MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ Lands at Best Buy for $1,799.99, Its Most Powerful Handheld Yet
Intel's Arc G3 Extreme makes it the fastest Windows handheld reviewers have tested, but the price sits $450 above a 32GB Legion Go 2 and lacks an OLED screen.
MSI's Claw 8 EX AI+ is now listed at Best Buy as model CG3EM-024US for $1,799.99. Reviewers rate it as the most powerful Windows gaming handheld they have tested, but its price is a hard sell even for committed enthusiasts (Tom's Hardware, TechRadar).
The chip behind the price
The Claw 8 EX AI+ runs Intel's Arc G3 Extreme processor with Arc B390 integrated graphics, 32GB of LPDDR5x-8533 RAM and a 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD. Tom's Hardware calls it the most powerful gaming handheld it has tested, and TechRadar reaches the same verdict. HotHardware says Arc G3 Extreme "takes the handheld crown" (HotHardware).
Digital Citizen measured 81.85 fps in Cyberpunk 2077 at 30W, against 46.75 fps for a handheld using AMD's Radeon 890M at the same power level, and recorded 290 minutes of gaming at 30W and 373 minutes at 15W (Digital Citizen).
| Specification | MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ (CG3EM-024US) |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Arc G3 Extreme |
| Graphics | Intel Arc B390 (integrated) |
| Memory | 32GB LPDDR5x-8533 |
| Storage | 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD, microSD Express slot |
| Display | 8-inch Full HD+ IPS touchscreen, 120Hz |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0 |
| Software | Windows 11 Home |
| Weight | 1.73 pounds |
| US price | $1,799.99 (earlier Best Buy listing: $1,699.99) |
Why the price is the story
The Lenovo Legion Go 2 with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD retails for $1,349.99 and includes an OLED display, which the Claw 8 EX AI+ lacks despite costing $450 more. The MSI's price has also moved up: Notebookcheck spotted an earlier Best Buy listing at $1,699.99 and noted that MSI had not announced official pricing at the time (Notebookcheck). TechRadar lists UK and Australian prices of £1,399.99 and AU$2,849.
MSI's own lineup shows the gap. The Claw 8 AI+, built around Intel's Core Ultra 200V "Lunar Lake" chip, launched at $899.99. The EX variant roughly doubles that for a faster chip, a trade that makes sense for buyers chasing maximum handheld performance but is harder to justify for casual players. Reviewers also flag the device's weight relative to rivals, and TechRadar notes that MSI's Center M software layer can be buggy.
MSI's handheld strategy
MSI is among the first PC makers, alongside Acer and OneXPlayer, to ship hardware built on Intel's Arc G3 platform, giving it an early performance lead in a category where AMD's Ryzen Z-series chips power devices like the ROG Ally X and Legion Go. Whether that lead holds once AMD's next handheld chips arrive will decide whether the premium is justified.
No Indian price or launch has been announced.
What to watch next
Watch for any price adjustment from MSI and for more benchmark comparisons against the Legion Go 2 and other 32GB, 1TB handhelds.
'/%3E%3Cstop offset='1' stop-color='rgb(40,18,32)'/%3E%3C/linearGradient%3E%3C/defs%3E%3Crect width='1200' height='675' fill='url(%23b)'/%3E%3Cpath d='M600 100L840 190V360C840 470 740 550 600 600C460 550 360 470 360 360V190Z' fill='rgb(30,70,110)' stroke='rgb(110,200,255)' stroke-width='10'/%3E%3Ccircle cx='600' cy='320' r='55' fill='rgb(10,20,34)'/%3E%3Crect x='578' y='340' width='44' height='110' rx='10' fill='rgb(10,20,34)'/%3E%3Cpath d='M640 130L590 260L650 330L585 470' fill='none' stroke='rgb(255,110,100)' stroke-width='9' stroke-linecap='round'/%3E%3Cg fill='rgb(110,200,255)' opacity='.6'%3E%3Crect x='120' y='520' width='140' height='14' rx='7'/%3E%3Crect x='120' y='550' width='90' height='14' rx='7'/%3E%3Crect x='940' y='140' width='140' height='14' rx='7'/%3E%3Crect x='990' y='170' width='90' height='14' rx='7'/%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/svg%3E)
