After some leaks hit the internet a few days ago, MSI has confirmed it is developing a new portable handheld gaming PC. The MSI Claw will have a 7-inch, 120 Hz touchscreen, and definitely looks like it is going for the audience that has bought the Steam Deck, the Asus ROG Ally, and the Levovo Legion Go.
Unlike all of those portable gaming PCs, which have used AMD CPUs, the MSI Claw is using Intel"s new "Meteor Lake" Ultra Core chip, along with Intel Arc GPUs. Specically, the device will have "Up to Intel Core Ultra 7 processor 155H" inside. MSI"s press release states:
Intel"s revolutionary XeSS technology has transformed the gaming experience for enthusiasts worldwide and continues to do so with Claw. Leveraging advanced AI upscaling algorithms, XeSS significantly boosts FPS for exceptionally smooth and immersive gameplay, allowing gamers to enjoy AAA titles effortlessly on a portable handheld.
The MSI Claw will also have 16GB of RAM. The specs state that it will also use "NVMe M.2 2230 SSD by PCIe Gen 4 x4" for storage, but there"s no info on the amount of storage it will have on board. It will also have a microSD card slot for expanding storage.
MSI adds:
Using meticulously polished design details, from the curvature that fits the palm to finger grip positions and trigger force, results in Claw being ergonomically tailored for comfort and precision. It is designed to fit the natural contours of users’ grip, providing an intuitive gaming experience for hands of all sizes.
The MSI Claw will also have a 53Whr battery which it claims will last up to two hours with a full gaming workload. While the device will use Windows 11 as its OS, the company says it will have its MSI APP Player, which will allow the Claw to play both Windows and Android games.
Unfortunately, MSI is still not revealing the price point or the release date for the Claw at this stage. It"s likely there could be more than one model launched, each with different hardware specs for different prices.