MSI Claw A1M Handheld Gaming Console Device - Core Ultra 5 (512GB SSD)

I have a Nintendo Switch and my iPad and iPhone for gaming on the go, but I thought about it and having a PC, an actual PC with Windows 11, and an ability to play PC games on the go, is a different story. And so when the MSI Klaw showed up (it says Claw here but per MSI the name is Klaw) I was excited to get it up and going. My first impression of the machine was very high, the thing is big, but not heavy, it's got a superb screen and all the buttons in just the right place. Sure some of the buttons feel a bit mushy (the front of the unit bumpers) but I had zero issues in anything I did in regards to the controls.The entire bootup process was pretty cool, the RGB lights come up and despite all the RGB in my life, I never get tired of a rainbow of color like the ... MoreI have a Nintendo Switch and my iPad and iPhone for gaming on the go, but I thought about it and having a PC, an actual PC with Windows 11, and an ability to play PC games on the go, is a different story. And so when the MSI Klaw showed up (it says Claw here but per MSI the name is Klaw) I was excited to get it up and going. My first impression of the machine was very high, the thing is big, but not heavy, it's got a superb screen and all the buttons in just the right place. Sure some of the buttons feel a bit mushy (the front of the unit bumpers) but I had zero issues in anything I did in regards to the controls.The entire bootup process was pretty cool, the RGB lights come up and despite all the RGB in my life, I never get tired of a rainbow of color like the Klaw exhibits so awesomely. However, my progress came to a screeching halt when it asked me for my Wi-Fi login and I could not get the keyboard to come up. I tried both methods that MSI offers on their site, with a double tap and with a button dedicated to it, but neither worked. I had to wait for a support call to figure out how to fix it. The fix was a simple HARD reboot but I had not been able to figure out how to do this and information online does not address a hard reboot. Anytime I had tried to reboot it just came up to the Wi-Fi login screen.After a few days support got back to me (again it was the Memorial day weekend holiday) they told me to reboot was simply holding in the power button for 15 seconds, waiting for 15 seconds and then voila a hard reboot. Once I did this I was back up to the Wi-Fi screen and this time I had a virtual keyboard so it was smooth sailing after that issue was resolved.Running the games has two ways to do so, either run them how you normally do on your home PC or use the MSI interface, which is really nice and is similiar to the SteamOS running full screen. Note that there are two ways to operate when playing a game, in game controller mode (think Nintendo Switch) or Desktop mode (think PC). I tried all sorts of games and ran into what most PC gamers know, some games work quite brilliantly (Forza Motorsport, F1 24, FC 24, TopSpin 2K25) but some games simply would not work at all (Madden NFL 24) and so there's some technical issues going on here. I got a "out of graphic memory" when trying to run Madden, did a hard reboot and got a DirectX issue.So this is a fantastic machine, but it's early on and so go into it knowing that. How does this stack up to the SteamDeck and others? I have no idea as i've never used any of the others. But i can say this is an amazing machine when it all works together, but right now it is definitely going to fall into the early adopters need only apply. This one could be the best of all the handhelds in my view, if MSI continues to support it. Know that going in and I think you will enjoy this machine a lot.

What an interesting idea the MSI Claw A1M looks like on paper! A handheld gaming system that plays your PC game libraries (Steam, Epic, Xbox Gamepass, etc) without the need to upgrade your video card, RAM, or other components, how could you go wrong? The answer is the MSI Claw A1M.Looking at the specs on the box the Claw seems impressive: 120hz display, Intel Core Ultra 7, 16gb DDR5 RAM, 5123 SSD, Wi-Fi 7 ready and able to utilize my 6G band. There’s a Micro SD card slot, fingerprint reader power button, and the whole package features RGB lighting on the face buttons and around the thumbsticks. There’s an app to personalize the color(s) and lighting effects like color chase, pulsing, or solid.The system looks awesome, very reminiscent of the Nintendo Switch, ... MoreWhat an interesting idea the MSI Claw A1M looks like on paper! A handheld gaming system that plays your PC game libraries (Steam, Epic, Xbox Gamepass, etc) without the need to upgrade your video card, RAM, or other components, how could you go wrong? The answer is the MSI Claw A1M.Looking at the specs on the box the Claw seems impressive: 120hz display, Intel Core Ultra 7, 16gb DDR5 RAM, 5123 SSD, Wi-Fi 7 ready and able to utilize my 6G band. There’s a Micro SD card slot, fingerprint reader power button, and the whole package features RGB lighting on the face buttons and around the thumbsticks. There’s an app to personalize the color(s) and lighting effects like color chase, pulsing, or solid.The system looks awesome, very reminiscent of the Nintendo Switch, lots of exhaust ports to avoid overheating, good sized 7” touch screen, and it charges out the top from a Thunderbolt 45W PD charge cable (and the brick is super tiny and compact to boot). Upon putting my hands on it the first thought was “Hmm, these thumbsticks feel really loose” then I felt the buttons on the back near my middle fingers…a place where NOT pushing the button while holding will be less than convenient (two programmable macros). Weight wasn’t bad though, less than 2lbs according to the website, it was very portable and I was excited to take it on my upcoming work trip. I charged it up then booted for the first time to be met with the usual Windows PC launch process (what country are you in, what keyboard layout, setup your wifi before you can move further to actually use the device. This is where I encountered my first “glitch” with the Claw. At the setup screen for my wifi I found my network and tapped it, the box to type the password came up and I began to type the password but no characters (hidden or visible) showed up in the box. I wondered if this was like some of the systems where it won’t show you anything to avoid someone seeing how many characters it was…but then on the 7th keystroke an asterisk finally showed up on the password box. I finished my password and it said I had typed it wrong so I tried again and again there were no asterisks visible until nearly the end of my input. I typed random letters and each time there was no indication it was recording my keystrokes until more than a half dozen inputs. I had to power off and back on before it behaved correctly.Once I had it setup and I was in, the Claw looks just like your laptop desktop so I proceeded to download a web browser (I hate Edge) and install Epic and Steam. It took much longer than any download I’ve ever done in recent years, all my other devices didn’t seem to have any network slow down, and finally after an hour plus I had my apps. I selected a couple games to download for testing purposes: Portal since its old and a good baseline, Shadow of the Tomb Raider since it pushes graphics a bit, and Bioshock Infinite since it’s just so pretty. Four hours later the battery was about to die and Portal finally finished downloading. I plugged in and continued until bedtime. The next day after work it took a further three hours to get Bioshock, and the day after it took just over four hours to get Tomb Raider. I don’t know why this device is so slow to download but it’s really bad, I hate to say.All three games run, Tomb Raider was a little choppy and it detected the settings at Medium but still played when set to High just with a lower frame rate. With Portal the aiming reticle was so small it was impossible to see on the screen but it’s not a super big deal just a reminder this is a laptop screen shrunk down. I was curious how far the Claw could go with gaming and I went to a site to see “Can I Run It” with some newer, more taxing games. The website claimed that not only could I not run games like Cyberpunk, Baldur’s Gate 3, or Red Dead Redemption 2 but that I was unable to play Shadow of the Tomb Raider or Bioshock Infinite either. Obviously I had played these, so this test is unreliable. I would wager to guess that since the Claw has something going on inside that scales the performance to work with the games that some games may work but at lower settings but sadly without buying a new game I can’t say for certain.So overall this is a really mixed bag as the scaling of newer games means you don’t have to worry about your specs too much. However the wi-fi issues are a big problem for me and the initial out of the box glitch with the touchscreen keyboard left a bad taste in my mouth. I think it comes down to your personal tolerance for jank if you can stomach getting up and running. However, if you want a PC gaming setup that’s portable this is going to play more games for less money and has the built in game buttons and thumbsticks. Theoretically you can get Bluetooth accessories to make this a compact laptop for productive tasks too, which would mitigate any keyboard glitching with the touchscreen. I would say buy it but don’t be surprised if the features advertised don’t quite match up with what you’re getting hands-on.

The MSI Claw is a very interesting piece of tech. Using Intel’s new Core Ultra processors and running Windows gives it a wide range of compatibility. However, since Intel’s processors are on the newer side, there seems to be a few little wrinkles on the software side. Intel does seem to be moving rapidly to improve its drivers and, in turn, performance.- Hardware –The physical feel and appearance of the Claw are excellent. Its weight feels very balanced, and it is extremely comfortable to hold, even for extended periods. I am one of those that like to rest my hands on a surface while I’m using a handheld, and I’ve found that the Claw is very comfortable for this. The grips feel great, and button placement feels natural as well. It’s also nice that where your ... MoreThe MSI Claw is a very interesting piece of tech. Using Intel’s new Core Ultra processors and running Windows gives it a wide range of compatibility. However, since Intel’s processors are on the newer side, there seems to be a few little wrinkles on the software side. Intel does seem to be moving rapidly to improve its drivers and, in turn, performance.- Hardware –The physical feel and appearance of the Claw are excellent. Its weight feels very balanced, and it is extremely comfortable to hold, even for extended periods. I am one of those that like to rest my hands on a surface while I’m using a handheld, and I’ve found that the Claw is very comfortable for this. The grips feel great, and button placement feels natural as well. It’s also nice that where your hands are resting while using the Claw that they don’t block the speakers. The hall effect thumbsticks feel great too. Control feels precise and there are options to tweak them to suit your needs as well. Face buttons feel good too. Triggers are also a high point for me. The bumpers are not quite as satisfying feeling as the triggers, but they still feel good. The screen is excellent, 1080p resolution, high refresh rates, with good colors and the added benefit of VRR. Touch also works very well in my time using it.- Software –On the software side, there are a few things to be aware of. Like I mentioned before, some of the software is in its early stages, so, like other handhelds, it has a few issues but is rapidly improving. MSI’s control center has had a few updates already in the short time I’ve had the Claw, improving with each release. Graphics drivers and BIOS updates have also been rapidly improving. Each offering more performance and options. In fact, I was going to post a review earlier, but read about an upcoming BIOS release (109) that offered significant improvements, so I waited to get it installed and test some more. To MSI’s credit, the new update did bring significant improvements. They included a new “Overboost” mode along with other improvements that added performance in every game I tested. I imagine that each release of new Intel graphics drivers will offer further improvements as well. But the rapid pace that MSI is releasing BIOS and other updates shows they’re committed to the Claw. The other side of the coin is Windows. I really wanted a handheld that ran Windows natively. Not only are you able to run Steam on it, you get the added benefit of running any other launcher on there as well. For me, the big one being Xbox Game Pass. Having a subscription (which the Claw comes with a trial for), is an excellent way to play and try out games. Being able to play games from any launcher without jumping through a bunch of hoops is a huge plus to me. The downside of that being that some things aren’t quite optimized for the smaller screen, or without an actual mouse. Though the Claw’s thumbsticks do work to move the mouse cursor, and the Claw’s overlay will allow you to initiate the on-screen keyboard at any time. One issue I did have, was during the initial setup of Windows. The keyboard to enter information never showed. This seems to be a known issue, as MSI suggest you just restart the Claw using the power button, and this did allow me to continue setup. The overlay was very useful to me in general though. It includes options for screenshots/recording, switching performance profiles, getting frame information and more. Another benefit of running on Windows though, you also get the opportunity to use MSI’s Android emulator. Making it possible to play Android games on the Claw as well. Many of which support controllers, so it just adds another platform of games that are playable.- Perfomance –Performance can vary greatly between games on the Claw. I believe this is largely due to the lack of maturity of Intel’s Arc graphics. Some games, like the Forza games (Forza Motorsport 2023 and Forza Horizon 5) perform very well on the Claw. In the previous BIOS (106), there was some stuttering present in these games, but the latest BIOS (109) seems to have largely eliminated these issues. I don’t think the stuttering was a lack of performance, it seems related to something else, as it would be fairly consistent, then stutter for a moment. Going from framerates in the mid-30s to the mid-40s with the 109 update. Cyberpunk 2077 is another example of the performance gains. I was also about to get into the 40s with it as well. There’s plenty of room for tweaking to get added performance as well. I’m sure there will be even further gains as Intel and MSI make continued updates as well. I would say this is in line, performance-wise as other handhelds. Though it will vary between games.- Audio –I wanted to take a moment to point out how excellent the speakers are on the Claw. It has the best sounding speakers of any of the handhelds I’ve used. Far surpassing several of them. There is software that enhances the audio as well, imitating surround sound, that is very believable. This is also made even better by the speaker placement, making sure your hands don’t block the speakers as you’re holding the Claw.Pros: Great physical design and comfort, nice buttons and thumbsticks, good screen, excellent audio, rapid improvements to softwareCons: Software inconsistency, some performance issues (though seemingly greatly improving), user experience isn’t super friendly just yet (also improving)