundup of Intel-based handhelds coming to Computex Predator Atlas 8 and OneXPlayer 3. There is no price tag attached to any of these upcoming devices. The implication is that the ongoing RAM pricing apocalypse is so severe that we may not know the true cost of these devices until closer to release.
MSI’s last Claw 8 launched for $1,000, but due to tariffs and RAM price hits, it now costs closer to $1,130. Last week, Valve raised the price of its 3-year-old Steam Deck OLED model by nearly $1,000 for the version with 1TB of storage. When you consider today’s market, $1,500 is unfortunately par for the course in this RAM-ridden wasteland of 2026.
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