asus rog ally – TheNewsHub https://thenewshub.in Mon, 16 Sep 2024 15:13:47 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 Asus ROG Ally X Review: An All-Weather Friend https://thenewshub.in/2024/09/16/asus-rog-ally-x-review-an-all-weather-friend/ https://thenewshub.in/2024/09/16/asus-rog-ally-x-review-an-all-weather-friend/?noamp=mobile#respond Mon, 16 Sep 2024 15:13:47 +0000 https://thenewshub.in/2024/09/16/asus-rog-ally-x-review-an-all-weather-friend/

The Asus ROG Ally laid down the gauntlet for Windows-based gaming handhelds when it arrived in 2023. While it had its flaws, including an SD card reader that was unpardonably prone to malfunction, the Ally established itself as the device to beat in the category despite subsequent competition from Lenovo and MSI. Earlier this year, Arnold Su, Vice President of the company’s consumer and gaming PC business, told me that the company didn’t believe in waiting. The Taiwanese firm’s strategy to be the first to market across device categories has paid dividends in India, so why wait when you bring something new?

And Asus has struck the iron when it’s hot, doubling down on its handheld bet. The ROG Ally X was unveiled in June ahead of Computex Taipei 2024 and launched in India last month. It’s available in a single 1TB SSD storage variant that now comes with 24GB of RAM. It still runs on the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chipset as its predecessor and sports the same 7-inch display. However, there are many changes — both within and without. The Asus ROG Ally X is also more expensive than the original Ally, coming in at Rs. 89,990 in India.

But are the upgrades packed in this refresh worth the higher price? At Computex, when I first got a hands-on opportunity to try the Ally X, I felt that Asus had made all the right choices for a mid-gen refresh of the ROG Ally. After spending some time testing the device, it’s clear that the company took no half-measures. 

The ROG Ally X dwarfs the Nintendo Switch

Asus ROG Ally X Design: Ergonomic improvements

  • Dimensions – 280mm (width) x 111mm (height) x 24.7 ~ 36.9mm (depth)
  • Weight – 678g
  • Colour – Black

Asus returned to the drawing board to make the new Ally more ergonomic. While the handheld retains the visual language of its predecessor — barring the Black colourway, there’s little that differentiates the Ally X from the Ally at first glance — there are studied design tweaks all over to make the handheld more comfortable and natural to, well, hold in your hands. Most notably, the grips feature a more pronounced curve than the original ROG Ally — taller by 4.5mm, so the rear side nestles into your palms rather than digging against them. The grips are also textured to resist slips, but these are a little more prominent than necessary. The ROG-themed textures on the rear ended up creating a bit of friction against my palm during longer playing sessions, making them sweat more than usual.

On the other hand, the textured rubber on the joysticks feels really good and prevents your thumbs from slipping off during intense play. The thumbsticks also sport deeper concave grooves on top for your thumbs to settle in comfortably. Asus also claims that the joysticks on the ROG Ally X are twice as durable as the ones on its first handheld — rated for 5 million rotation cycles. The RGB halo effect around the sticks also adds a bit of flair to the handheld.

rog ally x front ally x

The ROG Ally X has a more ergonomic design than its predecessor

The hall-effect triggers are wider and sport a slightly more curved contour. The D-pad has been redesigned to be less sticky and floaty, resulting in satisfyingly crisp feedback. This is one of the best D-pads I’ve used on a contemporary controller or gamepad. The left and right bumpers and the ABXY buttons are quite clicky, too. The two rear macro buttons are now smaller to reduce the chance of accidental presses while playing.

There’s a change in the port selection, too. Asus has dropped the proprietary ROG XG Mobile Interface from the original Ally for a second USB Type-C port. This is appreciated, but it would have been better if one of the USB ports was placed on the bottom side of the handheld rather than both positioned side-by-side on the top spine. The ROG Ally X is also a bit thicker and 70g heavier than its predecessor, but it feels right at home in the hands. The construction is solid, and the handheld has a robust presence while maintaining a slick and clean design aesthetic.

ally x back ally x

The grips feature a slip-resistant texture that is a bit coarse for my liking

Asus ROG Ally X Display: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

  • Size – 7-inch “IPS-level” touch display
  • Resolution – Full-HD (1920×1080 pixels)
  • Refresh rate – 120Hz

The ROG Ally X retains the display from the Ally. The 7-inch multitouch LCD panel goes up to 500nits of peak brightness. It’s crisp with accurate and vivid colour reproduction. Asus also claims the Corning Gorilla Glass DCX coating on the panel reduces reflections, which improves visibility in bright and outdoor environments. However, the best feature of the display is the variable refresh rate support, which reduces screen tearing and stuttering to provide smoother framerates while gaming.

Asus, however, missed a trick by not upgrading the Ally X with an OLED panel. The handheld’s LCD display is excellent, but an OLED screen makes a big difference in the viewing experience, especially while gaming.

ally x top ally x

The ROG Ally X sports two USC Type-C ports on the top

Asus ROG Ally X Software: Close the Windows

  • OS – Windows 11 Home 
  • Proprietary app – Armoury Crate SE 

The ROG Ally X runs on Windows 11 Home, and there’s nothing really new to add to the conversation about Microsoft’s OS on gaming handhelds. Windows is far from ideal on a 7-inch touch display, and the OS experience on Windows-based handhelds like the Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and MSI Claw remains consistently frustrating. At this point, Microsoft should work with its partners to optimise its OS for the handheld form factor, but that’s unlikely. Valve has recently confirmed that it would allow third-party handhelds to run its Linux-based SteamOS, but it’s also unlikely that manufacturers would ditch Windows and run Valve’s OS out-of-the-box.

Here’s where the improved Armory Crate SE comes in. Asus’ software brings an intuitive console-like interface that is a hub for all your games and your portal to dive deep into handheld settings. There are plenty of refinements that make Armory Crate smarter and more efficient. The game library can be customised to your preferences and gets a favourites tabs to quickly jump into your go-to games. A deeper level of customisation comes to settings, too. Now, you can adjust custom TDP values and assign additional memory to GPU — the Ally X allocates 4GB of its memory to the integrated graphics by default, but with the bumped-up RAM, I increased it to 8GB. You can also manually adjust the fan curve for both fans.

Overall, Armoury Crate SE adds a hassle-free interface to Windows, and I found myself working off the software most of the time, whether to access games across services like Steam and Xbox or to tweak performance settings and personalise the Ally X. The Command Centre, which can be brought up by tapping the dedicated button that hugs the left side of the display, is also a handy way to quickly select power profiles, switch between Gamepad and Desktop control modes, take screenshots, and more. Contrary to the quick settings overlay on the MSI Claw A1M, the command centre on the Ally is responsive and free from stutters and touch input issues.

allu x buttons ally x

The joysticks feel sturdy, with a textured rubber top preventing slips

Asus ROG Ally X Performance: Consistency is key

  • Processor – AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme
  • RAM – 24GB LPDDR5
  • Storage – 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD + M.2 SSD (2280) slot for additional storage
  • Graphics – AMD Radeon Graphics (RDNA 3, up to 8.6 teraflops)

The ROG Ally X comes with the same Ryzen Z1 series processor seen on its predecessor that works across a TDP range of 9-25W (it can further go down to a minimum of 7W TDP in Manual settings) on DC power (on battery). Power limit values can be adjusted to your liking in the Manual power profile, or “Operating Mode,” as Asus calls it. Aside from Manual, there are three pre-defined operating modes — Silent (13W), Performance (17W), and Turbo (25W). On AC power (while charging), Turbo mode goes up to 30W TDP even though it’s the same AMD chipset, the Ally X’s abundant and faster memory, its efficient utilisation of power and the VRR-supported screen results in some of the smoothest gameplay I’ve seen on a handheld.

Playing a demanding title like Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1080p resolution and Medium graphical preset at 17W (Performance mode) resulted in very respectable frame rates in the range of 35-45fps, with densely forested areas, heavily populated settlements and intense combat sections seeing frame rates on the lower side of that range. The average frame rate registered in the in-game benchmark stood at 39fps.

ally x tomb raider ally x

Playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider on the Ally X

At 25W Turbo mode, the game performed in the 40-50fps range, with the average frame rate coming in at a slightly improved 42fps. On AC power with Turbo mode boosted to 30W TDP, the average frame rate on Shadow of the Tomb Raider showed a marked improvement at 44fps. And since it’s a small screen, you can easily lower the resolution to recover more frames without a noticeable hit to image quality. For instance, with the same Medium graphical preset at 720p, the average frame rate in the game shot up to 63fps.

On Forza Horizon 5, at Medium present and 1080p resolution, the average frame rate registered at 76fps on 30W Power mode while charging. When unplugged at 25W TDP, the racing title performed at an average of 72fps. And on the 17W Performance profile, the average came in at 68FPS. These are really good performance numbers on fairly demanding titles.

ally x windows ally x

Windows remains a frustrating experience on gaming handhelds

Handhelds, however, lend themselves to smaller, less demanding titles, even if they perform admirably and adequately on triple-A games. The smaller screen, too, is more suited to platformers and 2D side-scrollers, as expansive vistas of open-world 3D titles can feel diminished on a 7-inch display. On older and indie games, the Ally X predictably shines. On Hollow Knight, for instance, playing at 1080p resolution with High settings on the 13W Silent operating mode yields framerates consistently above 110fps.

On Hades, I got similar results, with consistent framerates nearing 120fps with negligible dips during intense combat encounters. And while playing, Jusant, a slightly more demanding puzzle platformer, I saw framerates in the range of 45-55fps. At 1080p with Medium settings, while playing in the 17W Performance mode, I noticed some minor dips. On 25W Turbo mode on DC power, the framerates climbed up to 55-60fps range. And with the charger plugged in with 30W TDP, I saw a slight improvement, with performance topping out at around 65fps.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider 9 15 2024 7 40 38 PM 1 shadow of the tomb raider

Shadow of the Tomb Raider on the ROG Ally X

Asus ROG Ally X Battery: Best in the business

  • Battery capacity – 80Whr
  • Charger – 65W AC adapter

The Asus ROG Ally X’s biggest upgrade comes in the battery department, with the handheld doubling the 40Whr cell of the original Ally. It’s a truly transformative improvement that makes the Ally X a legitimate portable device. Most Windows-based handhelds, including the first-generation ROG Ally, top out at around an hour or an hour-and-a-half of playtime on demanding games. The ROG Ally X, with its massive 80Whr battery and efficient power management, can easily last up to two hours while running modern titles. I got just above two-and-a-half hours of gameplay on Shadow of the Tomb Raider before the battery died. Most of my playthrough was unplugged using Turbo mode, but I switched to 13W TDP once the battery reached the 20 percent mark.

On less demanding older and indie games, you can stick to the Silent operating mode at 13W or set it even lower manually to reduce battery drain and get excellent performance and extended play sessions of up to four hours. On low wattage, with brightness set to a minimum, you could go above and beyond on titles like Celeste, Hades and Spiritfarer. The excellent battery life on the ROG Ally X puts it convincingly above its competition. The handheld stays cool and silent during extended play sessions, too, with Asus bringing improvements to its thermal management.

Verdict

When it launched in 2023, the Asus ROG Ally set a high baseline for Windows-based gaming handhelds. It couldn’t touch the Steam Deck OLED in terms of battery efficiency, but its impressive performance on modern games, its compact and lightweight design, and its 120Hz display made it the handheld to beat. With the ROG Ally X, Asus has clearly kept what already worked well and improved what was lacking. The device’s bigger battery, faster (and more) memory, and better cooling results in an efficient and consistent performer that beats out the competition on nearly every metric.

The cost of those crucial upgrades, however, is rather steep. At Rs. 89,990, the ROG Ally X is nearly double the price of the AMD Z1 Extreme model of the original Ally, which currently sells at Rs. 49,990 after price cuts. That vast gap makes it a bit difficult to recommend Asus’ latest handheld; an OLED screen would have definitely sweetened the deal. But if you’re looking for the best Windows-based handheld in the market right now, it’s even more difficult to recommend anything else but the ROG Ally X. With its best-in-class battery and considerable performance gains, the Ally X is your all-weather friend.

Pros

  • Excellent battery life
  • Consistent performance
  • Ergonomic design changes
  • Clicky, tactile buttons
  • Improved thermal management
  • Smooth Armoury Crate SE experience

Cons

  • No OLED display
  • Windows OS
  • Steep pricing

Ratings (out of 10)

  • Design: 8
  • Display: 7
  • Software: 7
  • Performance: 9
  • Battery Life: 9
  • Value for Money: 6
  • Overall: 8
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MSI Claw A1M Review: Late to the Party https://thenewshub.in/2024/09/09/msi-claw-a1m-review-late-to-the-party/ https://thenewshub.in/2024/09/09/msi-claw-a1m-review-late-to-the-party/?noamp=mobile#respond Mon, 09 Sep 2024 15:48:44 +0000 https://thenewshub.in/2024/09/09/msi-claw-a1m-review-late-to-the-party/

Technology might seem like it’s constantly moving forward on a curve, but it’s often cyclical. Flip phones, instant cameras, and record players have all made a comeback. Now it’s the gaming handheld’s turn. While Nintendo has always had a handheld in the market, Windows-based portable gaming devices seem to have taken off in the past couple of years, with major manufacturers rushing to bring their products to market.

MSI is one of those manufacturers. The Taiwanese firm unveiled the MSI Claw A1M, its Intel-powered handheld gaming PC, in the sea of AMD-powered handheld gaming PCs at CES 2024. The device was officially launched in India in March, days after its global release, but initial availability was suspect. Now, the Claw is available in the Indian market in three variants — a base model running on Intel Core Ultra 5 processor and packing 512GB of SSD storage, a middle-tier model with Core Ultra 7 chipset and the same storage capacity and a top-end Core Ultra 7-powered model with 1TB of SSD storage.

The Core Ultra 5 model of the MSI Claw A1M launched in India at Rs. 88,990, while the Core Ultra 7 models were priced at Rs. 96,990 and Rs. 99,990 for the 512GB and 1TB storage variants, respectively. MSI has since revised the pricing for the handheld, slashing it down considerably to Rs. 59,990 for the base variant, with the two Core Ultra 7 variants coming in at Rs. 66,990 and Rs. 69,990.

But is the Meteor Lake-powered MSI Claw A1M a worthy competitor to products from Asus and Lenovo that run on the AMD Ryzen Z1 series of processors built specifically for gaming handhelds? I spent an extended period of time testing out the MSI Claw A1M, and while there are a few things the handheld does well, there’s a lot that misses the mark. As a Windows-based gaming handheld, the MSI Claw is competing with the ROG Ally and the Legion Go, but it often feels like it’s going against its own flaws.

The MSI Claw is much bigger and beefier than the Nintendo Switch

MSI Claw A1M Design: The right fit

  • Dimensions – 294mm (width) x 117mm (depth) x 21.2mm (height)
  • Weight – 675g
  • Colour – Black

If you picked up the Claw and ignored the MSI branding on the front and back, you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for the Asus ROG Ally. The Claw A1M arrived on the heels of the Ally, and you can’t help but feel that MSI took a few notes. I didn’t have the original ROG Ally at hand to compare, but the Claw sports a strikingly similar appearance to the ROG Ally X, especially since the refreshed handheld from Asus now comes in black.

claw ally msi claw

The MSI Claw bears a striking resemblance to the ROG Ally

The Claw A1M is comfortable to hold despite weighing a little on the heavier side at 675g. My hands never tired of holding it up, even when I played on it straight for a couple of hours. The all-black plastic construction gives it a sturdy feel, and the grips’ angular curves settle into your palms reasonably naturally. The handheld’s ergonomic design and efficient layout ensure that you’re never sweating and stretching to reach a button, even if you have short thumbs like me.

The handheld, however, lacks a design flair — something to make it stand out. The ABXY buttons aren’t colour coded either, leaving the RGB lights to do the heavy lifting in terms of improving the overall dull look of the Claw. The ABXY face buttons and the Hall-Effect analogue sticks feel clicky and responsive, but the D-pad and the bumpers are a bit floaty and don’t give satisfying feedback. The four quick action buttons hugging either side of the display that bring up View, Menu, MSI Center M software and Quick Settings overlay also lack pronounced feedback.

msi claw back 1 1 claw

The MSI Claw sports vents on its backside

MSI Claw A1M Display: Gets the job done

  • Size – 7-inch “IPS-level” touch display
  • Resolution – Full-HD (1,920×1,080 pixels)
  • Refresh Rate – 120Hz 

The Claw’s 7-inch touch-enabled panel is a highlight. While this screen size is a little small for some Windows-based tasks (if you intend to use the handheld PC as a PC), it’s more than adequate for gaming — especially smaller indie titles and platformers. The display also goes up to 500 nits of peak brightness — enough for when you’re outdoors but not when you’re under direct sunlight. You also might want to keep the brightness on the lower side when indoors and during nighttime to conserve battery.

The screen is crisp and has good colours and responsive touch functions. I found myself navigating the Windows maze with a combination of the left analog stick as cursor control in Desktop Mode (we’ll get the two control modes later) and a touchscreen for basic input. The downside, however, is that the screen picks up fingerprints rather quickly, and a protector is recommended to help avoid scratches and smudges.

claw top claw

The Claw’s top side comes with a microSD card slot, a USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack

MSI Claw A1M Software: More Windows PC than console

On the OS side, the MSI Claw A1M runs Windows 11 Home, with the handheld suffering familiar issues found in Windows-based handhelds. While Microsoft’s OS offers versatility and flexibility, the operating system just isn’t built to be intuitive on a 7-inch touchscreen. The constant bottlenecks, bugs, and run-of-the-mill Windows stuff prevent you from just picking up the handheld and playing. The never-ending Windows and Intel driver updates tend to make you groan every time they show up, and the handheld starts feeling like an insatiable beast that needs to be on a constant drip of updates to function.

Some OS-based issues also seem exacerbated on the MSI Claw A1M. In one instance, the taskbar stubbornly remained pinned inside the game window, with quitting and restarting the only measure that worked. In another instance, I’d keep getting notifications for an Intel driver update despite downloading the said update earlier. These issues, while small, tend to accumulate and become obstructive in the way of having fun. A handheld gaming device is all about convenience. It’s about picking it up, playing on your couch or bed, and not worrying about fixing stuff before you get it up and running. That’s where SteamOS on the Steam Deck, which offers a console-like intuitive experience, wins out over every other Windows-based handheld gaming PC.

claw intel claw

The Windows OS and its never-ending updates can leave you frustrated

Windows-based gaming handhelds come with proprietary and custom software built by the manufacturer to streamline the user experience and act as a bridge to console-like intuitiveness. Asus puts the Armoury Crate SE software in the ROG Ally, and Lenovo offers the Legion Space interface on the Legion Go. These double as a central software hub from where you can launch your games across different services, tweak device settings, check for firmware updates, remap controller buttons, access captured media and more. While these don’t adequately mimic the native OS experience, they do help tide over some of the frustrations connected with Windows.

The Claw A1M comes with a similar software, called the MSI Center M. Contrary to make the software experience more palatable, the interface ends up marring the experience further. When it works, it works fine, but the MSI Center M, in my experience, remained a buggy, unreliable mess. The launcher presented a laggy interface that kept running into input issues. The Center M software, which can be brought up at any point by tapping the Claw key on the left edge of the display, often failed to register the left analog stick and button input, leaving me to rely on D-pad and touch input. Restarting the device fixed the problem every time, but it happened so often that I practically stopped using the custom interface altogether, only going in to tweak some settings.

claw center m claw

The MSI Center M software presented several issues

MSI’s Quick Settings overlay was the worst UI/UX culprit on the device. To begin with, it often fails just to show up. I would press the Quick Settings key multiple times, only for the overlay to pop up seconds later. And bafflingly, when you tap on a particular option within the overlay to toggle it on or off, the touch input also registers on the window behind it. So, if you bring up the Quick Settings menu inside a game to monitor performance or take a screenshot, you’re likely to end up triggering an in-game action. 

Both the MSI Centre M and the Quick Settings interface let you swap between the two control modes — Desktop and Gamepad. The former is meant to be used outside of gaming while performing Windows-based tasks, while the latter is your primary control mode for playing games, essentially mimicking an Xbox controller. While you can manually change your control mode at any point, ideally, the handheld should detect the task you’re performing and switch to the mode best suited to it. And the MSI Claw A1M does that — except it did it so unreliably and inconsistently that almost never had the controls switched to Gamepad mode when entering a game. 

IMG 6306 1 1 claw

The Claw has trouble switching between the best-suited control mode

This would result in controller inputs not working, and manually switching the control mode wouldn’t fix the issue, either. So, I resorted to fidgeting with the in-game menu with the help of the touchscreen and the on-screen keyboard to change input methods or just give up, quit and restart — I found myself going with the latter after running out of patience at some point. 

MSI Claw A1M Performance: Not quite there

  • Processor – Up to Intel Core Ultra 7 
  • RAM – 16GB of LPDDR5-6400
  • Storage – Up to 1TB NVMe SSD PCIe Gen4 + M.2 2230 SSD slot for additional storage
  • Graphics – Intel Arc graphics

Before talking about performance, I should mention that the Core Ultra 7-powered review unit I received had already been used and had some software installed on it. As such, performance results could vary from that of a retail unit. Performance on the Claw A1M, despite a host of updates, remains inconsistent.

The chipset works across a TDP range of 20-35W on DC power (battery) and 20-40W on AC (while charging). These PL1 and PL2 (lower and higher power limits under load) values can be manually adjusted in settings, or you can choose between a selection of five pre-defined power profiles, or as MSI calls it, “User Scenarios” — Performance, Balanced, Super Battery, Manual and AI Engine — that run across a TDP range of 20-35W when unplugged (which is how I mostly played). Performance is supposed to yield the best framerates but drains power quickly. It’s best to use this profile while playing demanding modern games.

Playing Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on High preset, for instance, yielded frame rates in the range of 40-45fps. The average frame rate dropped to the low 30s in busy areas or action-heavy sequences. At Medium settings, the frame rates climbed to the 45-50fps range, with the average hovering around the 47fps mark. Playing the game in Low settings did not recover a lot of frames, with the average frame rate settling around 50fps. These numbers were observed in the Performance user scenario with Intel’s XeSS upscaling turned on in settings and the game running at 1080p resolution.

Switching the user scenario to Super Battery in a graphically demanding title like Ghost of Tsushima led to the frame rates taking a considerable hit. In this power profile, even on Low graphical present (albeit with 1080p resolution), performance stayed in the range of 35-45fps, with dips in busier areas. Changing the preset to High would bring performance firmly in the 30fps range, with the average hovering around the 33fps mark — certain sections would drag it further down in the 20s. Playing when plugging in the charger did not make a marked difference in performance while playing in any power profile.

msi claw gaming claw

Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on the MSI Claw

The MSI Claw A1M can run triple-A titles at respectable framerates, but the performance remained inconsistent, with stuttering and lagging a regular feature. The situation has improved since the handheld’s launch, with MSI pushing updates to improve performance, but issues clearly persist. The Claw gives a much better account of itself when playing less demanding or older games. Portal 2, for instance, ran without any hiccups at framerates consistently above 100fps — even with all graphical settings on High and the user scenario set to Super Battery.

Performance on indie platformer Spiritfarer was consistently above 90fps, crossing the 100fps mark on the Performance power profile. On a slightly more demanding but older title like Dying Light, I got framerates in the 80-90fps range in the Performance profile with settings turned High. There were some dips, but it never went below the 60fps mark. In fact, even when I switched to the Super Battery profile, the game ran comfortably in the 60-70fps range with some graphical settings turned to Medium or Low.

There are a few things that the Claw gets right. Audio is implemented well; the front-firing speakers are loud and crisp but never tinny. The haptics are also a positive and, along with the audio, help bring a sense of immersion while playing.

claw speaker claw

The front-firing speakers are loud and crisp, utilising Nahimic audio

MSI Claw A1M Battery: Not enough juice

  • Capacity – 53Whr
  • Charger – 65W PD adapter

While unplugged and fully charged, the Claw A1M would drain fully in less than an hour playing Ghost of Tsushima on a Performance user scenario. In the Super Battery profile, the handheld would last over an hour but well below two hours. Playing demanding games with the console not plugged in chews through the battery, and you’re likely to struggle to get one full hour of battery life from the device.

The best way to get the most juice out of the handheld is to stick to older or indie titles with the Claw running on Super Battery profile at 20W TDP and graphical presets set to Low or Medium. I could stretch that handheld to two hours of use while playing games like Portal 2 and Assassin’s Creed Chronicles. Since the Claw A1M’s launch, Intel has also pushed out driver updates that bring an Endurance Gaming feature within its Arc Control application, which promises to balance frame rate and power consumption to reduce battery drain.

claw hero claw

The MSI Claw can handle older and indie titles quite well

MSI Claw A1M Verdict

The MSI Claw A1M feels firmly like a first-generation product that was rushed out when Asus put the ROG Ally on the market. More importantly, MSI’s first-generation handheld suffers from inconsistent performance and fails to distinguish itself in the battery life department. Intel just launched its Lunar Lake processor, and the Claw A1M’s Meteor Lake already looks outdated.

Asus has launched a refreshed version of the Ally, the ROG Ally X, with considerable upgrades. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion Go (Review) offers more features with its detachable controllers and massive 8.8-inch QHD+ display. In the face of such competition, the MSI Claw A1M can end up looking like a pale imitation. And once you add the original ROG Ally and the Steam Deck OLED to the mix — both presently selling at a much lower price point than MSI’s handheld, the Claw becomes a product impossible to recommend.

It’s telling that MSI itself has announced its next generation of the Claw handheld running on Lunar Lake. In fact, MSI is already thinking about Claw 2, Claw 3, and Claw 4. So, if the company is already so decidedly over its first-generation product, why should the consumer stick around?

Pros

  • Good display
  • Nahimic audio implementation
  • Haptics
  • Sturdy build quality

Cons

  • Inconsistent performance
  • Disappointing battery life
  • Generic design
  • Windows-based bottlenecks
  • Buggy MSI Centre M experience

Ratings (out of 10)

  • Design: 6
  • Display: 7
  • Software: 4
  • Performance: 6
  • Battery life: 6
  • Value for money: 5
  • Overall: 6
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