It seems as if the primary official AMD Ryzen Z2 Excessive handheld to hit the market may very well be the MSI Claw A8, based mostly on a brand new itemizing in China that implies the hand held will ship earlier than the tip of July 2025. As a part of this identical itemizing, a value is given, which interprets to round $970, which means the Claw A8 may very well be set to launch for the same value to the Intel-powered 8 AI+ mannequin.
On paper, the brand new MSI Claw A8 is about to be top-of-the-line gaming handhelds by way of energy, sporting the brand new AMD Ryzen Z2 Excessive chips alongside 24GB of LPDDR5x 8,000MT/s RAM and a 1TB SSD. MSI caught with Intel for its Claw 8 AI+ mannequin, which course-corrected numerous errors made within the authentic A1M, however a shock announcement in Might revealed it could be releasing an AMD different, the Claw A8.
A pre-order advert has appeared for the MSI Claw A8 in China, first noticed by Videocardz, the place it is acknowledged that the system will begin delivery later this month, however we’re but to see affirmation for the US or some other market. Because of a 15% subsidy provided by the Chinese language authorities when buying sure merchandise, the Claw A8 value may very well be as little as $737, however the value with out these subsidies, and together with tax, is roughly $970 utilizing present conversion charges. The value with out tax is roughly $860.
If this value have been to translate over to the US and European markets, it could imply the Claw A8 is on par with the 8 AI+ MSRP, which presently stands at $999 / £899. It isn’t but clear whether or not the 8AI+ would obtain a value reduce when the A8 launches, however it could definitely be welcome on condition that the MSI Claw 8 AI+ has solely turn out to be costlier because it first launched, which is reportedly a results of tariffs imposed on imports into america.
In a change from the unique announcement, this itemizing additionally now states that the Claw A8 has Wi-Fi 7 when it was initially acknowledged as having Wi-Fi 6E. It isn’t clear whether or not it is a change because the announcement or a mistake being corrected from the unique reveal.
MSI has, it appears, crushed the likes of Asus and Lenovo to market with the AMD Ryzen Z2 Excessive, so the highlight might be firmly positioned upon the Claw A8, and its benchmarks, ought to it comply with an identical launch schedule in Western markets.
If you wish to take a more in-depth have a look at another Home windows handhelds that may carefully compete with the Claw A8, try our AOKZOE A1X assessment and our Ayaneo 3 assessment, with each gadgets costing over $1,000 however providing substantial efficiency enhancements over the likes of the ROG Ally X and Steam Deck.
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