MSI’s New Claw A8 Packs AMD Firepower In A Killer New Design

Google I/O might be taking place this week, but so is Computex, and that’s where MSI has just announced its new Claw A8 handheld gaming PC. It has a rather aesthetically pleasing two-tone design that differentiates itself from the visuals of MSI’s other handhelds. This includes the Claw 8 AI+ AV2M, the Claw 7 AI+ AV2M, and the Claw A1M, which was MSI’s first-ever handheld.

Visually, it has a more angular (almost polygonal) look to its bottom corners than any of those other models. This is an interesting design choice. Those hard lines and angular corners look like they’d be less comfortable in the hand. This was actually a pain point brought up by users of the original ASUS ROG Ally, which is why ASUS changed the design slightly with the ROG Ally X. There were some complaints about ergonomics in the original Claw A1M as well. Which is likely why the Claw 8 AI+ looks like it does, with its more rounded corners and almost contoured grips.

Aside from the design changes, MSI has done something more important than update the look. It’s packed with some new hardware.

The MSI Claw A8 is powered by the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme APU

This is probably the biggest upgrade that MSI has made to its handheld lineup when it comes to components. It’s not necessarily better than the chip inside the Claw 8 AI+ AV2M. However, it is different in a major way – it’s AMD. Up until now, MSI has exclusively used Intel APUs inside its handhelds. With the Claw A8, it’s changing things up and going with AMD’s upcoming APU. The Ryzen Z2 Extreme.

This is rumored to be inside the ROG Ally 2 as well as the new Lenovo Legion Go 2. So far, though, no devices have been launched that carry this APU. This makes MSI the first to officially announce a handheld that has it inside.

Most of the other components are similar to or the same as what MSI is already using in the Claw 8 AI+. This includes the screen size, refresh rate, and SSD storage. It comes with slightly less RAM, however. For specifics, the Claw A8 has 24GB of RAM instead of 32GB, a 1TB SSD, and an 8-inch 120Hz refresh rate display. So, all pretty good specs that should help make it a performance beast. MSI doesn’t mention anything about price or availability.

The Claw 8 AI+ comes in a new color with more storage

In addition to the new Claw A8, MSI is also releasing a new color of the Claw 8 AI+. It’s called the Polar Tempest Edition. It’s mostly the same as the original color, save for the storage and the color. Polar Tempest, as the name suggests, is a new, bold, and bright white colorway. The storage, meanwhile, gets a bump to 2TB, so you have even more room for games.