With the Claw A8, MSI presents one of the first handheld console systems based on the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme, which promises top-notch gaming performance. The device offers powerful features, a bright display with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, and an 80 Wh battery.
At Computex 2025, MSI announced a new portable game console based on the already available MSI Claw 8 AI+, with one significant difference: MSI is switching from Intel Lunar Lake to AMD Ryzen. The AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme powers it, and AMD explicitly designed the chip for gaming handhelds.
With eight processor cores based on the Zen 5 architecture, which achieve boost clock speeds of up to 5.0 GHz, and the integrated AMD Radeon 890M iGPU with 16 compute units based on RDNA 3+, the MSI Claw A8 should be one of the most powerful gaming handhelds on the market. The AMD Radeon 890M iGPU’s performance is sufficient to display games like God of War Ragnarok smoothly, Black Myth:Wukong, and Ghost of Tsushima at 1080p resolution with low to medium details.
MSI combines the Ryzen chip with 24 GB of LPDDR5X 8,000 RAM. The rest of the specs remain the same. Like the Claw 8 AI+, the Claw A8 features an 8-inch display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, a 1,920 x 1,200 pixel resolution, and 500 nits of brightness. It also has a massive 80 Wh battery and two USB-C ports that support USB 4—the 765-gram handheld supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
MSI Claw A8 Price and Release Date
MSI has yet to confirm when or at what price the Claw A8 will launch. However, the device is expected to be similarly priced to the Intel Lunar Lake-based MSI Claw 8 AI+ (approx. $1,199 on Amazon).
Can a handheld gaming device run demanding games without falling flat? The MSI Claw aims to prove it can. With solid performance, a sharp screen, and enough battery to keep you in the game longer than expected, it’s not just another gimmick. But it’s not perfect either. Want to see where it hits and where it misses? Check out the full review.
