MSI Claw | Wait for reviews...

You should WAIT to buy an MSI Claw until we see real world reviews/tests. The main drawback I see is the Intel Ultra 7 155H and no VRR. I don't think it's up to par with even the 7840U in terms of efficiency, driver support, or performance.
0:00 - Intro
0:26 - Pricing
0:48 - Performance
1:33 - Ergonomics
2:01 - Design
2:22 - Software
2:51 - Intel...
4:05 - Compatibility
4:35 - Battery
5:36 - No VRR
5:51 - Anti-Glare
6:21 - Thunderbolt 4
6:36 - Speakers
6:59 - Buttons / Ports
7:51 - Hall Effect!
8:01 - WI-FI 7
8:36 - Wait for reviews
#msi

[@FanTheDeck]

I almost mentioned the "day to night" verbiage in my video too! It feels extremely misleading. Great video!

[@filt3rless]

Hey, love your channel! Yeah it feels misleading just like what we saw with the VRR and "landscape" stuff with Lenovo.

[@Drivenby]

Its at least 10% faster than the Ally thanks to the rgb buttons

[@filt3rless]

🤣

[@Fpsnut]

Backlit ABXY buttons are nice, but I would prefer having a very slight backlight to menu buttons. Just make them barely visible at night so I don't have to feel for them pressing everything else but the button I want. These handhelds are awesome for playing in bed for an hour or so before you go to sleep. But I just can't see the steam menu buttons in the dark and they're nearly flush with body which makes it difficult to feel them.

[@Steelninja77]

You should get an armoured grip with kickstand for your ROG if you don't like the ergonomics mine feels great. I also got one for my steamdecks and the one with the grip on feels so nice. as does the ROG. worth doing. But I like the ROG's feel without it too. I don't miss the 2 buttons on the back of my ROG or the missing trackpads. They are good on the deck. Butnot needed on the ROG. in my Opinion. Intersting it has the same placement for SD card reader. My first rog blew the card and reader but my new revision 8 they gave me is perfectly fine. They fixed it with Revision 8 and 9 up i heard and they have.

[@williamconroydaly]

I’m wondering there using Hall effect triggers and joysticks, but swapping the ally’s stick give problems with trigger cross interference. I wonder if they have found a way around it that could be adapted for the ally or if it’s still an issue and they might be covering it up in software. Great video as by the way

[@filt3rless]

I'm wondering that as well. Hopefully they found a way to fix it as I didn't like the software workaround on the Ally. I think I'd rather have non-hall sticks at that point.

[@metathanatos1]

rog ally was not designed to have hall effect joysticks that is why the hall sensor for the triggers was on the daughterboard of the joysticks, MSI can simply separate the daughter boards of the trigger and joystick easily by design.

[@williamconroydaly]

@@filt3rless yeah I agree, I don't think I've ever had a joystick issue on a controller but I guess millage may very. it's something that will be interesting to find out.

[@williamconroydaly]

@@metathanatos1 true true but at the same time there isn't a whole lot of room in there for seperation. Hopefully it is a hardware based change tho. Or MSI might have some unhappy customers

[@Uthur]

It's going to lose and hand mode mode but also have a pretty big lead in dock mode if they're smart with it and open source to software

[@watchdoge6464]

It's similar to the Ally, to a point where it's uncomfortable. Would it kill to at least put 4 buttons on the back, like the Deck? lol

[@Droideka666]

Awesome! Was waiting for your take on the new device. Pretty much what I was expecting from the device and your video. Always impartial with your assessment of the good and the bad. I know you buy your own stuff (That's why I trust you so much) but are you planning on getting it? And if MSI is reading this send this man a claw!!

[@filt3rless]

Hey, if they want to send me one I'll definitely do videos on it haha. I'm not planning on buying it though as I have plenty of experience with MSI laptops (and a faulty motherboard in a main rig) as well as intel chips. I think the AMD is going to be a bit better once the reviews start coming out because of the efficiency, compatibility and stability. We'll have to wait and see though, but it's definitely something I have no desire to get. I reached out to Lenovo about getting a GO to cover the updates (as they fixed the joysticks from what I've seen), but I haven't heard anything back. I feel my channel is incompatible with companies because I'll always state it like it is haha.

[@Droideka666]

@@filt3rless Well I hope you never change about that even if they start sending you stuff 😅 Wich they totally should! Haha I can imagine Lenovo checking your review and going... Nope😅 But at the end of the day I think they would be making themselves a service if they improved it a lot as you would not hold back on the praise if it's deserved. It's their loss...

[@filt3rless]

@@Droideka666 They probably did see my reviews on it 🤣. However both videos have been unlisted a while back as I remove them once issues have been fixed. I'm hoping they reply to my e-mail to send me one as I'd love to cover the updates and the current state. And with the BIOS updates it'd be really interesting to see the performance changes. I'm glad the handheld scene has really taken off though and we're seeing all these new handhelds hit the market. Have you seen the Ayaneo Slide? Reminds me of an old phone I used to have, but I love the look. I'm not going to buy it though as I'd rather wait for the next generation of chips.

[@FrostArchon]

I'm interested in the future proof specs with wifi7 and BT 5.4

[@bobertart4342]

When it comes out will you get it for review?

[@filt3rless]

Hey I'm not planning on getting it. I am looking forward to new handhelds, but I'd buy a Legion Go before I'd get the MSI Claw.

[@bobertart4342]

Specific reason?@@filt3rless

[@Audio_Revelations]

4:58 my aokzoe has 65wh battery it lasts longer than Claw

[@Hubwood]

probably heard it by now, but it seems like it WILL have VRR (don't think that this will save it though :p)

[@filt3rless]

Ohh nice! I didn't know it got VRR. Glad they were able to implement it. I don't think it will save it either though 🤣. It looks like just normal Freesync that only goes down to 48Hz. The Ally has LFC (Low Framerate Compensation) that allows it to go to 30Hz by doubling the refresh rate after it dips below 48. Hopefully we'll see some real improvements in the next generation of handhelds :)

[@mosijames8348]

Good

[@Goalier95]

Watch LTT CES 2024 hands on video and look at the Assassin's Creed Mirage running : for a few seconds while it was shown it had stutters during actual gameplay demo, granted it could be just the sample units where software needs to be tweaked, but I'll wait for real owner's reviews where it was bought with their own hard earned money. And where will it be sold? MSI website only? Amazon, Best Buy? If I can't walk into my local Best Buy store, it's going to be very low on my list.

[@filt3rless]

I definitely think it's worth waiting. Just the lack of VRR is a pretty big deal compared to something like the Ally. But the Intel chip I feel is where the main drawback will be in a lot of ways (battery, heat, compatibility, etc).

[@rickmcintosh3570]

As a rog akly owner i am not seeing enough here to swap over. USB 4 is nice and the bigger battery is a plus. A black shell is welcomed but the chip inside this thing seems like its gona be below or on par with amd.

[@Blind-Matter]

Looks nice but to be honest after trying FSR 3 frame gen on starfield on the Ally, that is a game changer and will definitely be sticking with the Ally and my SD for emu. Looking forward to if you do a vid for the beta drivers with FG ;)

[@featjie]

Will stick to the switch, steam deck, rog ally and gonna wait for the Switch 2.

[@ezg8448]

Intel graphics drivers ARE an issue, not might. I own so I know.

[@WuFluChan]

35x2=70 so even if nothing else draws a single watt how tf is it going to last 2 hours at 35w. Wouldn’t use rgb but the button feature is cool, thunder bolt is awesome, individual heat pipes is great but no vrr is a bummer. What turned me off from the go was all the lies Lenovo claimed in the beginning vrr, custom native landscape screen etc hopefully these doesn’t meet the same fate but the math just doesn’t add up on their battery life claims

[@filt3rless]

Ahh the good old Legion Go AMA's. They way they talked about VRR and the "landscape" display was pretty deceptive. You're right on that 35W (especially since I think they're talking about APU only), it isn't lasting 2 hours. I'd imagine when the TDP is set to 35W, the total system draw would be approaching almost 50W. The way companies are marketing these handhelds reminds me of game trailers. The trailer looks amazing and everyone is hyped, then they get to buy/play the game. I don't know if the MSI Claw will be this way, but I've lost faith in any claims a company makes (especially Intel....).

[@oksanasokolova9122]

Do x,b,y,a buttons have hall effect?

[@watchdoge6464]

So, Thunderbolt, hall effect, bigger battery and a black color. But way too many compromises for it. Maybe Intel can surprise us later on with its performance after a few updates

[@whitesilver1093]

It almost look like a ROG ally rebrand The controller placement is identical, and software look similar. I wouldn't be surprised if the internals also ended up looking very similar.

[@haysen123]

Linus already showed the internals

[@whitesilver1093]

@@haysen123 huh thanks for letting me know! I'll check that out!

[@samserious1337]

Its different and it will run cooler than the ally!

[@haysen123]

@@samserious1337 it is okay if it will run little bit hotter, but i am more concerned with the sd card slot placement near the heatsink, will it repeat rog ally's mistake?

[@samserious1337]

@@haysen123 It has a dual heatpipe design and more ventilation slots, therefore it will run cooler.

[@samserious1337]

The Claw has a dual heatpipe design and way more ventilation slots on the back. I think the device will run at least 5-7°C cooler than the ally at the same wattage. The Ultra 5 125h might be the better option, since it has less physical cores which could save a few watts and is also cheaper.

[@13guns87]

Looks good but obviously needs benchmarks. On paper this sounds amazing. Device is pretty standard, but its whats inside that's exciting. It really needs to smash the doors down or its gonna fall flat. Device wont carry it cos its like so many others.

[@user-rk6wv5ji3v]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@volcalstone]

It seems like the oculink is dead since no major brands are support it. I think they're all just waiting for TB5 instead. I'm not so much an MSI fan and I really only like their MEG line. That being said I like ASUS and Lenovo when it comes to PC manufacturers. I think this device is DOA as it doesn't really bring anything new to the table. The Ally is mostly better and at a lower price as well. We need a main market 32GB RAM device tho. This gen and the next will pretty much have the same type of performance. We won't really see a gain until this time next year. So it's still a good idea to just get the Z1 Extreme or 6850U device. Intel isn't bring much this year other then catching up to AMD.

[@filt3rless]

TB5 is going to be insane with 80Gb's of bandwidth. I agree with you, the Ally or Go are great options and AMD is the best all around for iGPU's. 32GB devices will be awesome. I'll probably look into the XG Mobiles again once a higher RAM spec comes out so I can utilize it more. I've played some Star Citizen and that game can even eat through 32GB's no problem 🤣

[@volcalstone]

@@filt3rless I was going to ask you about the Go now that it had some updates. I know it's still isn't where it needs to be but are you more sold on it now. I believe that if you could get it for cheaper like a used one or so then I think it's worth it now. I feel like the Go is unique enough to make it a stand out device. I returned mine just like you but decided to pick it up a used one instead. I will pick it up tomorrow at BB. To me it's the size of the screen that sells me to it. At my age I can't really play games on a 7" screen anymore. Yes I could wear reading glasses but it's not really about that. I just like larger screens over all. Yeah it doesn't have VRR but so doesn't the SD OLED. Yeah it sucks that we have to use v-sync but it's playable. The benefit of the Go as well is that you could play it at 800p vs the Ally 900p which means you should be getting better performance. Yeah games have to be played at 36fps, 48fps, 60fps, 72fps, 144fps but if you're fine with that then it shouldn't be an issue. As for the XGM for the Ally. The 4090 is overkill for it imo. That alone isn't worth it for the asking price. With something as powerful as the Ally is that has a non-upgradable 16GB of RAM an external GPU should only be around 800 or less. Anything more and you might as well get a full labtop instead. With no 32GB RAM option there isn't a point of running a 4090. Plus also the Ally has less PCI lanes vs their other Flow devices. For a few more hundreds you could get a full 4090 labtop with a nice acreen. I would say only get an XGM if you will be replacing your desktop setup. Just don't spend $2,000 to do it. I also fixed the issue on the Go with apps or games running in portrait mode with a 3rd patty app. That same app also fixed the issue with 16:9 games within Steam running with gray bars on the top and bottom. Steam should really fix this issue on their own tho as not all devs will update their apps to run in 16:10. I like having 2 USB4 ports as well. It makes life a lot easier. Back to the screen size. It's just the right size when I'm too lazy to grab my labtop and controller to play games. Yeah it's a 16" QHD screen but it involves this whole setup of getting a cooling pad to be put on a portable labtop table. Then I have to get the mouse too. I could only play on battery for like an hour only and would have to plug it in if I want more power. Gaming on a desk sure that's fine but while in bed a handheld is best imo. I do also have a custom rig as well but that would involve another process. Hehe. Having a handheld is so much easier. It's like using a tablet is a lot nicer than a laptop at times. I just prefer an iPad vs an iPad mini size for myself. Sorry for making this so long. I just wanted to share my opinions that's really it. I will still have my Ally w/ an XGM 6850M and Switch OLED but they're 7" in size as you can see. I do have a couple of portable monitors and a Xreal Air glasses if I want a larger screen but again that takes more work. ☺️ Edit: I didn't end up picking up that used Go as the condition wasn't as good as I thought it would be. At this point I'm just gonna wait for it to be on sale then weigh my option again. I might just wait until later this year hoping that Asus will just make a larger Ally. It's gonna be a couple of more months but I'm not in a rush tho so it's all good.

[@filt3rless]

@@volcalstone Hey, thanks for the info and tips. I do think just getting a laptop at that point makes sense. I've had my eye on the G14 with the 4090, I feel that thing would be an absolute beast and is still portable. I agree with the handheld stuff. It's nice to just be able to pick something up and play without trying to setup a computer and make it so the laptop doesn't overheat. I find myself pretty much playing the OLED exclusively at this point. Mainly for the "pickup and play for a few minutes" aspect with pretty great battery life. I'm sure we'll see some great handhelds come out in the near future. Since you ended up not getting that Go, I'd definitely wait for the next gen of systems to come out. I wonder how long it'll be before we get RTX 4090 desktop levels of power in a handheld 😲

[@volcalstone]

@@filt3rless the money I didn't spend on the Go I might just get the SD OLED hehe. That screen and battery life 😍. The thing about a 4090 in a 14" is that there isn't a lot of room for that GPU to come to life. You're probably gonna be restricted to a lower TDP. Like 120W vs 175W or so. The new G14 and G16 are looking pretty sweet tho with them OLED screens. That might be my next labtop cause I currently have an X16 3060. Asus is killing it again this year. 4090 in a handheld? Probably not for another 4 years or so hehe. The battery life will be 15 mins too haha. Yeah I'm excited to see what's coming around the corner. Hopefully more OLED offering tho. Battery life matters to me. I don't need a lot but just enough. Most things charge up real fast so I don't mind. Thanks for all your videos again. Really great quality stuff like always.

[@filt3rless]

@@volcalstone I think you should. Seriously the OLED is awesome. What I found is capping the FPS to 45 across the board for a pretty good experience on most games. And the bigger OLED screen makes a big difference. It's almost like a big, comfortable Nintendo Switch that let's you play PC games at great settings. What has made a difference for me is not feeling the need to get "maximum FPS". Once I came to terms with getting around 45 and just locking that in, I started to really enjoy not tweaking settings. Now I can play older games and get 5+ hours of battery without changing a single setting. One thing the OLED is really good at as well is automatically dropping the TDP based on an FPS cap. Kind of like what Auto TDP is supposed to do, but super polished and works perfect. Anytime I have any windows device I find I personally spend more times messing with settings than playing 🤣. Which I guess is good for a tech channel haha. When the 4090 hits handhelds we might see "sec" instead of "min" haha. Thanks man, glad you like the videos. I'm about to upload the AFMF (AMD Fluid Motion Frames) one. The input lag is the biggest draw back I think to using it.

[@cloudcultdev]

It’s really important to note that one of the biggest strengths for WiFi7 is also the lower power use…it’s similar to WiFi6 in the fact that it draws less power when not used, but WiFi7 has improvements to battery consumption even during data transfer, which is pretty awesome.

[@crestofhonor2349]

My biggest worry is drivers as Intel has been the worst when it comes to that. I'm also still worried about low TDP performance because this will likely be worse than even the Z1, which is disappointing next to the Steam Deck. Can't wait to see tests from KZbinrs like you, Retro Game Corps, and ThePhawx. I want to see the battery life and the performance this has, especially if it drivers improve things

[@averagemobileplayergfs7383]

How’s the Steam Deck disappointing? It runs games pretty well, if you ask me but each their own.

[@samserious1337]

@@averagemobileplayergfs7383 read again

[@paulsegrue5133]

​@@averagemobileplayergfs7383Not everyone loves the Steam Deck so it is each to their own. Mine has been sitting in the draw for 3 months. There are just too many things I don't like about it ,but I bought it at release so we didn't have the affordable choices we have now.

[@dio8070]

@@averagemobileplayergfs7383I think he meant that the Z1 low tdp performance is worse then the steamdeck. Meaning z1 is bad while deck is good in low performance. And around 20ish percent better at 15 watts.

[@Steelninja77]

I thought it had 32 gb ram. I want this. I passed on the legion go. I did not like what i saw But love my ROG ally and steam decks. And sure I wiill love this when i get it. Although I am a AMD PC gamer through and through always had all AMD builds. Currently a Ryzen 9 5900x and RX 6800 and it's awesome with 32 Gb Ram. But willing to go intel to try their APU. love a good APU in a handheld. Not a PC though.

[@filt3rless]

I think the Legion Go or Ally would be a better option if you're wanting a handheld. But the 16GB limit is still an issue IMO. It might be worth waiting for the next generation of handhelds.

[@Steelninja77]

@@filt3rless i have ROG Ally and steam deck. Do not want a Rog ally. But I did hear this MSI claw had 32 gig must have been BS

[@charlierose1708]

No VRR no buy it's the only thing that makes underpowered handhelds bearable.

[@cheerful_crop_circle]

What is VRR?

[@E55666]

​@@cheerful_crop_circleEliminates screen tearing

[@MobileDecay]

This thing is coming out to luke warm reception. Some people seem to be trying to build hype but this thing is so underwhelming. MSI should've tried something more unique than just copying Asus and chucking an intel processor inside. There are so many things that could be offered. Like a more compact device, an Oled screen, a slot for a second nvme that anyone could easily replace, a usb A port. This is such a boring system.

[@dubletrouble]

My thoughts exactly, only thing impressing me is the halleffect triggers and joysticks

[@13guns87]

They played it safe. As any company creating there first product does. You improve on that. Everything you mention costs money. That's not gonna look good on a first device. Charging like $1000 for feature ppll don't care about. Who the fuck needs a second nvme really. 2tb not enough plus 1-2tb sd card storage.

[@samserious1337]

They ironed out a few flaws of the ally which is the safest thing to do. The ergonomics are better, hall effect sticks, dual heatpipe design (at least 5°C cooler), more ventilation slots, optimized backside buttons, bigger battery, docking station (will come later), rgb ABYX buttons.

[@paulsegrue5133]

The thing is copying Asus but leaving out one of the Ally's best features VRR is a mistake.

[@darkangel9090x]

No VRR and crappy ARC gpu will be its downfall.

[@elasmojones]

16GB RAM, no VRR, Intel.......Might take a deep sale for me.

[@user-wx9oj2gv9u]

Intel means more heat. Then Claw copy pasted the design inside, including the sd card placement. So it's probably ganna be another sd card melter 😂

[@crestofhonor2349]

Heat is directly tied to TDP and Intel chips typically draw more or perform better at higher TDP levels. At 15w the Z1 Extreme and the Intel Core Ultra should be identical in heat production

[@user-wx9oj2gv9u]

@@crestofhonor2349 probably correct cuz we can only assume at this point until they release claw. Intel produce heat more cuz when intel do high performance they also take high wattage, they don't focus on efficiency too much. So true, in 15w they should be around identical in heat but the question is are the performance thesame?

[@samserious1337]

Did you watch any teardown video of the claw? It is NOT the same inside and it will run cooler than the ally due to a dual heatpipe design and more ventilation slots.

[@user-wx9oj2gv9u]

@@samserious1337 It certainly should have the best cooling system in handhelds. The back is like 80% ventilation holes and the top portion is like 85%. If it still runs hotter compared to others, that would mean Intel chips currently is not suited for handhelds. Also the biggest drawback of a handheld with too much ventilation holes like Claw is like there’s zero water protection, even a sweaty hands could very much potentially destroy the unit. Its a handheld so it’ll be carried in different places, so water splashes are common occurrence, in Claw situation its deadly.

[@crestofhonor2349]

@@samserious1337 It's not like the Ally runs hot anyways. It's still the quietest and coolest of the three major handhelds

[@AdmiralBison]

Many gamers don't care how much marketing fluff Intel puts out. Only lots of real-world gaming benchmarks, demonstrations, driver support and compatibility comparisons will be convincing. Intel are the ones playing catch up not leadership.

[@Asfanboy1]

I hope it flops bad drops the price to 600 and makes the Ally drop to 500. The deck is just too week these days.

[@kingforkings]

Intel did a tamper tantrum about AMD a few months ago. Do not get the Intel MSI Claw yet. Asus Ally seems really good and a foil isolates from the heat for the SD card. I probably get the LLGo. Ally is not too bad for Linux Support but very difficult for implementing HID (interfaces, any button) and Legion GO seems to have everything working. AMD right now is the best on Windows and Linux. Intel is known to only support new games and DX11 if lucky for games which treat Intel GPUs as integrated 650.

[@theo5675]

The ally is way better don’t buy this Intel isn’t efficient for handhelds

[@volcalstone]

It's more efficient this year but not as much as AMD still. It's close and the Intel ARC iGPU is a lot better this year but I would still stick with AMD for FSR and other features.

[@crestofhonor2349]

@@volcalstone FSR is not vendor specific and neither is XeSS. Both XeSS and FSR can be used on ANY GPU on the market as long as they're new enough

[@davidostar]

ShiTEL 😂, Nvidia please, GO LEARN TO INTEL HOW TO DEVELOP DRIVERS.

[@W3TFART]

It’s intel it will be garbage