We think it’s safe to say that Valve’s Steam Deck is the most popular PC handheld on the market right now. While many others have come to try and replicate its success, the Deck seems to remain on top of the pack. Regardless, while Valve is waiting for a ‘generational leap‘ before it commits to a sequel, other manufacturers are keen on reiterating.
Earlier this year we saw the launch of the MSI Claw, the first gaming PC handheld to utilize an Intel Core processor rather than one of AMD’s Ryzen chips. In the end, this didn’t go down too well and the value for money faltered versus the competition. However, it looks like MSI is ready to announce its much-needed follow-up – the MSI Claw 8 AI+ with Intel Lunar Lake.
MSI Claw 8 AI+ is expected to be announced at CES 2025
As seen in the CES Innovation Awards for 2025, the Claw 8 AI+ has already been mentioned as an honoree and will likely take part in the event. Billed “the world’s first and only handheld to feature Intel’s new ‘Lunar Lake’ CPU with 2nd Gen ARC graphics,” the new revised Claw features a larger 8″ screen and 48TOPS of compute power on Windows 11.
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Intel claims the Lunar Lake processors offer the best battery life on x86 and that sounds like the perfect fit for a handheld device. The advertised 82WHr battery is a little bigger than the ROG Ally X and over double that of the Steam Deck LCD (40Whr); the OLED has a larger 50Whr battery. Valve still has the benefit of SteamOS though which is less power-hungry than Windows and less intensive hardware.
CES 2025 will be kicking off on January 7th, 2025, and will run until the 10th. As usual, it’s taking place in Las Vegas and will see the launch of tons of new hardware. So far, we’re already expecting new graphics cards from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel – the RTX 50 series, RX 8000 series, and Intel Battlemage respectively.
Back on topic with the MSI Claw 8 AI+, this handheld will harness Intel’s new Lunar Lake processing power. This generation was released back in September 2024 and is designed for low-power mobile devices. The system-on-a-chip design will also make use of Arc graphics, though it is not yet clear which CPU the Claw 8 AI+ will use in particular.
| Specification | MSI Claw 8 AI+ |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) |
| Screen Size | 8-inch |
| Resolution | FHD+ (1920 x 1200) |
| Refresh rate | 120Hz VRR |
| Battery | 82Whr; “4+ hours of gameplay for AAA titles” |
| RAM | 16GB or 32GB LPDDR5X |
| USB Connectivity | 2x Thunderbolt 4 |
| Storage | M.2 2280 |
Aside from the new MSI Claw, we’re yet to see wide availability for the Zotac Zone, a handheld that boasts an OLED display and dual-trackpad design, making it much more similar to the Steam Deck OLED. Although some people have been scratching their heads regarding where to actually buy one, an official Zotac representative says it’s coming soon. We’ve at least seen it available for pre-order due on November 19th at UK retailer Scan.
There’s also the Acer Nitro Blaze 7, which we got a hands-on showcase of at IFA in Berlin, back in September. This device is yet to be released and we now expect to see it sometime in early 2025 as well, though we couldn’t find any reference to it on the CES website.
