CES 2024 MSI Claw hands-on experience: Another handheld computer joins the fray

The portable gaming PC market will explode in 2023, and 2024 looks to be no different.

A year after bringing us the Asus ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and Steam Deck OLED, MSI is ready to join the Claw fray. Both on paper and in practice, Very Similar to its competitors. It has enough power to run modern AAA games, a similar control scheme to the Steam Deck, and a beautiful display that makes the games really pop. It will launch in the first half of 2024, starting at $699.

MSI brought the Claw to CES 2024, and I got to (briefly) put my hands on it. As much as I like Steam Deck, its use with SteamOS is a problem for people who own games in other online libraries. MSI has gone a different route, and if the company can iron out some of the kinks, this could be a viable option for people who don’t want to be locked into Steam.

MSI Claws: Specs

There are two peas in a pod.
Photo credit: Kim Gedeon/Mashable

Before I get started with the Claw, it’s worth taking a moment to give a behind-the-scenes look at this handheld bad boy:

There are a few points worth exploring in depth here. First up is the display, which tops the Steam Deck with a 1080p resolution (as opposed to the Steam Deck’s 800p) and a 120Hz refresh rate, beating the 90Hz refresh rate on Valve’s handheld device. Its Intel Meteor Lake processor is newer and theoretically more powerful than the one in the Steam Deck, which runs on hardware that’s nearly two years old.

Like ROG Ally and Legion Go, Claw runs on Windows 11, rather than Valve’s choice to use a custom Linux-based SteamOS. This means that Claw can easily run games natively from non-Steam libraries such as Xbox Game Pass and Epic Games Store.steam deck able It’s technically possible to do this too, but you’ll have to have some technical knowledge and patience to achieve it.

This is where Talon has the most potential. The unit can run in regular Windows 11 desktop mode if you prefer, but MSI built a simple and clean custom UI that brings all the different libraries under one roof. It combines the simplicity of SteamOS with the power of Windows 11. To be clear, MSI isn’t a pioneer in this area; the Legion Go, for example, has its own hub software that does similar functionality, but the cluttered, ugly UI was enough to prevent me from using it entirely.

Claw’s menu, on the other hand, is self-explanatory and seems worthwhile.I did The menu selections are too finicky in places, but MSI assures me that the UI is still a work in progress. In particular, trying to force quit the game at the system level took more effort than I would have liked.

Last but not least, we took the Steam Deck to the event and found that the two devices weigh nearly the same. The spec sheets back this up; the MSI Claw weighs 1.48 pounds and the Steam Deck weighs 1.41 pounds.

MSI Claw Hands-On

The fans seemed to be doing their part.
Photo credit: Kim Gedeon/Mashable

As for how the device actually plays, my time with it was very brief, but still enlightening enough.

Like its competitors, the Claw has two analog sticks, a d-pad, four shoulder buttons, and four face buttons. There are also two customizable macro buttons on the back. However, unlike the Steam Deck, it doesn’t have a trackpad that simulates mouse control. There is a touchscreen, but some may prefer a trackpad. I don’t really care about this, but it’s worth pointing out.

I didn’t have enough time to do a detailed performance analysis with Claw, and MSI doesn’t have an on-screen framerate counter for me to use like the Steam Deck does (although I’m sure that’s in the works). Judging from the vision test, Assassin’s Creed Phantoms It runs at a pretty solid 30FPS on low settings and looks great on the monitor. Sonic Superstar Even better, running at or close to 60FPS without too many noticeable drops.

These are the most recent AAA releases (although perhaps Super star doesn’t qualify, even though it’s a decent-looking game), so it’s encouraging to see Claw run them admirably. MSI talks up a lot about its proprietary cooling system, which is designed to keep the device from getting hot, and sure enough, I didn’t notice any uncomfortable warmth while using it.Running demo unit mirage It was a bit hot for at least 20 minutes straight, but completely within acceptable limits.

As for battery life, MSI says it’s ready to run Forza Horizon 5 It can be used continuously for two hours on a single charge. That doesn’t sound like much, but by portable gaming PC standards, it’s pretty good. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until later this year when we have a review unit to test it out for ourselves.

All in all, the MSI Claw could prove to be another worthy entrant into the suddenly crowded portable PC space. Aside from a newer processor, there’s nothing hardware required compared to the Steam Deck OLED. But it’s nice that there are so many options now and none of them are terrible.