MSI Claw release date rumors, price speculation, specs, and everything we know

The MSI Claw has now been officially unveiled. A release date, alongside European prices, has also been circulating, though they originate from a Spanish retailer and official confirmation from MSI is still being awaited.

If you’re looking to buy a new handheld PC and you can’t wait for MSI to catch up then we recommend checking out the best handheld games consoles. What’s more, we’re also comparing the Steam Deck OLED vs Lenovo Legion Go.

MSI Claw release date rumors

The MSI Claw has just been announced at the Las Vegas CES 2024 convention. MSI shared a teaser video on Twitter, prior to CES beginning, featuring close-up shots of what appeared to be their new handheld gaming device, with the tagline: “get a grip and stay tuned #MSIxCES2024”.

MSI did not explicitly mention the Claw as the product shown, nor do they actually say there would be any unveiling at CES, but as we all anticipated the Claw has been officially announced. That being said, we still don’t have a definitive date for when we will actually be able to get our hands on one, with IGN reporting the MSI Claw is anticipated to be released in the earlier half of 2024.

Now though, the MSI Claw is slated for a release date on April 1st, according to Spanish retailer PC Componentes, which claims that pre-orders will be shipped ‘between Monday, April 1st and Tuesday, April 2nd.’ We’ll update you as soon as we hear a concrete date announced by MSI, as we very well could see different official dates than that which PC Componentes have suggested.

MSI Claw price speculation

If the Spanish retail site’s early listing can be believed, then the 512GB variant will cost €879, and the 1TB variant will cost €929.

No official pricing has been revealed for the MSI Claw, however, based on what we know about the competition, we can make an educated guess. If we take the ASUS ROG Ally as a point of comparison, which features very similar specs to this upcoming handheld, that would position the Claw between the $599 and $699 range. However, where that Windows-based handheld was operating on AMD hardware, this one uses Intel Meteor Lake and Arc graphics, so there’s the potential it could be cheaper between the $499 and $599 range. Considering the ASUS ROG Ally is frequently discounted in 2024, this is a possibility.

MSI Claw specs

The MSI Claw has a 7-inch full HD touchscreen with a refresh rate of 120Hz, making it comparatively better than the Steam Deck OLED’s 800p display but worse than the Lenovo Legion Go 1600p panel, and an impressive 53WHr battery-life, which is 50% longer than the market average, meaning around two hours of uninterrupted gameplay, without needing to stop and charge. It also comes equipped with a 3.5mm mic-in/headphone-out combo jack and Bluetooth 5.4 compatibility, as listed on MSI’s specs sheet, in addition to the two 2W speakers. And if security is a priority for you, the MSI Claw comes with fingerprint access, so you can keep your handheld PC private and protected.  

Prior to the unveiling, some sources such as content creator CameronRitz mistakenly assumed the MSI Claw would ship with a whopping 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM, which is reported to be twice as much as the Claw’s rivals, Asus ROG Ally, Steam Deck, and Lenovo Legion Go. However, we now know that it’s rocking 16GB akin to its competition. Videocardz reported that the Core Ultra 7 155H that MSI was rumored to be using in the Claw is a high spec processor, which will use built-in graphics relying on Arc Alchemist architecture. Early tests of the Arc Xe-LPG proved an impressive competition to AMD’s integrated RDNA3 – the graphics system used in the Ryzen 7040 and 8040 series.  MSI itself says this processor can handle high powered games “ensuring a smooth and immersive gameplay experience even on AAA titles”.

MSI Claw final thoughts

As a company that manufactures gaming PCs, MSI has definitely made waves with its leap into handheld gaming consoles, and it appears as though the Claw could live up to the hype. Differing from other, popular handheld PCs on the market, with a powerful new Intel Core Ultra APU, Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 7 connectivity and an impeccably long battery life, the MSI Claw makes bold promises to compete on the emerging market for handheld gaming PCs. No there is nothing revolutionary about the Claw’s overall design, with the expected analog sticks and shoulder buttons, akin to what you’d find on most gaming controllers such as the Xbox X Series and PS5, the MSI Claw promises to run high quality games with ease and keeps your hands in a comfortable, familiar position while you play.

It’s an interesting position to be in for manufacturer, forgoing the tried and true approach of AMD hardware and instead investing entirely in an Intel CPU and integrated GPU combo. Provided the Arc drivers are up to snuff out of the gate, we could see more performance performance on this handheld than out of the Lenovo Legion Go and the ASUS ROG Ally as those handhelds rely on the Z1 Extreme APU which has its limits. This will all come down to what the Claw’s packing under the hood and whether this translates to a good battery life and overall user experience. VideoGamer went hands-on at CES 2024 and it certainly looks and feels the part, but we’ll only know its performance capabilities after extensive benchmarking and testing. We’ll keep you posted.

When could the MSI Claw be released?

MSI Claw was unveiled at CES 2024, anticipated to be released in the first half of 2024, though there is no specific date as of yet.

What CPU will the MSI Claw use?

It has been confirmed that the MSI Claw will use an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, unlike its main competitors in handheld gaming, the ASUS ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go which use an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme CPU.

How much could the MSI Claw cost?

It’s been speculated that the MSI Claw A1M could cost anywhere from $499 – $699 depending on the capacity.

Image Credit: MSI