MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ Gaming Handheld Review – Intel Disrupts The Handheld Segment With Arc G3

PC gaming handhelds have become a vibrant segment that is seeing continued innovations thanks to modern-day CPUs' ability to deliver outstanding performance and efficiency. All major hardware manufacturers are into the handheld craze. Compared to the first iteration of handhelds, these newest devices offer a lot of gaming performance backed up by unique designs and shapes/sizes that cater to all kinds of gamers.

Now, Intel is going all-in on the gaming handheld segment, not just rebranding a chip made for power-efficient laptops, but introducing a purpose-built handheld SoC called the Arc G series. The first of these SoCs is called the Arc G3 series, and this is essentially the same architecture as Panther Lake but with a lot of optimizations for handheld designs. The company promises more ecosystem partnerships, & there are the following highlights to expect from these chips:

• Extended playtime with Endurance Gaming
• PC-Class performance and flexibility
• Smooth, immersive gameplay with XeSS 3
• Seamless gaming experiences on the go

Intel's Arc G3 handheld SoCs include two chips, the Arc G3 Extreme and the Arc G3. So let's dive into the specifications of these products.

For today's review, we were sent an MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, equipped with the top-end Arc G3 Extreme chip. This is a really fast handheld, offering much better capabilities than the competition, such as up to twice the performance at the same power and half the power at the same performance. It also packs Intel's latest architectures, optimized and tuned specifically for handheld gaming. We did a deep dive on each specific feature here, so in this review, we will be taking a look at performance, features, design, and the value of the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+.

MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ Gaming Handheld - Specifications At A Glance

In terms of specifications, the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ gaming handheld is equipped with the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip. This is the flagship processor within the Arc G3 lineup, and it has a lot to talk about, so let's get started.

The Intel Arc G3 Extreme features 14 cores in total with 14 threads. The cores are a mix of 2 P-Cores based on the Panther Cove architecture, and 12 E-Cores (8 E + 4 LPE), which are based on the Darkmont core architecture. The CPU has a base frequency of 1.9 GHz for performance and 1.5 GHz for the E-Cores. The boost clocks are rated at 4.7 GHz for the P-Cores, 3.4 GHz for the E-Cores, and 3.1 GHz for the LP-E cores. The chip features a total of 12 MB L3 and 18 MB of L2 cache and has a TDP rating of 8-35 Watts, though the handheld we tested today maxes out at 35W (PL1).

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For the iGPU, Intel is using an upgraded version of its Battlemage architecture known as Xe3. The Intel Arc G3 Extreme is configured with the full Arc B390 GPU, which offers 12 Xe cores that clock up to 2.30 GHz and feature a maximum TOPS (INT8) rating of up to 113. The iGPU supports all the latest APIs and AI Frameworks, including newer Ray Tracing Units and even support for XeSS MFG, which is far better than the DP4a model on the older Alchemist-based iGPUs.

On the NPU side, the Intel Arc G3 Extreme is equipped with an updated NPU5, which offers a peak TOPS (INT8) of 46 and supports all the latest AI frameworks such as OpenVINO, WindowsML, DirectML, ONNX RT & WebNN.

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With the internals of the chip covered, let's talk about the rest of the specifications. First, we have the memory, which comes in the form of 32 GB of LPDDR5X. These are 64-bit DRAM modules that are rated at 8533 MT/s speeds, and this is soldered memory, so you'd better keep in mind the configuration you are purchasing based on your demands.

Storage includes a 1 TB PCIe Gen4x4 SSD, which is rated at up to 7.4 GB/s. The handheld is equipped with a single M.2 2280 SSD slot, which can support higher capacities. There's also a MicroSD Express card reader that offers 600-800 MB/s read speeds.

For display, you are getting an 8" IPS-Level screen with a maximum resolution of 1920x1200 and a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz configured on this gaming handheld. The screen delivers a max brightness of 500 nits and is 138% SRGB color space rated with a 16:10 aspect ratio. Audio comes in the form of two 2W front-facing speakers.

IO includes a 1x SD Card Reader,  2 Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, Volume buttons, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a power button with integrated fingerprint scanner. On the front, you get two Hall Effect Analog sticks, a D-Pad, four buttons to access Quick Settings, Menu, MSI Center, and View & ABXY buttons. The rear has two Macro buttons, two nicely placed bumpers, and Hall Effect Analog triggers.

The surface of the controller offers good grip, and the buttons/triggers are very easy to access. The display does extend out of the chassis at the bottom, but it's not that distracting. The purple color of the handheld blends in nicely with the matte black textures on the back.

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Wireless connectivity includes Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 functionality. The handheld is equipped with an 80Whr and comes with a 65W Type-C adapter to juice it up. For cooling, MSI uses its new Hyperflow technology, which includes two cooling fans and dual heatpipes, effectively increasing the maximum TDP by 5W. The higher airflow is vented out through the back vents and two large vents on the back of the chassis.

The review unit was shipped with a brand new OWC Thunderbolt GO Dock with a lot of nifty features such as an SD card reader, USB 3.2 Type-C port, USB 2.0 port, Audio jack, dual TB5.0 ports, HDMI, Ethernet jack, and dual USB 3.2 10 Gbps Type-A ports.

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The handheld comes integrated with Xbox Mode, which makes for a seamless handheld/console experience.

It was a bit difficult to switch between Windows and Xbox mode at first since the MSI Center M app was not responsive, but it turns out that the stock-installed version needed an update.

Also, the MSI Center application includes the ability to adjust the TDP manually, set the console to Endurance mode for longer battery life, or just let AI do the job with the "AI Engine" mode. The maximum PL1 TDP can be adjusted between 8-35W, while PL2 can be set between 10-45W. Intel and MSI recommend keeping the PL2 at 2W higher than PL1 for the best performance.

MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ Gaming Handheld - CPU Performance

We start by comparing the 3DMark CPU Profile tests. The Arc G3 Extreme is similar to the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 at the same power, which is impressive since it packs just two P-Cores while the HX uses 4 full-fledged Zen 5 cores, while the remaining 8 are based on Zen 5C.

Next up are the memory and cache benchmarks, which are decent but nothing groundbreaking, as the higher-end Panther Lake chips that stack 9600 MT/s speeds. The speeds offered by the Arc G3 Extreme are good enough for its handheld design.

For Blender, the Arc G3 Extreme falls behind the Ryzen AI 9 365, which shows that its E-Cores aren't as great for rendering tasks but still offer better performance than Lunar Lake.

In CPU-Z, the Arc G3 Extreme offered better performance than the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 in multi-core tests but fell behind in single-core tests.

In Cinebench, we see the complete opposite, with the G3 Extreme winning in single-core and dropping a few points behind the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.

In Geekbench 6, the Arc G3 Extreme offers much better single-core and multi-core performance than the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.

In Procyon Office, the Arc G3 shows that it is a very capable chip for light-weight office tasks if you want to use the platform for applications besides gaming.

WinRAR's compression tests see the Arc G3 trailing behind the OneXPlayer X1 Pro's 370 chip.

MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ Gaming Handheld - GPU Synthetic Performance

Now we are going to look at the GPU performance, and before we present to you the gaming numbers, we first have to see how the performance fares in synthetic benchmarks. For this purpose, we first want to outline the synthetic performance.

In 3DMark Speed Way, a purely raytracing benchmark, the Arc G3 Extreme is 65.7% faster than AMD's current fastest handheld iGPU.

For 3DMark Steel Nomad, the Arc G3 Extreme posts a massive 2.36x advantage over the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370-based OneXplayer X1 Pro.

In 3DMark Port Royal, we once again see over 2x uplift over the 890M.

In 3DMark Time Spy, the G3 Extreme is 85% faster than the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.

For Fire Strike, the Arc B390 iGPU on the G3 Extreme is 57.8% faster than the Radeon 890M iGPU on the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.

Lastly, we have 3DMark Night Raid, where the iGPU was a reasonable 25% faster than its main competitor.

ASUS Zenbook A14 Laptop - HD Gaming Performance

With the synthetic performance out of the way, we can start taking a look at pure gaming numbers, and we start off our testing spree with Cyberpunk 2077 running at the Medium Preset at 1200P. We used FSR 3.1 upscaling and Frame-Gen, and the performance was decent enough to get us in the 50-80 FPS range.

F1 24 with the High Preset at Balanced upscaling nets us 88 FPS without frame-gen and 141 FPS with frame-gen. That's a 45%+ lead over the 890M.

In Forza Horizon 6, using the High Preset with Balanced upscaling, we get a 60+ FPS experience, which is much faster than the 30-40 FPS range that previous handhelds were capable of.

In Forza Horizon 5, we ran the game using Quality Upscaling at the Medium Preset at 1200P, and the Arc G3 Extreme delivered 89 FPS on average. The experience wasn't the smoothest, and we did experience many artifacts and stutters.

In Horizon Zero Dawn at the "Favor Quality" preset, we used the FSR 2 upscaling set to Balanced. Here, the Arc G3 Extreme scored 61 FPS on average.

The Radeon 8060S and the Arc B390 are the only integrated SoC solutions that can deliver a 60 FPS range in Metro Exodus with RT enabled. The Arc G3, being a lower 30W part, delivered 43.70 FPS on average, which was still 87% faster than the Radeon 890M. Even at half the TDP of 15W, the G3 Extreme managed to offer 13.8% faster performance.

Lastly, we have The Callisto Protocol, where the Arc G3 Extreme ended up 40% faster than the 890M and was almost similar at a 10W lower TDP.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a Laptop - Thermals, Power & Battery

A major factor of today's handhelds is their power consumption, and in that regard, the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ came with a standard 30W mode that could be adjusted up to 35W and down to 8W. In certain cases, the TDP exceeded the threshold as short bursts were experienced in synthetic apps, but games mostly stood by the TDP set by us.

In terms of temperatures, the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ did get a little bit toasty when running synthetic benchmarks. In gaming, the temps were stable in the mid 70s range, which is decent given the compact nature of this handheld. MSI packs in a dual-fan thermal solution, which can be fine-tuned for better cooling and, in some cases, higher performance.

The Claw comes with an 80Whr battery.

Conclusion - Intel Becomes The Handheld Champion

Intel's journey into the handheld segment started with Meteor Lake, Lunar Lake refined it, and Panther Lake (Arc G3 Extreme) perfected it. The performance that the Arc G3 platform has on offer is surprising, often highlighting why continued dedication to a segment can yield amazing results. We wish the same for the Arc discrete series products, but let's talk about the Arc G3 a bit more to tell you why I consider it to be a great product.

Handheld Performance & Efficiency King

Intel Panther Lake already surprised us with its strong performance and efficiency. The Arc G3 takes that up a notch with a design that is tailor-made for handhelds. Intel has dropped a large number of P-Cores, keeping just two for tasks where they matter, and the E-Cores do the rest of the heavy lifting. This few P-Core and more E-Core combination is what makes the handheld achieve its superb power efficiency. Keeping just two P-Cores also helps ensure the chip can reach its max clock by diverting power to just two performance cores rather than 4, 6, or 8. The P-Cores can also completely shut down in lightweight tasks or when running the handheld at sub-15W, perfect for lightweight gaming.

Talking about gaming, the Arc Xe3 "Battlemage" iGPU is impressive as ever. We were shocked to see its capabilities when we first tested it earlier this year, and we are once again delighted to see it retaining its lead over the competition even in handheld and lower-TDP form factors.

Plus, the iGPU is backed by the most advanced feature set that Intel has offered to date. It has faster ray tracing cores, it has better AI cores, it has superb image quality with XeSS 3, and it even supports MFG. Intel is by far the only vendor that offers Multi-frame-generation across more than 1 generation of GPUs and iGPUs, and Battlemage's Xe3 uplift is by far the best iteration of the blue team's ML-powered upscaling ventures. Software support for the Arc B390 iGPU is also good right from the start, and we can only expect it to get better with fine-tuned performance and power profiles across various titles as more platforms hit the road.

The result is almost doubling the performance at the same power, and similar performance levels, if not higher, at half the TDP.

MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ (Arc G3 Extreme) vs OneXPlayer X1 Pro (Radeon 890M) Performance Comparison:

Game & Settings	MSI Claw @30W	MSI Claw @20W	MSI Claw @15W	OneXPlayer X1 Pro @30W
Cyberpunk 2077	81.85 FPS	59.94 FPS	45.62 FPS	46.75 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077	119.36 FPS	81.41 FPS	71.87 FPS	76.30 FPS
F1 24 1200p	88 FPS	68 FPS	54 FPS	59 FPS
F1 24 1200p	141 FPS	100 FPS	79 FPS	96 FPS
Forza Horizon 6	66 FPS	49 FPS	37 FPS	43 FPS
Forza Horizon 5	89 FPS	75 FPS	57 FPS	71 FPS
Horizon Zero Dawn	61 FPS	48 FPS	37 FPS	58 FPS
Metro Exodus	43.70 FPS	33.14 FPS	26.55 FPS	23.33 FPS
Callisto Protocol	62.7 FPS	44.4 FPS	36.6 FPS	44.92 FPS

Key Takeaways

• At 30W: The MSI Claw consistently outperforms the OneXPlayer X1 Pro by a significant margin (often 40–87% faster depending on the title).
• At 20W: The Claw remains competitive or ahead in most games, roughly matching or slightly beating the 890M@30W in several titles.
• At 15W: The Claw drops but still delivers playable performance and remains close to or ahead of the 890M@30W in lighter titles.
• The Claw shows strong efficiency, maintaining good performance even when power-limited.

Endurance Mode Goes Crazy, But G3 Offers Great Battery Times Even Without It

In terms of battery life, you can get a decent 4-5 hours of gaming time out of the handheld with the 80Whr pack within the MSI Claw. At 15W, you can go a bit beyond that with up to 6-6.5 hours, which is a very decent amount of time, should last you a one-way flight. Even better, the power delivery from the USB slot is super quick, and you can get from 0-80% in just 20-30 mins.

The fans do spin a bit loudly when using the device for a prolonged period in games, but it wasn't that intrusive. Plus, you get temperatures that sit at around 75C, often under 70C, but the grips don't heat up as they are away from the heat dissipation vents on the handheld. You'll only feel the heat if you touch the back or the top side, and since this isn't a laptop, you won't worry much about that.

MSI Claw 8 Gets A Design Revamp, Better Display & Improved IO

I think we have talked a lot about the main aspects of the Arc G3 Extreme, and now we need to focus a bit on the handheld itself. Intel currently has three options based on the Arc G3 Extreme out in the market, and MSI's Claw 8 EX AI+ is one of them.

Compared to the previous Claw, the new one is more eye-catching with its purplish-pink color scheme, grippy handles, hall effect keys, and lots of ports. You are getting everything latest out of the box, such as Thunderbolt 4, a MicroSD Express Card Reader, an internal M.2 Gen4 slot, 2x2W speakers, which are front-facing and pack a punch given their size, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6.0 support.

The most important design choice is the 8-inch IPS display. Sure, it's not an OLED and comes with a weird extended design on the front, but it's not noticeable when you're actually playing it. OLED, though, is something that I really want to see on this screen. 120Hz and 500 nits of brightness are decent. Given the premium $1699 price of this handheld, I wish it came with OLED as standard. A max resolution of 1920x1200 is good enough.

Arc G3 Changes The Handheld Game

When I heard that Intel's new handheld SoC would be called "Arc G3", I immediately knew the project was in safe hands. The Arc division has been on a roll, delivering superb updates in the form of hardware and software. And the Arc G3 series delivers absolutely mind-blowing hand-held capabilities that we didn't think were possible, especially by Intel. Arc G3 is a complete gaming package that puts the best of Arc and Core together in a form factor that is made truly for gamers on the go, and backed by an impressive set of features and technologies that are now the standard for all future handhelds to match.

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