The MSI Claw is a Mess: Gaming Handheld Can't Compete | Review & Benchmarks
510,117
Published 2024-04-14
The MSI Claw A1M is a mystery of a handheld gaming device: We can't figure out why they'd make it the way they did. Maybe there's Intel marketing fund involved, but either way, it's just not competitive at its $800 -- or even $700 -- price point against the competition. Compared to the ASUS ROG Ally Z1 Extreme, Z1 Non-Extreme, Lenovo Legion Go, and Steam Deck LCD & OLED, the Claw is hamstrung in either value or performance, and often both. This benchmark looks at some of the best handheld gaming PCs right now, and almost all of those feature AMD's Z1 Extreme or 7840U (or 8840U) variants, which are mostly the same parts. The MSI Claw stands apart for silicon variety with an Intel Ultra solution, like the 155H in ours, but it has to be good to be worth that variety.
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RELATED PRODUCTS [Affiliate Links]
MSI Claw A1M 155H on Best Buy: howl.me/cl2VC5bVwGQ
Lenovo Legion Go on Lenovo site: howl.me/clKICy2sNyQ
ASUS ROG Ally (Non-Extreme and Extreme) on Best Buy: howl.me/clKIJZoW5cS
JS Aux Transparent Steam Deck Shell on Amazon: geni.us/zsE1
RELATED PRODUCTS (not affiliate links)
Steam Deck OLED & LCD on Valve's store: store.steampowered.com/steamdeck/
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - MSI's Flawed Claw A1M
01:44 - Very Familiar to the ASUS ROG Ally Z1
03:19 - Pricing Comparison: Claw vs. Legion Go, Steam Deck, Ally
05:41 - Complete Mess of Software
09:53 - But it has "AI!"
10:49 - More Software Mess & BIOS
12:09 - Controls, Screen, & Ally Issues
13:26 - MSI Claw Hardware Comparison
15:19 - NEW Benchmark: Handheld Battery Life vs. FPS Comparison
17:57 - 2D Gaming Battery Life Comparison: Deck, Ally, Claw, Go
19:04 - Gaming Benchmark Methodology & Settings
20:01 - Resident Evil 4 Gaming Benchmarks
20:50 - Absolutely Terrible Frametime Pacing on MSI Claw A1M
21:29 - 1080p Resident Evil 4 Benchmarks
22:01 - Cyberpunk Benchmarks
24:06 - 1080p Cyberpunk Benchmarks
24:35 - F1 2023 Benchmarks (720p)
25:05 - RDR2 Benchmarks (720p & 1080p)
25:34 - Baldur's Gate 3 & Dying Light 2 Tests
26:11 - Charge Speed Benchmarks (Handheld Gaming PCs)
27:11 - Thermal Throttling Under CPU Load
28:47 - Conclusion: Best Handheld Gaming PCs
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Steve Burke: Host, Writing, Testing, Video Editing
Patrick Lathan: Testing, Writing
Vitalii Makhnovets: Camera
Tim Phetdara: Camera, Video Editing
All Comments (21)
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Maybe time to make a playlist for handheld reviews to make them easier to navigate. In the meantime, check out our other recent ones below! These benchmarks are a huge effort and we often buy the hardware tested and invest weeks of testing time to bring you independent reviews. Help support us by buying one of our PC component wireframe mouse mats! store.gamersnexus.net/products/gn-wireframe-mouse-… (or shirts, glassware, and PC build mats on the store!) Lenovo Legion Go review & in-depth testing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I37mxlDqLrk Steam Deck OLED review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egdV0NLoL-c
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"No, no need to delay and give us a golden sample; I'll buy one in Taiwan and use it personally on the 14 hour flight back" "Oh my god"
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TLDR - "There's no reason to settle for good enough when better is cheaper" - Steve, GamersNexus
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Store Clerk: Why would you buy one? Steve: My job is to become disappointed.
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Steve, I just want to commend you and give upmost respect. I've been following your work since way back when you released blog posts about RAM timings/frequency. And to this day, you are doing unbiased reviews and keeping your integrity, in an era where everyone else sold out. That doesn't have a price tag, it's priceless.
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I see MSI trying to claw back out of the grave that Steve put them in before.
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Having to buy a separate $80 dock and then recommend a 100w charger too to update the bios is WILD.
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I remember when the Steam Deck came out everyone was yelling and screaming how it would flop with its horrible battery life... then the competition came out, and all those same people don't seem to care about battery life any more.
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Valve: Does nothing, competition keeps shooting themselves in the foot. What's that called?
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Thanks, Steve
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I like the icons for showing how you acquired it. Love this channel!
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How the fuck did Valve do it?? Like every single handheld release is a steam Deck advertisement. Crazy.
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I'm so glad you guys have done all this handheld testing. I picked up both versions of the deck over time and I've really enjoyed them both.
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Now I don't wanna get my claws on it anymore. :(
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It shows Valve did some strange magic in creating the Steam Deck. The device isn't perfect, but the Deck is still ahead of the game.
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I must have missed it in a previous episode because nobody seems to be commenting about it, but Steve apparently speaks chineese well enough to have a conversation with the store clerk and that's kind of impressive.
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"We won't send you one." "Okay, then we'll buy one." "I was not expecting that."
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Thanks Steve, this video helped motivate me to sell my 256Gb LCD Steam Deck on FB marketplace so I can upgrade to the most expensive OLED Steam Deck for less than $400. When I consider how much use I got out of my OG Steam Deck + how good the condition was when I sold it (w/ case & original charging cable) I think you helped one person upgrade their handheld hobby for "cheap" & helped someone else get into the market for less with a high quality pre-owned handheld.
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Thanks for including the Z1 in these tests! It is much more relevant after the recent price cut at Best Buy.
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Thanks for all the great coverage of the handheld side.
