MSI Claw 8 EX AI+: what the reviews agree on

Reviewers measured clear leads over the ROG Xbox Ally X and Legion Go 2, from roughly 20 fps to 75% in different tests. Frame generation adds more, but few games support it and results vary by title.

• Engadget saw frame rate gains of 50 to 75 percent over the ROG Xbox Ally X and Legion Go 2. In Cyberpunk 2077 at 35 W, FHD, medium, XeSS performance it hit 95 fps against 62 and 57 fps. Engadget tested an Intel engineering sample with pre-production drivers.
• Tom's Hardware measured a 20 to 30+ fps lead over its peers across its benchmark suite. In Cyberpunk 2077 on the Steam Deck preset at 800p it got 78 fps on battery and 85 fps plugged in, and 48 and 52 fps at 1200p.
• PC Gamer's benchmark table put the Claw first in every game except an older Horizon Zero Dawn upscaling test. Notebookcheck says it easily beats the Z2 Extreme.
• Notebookcheck measured Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p Ultra in AI Engine mode at 39.6 fps native and 127.8 fps with 4x frame generation. Windows Central got a 46.6 fps average at 1200p with ray tracing on low and XeSS.
• Tom's Guide counts only about 50 games with XeSS 3 support. Windows Central saw DOOM: The Dark Ages drop below 30 fps on one level despite XeSS.

Reviewers agree battery life beats AMD rivals, mostly because of Endurance mode. The measured runtimes differ a lot by test, from about 1.5 hours at 35 W to over five hours in one benchmark.

• Notebookcheck measured Cyberpunk 2077 at 150 nits: 1:39 at 35 W, 2:21 in AI Engine mode and 3:19 in Endurance mode.
• PC Gamer saw its PCMark gaming test go from two and a half hours to over five in Endurance mode, and got about half an hour more than the ROG Xbox Ally X in the default mode.
• Windows Central got around 3.5 hours in PCMark 10's gaming test in Endurance mode at 45% brightness. Tom's Guide recorded 4:10 in 3DMark's gaming battery test.
• Engadget played over three hours of Clair Obscur in Endurance mode and says older games can reach upwards of four hours. Tom's Hardware's Lego Batman test dropped the battery from 100% to 52% in an hour in AI Engine mode, against 66% left in Endurance mode.

The 8-inch 1920x1200 IPS panel with 48 to 120 Hz VRR is described as bright and smooth. Reviewers disagree on how much the lack of OLED matters at this price.

• Notebookcheck measured a maximum of about 540 nits and a contrast ratio near 1500:1, and noticed a blue cast from the factory calibration.
• Tom's Hardware calls the missing OLED a big miss at $1,799. Notebookcheck says the screen cannot match the image quality of OLED rivals such as the Legion Go 2.
• Engadget and Tom's Guide say they would have liked OLED but find the panel more than good enough. Windows Central says the missing true blacks are noticeable in a dark room and fade from mind in play.
• Tom's Hardware, Engadget and PC Gamer note that the bottom of the screen juts out below the body.

Reviewers like the Xbox-style flared grips, the weight distribution and the Hall effect sticks and triggers. Caveats are the 785 g weight, the stiff D-pad and a short list of back buttons.

• Windows Central, PC Gamer and Notebookcheck praise the redesigned chassis. Windows Central and Tom's Hardware give the weight as 785 g and both say the grips spread it well.
• Engadget, PC Gamer and Windows Central note Hall effect sticks and triggers, with Windows Central saying they remove stick drift.
• Engadget finds the stiff, concave D-pad not ideal for fighting games. Tom's Hardware lists only two back buttons, no touchpad and slightly wiggly bumpers.
• Tom's Guide says the grips fit average-sized hands almost perfectly, but smaller hands may struggle.

Surface temperatures are fine in every review. Fan noise is the disagreement: PC Gamer finds it unobtrusive, while Notebookcheck measured fans that never stop spinning.

• PC Gamer says the fans stay mercifully quiet and are barely audible in Endurance mode. The CPU reached 97 °C at 37 W package power, against 96 °C for the ROG Xbox Ally X at 55 W.
• Notebookcheck measured the fans running constantly at about 3,600 rpm, 33.9 dB(A) at idle, 42.3 dB(A) in AI Engine mode and 46.2 dB(A) in Manual mode, and wants MSI to fix the idle behaviour. It says the grips stay cool.
• Windows Central measured 33.3 °C on the rear grip and 41.4 °C at the base of the display. Tom's Hardware found about 90 °F on the back and 109 °F near the exhausts in its Metro Exodus stress test.

The Xbox full-screen mode and MSI Center M work, and Windows Central says sleep drain is fixed. Reviewers still describe a patchwork of launchers, with Endurance and frame generation settings partly outside the quick menu.

• Engadget says you juggle MSI Center, the Xbox experience and Steam, and that the Endurance mode frame target needs Intel's graphics software. Frame generation cannot be used in Endurance mode at launch.
• Tom's Hardware says MSI Center M pulls in games from the Xbox Store, GOG Galaxy, Epic and Steam. Notebookcheck likes the software and the reworked quick settings menu.
• Windows Central found minimal standby battery drain and some Xbox games missing from MSI Center M. PC Gamer says Windows still feels unfinished next to SteamOS even with Xbox mode.

The price is the one point every reviewer raises. At $1,799 for a single 32 GB, 1 TB configuration, reviewers recommend it only to enthusiasts, and several tie the cost to memory prices.

• Tom's Hardware compares it to MacBook Pro pricing and notes the OLED Legion Go 2 with 32 GB and 1 TB costs $1,349.99, $450 less. Notebookcheck says the money could buy a gaming laptop with an RTX 5060.
• PC Gamer says $1,800 matches a full Radeon RX 9070 XT gaming PC and calls it a tough recommendation. Engadget says buyers now choose between the Claw and a new laptop.
• Windows Central estimates it would land around $1,299 in a normal market. Tom's Guide recommends it to enthusiasts and says everyone else should wait for a sale.