MSI handheld leaked
MSI to compete with ASUS and Lenovo with a brand-new handheld.
MSI CLAW, Source: @wnxod
Less than 24 hours since MSI’s first teaser on social media and we now have a picture, name, and full specs of the upcoming device. This gaming handheld is called CLAW, and it will be powered by Intel Meteor Lake processor.
MSI is relying on Core Ultra 7 155H SKU for Claw, which is indeed a high spec processor with a total of 16 cores and 22 threads, a double of what Ryzen Z1 Extreme offers. However, Intel hardware features a hybrid of P-Cores and E-cores, which has not yet been a popular choice among handheld makers, mainly due to limited graphics performance that came with such architecture. However, things have changed with the introduction of Intel Core Ultra 100H series.
MSI CLAW, Source: MSI China
The system will feature 6 P-Cores and 8 E-cores, with 2 LP-Cores. The built-in graphics will rely on Arc Alchemist architecture with 8 Xe-Cores boosting up to 2.25 GHz. Officially, the Core Ultra 7 155H is a 28W processor with Max Turbo Power of 115W. Early tests indicate that the Arc Xe-LPG graphics demonstrate a competitive edge against the AMD integrated RDNA3, as featured in the Ryzen 7040 and 8040 series. This competition will be interesting and motivate Intel to improve their drivers.
MSI CLAW Specs, Source: Geekbench
The leaked specs also confirm that the system will feature up to 32 GB of memory. This is twice as much as Legion go and ROG Ally without any mods. However, it is possible that MSI will offer various configurations of the same device because not everyone needs that much of memory.
MSI gaming handheld, Source: MSI
The new handheld will be officially presented at CES 2024 next week, but the leaked teaser spoils the surprise for MSI fans for sure. It looks like it was part of the MSI China marketing materials that were shared prematurely, so if anyone is to blame, it’s MSI.
| Handheld Gaming Consoles | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VideoCardz | MSI Claw | Lenovo Legion Go | ASUS ROG Ally | Valve Steam Deck |
| Picture |  |  |  |  |
| Architecture | Intel Redwood Cove, Crestmont, Xe-LPG | AMD Zen4 & RDNA3 | AMD Zen4 & RDNA3 | AMD Zen2 & RDNA2 |
| APU | Intel Core 7 Ultra 155H 16C/22T up to 4.8 GHz | Ryzen Z1 Extreme 8C/16T up to 5.1 GHz or Ryzen Z1 6C/12T up to 4.9 GHz | Ryzen Z1 Extreme 8C/16T up to 5.1 GHz or Ryzen Z1 6C/12T up to 4.9 GHz | AMD Van Gogh 4C/8T up to 3.5 GHz |
| SoC GPU | Arc Graphics 8 Xe-Cores @ 2.25 GHz | AMD iGPU 12CU @ 2.7 GHz (Z1E) 4CU @ 2.5 GHz (Z1) | AMD iGPU 12CU @ 2.7 GHz [1] 4CU @ 2.5 GHz [2] | AMD iGPU 8CU @ 1.6 GHz |
| SoC TDP | 28W | 9-30W | 9-30W | 4-15W |
| External GPU | TBC | USB4 | ROG XG Mobile (up to RTX 4090) | Not officially |
| Memory Capacity | 32GB LPDDR5X-? | 16GB LPDDR5X-7500 | 16GB LPDDR5-6400 | 16GB LPDDR5-5500 |
| Storage Capacity | TBC | 1TB/512GB | 512GB[1]/256GB[2] | 256GB/512GB SSD 64GB eMMC |
| Storage Type | TBC | M.2 NVMe 2242 SSD PCIe 4×4 | M.2 NVMe 2230 SSD PCIe 4×4 | M.2 NVMe 2230 SSD PCIe 3×4 eMMC PCIe Gen2x1 |
| Display | TBC | 8.8″ 2560×1600 IPS, 144Hz, 500 nits | 7″ 1920×1080, 120Hz, 500 nits, 7ms | 7″ 1280×800, 60Hz |
| Connectivity | TBC | Wi-Fi 6E, BT 5.2 | Wi-Fi 6E, BT 5.2 | Wi-Fi 5, BT 5 |
| Battery | TBC | 49.2 Wh, 900 mAh (controllers) | 40 Wh, 4S1P, 4-cell Li-ion | 40 Wh |
| Weight | TBC | 854g / 1.87 lbs | 608g / 1.34 lbs | 669g / 1.47 lbs |
| Dimensions (LxWxH) | TBC | 29.9 x 13.1 x 4.1 cm 11.8 x 5.2 x 1.6 in | 28.0 x 11.3 x 3.9 cm 11.0 x 4.5 x 1.5 in | 29.8 x 11.7 x 4.9 cm 11.7 x 4.6 x 1.9 in |
| Default OS | TBC | Windows 11 | Windows 11 | Steam OS/Win 11 |
| Retail Price | TBC | ?(Z1+16G+256GB) $699/€799(Z1E+16G+512GB) $749/€799(Z1E+16G+1TB) | $599/€699 (Z1+16G+256GB) $699/€799 (Z1E+16G+512GB) | $399/€419 (16G+64GB) $529/€549 (16G+256GB) $649/€679 (16G+512GB) |
| Release Date | Q1 2024? | October 31, 2023 | June 2023 [1] September 2023 [2] | February 2022 |
Source: Geekbench via Olrak29, @wnxod
