MSI Claw Review: Design, Display, Audio, Ports, Buttons, I/O, Software, Performance And Battery Life

MSI Claw Review: I grew up playing games on portable gaming handhelds like the GameBoy Advance, Advance SP, and PSP because gaming is ingrained in my life. When I received my “claws” on the MSI Claw, you can imagine my excitement at the time. Since I already had a powerful PC, the idea of a portable device that could run PC games seemed foreign to me. However, I recently purchased the Steam Deck OLED out of sheer curiosity.

MSI Claw Review 2025

I fell in love with the Steam Deck as soon as I set it up. To such an extent, it has essentially supplanted my PS5 and Switch OLED as my number one gaming gadget. Naturally, I had high expectations going into this review. Fortunate for every planned purchaser, the Hook really takes a look at a great deal of the right boxes, including a 120Hz presentation, lobby impact simple sticks, and a powerful Intel processor at its rudder. Be that as it may, do the specs mean great true utilization? How about we find out.

MSI Claw Review Details

Article Name	MSI Claw Review
Category	Tech Reviews
Official Website	www.msi.com

See this: Vivo T3x Review

WhatsApp Channel Join Button

Design

There’s a ton to like about the MSI Hook’s plan. The handheld has a shape that makes it easy to use, and the back has a finish that looks like a contoured Xbox controller. This permitted me to settle and grasp the Hook easily in my grasp. I could reach the buttons, analogue sticks, and D-pad that had been thoughtfully spaced out. The Hook likewise upholds RGB lighting, which helps spice up its plan. The A, B, X, and Y buttons are illuminated as the lighting encircles the analog sticks. It can be turned off to save battery life and can be controlled completely through the MSI Centre app.

Most strikingly, the Hook accompanies corridor impact joysticks that trigger an information attractively. Accordingly, the handheld ought to be impenetrable to Stick Float, which can mess up your interactivity by inciting anxiety or arbitrariness to your bits of feedbacks. As somebody who has supplanted his reasonable portion of Nintendo Switch JoyCons, I need to say that MSI merits a pat for involving further developed simple sticks for the Paw.

It likewise has a finger impression sensor installed inside the power button. As a result, entering a password or PIN will not require you to fiddle with the on-screen keyboards. On the other hand, at 675 grams, the Claw is quite heavy. With weights of 608 grams and 640 grams, respectively, the Steam Deck OLED and the ASUS ROG Ally are lighter.

Although the slight weight difference may not appear to be significant, it can result in wrist fatigue, particularly during prolonged gaming sessions. The Hook’s Left and Right guards additionally stand out in contrast to everything else. They are quite spongy, and I can see a line that pokes through the middle and pokes into my fingers.

Check Here: Xiaomi 14 Ultra Review

Display And Audio

The Full HD IPS display on the MSI Claw is 7 inches. The board revives at 120Hz, and it can get very splendid at 500 nits. The display has a vivid appearance and supports the entire sRGB color space. It goes without saying that I liked the display on the handheld. I was able to enjoy games like Hades and Hollow Knight, which could achieve 120FPS, a lot more because of the high refresh rate.

I would have the handheld situated to one side, close to my console and would look at its screen from time to time. Sincerely, the content appeared to and sounded amazing. Also worth mentioning are The Claw’s speakers, which are the loudest I’ve ever heard on a gaming handheld. I frequently used the Claw to catch up on podcasts and YouTube videos while working from my PC, so the wide viewing angles are great. The audio output also has clear highs and a meaty low end. Not only does it make gaming easier, but the handheld’s fan noise is also muffled by the speakers. In terms of audio and display, it goes without saying that the MSI Claw receives top marks. But I hope MSI uses an OLED display with smaller bezels for its next version.

Ports, Buttons And I/O

The MSI Claw only has one Thunderbolt 4 connector, so in order to connect a mouse and keyboard to it, just like you would with other gaming handhelds, you will need to use a dongle. You can use wired earphones with the device because it has a 3.5mm combo jack and a slot for a microSD card. Also, it has inherent Bluetooth v5.4 and upholds Wi-Fi 7, facilitating its life span. During my time with the Claw, I did not encounter any connectivity issues. I was able to stream numerous YouTube videos and download hundreds of gigabytes worth of games without encountering any network congestion.

The handheld matched with my Xbox Remote regulator dependably, as well, so no bad things to say here. I have already voiced my displeasure with the bumper buttons on the handheld. However, the D-pad and the A, B, X, and Y toggles provide excellent tactile feedback. The analog sticks provide precise directional inputs and do not stick in any direction. The concave surface and textured finish around the edges of the thumb grips ensure that your thumb will comfortably adhere to them.

Software

Like the Partner and the Steam Deck, the Hook additionally has a bunch of buttons to rapidly get to different settings. Buyers will find the Quick Settings and Menu buttons on the right. The Quick Settings button opens MSI’s custom overlay, which can be used to change the user scenario and the handheld’s TDP, bring up the on-screen keyboard, or end unresponsive tasks. In addition, you can use it to quickly browse your video game collection, alter the various RGB effects, and even alter the fan speed for the Extreme Performance preset. Strangely, a custom fan profile can’t be used in Manual mode, which I thought would have the most options.

Aside from that, the handheld boots into Windows 11, so you can anticipate that it will operate similarly to any Windows machine. While it functions admirably, Windows isn’t innately intended for touchscreen gaming handhelds. As a result, when you search for something in the Settings app or elsewhere, you will encounter a fair number of issues in which the keyboard does not appear. The MSI overlay itself is a little finicky. On various events, it didn’t impair the on-screen execution counter when incited.

The brightness of the display does not change as you move the brightness slider up or down. All things being equal, it shows you the brilliance when you settle at a preset, and you simply need to trust that the showcase’s splendor is set to the ideal level. Again, this is not so much a problem with MSI as it is with Windows; similar issues will also occur on other Windows handhelds.

The Steam Deck, on the other hand, has a much simpler user interface. However, there are also a few benefits to using a Windows handheld. Most remarkably, you, as a gamer, will not need to tinker with workarounds to get different game launchers dealing with the MSI Hook. EA FC 24, for example, can be played with an active anti-cheat service. The Steam Deck does not support the game, as you might have guessed.

Read Here: Tecno Spark 20C Review

Performance And Battery Life

Now that the specifications are out of the way, let’s look at how well the MSI Claw performs. With that in mind, the Paw’s gaming chops have been an all around mishmash. It was difficult to enjoy demanding games on it because they frequently stutter, despite occasional moments of brilliance. That is, until I installed the driver update for the Intel 5534 Arc. The MSI Hook is among the uncommon variety of Intel-controlled gaming handhelds available. My audit unit highlights Group Blue’s Center Ultra 7 155H processor, which works close by an Intel Circular segment GPU with eight Xe centers. It comes with a 1TB NVMe SSD and 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. Keep in mind that you can save money by purchasing the handheld with a Core Ultra 5 125H chip.

Let’s begin with the fairly demanding game Hogwarts Legacy. On my Steam Deck OLED, which I used as a comparison, and the MSI Claw, I set its frame rate to 40FPS to get the best possible experience when running it. On both handhelds, the game was running at 800P, which made for less jarring frame rate drops. At 800P resolution and the lowest quality presets, the game consistently crashes between 34 and 40 frames per second on my Steam Deck OLED. The in-game frame rate never dropped below 30FPS, even when running through the crowded corridors of Hogwarts Castle or Hogsmeade Village or fighting an armored troll.

In addition, the Steam Deck OLED utilized approximately 22W of power. The MSI Paw, then again, additionally yields around 40FPS at the equivalent presets. Notwithstanding, the game used to falter a great deal, and the FPS would dive to the low twenties while entering another region. Even if I wanted to change my character’s gear or get to the map by going to the settings menu, the game would only run at 9 frames per second. Meanwhile, the MSI Hook would draw around 35W of force. Post the update, however, the Paw has had the option to run the game at around 40FPS with next to no significant issues.

I still occasionally stutter when entering a new area or the menu, but the frame rates and FPS don’t suffer nearly as much. Using Intel’s XeSS upscaling technology at the Quality preset, I can even run the game at around 35 frames per second at 1080p resolution. The frame rate rarely drops below 40FPS inside Hogwarts. When outside, exploring Hogsmeade or nearby hamlets, the Claw achieves at least 30FPS. The equivalent goes for GhostRunner 2, which is a high speed, first-individual experience game. On my Steam Deck OLED, the game ran flawlessly at approximately 70 frames per second and 800P resolution. The casing rate plunged during extreme fights yet floated in the high fifties.

Likewise with Hogwarts Inheritance, Ghostrunner 2 additionally used to falter as often as possible on the Paw. On occasion, the game would run at around 20FPS, gaining it very challenging to headway in the mission. The game runs very well on the handheld after recent updates. When my character is idle, I typically achieve speeds of 80-90FPS. Rushing into battle negatively affects the casing rate, however I actually get something like 60FPS at 1080p goal and low-medium designs presets. Do take note of that I was utilizing Intel’s XeSS upscaling tech here also.

Honestly – the game actually stammers every so often, however the examples are rare. Cyberpunk 2077 was additionally very much playable on the handheld. I played the game with the Steam Deck graphics preset and 800P resolution. While I was exploring the city, the game ran at approximately 35-40 frames per second when I was using the handheld with battery power and the Extreme performance preset. The 155H, on the other hand, can draw up to 40W when plugged in, increasing the frame rate to approximately 45FPS. The equivalent goes for Resting Canines:

Conclusive Version, which runs at around 80FPS at 1080p goal and Medium designs preset. The handheld version of the game runs very smoothly, whether you’re exploring the city or fighting waves of triad criminals. Naturally, there were some games that performed poorly, such as NFS Unbound, which crawled at a snail’s pace during races and when exploring the game’s open world. Essentially, EA’s FC 24 was very laggy, particularly in the menu and when I was in the Group The executives screen.

In GTA V, I also noticed the stuttering issue. When speeding through the game’s open world, the frame rate would drop to 20FPS, despite running at 50FPS or higher. On the plus side, the MSI Claw runs smoothly with emulated games, turn-based JRPGs like the Octopath Traveler series, and other lighter titles. On the handheld, I performed admirably in Dave the Diver, Stardew Valley, and Hades. The device can even be used in place of a laptop. You should be able to use it like a typical Windows machine once you connect a mouse and keyboard and a dock.

With respect to the battery reinforcement, the MSI Hook can last you around 1.5-2 hours off a solitary charge. At the Performance preset, which draws anywhere from 32 to 40W, taxing games will take less than an hour to play. To extend battery life, you can switch to the around 20W Super Battery Saver performance preset. Despite this, the 53Wh battery pack in the handheld exceeded my expectations. On the Steam Deck OLED, I actually had better battery backup in almost every game.

Conclusion

In India, you can purchase my MSI Claw review unit for Rs. 89,990. Please keep in mind that this is the trial price, which will eventually rise to Rs 99,990. The Paw can likewise be designed with a less strong Center Ultra 5 135H processor, which costs Rs 78,990. It should come as no surprise that Claw costs a lot, and I think the company could have priced it more competitively. In India, for example, the ASUS ROG Ally with the Z1 Extreme processor is available for Rs. 59,990.

Furthermore, albeit the handheld has gotten ideal updates from Intel and MSI to work on its presentation, it could utilize some more improvement. Many games actually don’t run as expected on the Hook, and the battery reinforcement fails to impress anyone too. In addition, MSI recently announced the Claw successor, which will feature Intel’s more powerful Lunar Lake platform and a larger 80Wh battery. In any case, proceeded with refreshes and a value cut ought to assist the MSI With pawing concrete its situation in India.

MSI Claw Review FAQ’S

How powerful is the MSI Claw?

The Claw is just barely keeping up. It's a similar story in other titles too. In Cyberpunk 2077 at 720p on medium graphics, the Claw hit 50 fps in Balanced mode, which is the same as the Ally.

Which is better, MSI Claw or Legion Go?

The Legion Go delivering a better gaming experience in many titles.

Is the MSI Claw touchscreen?

This device is equipped with a multi-touch screen monitor which allows users to interact with MSI Claw by using fingers or stylus.

Can you play Steam games on MSI Claw?

MSI Claw supports different gaming platforms, such as Steam, Ubisoft, XBOX, EPIC, and more.

Moto Buds+ Review

Nothing Earbuds Review

Gabit Smart Ring Review

ASUS ROG G22CH Review