**First Impressions of the MSI Claw**

I was blown away by the first impressions of the MSI Claw, an Intel-powered handheld gaming device that surprisingly competes with AMD's offerings in the market. At first glance, I thought it was just another Intel device, but as I delved deeper, I realized that this system is on par with what the RG Ally does at a 25 to 30 WT profile. The device has two fans and two heat pipes, which suggests that it was built to handle more power draw, allowing for better cooling and performance.

**The Cooler Boost Option**

One feature that caught my attention was the cooler boost option in the menu. Cooler boost is a software feature commonly found in MSI laptops, but on this device, it's not entirely necessary, as I didn't need to use it during my testing. However, I couldn't help but wonder why MSI included this feature in the first place. When I activated the cooler boost button, the fans kicked in, and I was surprised by how loud it was. This made me question whether the Intel chip would unlock some kind of crazy performance mode when the fans are blaring.

**The Device's Quietness**

Despite my initial concern about the cooler boost feature, I was impressed by the device's quietness and cooling performance. The MSI Claw is a very cool and quiet system, even quieter than previous Intel handhelds that were notoriously poor in this regard. However, to make an informed comparison with AMD devices, I need to get my hands on a retail unit.

**Battery Life Comparison**

I was excited to see the battery life of the MSI Claw compared to its competitor, the RG Ally. The device boasts a 53W-hour battery, which is significantly larger than the 40W-hour battery in the RG Ally. According to MSI's claims, there's a 50% increase in battery life over the RG Ally at a 15-watt profile. My limited testing suggests that this claim may hold true, with about 50% more battery life on the MSI Claw.

**Screen Comparison**

The screens of both devices are identical, with the same 7-inch size and 120Hz refresh rate. However, the MSI Claw also features variable refresh rate capabilities, which is a nice bonus for gamers who value high frame rates. I was impressed by the screen quality, especially considering it's an LCD panel.

**Controls Comparison**

The controls of both devices are similar in terms of layout and functionality, but there's one notable difference: the back button. The RG Ally has a large back button that requires a specific way to press it, while the MSI Claw has a smaller button with multiple facets that can be triggered from different angles. This feature proved useful in games like Street Fighter 6, where quick access to back buttons is crucial.

**The Verdict**

Overall, I was impressed by the MSI Claw's performance, quietness, and battery life. While I need to get my hands on a retail unit to make an informed comparison with AMD devices, this pre-production unit has shown great promise. The inclusion of variable refresh rate capabilities, a larger battery, and a more compact design are all positives that set it apart from its competitors. As the gaming industry continues to evolve, it's exciting to see manufacturers like MSI pushing the boundaries of what's possible in handheld gaming devices.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enover the past year or so we've seen a lot of powerful handhelds come into the space right we saw the steam deck we saw the RG Ally and a bunch of cool devices from Boutique Brands like iono but all of these devices run AMD chips and with good reason because Intel's offering in this form factor is just it's not competitive but I always wondered what would Intel's response be turns out they've been working on something pretty cool this is it here so this is the MSI claw and this is the first handheld that uses the new Intel chip the new meteor Lake chips so at first glance the external hardware might look like just a black RG Ally but it's actually a pretty different kind of product so the first thing the handheld ergonomics of the MSI claw feel surprisingly different from the Ally like if you look at them just from the top view they don't look that different in terms of like the shape of them they both have that kind of angular bottom and they have like a similar kind of feel but this device is a lot flatter if you look at them kind of like their profile of them uh the black device the MSI claw that that hump like this over here it makes a very big difference when you're holding it so one of the things I've always not really complained about but noted about the Ali is despite the kind of flatness of the product and me liking how flat it is it does have a very flat grip to it and I've never love the ergonomics of this device uh compared to like the steam deck this has like a super bulbous hump the steam decks grip these have what I would consider like the most ergonomic feel of all the handhelds this is in between the MSI cloth feels like it's a mixture between like semi flat but having a nice hump on the back and I really like the way that this thing feels now it is smaller than say something like the steam deck this is a more compact system and also has a 7in screen just like the Ally it is a little bit heavier but this product overall is just in my mind a direct competitor to the r Ally it just has a completely different chip now I do want to mention just these buttons these light up I've never seen a handheld console where the abxy buttons light up it's running these lights underneath some smoked plastic so it's not like a super bright light but they do light up if that matters to you now the chip in here is an Intel Core Ultra 7 but I'm shooting this on pre-production Hardware so the exterior design of this product is pretty much finalized I imagine that it's so late in the game that they couldn't change too much at this point but in terms of the performance and the drivers and the internal stuff that can all be tweaked and adjusted before launch now in terms of power profiles there's three of them so at the very bottom you have the super battery mode that pulls 50 watts and then the balance mode pulls 30 and at the top end you want to go full blast Extreme Performance 45 Watts now there's a couple things to take away from this I guess the first thing is that at the top end if you want to this system can pull more juice than the RG Ally this thing caps out at 30 Watts this is 45 at the top end but at the bottom end the other takeaway is that the kind of if you're playing like really light titles like 2D indie games or you want emulation this system can the lowest it'll go is 15 watts where this can go like 9 or 10 watts so there's a there's a difference in kind of like the the where the power profile lies the performance testing I was allowed to do on it though was very limited and because of that I can't get a good gauge of how efficient this chip actually is my initial Impressions though is that this system is on par with what the RG Ally does at that 25 to 30 WT profile now if you open it up you can tell that this system was built to handle more power draw it has two fans and two heat pipes which is great because it allows you to cool the system very well but there was this one area that kind of concerned me in the menu I noticed there was a cooler boost option now cooler boost is the kind of software feature that a lot of MSI laptops have that just turn the fans on to Max is for like overclocking a lot of their devices but on this system when I hit this cooler boost button and the fans kick in that's loud like that's hella loud now I never had to turn this on and all my testing I was like why would you even need that option because it never gets hot enough to require it and it was never activated to the point where the cooler boost was just like actively running like that but I thought why would they even put this in here like does the Intel chip just unlock to some kind of crazy performance mode when you blast the fans on it I can't tell on this pre-production unit like this uh engineering sample doesn't seem to have a need for the cooler boost at all but maybe on the retail unit there is a purpose to it now in terms of the normal fan noise and normal kind of thermal characteristics it's a very cool and quiet system like way cooler and quieter than previous Intel handhelds those were all like comically poor this is really good um but again in terms of like an actual comparison between the this product in AMD I need a retail unit to come in now there's a bigger battery inside the MSI claw this is a 53w hour battery which is significantly larger than the one that's in the RG Ali this is a 40w hour battery I think just based on sheer size it's like like 30 maybe 35% bigger inside the MSI claw but MSI is claiming a 50% increase in battery life so I think it's possible based on my limited testing I think at the 15 watt profile you can get about 50% more battery life on the MSI claw versus the RG Ally but again I really need to get the retail units in to do some proper testing but it is interesting that that's the claim that they made a 50% uh bump in battery life over its competitor uh a couple things I want toose this video on the screens actually I'll bring this back in real quick I think they're the same screens between the two devices they're both 7 in they're both 120 HZ I think the claw also has variable refresh rate uh but I do think that they're awesome screens like the Ally had a great screen for an LCD panel if there's one screen you're going to bring it over I'm glad it's that one now the controls uh why do I keep removing this the controls between the two are very similar in terms of just like the layout and uh functionality but I would say the biggest difference is actually in the back button the Rog Ally has a large back button but the only way to really actuate this or the way that I think most people do it is by pressing this section of it this kind of like angled piece here so if you're ingame you would press it like so if you try to press it from the outside it doesn't really trigger same with the top or the bottom it's really you got to press it there or you don't press it at all on the MSI claw it's a smaller button I'll flip it around you can kind of see the size comparison the claw does have a smaller back button but this thing has a bunch of facets to it and I noticed that when you you can trigger it any way like you can press any one of those different facets and it would work so when you're in game you can trigger it from the top like being able to press down on it it's just like where your hand naturally rests you can trigger them like that and I just found that to be really useful in Street Fighter 6 just any game that uses back buttons where you want to use back buttons I like that usability but it's a minor detail thought I'd bring it up cuz I just noticed it when I was using it uh during this short testing period but there you have it that is the MSI claw I think this is such a neat product it came in a left field like I was not expecting Intel or MSI to drop something like this I just it wasn't on the radar so it's cool that they actually has something that competes with all those AMD products out there okay there you have it MSI clawover the past year or so we've seen a lot of powerful handhelds come into the space right we saw the steam deck we saw the RG Ally and a bunch of cool devices from Boutique Brands like iono but all of these devices run AMD chips and with good reason because Intel's offering in this form factor is just it's not competitive but I always wondered what would Intel's response be turns out they've been working on something pretty cool this is it here so this is the MSI claw and this is the first handheld that uses the new Intel chip the new meteor Lake chips so at first glance the external hardware might look like just a black RG Ally but it's actually a pretty different kind of product so the first thing the handheld ergonomics of the MSI claw feel surprisingly different from the Ally like if you look at them just from the top view they don't look that different in terms of like the shape of them they both have that kind of angular bottom and they have like a similar kind of feel but this device is a lot flatter if you look at them kind of like their profile of them uh the black device the MSI claw that that hump like this over here it makes a very big difference when you're holding it so one of the things I've always not really complained about but noted about the Ali is despite the kind of flatness of the product and me liking how flat it is it does have a very flat grip to it and I've never love the ergonomics of this device uh compared to like the steam deck this has like a super bulbous hump the steam decks grip these have what I would consider like the most ergonomic feel of all the handhelds this is in between the MSI cloth feels like it's a mixture between like semi flat but having a nice hump on the back and I really like the way that this thing feels now it is smaller than say something like the steam deck this is a more compact system and also has a 7in screen just like the Ally it is a little bit heavier but this product overall is just in my mind a direct competitor to the r Ally it just has a completely different chip now I do want to mention just these buttons these light up I've never seen a handheld console where the abxy buttons light up it's running these lights underneath some smoked plastic so it's not like a super bright light but they do light up if that matters to you now the chip in here is an Intel Core Ultra 7 but I'm shooting this on pre-production Hardware so the exterior design of this product is pretty much finalized I imagine that it's so late in the game that they couldn't change too much at this point but in terms of the performance and the drivers and the internal stuff that can all be tweaked and adjusted before launch now in terms of power profiles there's three of them so at the very bottom you have the super battery mode that pulls 50 watts and then the balance mode pulls 30 and at the top end you want to go full blast Extreme Performance 45 Watts now there's a couple things to take away from this I guess the first thing is that at the top end if you want to this system can pull more juice than the RG Ally this thing caps out at 30 Watts this is 45 at the top end but at the bottom end the other takeaway is that the kind of if you're playing like really light titles like 2D indie games or you want emulation this system can the lowest it'll go is 15 watts where this can go like 9 or 10 watts so there's a there's a difference in kind of like the the where the power profile lies the performance testing I was allowed to do on it though was very limited and because of that I can't get a good gauge of how efficient this chip actually is my initial Impressions though is that this system is on par with what the RG Ally does at that 25 to 30 WT profile now if you open it up you can tell that this system was built to handle more power draw it has two fans and two heat pipes which is great because it allows you to cool the system very well but there was this one area that kind of concerned me in the menu I noticed there was a cooler boost option now cooler boost is the kind of software feature that a lot of MSI laptops have that just turn the fans on to Max is for like overclocking a lot of their devices but on this system when I hit this cooler boost button and the fans kick in that's loud like that's hella loud now I never had to turn this on and all my testing I was like why would you even need that option because it never gets hot enough to require it and it was never activated to the point where the cooler boost was just like actively running like that but I thought why would they even put this in here like does the Intel chip just unlock to some kind of crazy performance mode when you blast the fans on it I can't tell on this pre-production unit like this uh engineering sample doesn't seem to have a need for the cooler boost at all but maybe on the retail unit there is a purpose to it now in terms of the normal fan noise and normal kind of thermal characteristics it's a very cool and quiet system like way cooler and quieter than previous Intel handhelds those were all like comically poor this is really good um but again in terms of like an actual comparison between the this product in AMD I need a retail unit to come in now there's a bigger battery inside the MSI claw this is a 53w hour battery which is significantly larger than the one that's in the RG Ali this is a 40w hour battery I think just based on sheer size it's like like 30 maybe 35% bigger inside the MSI claw but MSI is claiming a 50% increase in battery life so I think it's possible based on my limited testing I think at the 15 watt profile you can get about 50% more battery life on the MSI claw versus the RG Ally but again I really need to get the retail units in to do some proper testing but it is interesting that that's the claim that they made a 50% uh bump in battery life over its competitor uh a couple things I want toose this video on the screens actually I'll bring this back in real quick I think they're the same screens between the two devices they're both 7 in they're both 120 HZ I think the claw also has variable refresh rate uh but I do think that they're awesome screens like the Ally had a great screen for an LCD panel if there's one screen you're going to bring it over I'm glad it's that one now the controls uh why do I keep removing this the controls between the two are very similar in terms of just like the layout and uh functionality but I would say the biggest difference is actually in the back button the Rog Ally has a large back button but the only way to really actuate this or the way that I think most people do it is by pressing this section of it this kind of like angled piece here so if you're ingame you would press it like so if you try to press it from the outside it doesn't really trigger same with the top or the bottom it's really you got to press it there or you don't press it at all on the MSI claw it's a smaller button I'll flip it around you can kind of see the size comparison the claw does have a smaller back button but this thing has a bunch of facets to it and I noticed that when you you can trigger it any way like you can press any one of those different facets and it would work so when you're in game you can trigger it from the top like being able to press down on it it's just like where your hand naturally rests you can trigger them like that and I just found that to be really useful in Street Fighter 6 just any game that uses back buttons where you want to use back buttons I like that usability but it's a minor detail thought I'd bring it up cuz I just noticed it when I was using it uh during this short testing period but there you have it that is the MSI claw I think this is such a neat product it came in a left field like I was not expecting Intel or MSI to drop something like this I just it wasn't on the radar so it's cool that they actually has something that competes with all those AMD products out there okay there you have it MSI claw\n"