The handheld domain saw a host of new competitors enter the fray last year, with companies like Lenovo and Asus launching their own versions of the ultimate gaming-on-the-go device, but 2023 was not the end.
Announced at CES 2024, MSI has informed us that they plan to enter said domain early this year with their own device called the MSI Claw.
Before this morning, we only had a teaser posted on their social media accounts and an accidentally posted campaign image to go off of, but now we have the full specifications.
Looking quite similar to the Asus ROG Ally and matching its display, the MSI Claw will sport a 7-inch FHD Display wrapped in an all-black shell, with hall-effect joysticks and what look to be clear ABXY buttons that change colour alongside the RGB effects beneath the joysticks.
The unit will weigh in at 675g, around 70g heavier than the Asus ROG Ally but almost 200g lighter than the Lenovo Legion GO, and promises extended battery life, thanks to its advanced cooling technology and 53 WHr battery.
While some previous rumours suggested the MSI Claw might come with 32GB of RAM, it’s now confirmed that the standard 16GB that most handheld gaming devices have will be installed inside the unit. The main difference between the Claw and its competitors, though, will be its CPU.
Besides Ayaneo devices, the Steamdeck, Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion GO have all run on AMD chips. The MSI Claw will run on Intels Meteor Lake Processors, which use similar technology to their range of ARC Graphics Cards, meaning the MSI Claw should be able to handle portable gaming quite well.
Different models will be available with different SSD capacities, similar to how most other handhelds have been sold, and the starting price for the MSI Claw is said to be $699, exactly the same as the Asus ROG Ally, so if we do see it in our market place, it should be around the R13,000 mark.
When we finally manage to get our dirty little claws on one of these, we’ll be sure to let you know if being the last to the party has proved to be useful or not.