I’ve been pretty loyal to Asus’ ROG Ally X mobile phones for the past few years, and for good reason. Compared to competing Windows 11 laptops like the Lenovo Legion Go and high-end laptops from other companies Ayaneo and OneXPlayerAsus devices have always been more polished and reliable, esp ROG Xbox Ally X.
But after spending the last two weeks with MSI’s Claw 8 EX AI+, I feel like the ROG Xbox Ally X has some real competition in the Windows 11 portable space. That being said, MSI’s latest portable has a few major drawbacks, including its steep price, somewhat odd design, and lackluster software experience.
However, MSI has something special up its sleeve, largely thanks to Intel’s powerful new Arc G3 Extreme chip.
Above all else, Intel’s Arc G3 Extreme is the main draw
The Intel chip is more powerful than the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme
It must be said that Intel’s high claims for the Arc G3 Extreme chip are very realistic. The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ features a dedicated Panther Lake processor with Intel’s 12-core Xe3-based architecture that prioritizes graphics performance. According to Intel, the chip offers a 44% higher frame rate in select games compared to the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme in the ROG Ally X. Despite my skepticism, it seems pretty accurate as far as I’m concerned, especially when each handheld’s respective AI zoom technology is enabled.
For example, together Assassin’s Creed Black Flag ResyncedI’ve spent most of my time gaming on the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ so far, and I’ve been able to get the TDP/power limit and in-game graphics to 50-65fps with the AI engine set to a mix of Medium, High, and Low (TDP is around 25W with this mode running). Manually switching the PL1 to 35 and the PL2 to 45 made the framerate a little more consistent, but the louder fans and battery life weren’t worth the trade-off. My experience was similar to the same topics Cyberpunk 2077 and Forza Horizon 6in both games, depending on the in-game graphics settings, a frame rate increase of around 20-30 fps is recommended on the Claw 8 EX AI+.
In comparison, the ROG Xbox Ally X averaged 30-35fps in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag resync, which rose to around 40fps when plugged in and running in 35W turbo mode. In the case of the MSI Claw 8 EX AI, I had XeSS 3 enabled and played with the ROG Xbox Ally X with FSR enabled.
As for the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, I didn’t get much of a battery life boost from the power-saving Arc G3 Extreme chip. I probably got about 15-20 minutes more from the MSI Claw 8 EX AI than the ROG Xbox Ally X, but not much more. Of course, this all depends on the power settings I’m running on the devices I’m holding and what games I’m playing, so your experience may be different.
If you’re looking for MSI’s Claw 8 EX AI+ benchmarks, check out XDA contributor Joe Rhys-Jones’ detailed analysis of the Arc G3 Extreme.
The MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is as comfortable to hold as the ROG Xbox Ally X.
What’s up with that weird looking chin?
One of my favorite things about the Xbox Ally X is how comfortable it is to use during long gaming sessions, thanks to its Xbox controller-like hands and solid-feeling buttons and triggers. Of course, it is far from perfect. I still think the arms are a little too thick and they’re too smooth for my taste (I use A great Killswitch case from dbrand to hold onto a holder).
While the MSI Claw EX AI+ has its issues, including its large 8-inch display, its odd chin that protrudes beyond its shell, its concave arms are grippy, and its buttons are snappy and snappy. Even the triggers and bumpers feel tighter than I expected. It’s a very comfortable Windows 11 portable and a step up from other MSI flagships I’ve used in the past. I still like the overall design and ergonomics feel of the ROG Xbox Ally X, but the MSI Claw EX AI+ matches Asus’s handheld.
As a side note, the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+’s 8-inch display looks great compared to the ROG Xbox Ally X’s 7-inch screen and its large bezels. I didn’t think just one inch would make that much of a difference, but I should have known how much I liked the Switch 2’s larger 7.9-inch screen compared to the Xbox Ally X. However, it is quite amazing that it goes beyond the shell of a mobile phone. It seems that MSI didn’t want to redesign the entire laptop, so it lengthened the case by an inch.
In comparison, the Xbox Ally X’s display looks small and dated. Asus seems to feel the same way, as the upcoming ROG Ally Xbox X20 mid-cycle refresh will feature a larger 7.4-inch OLED screen. It will be interesting to see how OLED screen technology affects the battery life of Asus’ upcoming portable device.
The biggest problem with the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is its high price
It’s also not as polished as the ROG Xbox Ally X
The biggest problem with the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ is that it costs $1,800, and the RAMpocalypse claims yet another victim. On the other hand, the ROG Xbox Ally X is still priced at $1,000. How long will this last as the cost of every tech device skyrockets? We don’t know, but for now that $800 price difference is huge, and as much as I like the Claw 8 EX AI+, I don’t think its performance is worth the higher price.
Additionally, the overall experience of the Claw 8 EX AI+ isn’t as polished as the ROG Xbox Ally X — and that’s saying a lot, since Asus’s portable is already pretty flawed (all Windows 11 portables still are, to be fair). The MSI Center M overlay is buggy and often fails to open or crashes games. I also had trouble switching between Xbox mode and the Windows desktop, with some games crashing or closing completely. In some cases, I couldn’t wake the phone from sleep mode, forcing me to restart it.
I have no doubt that at least some of these issues will be addressed in future updates, but I was hoping that MSI had learned from the Xbox Ally X’s early software experience, especially now that the company has released several Claw devices. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
MSI’s latest handheld feels next-gen, but the price and software hold it back
I spent my time with the awesome MSI Claw 8 EX AI+. Thanks to the Intel Arc G3, this truly feels like the first Windows 11 handheld next-gen experience — whichever way you look at it, the performance gains are definitely impressive, and I’m glad to see so many portable devices with the chip. However, some weird design decisions, buggy software, and a very high price keep it from being a Windows 11 handheld I’d recommend to friends and family.
Hopefully in the future these changes and MSI can offer a much more polished experience, but until then, the ROG Xbox Ally X remains the better package, especially considering its price. However, I’m happy to see another Windows 11 handheld challenge the ROG Xbox Ally X crown.
- Dimensions
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290.8×121.5×50.7mm
- Weight
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715 g
- Chipset
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AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme CPU 8c/16T Zen 5 Up to 5 GHz – RDNA 3.5 16CU Up to 2.9 GHz – Up to 50 TOPS NPU
- RAM
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24 GB LPDDR5X-8000
- Dimensions
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296 x 130 x 25-48 mm
- Weight
-
785 g
- Chipset
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Intel Arc G3 Extreme
- RAM
-
32 GB LPDDR5x
