MSI Claw A8 BZ2EM Review – The Best Value Z2 Extreme PC Handheld?

If you're aft a high-end PC handheld, the hottest options are invariably powered by AMD's Z2 Extreme processors, similar the headline-grabbing Asus ROG Xbox Ally X and OLED-equipped Lenovo Legion Go 2. There is simply a 3rd prime present – MSI's caller Claw A8 BZ2EM, which comes betwixt the Asus and Lenovo machines successful price, portion offering a ample 8-inch display, agelong artillery beingness and the caller Xbox Full Screen Experience. Does the caller Claw bash capable to displacement the needle, oregon is the BZ2EM destined to the aforesaid anonymous destiny arsenic MSI's archetypal Intel-powered Claw handheld?

MSI Claw A8 BZ2EM – Design

The Claw A8 BZ2EM offers a fewer plan tweaks versus the erstwhile Intel-powered Claw A8 AI+, with a redesigned fastener layout and relocated fans that aren't excessively dissimilar to the competing Asus ROG Xbox Ally X oregon Lenovo Legion Go 2. However, the sharp, angular lines and comparatively slim dimensions bash acceptable it apart, particularly from the much rounded Lenovo machine. My reappraisal portion came successful white, but a lime greenish exemplary is besides available; the operation is integrative throughout.

The backmost of the instrumentality looks a spot basal compared to its much sculpted rivals, with salient ridges moving adjacent the near and close sides to springiness your hands other purchase, and comparatively tiny enarthrosis buttons and triggers, but there's lone a tiny nett compromise successful presumption of wide comfort. I didn't find the instrumentality excessively dense to clasp for longer gaming sessions, but coming to this people of instrumentality from thing similar a Switch oregon Switch 2, past determination is inactive a noticeable summation successful heft.

The Hall Effect sticks and triggers enactment brilliantly, and ought to past overmuch longer than the potentiometer-based alternatives connected earlier gaming handhelds and last-gen gamepads. There's besides RGB lighting circling the joysticks, which tin beryllium customised oregon disabled, and 2 further buttons connected the rear which tin beryllium customised.

The bully quality is that the speakers and show (on which much successful a bit) are mostly excellent, truthful you tin go rather immersed, particularly portion holding the Claw adjacent to your face. Of course, there's besides Bluetooth, positive a 3.5mm larboard and 2 USB-C (Thunderbolt 4) ports up apical for connecting headphones. The 2 USB-C ports are capable, supporting DisplayPort Alt Mode, but arsenic they're close adjacent to each other, highly wide USB-C dongles whitethorn artifact the different port. I similar devices that divided USB-C ports betwixt the apical and bottommost for that crushed – the Ayaneo 2S adjacent comes with 2 astatine the apical and 1 connected the bottom! – but astatine slightest you get aggregate USB-C ports successful general, making USB-C hubs somewhat little essential. A fingerprint scholar is built into the powerfulness fastener connected the apical left, truthful you don't request to usage the touchscreen (or gamepad) to log into Windows.

The BZ2EM comes with a larger 2280 NVMe slot compared to its Intel-powered brother, meaning full-size desktop NVMe SSDs tin beryllium installed if you fancy a retention upgrade; these are typically cheaper per gigabyte than the smaller 2230 drives often required for PC handhelds. With 1TB by default, you're astir apt improbable to request that upgrade excessively soon, though.

A MicroSD slot is besides available, and makes for an adjacent much affordable mode to adhd (slower) crippled storage. 24GB of RAM is besides included, which is little than the 32GB recovered connected the Intel-based Claw but the aforesaid arsenic the different Z2 Extreme handhelds from Asus and Lenovo.

MSI Claw A8 BZ2EM – Display

The MSI Claw A8 is equipped with an eight-inch 1920 x 1200 IPS show that's a tad taller than that connected the ROG Xbox Ally X, with a 16:10 facet ratio alternatively of the accustomed 16:9. That other surface existent property isn't hugely impactful for astir games oregon watching videos, but it is bully for speechmaking quality and scrolling done your library. You bash wage a tiny terms successful presumption of show though, with the other pixel number meaning that frame-rates successful afloat GPU-limited scenarios ought to beryllium astir 90 percent of what they would beryllium connected an equivalent 1920x1080 display. We'll spot if that quality is reflected successful the show numbers, but determination are plentifulness of different factors with the imaginable to interaction frame-rates, truthful it's not a deal-breaker by immoderate means.

The Claw's surface does enactment precocious refresh gaming, topping retired astatine 120Hz, which provides a bully boost to temporal solution that is cardinal for fast-paced oregon timing-sensitive games, whether tracking targets successful Call of Duty oregon timing parries successful Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Perhaps much critically, VRR is besides disposable to creaseless retired uneven frame-rates, trim judder and destruct surface tearing without the accepted input lag punishment of v-sync. VRR is inactive not modular amongst handheld displays, contempt these handhelds being overmuch much resource-constrained than desktop PCs oregon consoles, truthful its inclusion present is worthy celebrating.

Cloudy skies guarantee 500 nits is much than capable brightness. Denizens of sunnier climes whitethorn disagree!

Pixel effect times present are immoderate mode disconnected top-class Fast IPS monitors – arsenic good arsenic OLEDs of immoderate statement – but fixed that you're improbable to beryllium clutching successful Counter-Strike 2 here, this isn't excessively disagreeable. Finally, the surface gets agleam capable for usage successful well-lit rooms oregon overcast days outdoors, maxing retired astatine astir 500 nits. That's immoderate mode disconnected the highest figures of caller flagship smartphones, but much than capable for astir use-cases, and I had nary issues portion investigating successful admittedly British conditions.

MSI Claw A8 BZ2EM – Software

This incarnation of the MSI Claw A8 shares a Z2 Extreme processor with the ROG Xbox Ally X, truthful it's possibly nary astonishment that the Claw has besides been updated with enactment for the caller Xbox Full Screen Experience. I won't recap its features successful full, arsenic Jackie has already done truthful comprehensively successful the Xbox Ally X review, but suffice it to accidental that the main thrust arrives connected MSI's handheld intact.

You tin take to footwear straight into a full-screen Xbox app, with games from aggregate sources (e.g. Steam, GOG, Ubisoft Connect, etc) each disposable successful a unified launcher, and unnecessary Windows services are blocked from starting, perchance allowing for amended performance. You tin easy driblet into the afloat Windows desktop, a process that takes little than a second, but you request to reboot the instrumentality to regain its afloat show imaginable afterwards.

The predominant quality of this "intelligent gaming" pop-up vexes me. Sometimes, successful the Xbox Full Screen Experience mode, it covers the full screen, arsenic seen here, making it doubly annoying.

This each worked smoothly, but the MSI Center M exertion isn't integrated arsenic gracefully arsenic the equivalent Armoury Crate bundle connected the ROG Xbox Ally devices. For one, the MSI bundle pops up implicit the apical of the Xbox interface connected footwear (until you manually disable it from doing so), and annoying pop-ups look whenever MSI's "AI" detects you are entering a crippled (until you manually disable it from doing so). I admit the instrumentality (theoretically) tuning its show based connected what it's doing, but it's frustrating to spot a "INTELLIGENT GAMING" pop-up virtually screen the screen, particularly erstwhile you're already in a crippled and you've conscionable clicked connected a paper point (something that happened successful Call of Duty: Black Ops 6). Once these elements are disabled, the MSI Center M app is comparatively barebones successful its Game Bar integration, but you bash person the enactment to acceptable customized powerfulness limits and instrumentality curves, commencement games (yup, it's different launcher) and toggle assorted settings.

While Windows 11 is present amended suited to gaming handhelds, with a amended setup process and much applicable features, there's inactive a ways to spell until it matches what Valve has accomplished with SteamOS. The Steam Deck's operating strategy remains importantly much streamlined, and with the Steam Machine and Steam Frame connected the mode aboriginal adjacent year, I wouldn't expect its improvement to dilatory down immoderate clip soon. I'd suggest trying SteamOS (probably via Bazzite) connected immoderate gaming handheld you extremity up buying, including the Claw, if you're not already acquainted with it from the Steam Deck.

MSI Claw A8 BZ2EM – Performance

The Claw A8 BZ2EM is equipped with the premiere handheld chipset close now, AMD's Ryzen Z2 Extreme, which offers a tiny but meaningful show vantage implicit handhelds similar the archetypal ROG Ally oregon Steam Deck OLED. The Z2 Extreme is besides recovered successful the ROG Xbox Ally X and the Lenovo Legion Go 2, some of which we've tested, truthful I was funny to spot however MSI's mentation compares. Despite sharing a chipset, show tin alteration importantly depending connected powerfulness modes, cooling imaginable and resolution, truthful however does the Claw fare?

In short, the Claw A8 BZ2EM is an mean performer, turning successful performances that necktie oregon way the Legion Go 2 and Xbox Ally X. Starting with the 3DMark synthetic benchmarks, each moving astatine 1080p, the Steel Nomad DX12 ray tracing trial has the Claw scoring 597 points, coming successful betwixt the 606-point Xbox Ally X and the 588-point Legion Go 2. Time Spy, an earlier DX12 trial without RT, has the Claw trailing some rivals astatine 3711 points; the Legion Go 2 is somewhat faster astatine 3936 points and the Xbox Ally X leads astatine 4098 points. The Night Raid trial is much oriented towards mobile devices, and has the aforesaid bid with akin margins: Claw A8 BZ2EM astatine 29.8K points, Legion Go 2 astatine 31.7K points and the Xbox Ally X astatine 33.8K points.

For a comparatively slim-line gaming handheld, the Claw A8 BZ2EM delivers awesome longevity.

Actual gaming benchmarks amusement worryingly larger margins, with the Claw scoring a 37fps mean successful the integrated Black Ops 6 portion moving successful the Xbox Full Screen Experience, trailing the Legion Go 2 (39fps) and Xbox Ally X (41fps). Given that the crippled is moving astatine somewhat antithetic resolutions, this benignant of 5 to 10 percent borderline for the 2 1920x1200 machines against the 1920x1080 Xbox Ally X is precisely what we would expect. Note that we're investigating astatine utmost settings utilizing FSR 3 prime upscaling, truthful there's immoderate latitude present to crook graphical niceties down successful lawsuit you privation to play multiplayer astatine a coagulated 60fps.

Moving to Cyberpunk 2077, utilizing precocious settings and FSR prime upscaling, the Claw again trails, with a 34fps mean versus 37fps connected the Legion Go 2 and 44fps (!) connected the Xbox Ally X. That's a larger borderline of triumph for the Xbox Ally X, arsenic it runs astir 30 percent faster than the Claw.

The Claw equals the Legion Go 2 successful Forza, with matched 65fps averages, with the Xbox Ally X immoderate 18 percent faster astatine 77fps. That's nether the Full Screen Experience; if we tally the aforesaid trial connected the Windows desktop, the Claw scores 59fps. Going the different way, we tin boost frame-rates to an awesome 72fps mean moving nether FSE and with the handheld's maximum powerfulness mode engaged.

MSI Claw A8 BZ2EM – Battery Life

Battery beingness tests utilized to beryllium casual – you would complaint a laptop to 100 percent, unplug it, ticker it for a fewer hours and past spell down to the pub. These days, modern chipsets and screens are bully astatine truly stretching the progressively precocious capableness batteries they're being paired with, and adjacent connected a gaming handheld you tin expect much than a afloat workday of artillery beingness erstwhile utilizing it for airy bureau tasks. The MSI Claw BZ2EM doesn't disappoint, with PCMark10's artillery trial concluding aft a marathon 11 hours and 31 minutes. That's a spot much than the ROG Xbox Ally X, which managed 9 hours and 48 minutes, and the Lenovo Legion Go 2, which capped retired astatine 10 hours and 52 minutes.

The Claw A8 BZ2EM ne'er got excessively blistery portion testing, which speaks to its thermal solution's efficiency. Note the absorbing raised grips connected each side, and the brace of other buttons successful white.

Of course, investigating the artillery portion gaming is much relevant, and playing done the much challenging DLC areas of Cyberpunk 2077, it took 2 hours and 48 minutes earlier the artillery conked out. For context, the Xbox Ally X managed astir 2 hours and 34 minutes successful akin testing, a small up of the Lenovo Legion Go 2 astatine 2 hours and 17 minutes. That makes the Claw A8 the champion performer of the three, though not by capable of a borderline to genuinely marque a difference.

MSI Claw A8 BZ2EM – Price

At £850 successful the UK, the Claw A8 BZ2EM is £50 much costly than the £800 ROG Xbox Ally X. That makes it 1 of the astir costly gaming handhelds available, though for discourse the lone different mainstream Z2 Extreme handheld is the £1100 Lenovo Legion Go 2, truthful it's each relative. I don't deliberation that there's overmuch to abstracted the Claw A8 BZ2EM and ROG Xbox Ally X successful presumption of hardware, beyond the somewhat larger surface connected the MSI machine, truthful the pricing present isn't excessively surprising. Of course, you're inactive paying a important premium present for portability, with likewise costly laptops and desktops offering overmuch amended performance, but the Claw A8 BZ2EM is astatine slightest successful interaction with different premium handhelds equipped with best-in-class chipsets.

Will is lawman tech exertion for IGN, specialising successful PC hardware, sim racing and show tech. He has been publishing astir games and exertion since 2001 (age 12). Will was formerly Deputy Editor astatine Digital Foundry. He is presently playing Battlefield 6.