MSI Claw specs leak ahead of CES

A beefy competitor for Lenovo and ASUS

Valve really kicked something off with the Steam Deck: After the ASUS ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go, we’re now getting a handheld gaming console from MSI called MSI Claw, which is going to be revealed during the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

However, some of the technical specifications of the device have already been leaked (thanks, Videocardz) ahead of the show and they reveal some very interesting things. In contrast to the three other handhelds from Valve, ASUS, and Lenovo, which are based on AMD architectures, the MSI console uses Intel architecture.

An early image of the MSI Claw / MSI

According to the prematurely released information, the MSI Claw uses an Intel Core 7 Ultra 155H 16C/22T APU with speeds of up 4.8 GHz and has a memory capacity of 32 GB as well as an Arc SoC GPU with eight Xe-Cores running at 2.25 GHz.

The Intel Core 7 Ultra 155H is a 28W processor, although its Max Turbo Power is 115W – a large number that would surely drain the device’s battery way too quickly to be in any way practicable for a handheld that’s supposed to be usable on the go.

Based on the architecture of the console, it will likely run on Windows just like the products from ASUS and Lenovo, though this information was not part of the leaks – the same is true for the price, which we’re still in the dark about.

The MSI Claw definitely looks like it’s going to be a strong competitor based on these specs, but some players have shown concern over the handheld’s form, questioning whether they’d be able to actually hold the machine for a prolonged period of time.

Valve Steam Deck OLED review – possibly the best console I’ve ever owned