Introduction

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ had a rocky start, but after a series of updates that squashed bugs and introduced new features, it evolved into one of the best handheld PCs on the market. About a year and a half later, Intel and MSI are bringing its successor, dubbed the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, to market. Note that for the remainder of this review, we'll refer to it simply as the Claw 8 EX and its predecessor as the Claw 8.



The device is powered by the Intel G3 Extreme, a handheld-focused Panther Lake SoC consisting of a CPU with two Cougar Cove P-cores, four Darkmont LP E-cores, and eight Darkmont E-cores, alongside the Arc B390 GPU featuring 12 Xe cores based on the Xe3 architecture. The device also comes with 32 GB of LPDDR5X-8533 memory and a 1 TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. The G3 family consists of the G3 Extreme and the regular G3. Compared to the Extreme version, the regular G3 features two fewer Xe cores, 100 MHz lower P-core, E-core, and GPU clock speeds, and a maximum TDP of 30 W instead of the 35 W available on the G3 Extreme.

The G3 family also includes an NPU, making these chips technically Copilot+ PCs and compatible with Microsoft's Auto SR (Automatic Super Resolution) upscaler. Other notable specs include an 8-inch 120 Hz display with VRR support, an 80 Wh battery, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a pair of 2 W speakers with Dolby Atmos support, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6, Hall effect thumbsticks and triggers, improved rumble motors, a 2280 M.2 SSD slot for easy upgrades, a microSD Express card slot, and much-improved ergonomics.

Before we continue with our review, we'd like to thank Intel for providing the review sample.

Packaging and Contents

This time we received a review kit from Intel, so the packaging doesn't reflect what buyers will get when purchasing the MSI Claw 8 EX, so keep that in mind.
The cardboard box housing the Claw 8 EX, and the other parts of the review kit are thick and provide plenty of protection for its contents.


Once you open it, you're greeted by a thick cardboard insert featuring some Intel G3 and G3 Extreme promotional text. It also serves as another layer of protection for the contents.


Lifting it, we found the MSI Claw 8 EX handheld itself, an OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock, a pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds4 wireless earbuds, a charger, a power cable for the dock, and some documentation.

A Closer Look

From the front, the MSI Claw 8 EX slightly resembles the ROG Xbox Ally X due to its bottom chin and wide grips. The handheld features the usual collection of buttons and thumbsticks, along with the MSI Center M and Quick Settings buttons located below the Start and Select buttons, as well as a d-pad. There are also two wide speaker grilles and the signature Intel Arc G3 Extreme sticker.


The back of the device hosts two programmable buttons positioned right next to the grips for easy access, two massive air intake grilles, and a few stickers. There are six Phillips-head screws in total securing the back panel to the rest of the chassis.


Up top, you've got two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a power button that also acts as a fingerprint scanner, a combo audio jack, a microSD Express card slot, a volume rocker, and a tiny notification LED. There are six air vents in total, four of which expose heatsink fins that are very hard to touch inadvertently. Be careful, though, because they can get quite hot at higher power levels (we had to touch them, for science).


The bottom of the device is completely bare.

AC Adapter

Note that this isn't the adapter you'll get in the retail box. The one included in the retail package should be the same 65 W brick bundled with the Claw 8. You can check out our Claw 8 review to see what it looks like.


The charger included in the review kit is also a 65 W brick, but its power cord is detachable. The USB-C cable that plugs into the handheld is non-removable and quite long. Together, the two cables measure more than 3 meters in length, which is awesome, but only for us because the regular charger should be only about 175 cm long in total, which is still pretty good.