The MSI Claw is a Mess: Gaming Handheld Can't Compete | Review & Benchmarks

Gamers Nexus
14 Apr 202433:27

Summary

TLDRThe video script discusses the MSI Claw, a handheld gaming device, in comparison to its competitors. It highlights the Claw's inconsistent performance, high price point, and average battery life. Despite its strong performance in certain games, the device's overall value and user experience are questioned, especially when compared to more affordable options with better frame time pacing and battery performance. The review suggests that while the Claw offers variety in the handheld gaming market, it currently does not provide the best value for consumers.

Takeaways

  • 📦 MSI's Claw handheld gaming device was reviewed, with skepticism due to past experiences with the company's review strategies.
  • 💰 The Claw's $800 price point raised concerns, especially when compared to other handheld gaming devices on the market.
  • 🔧 The review sample from MSI had been tampered with, leading to a decision to use a personally purchased unit for the review.
  • 🔩 The Claw's hardware was found to be similar to the Asus Ally, but with some differences in design and button placement.
  • 🔋 The Claw's battery life was tested, showing mixed results compared to other devices, with the super battery mode extending life significantly.
  • 🎮 Gaming performance of the Claw was inconsistent, with frame pacing issues observed in certain games like Cyberpunk 2077.
  • 🔌 Charging capabilities of the Claw were praised, with the fastest charge time among the tested devices despite having a large battery.
  • 🌡️ Thermal issues were noted during a full torture workload, with the Claw's temperature reaching concerning levels and affecting performance.
  • 💻 Software experience on the Claw was criticized for being unintuitive and inconsistent, with the user interface and power modes being a point of frustration.
  • 🛍️ The Claw's overall value was questioned, with other devices offering better performance or battery life at lower prices.
  • 📈 The review concluded that while the Claw has some strengths, its inconsistencies and high price point make it a less attractive option compared to alternatives.

Q & A

  • What was MSI's initial response to sending a review sample for its claw?

    -MSI initially didn't want to send a review sample for its claw, despite it having launched in non-US markets, because it wasn't available in the US at the time.

  • How much did the reviewer pay for the MSI claw in Taiwan?

    -The reviewer paid $800 for the MSI claw in Taiwan.

  • What was the issue with the review sample MSI sent?

    -The review sample from MSI had been tampered with, as it already had a Windows account created, games installed, and 3 Mark traces left behind, which was not the case for the retail version the reviewer bought.

  • How does the MSI claw compare in price to other handheld devices from major brands?

    -The $800 model of the MSI claw is more expensive than top-tier offerings from Valve, Asus, and Lenovo, which are already slashing prices on first-gen models. The claw's performance needs to be indisputably strong to justify its higher price.

  • What are some of the software issues the reviewer encountered with the MSI Center M on the claw?

    -The reviewer experienced problems such as the software not responding logically to input, difficulty in navigation, and an inconsistent user experience. The software felt like it was retrofitted from a desktop rather than built for a handheld device with different inputs.

  • How does the battery life of the MSI claw compare to other handheld devices?

    -The MSI claw has a 53Wh battery, which is the largest among the tested devices. However, its battery life was not the best, with the Steam Deck OLED showing significantly better performance in the same tests.

  • What were the reviewer's subjective experiences using the MSI claw on a long flight?

    -The reviewer found that during a long flight, the key aspects were that the device was playable with consistent frame rates and had good battery life. They did not care about specifics like higher FPS, but rather about distraction from the flight experience.

  • What are the reviewer's recommendations for handheld devices based on value and performance?

    -The reviewer recommends the Asus Ally Z1 Extreme for the highest performance per dollar, the Aya Neo LED for a good balance of battery life, screen quality, and price, and the Ally Z1 non-extreme as a competitive budget choice due to significant discounts.

  • What is the reviewer's opinion on the MSI claw's frame time pacing?

    -The reviewer experienced serious frame time spikes and inconsistencies with the MSI claw, which led to an overall poor and stuttery gaming experience, making the device less desirable compared to alternatives.

  • What is the charging capability of the MSI claw?

    -The MSI claw has the fastest charging rate among the devices tested, capable of charging from 0% to 100% in 76 minutes with the included charger.

  • What potential issue could be causing performance inconsistencies on the MSI claw?

    -The performance inconsistencies on the MSI claw could be due to insufficient cooling, leading to thermal throttling, especially when the device is charging while gaming in its maximum power profile.

Outlines

00:00

📦 Unboxing and Initial Impressions of the MSI Claw

The paragraph discusses the initial experience with the MSI Claw, highlighting the challenges of obtaining a review sample due to its unavailability in the US market. It also touches on the skepticism towards MSI's strategy and the reviewer's decision to purchase the device in Taiwan. The encounter with the store clerk and the observation of the product's popularity are also mentioned, along with the discovery of a tampered review sample from MSI and the decision to use the personally bought device for the review.

05:00

💻 MSI Claw's Software, Design, and Community Reception

This section delves into the software experience of the MSI Claw, including the issues with the MSI Center M software and its unintuitive user interface. It also discusses the ergonomics and design of the device, comparing it to other models like the Asus Ally. The paragraph further explores the community's reception of the Claw, noting the lack of engagement in official forums and the larger user base of competing devices. A secret feature involving the Claw's AI engine is mentioned, which adjusts power modes, audio, and lighting settings based on user activity.

10:02

🔋 Battery Life and Hardware Specifications of the MSI Claw

The focus of this paragraph is on the battery life and hardware specifications of the MSI Claw. It compares the weight and battery capacity of the Claw to its competitors, discussing the implications of the larger cooler and the device's higher weight. The paragraph also details the different variants of the Claw, their pricing, and how they compare to other offerings in the market. The software experience, particularly the BIOS and the lack of control over display settings, is critiqued. Additionally, the paragraph touches on the Claw's joysticks and screen quality, comparing them to other devices.

15:02

🎮 Gaming Performance and Frame Time Analysis of the MSI Claw

This section provides an in-depth analysis of the MSI Claw's gaming performance and frame time consistency. It compares the Claw's performance in various games, such as Resident Evil 4 and Cyberpunk 2077, to other handheld devices. The paragraph highlights the issues with frame time pacing and the impact on the gaming experience. The performance of the Claw in different power modes is also discussed, with a focus on how it compares to the competition in terms of frame rates and power efficiency. The paragraph concludes with a look at the charging capabilities of the Claw and its thermal performance during intensive tasks.

20:03

🛫 Real-World Experience with the MSI Claw on a Flight

The paragraph shares the reviewer's personal experience using the MSI Claw on a long flight. It emphasizes the importance of consistent frame rates and battery life in such a scenario, where the focus is on entertainment value rather than technical specifications. The reviewer's subjective impressions of the Claw's performance, battery life, and value for money are discussed, along with a comparison to other devices. The paragraph also touches on the software overlay experience and the occurrence of crashes. The conclusion drawn from this real-world test is that there are better alternatives available, offering more value and a superior gaming experience.

25:03

💸 Value and Recommendation for the MSI Claw

The final paragraph summarizes the overall assessment of the MSI Claw, focusing on its value proposition and performance inconsistencies. It critiques the high price point and the device's inability to stand out among its competitors. The paragraph also discusses the potential reasons behind the creation of the Claw, possibly due to Intel's marketing development fund. A comparison to other devices, such as the Asus Ally and the Steam Deck, is made, highlighting their strengths and the Claw's shortcomings. The paragraph concludes with recommendations for potential buyers, suggesting that there are more cost-effective options with better performance and reliability available in the market.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡MSI Claw

The MSI Claw is a handheld gaming device discussed throughout the video. It is compared with other devices like the Asus Ally and the Steam Deck in terms of performance, design, and value. The MSI Claw is noted for its high price point and inconsistent performance, which becomes a central issue in the review.

💡Review Sample

A review sample refers to a product provided by the manufacturer to a reviewer for the purpose of creating a detailed assessment. In the context of the video, the review sample of the MSI Claw from MSI had been tampered with, raising concerns about the integrity of the review process.

💡Performance

Performance in this context refers to the capabilities and efficiency of the gaming device when running games and applications. The video scrutinizes the MSI Claw's performance, comparing it with other handheld devices and noting inconsistencies and issues that affect the user experience.

💡Battery Life

Battery life is the amount of time a device can operate before needing to recharge. In the video, battery life is a critical factor in evaluating the handheld gaming devices, with the MSI Claw's battery life being compared to other devices to determine its effectiveness and value.

💡Software

Software refers to the programs and operating systems that run on the gaming devices. The video critiques the software of the MSI Claw, particularly the MSI Center M, for its unintuitive user interface and inconsistencies in functionality.

💡Anthropometry

Anthropometry is the scientific study of the measurements and proportions of the human body. In the context of the video, it is used to discuss the design and ergonomics of the handheld gaming devices, and how they relate to user comfort during extended gaming sessions.

💡Power Profiles

Power profiles refer to the settings that control the performance and energy consumption of a device. In the video, power profiles on the MSI Claw and other devices are analyzed for their impact on gaming performance, battery life, and thermal management.

💡Charging

Charging refers to the process of replenishing the battery of a device. The video examines the charging capabilities of the MSI Claw, including its compatibility with in-seat airplane chargers and its charging speed, which is highlighted as one of the fastest among the tested devices.

💡Thermal Management

Thermal management is the process of controlling the temperature of a device to prevent overheating and maintain optimal performance. The video discusses the thermal performance of the Claw, noting issues with heat distribution and CPU throttling during intensive tasks.

💡Value

Value refers to the worth or usefulness of a product in relation to its cost. The video evaluates the MSI Claw based on its price and the benefits it offers to users, comparing it with other devices to determine if it provides a good return on investment.

Highlights

MSI initially reluctant to send a review sample for its Claw, despite its launch in non-US markets.

The reviewer purchased an MSI Claw in Taiwan for $800, prompting MSI to offer a review sample.

MSI's general strategy is to delay sending out review units, which has led to skepticism.

The Claw faced availability issues in Taiwan, with the local store having it for a month.

The review sample from MSI had been tampered with, raising concerns about its integrity.

MSI's Claw is more expensive than competitors like Valve, Asus, and Lenovo.

The Claw's performance was not strong enough to justify its price against competitors.

The Claw's design is similar to the Asus Ally, but with some differences in grip and button placement.

MSI Center M software has a clumsy UI and lacks some basic functionality.

The Claw's power profiles and AI engine offer limited customization and inconsistent user experience.

MSI's community resources like the subreddit and forum are abandoned, indicating a lack of user engagement.

The Claw's hardware includes hall effect joysticks and a larger cooler, but the performance is inconsistent.

Battery life tests show the Claw has the largest battery tested, but its performance is not the best.

The Claw's charging capabilities are impressive, with the fastest charge time among tested devices.

Thermal testing reveals the Claw experiences high temperatures and occasional throttling during heavy workloads.

In a real-world scenario like a long flight, the Claw's inconsistent performance and value for money are highlighted.

The reviewer would choose alternatives like the Asus Ally or Steam Deck over the MSI Claw for personal use.

Transcripts

00:03

ew it's

00:07

squishy that lag right there on the

00:11

explosion oh

00:14

man MSI initially didn't want to send us

00:17

a review sample for its claw even though

00:19

it had launched in non us markets it's

00:21

just it wasn't available in the us at

00:22

the time so we had few options to get

00:24

one that's fine we I was flying to

00:27

Taiwan anyway so uh I replied and said

00:29

no worries I'll buy one and I did it was

00:32

$800 MSI immediately replied and said

00:35

wait a minute we'll send you one that

00:37

always makes us a little skeptical just

00:39

because our past with MSI indicates that

00:41

the company's General strategy for

00:43

things is to delay as long as possible

00:45

not sure if that's what was going on

00:46

here or not but uh I genuinely we're

00:49

we're skeptical it's happened a lot in

00:51

the past and it'll take a while for them

00:54

to cure that skepticism but it was

00:58

immediately apparent when in on that

01:00

stock was plentiful in home turf and in

01:03

fact MSI has a different problem than

01:06

not being able to send units out the

01:08

problem is uh the store clerk was

01:11

extremely confused why I would want to

01:13

buy

01:26

one you're

01:28

first and that is one of the most

01:31

popular PC stores if not the most

01:33

popular in taipe uh and they had had it

01:36

for about a month at that point so

01:38

that's not good news uh I asked what is

01:41

everyone buying and he said the Asus

01:43

Ally and if you look at

01:45

them they're really similar when we did

01:48

get the unit from MSI oddly that unit

01:51

the review sample had been tampered with

01:53

despite them saying it represent retail

01:55

it had a Windows account created already

01:57

it had games installed it had 3 Mark

02:00

traces left behind and none of this was

02:02

included in the outof boox version that

02:04

we bought the US device clearly had been

02:07

used and we never trust review Hardware

02:09

when it's been tampered with and it has

02:11

an operating system on it not

02:14

necessarily for malicious concerns

02:15

although for some companies that is also

02:18

a concern in this instance it was really

02:20

just a concern of has it been improved

02:22

somehow like by changing power profiles

02:25

by changing some bio settings something

02:27

we might not be aware of so uh we sh

02:30

that unit and we decided to use the one

02:32

that I bought instead for this review

02:33

and this was my first impression of the

02:36

device ew and our second impression was

02:39

the claw sounded like it was dying

02:41

except it's a

02:46

feature before that this video is

02:48

brought to you by lean Lee and the o1d

02:50

Evo RGB case the o1d Evo RGB is an

02:54

updated entry to the fed1 lineup

02:57

retaining heavy support for fan mounts

02:59

Drive Mount locations and flexibility on

03:01

component mounting such as two options

03:03

for the power supply the O 11d Evo rgb's

03:06

dual chamber approach aims to maximize

03:08

cable storage on the backside to

03:10

streamline Cable Management coupling

03:12

this with a unique vertical GPU Mount to

03:14

showcase the most expensive part in most

03:16

systems learn more at the link in the

03:18

description below Intel is rare among

03:21

handhelds it technically is out there

03:22

you can find it in the GPD you can find

03:24

it in some 1X Player devices but

03:26

generally speaking all the big names are

03:28

using AMD Solutions the 78 40u the 8840

03:31

U or the Z1 extreme all of which are

03:33

functionally the same chip MSI however

03:35

is selling three variants an ultra 7155

03:37

model with a 1 tab drive for $800 it's

03:40

what we bought the same but 512 GB for

03:43

$750 and an Ultra 5 135h model with a

03:47

512 GB drive for 700 bucks the $800

03:50

model is more expensive than the top

03:53

tier offering from valve that's 650 and

03:56

from Asus at 700 and Lenovo actually at

04:00

750 and that's just the MSRP for them

04:03

that's ignoring the sale prices MSI is

04:05

entering the competition against

04:06

powerful opponents that are already

04:08

slashing prices on first gen models and

04:10

open box units the Asus allly Z1

04:13

non-extreme can be had for 400 bucks now

04:15

and given that especially it's half the

04:17

price of the claw the others are all

04:19

cheaper than it the claw's performance

04:21

has to be indisputably strong

04:24

and it's not and we'll talk about that

04:27

in the review it's actually still pretty

04:28

interesting let's let's address the

04:30

obvious part first though it looks like

04:32

an ally could be coincidence but either

04:34

way the Ally was first to Market and it

04:36

makes this look and feel basically the

04:39

same there are small differences the

04:41

Allies grips flow into the back more

04:43

gradually the shape and positioning of

04:45

the claw rear buttons isn't as good and

04:48

these are subtle changes for the most

04:49

part the claw handle is exactly the same

04:51

as an ally except with a disgustingly

04:54

squishy bumper button that just sinks on

04:56

press it'd be like if you damped your

04:58

keyboard switch with

05:00

Jello for our money the cushy grips on

05:02

the deck and the legion go are more

05:03

comfortable than either despite the Ergo

05:07

gaming science of comfort achieving

05:10

Perfection through

05:12

anthropometry Define anthropometry

05:15

here's the definition of anthropometry

05:17

the scientific study of the measurements

05:19

and proportions of the human body

05:21

Perfection through that the Clause

05:23

weight is higher than that of an ally

05:25

670 G by our measurements versus 615 G

05:29

probably due to the claws larger cooler

05:32

which MSI calls the cooler boost

05:34

hyperflow Define cooler boost

05:39

hyperflow didn't find anything softwares

05:42

make or break for these devices so it's

05:44

time to move to that the inevitable

05:46

manufacturer front-end software on the

05:48

claw is called the MSI Center M and if

05:51

you're familiar with msi's recursive

05:53

acronym naming like the MSI me m a and

05:57

MPG where all the m stand for MSI and so

05:59

we have the MSI MSI performance gaming

06:01

where MSI stands for micar international

06:03

so it's actually the micar International

06:04

micar International performance gaming

06:07

then we can also assume that MSI Center

06:09

m is basically the MSI Center MSI MSI

06:12

really needs some more words that start

06:13

with M other than MSI MSI the UI is

06:17

Clumsy compared to the more mature

06:19

software from valve and Asus we ran into

06:22

problems immediately upon turning the

06:23

device on as well if you don't open the

06:26

software on boot opening the overlay for

06:29

the first time will bring up the main

06:31

window and trigger an interrupt once the

06:33

overlay is open tapping the B button

06:35

doesn't close it these are some really

06:37

basic things that you have to get right

06:39

on a handheld since it doesn't have a

06:41

normal mouse and keyboard normally we

06:43

also had some problems with the overlay

06:45

not intercepting clicks meaning that

06:48

menus behind the overlay would be

06:50

activated when in fact you are trying to

06:52

click on the interactive pop out overlay

06:54

in general the software doesn't respond

06:57

to input logically and when it does it

06:59

can be difficult to navigate and it

07:01

feels like it was retrofitted from a

07:03

desktop rather than built ground up for

07:05

a handheld device that has different

07:07

inputs the most important aspect of the

07:10

software though is the so-called user

07:13

scenario which is maybe indicative of

07:15

msi's other software problems because

07:18

the names are often nonsense or convey

07:20

little to no meaning to the user what

07:23

user scenario user mode actually does is

07:26

change the power profile these are

07:28

Extreme Performance or AKA performance

07:30

balanced super battery manual and AI

07:33

engine these profiles just set good old

07:35

Intel pl1 and pl2 values that we've

07:38

detailed in the past although they're

07:40

adjusted for this silicon we likeed that

07:42

the performance profile also offers the

07:44

option to individually customize fan

07:46

curves for each of the two fans which is

07:48

a great feature that MSI decided not to

07:51

logically apply anywhere else at all it

07:54

isn't available in any other power modes

07:57

again reinforcing a sort of half ass

07:59

approach that their developers can

08:01

probably navigate thoughtlessly but

08:03

actual users end up with an inconsistent

08:06

and unclear experience in fact even the

08:09

manual mode doesn't support fan curve

08:11

adjustment conversely manual offers the

08:14

ability to set pl1 and pl2 from 20 to 40

08:17

Watts on wall power and 20 to 35 Watts

08:19

on battery power but none of the others

08:21

offer this we'd like it if MSI unified

08:23

the software options more though we

08:25

secured an official table of the

08:27

predefined pl1 and pl2 values for each

08:30

power mode also visible through Hardware

08:32

info DC is battery power and AC is

08:35

connected to the charger and of the

08:37

predefined profiles performance changes

08:40

the most significantly based on whether

08:42

a charger is connected and it exceeds

08:44

the values that can be manually set

08:46

through the manual profile yet another

08:48

inconsistency in msis interface super

08:50

battery also disables the Clause RGB

08:53

lighting but that's a decision we agree

08:55

with if you're looking for help or

08:56

information like this it may have to

08:58

come to directly from MSI support if

09:01

they even have the answer MSI has three

09:03

resources the official guide the

09:06

official subreddit and the official

09:07

Forum the guide is moderately helpful

09:11

but the subreddit and the Forum are both

09:13

abandoned wastelands uh all of a month

09:16

after launch because nobody bought claws

09:18

apparently actually literally based on

09:21

our experience buying one as of this

09:23

writing the largest Ally subreddit has

09:25

70,000 members to the Clause 92 92 92

09:30

total it's not shorthand not

09:33

92,000

09:34

92 this of course isn't an indication of

09:38

success or quality but it's definitely

09:40

an indication of popularity even the

09:43

relatively Niche Legion go has a larger

09:46

community and that Community regularly

09:48

makes feature requests that are

09:51

sometimes impressively granted by the

09:53

software team but now we get to the

09:55

secret feature the number one guaranteed

09:58

sales generator right now it's two very

10:01

special letters strapped to a noun msi's

10:05

AI engine MSI says that it automatically

10:08

switches between profiles for three

10:10

things the power modes we just described

10:13

nimic audio and RGB lighting modes now

10:16

you might be thinking wait a minute

10:17

that's three simple options that could

10:19

be handled with a matrix and a lookup

10:21

table which would completely negate any

10:24

importance of AI and relegate it to

10:27

functionally a table

10:31

but moving on it seems like the idea is

10:34

that if you launch a game the device

10:36

will swap to appropriate Power Sound and

10:38

Lighting modes automatically we say

10:40

seems like because it isn't really clear

10:43

how or if it works or what working

10:46

properly might even mean Intel Graphics

10:49

Command Center was installed out of the

10:51

box but Intel Arc control was not even

10:53

on the review sample that MSI had

10:55

screwed around with and we decided not

10:57

to use even when updates are Del through

10:59

MSI Center M some of them just get

11:02

unceremoniously dumped into the

11:03

downloads folder this is uh expected

11:06

Behavior though for Center M for some

11:09

reason MSI has left display related

11:11

controls to Intel and Microsoft which

11:13

means that there is no battery saving

11:15

refresh rate cap available through MSI

11:17

Center M there is a bios function bios

11:20

appears to be a normal MSI laptop setup

11:22

but without any performance controls

11:24

beyond the ones accessible within the OS

11:26

it's definitely not as featur as the

11:28

goes by bios there's enough

11:30

functionality to navigate a Windows

11:32

install but that's about it that is

11:34

until you hit the secret right control

11:36

right shift left alt F2 key combo to

11:39

open up the real bios controls including

11:42

the ability to set ratios disable cores

11:45

or do anything else you'd normally do in

11:46

a desktop bios accessing the BIOS

11:49

already requires holding right bumper

11:51

and right trigger during boot so we're

11:53

not particularly happy to see that MSI

11:55

is hiding the actually useful functions

11:58

Beyond a second hidden key combo it's

12:01

not not supposed to be like an NES game

12:04

where you smash buttons on the start

12:06

screen and try to find Secrets this

12:08

should actually be obvious as for

12:10

control differences the claw comes with

12:11

hall effect joysticks out of the box

12:13

which is a plus but negated by those

12:15

bumpers we mentioned we suspect MSI is

12:18

using the exact same 7in 120 HZ variable

12:21

refresh IPS touchcreen on the claw

12:23

because even the bezels are precisely

12:25

the same size we measured them although

12:27

as a whole The Claw is approximately 0.5

12:29

CM taller and 1 cm wider we want good

12:32

competition for the Ally because the

12:34

Ally is becoming increasingly difficult

12:36

for us to recommend now arguably the Rog

12:39

Alli D1 extreme especially is still the

12:42

best choice among handhelds overall the

12:45

deck has a lot of strengths we've talked

12:47

about them at length now especially the

12:49

frame time pacing but generally speaking

12:51

the Alli z1x is extremely competitive

12:54

it's had big price drops on the Z1

12:56

non-extreme uh and all of that makes it

12:59

compelling in sort of the upper echelon

13:01

of them and in the budget class but

13:03

during our testing the Rog Ally for this

13:06

review had more problems than any other

13:09

device we worked with and that is

13:10

starting to become concerning because

13:12

it's been a trend for the Ally we had to

13:14

reset windows on the Z1 in order to get

13:16

any updates to install we already have a

13:18

defective thumb stick a rapidly

13:20

degrading battery and a broken micro SD

13:23

card slot unless we want to send it out

13:25

for warranty so let's look at the claws

13:27

Hardware all claw variants come with 16

13:30

GB of lpddr 56400 matched to the Ali and

13:34

the deol Leed and a 53w hour six cell

13:37

battery but only the top tier comes with

13:39

a 1 TB drive we generally prefer the 1

13:42

tby option so saving 50 bucks by

13:45

dropping to the 512 GB claw we think

13:47

isn't worth it disregarding the drive

13:49

size the Ultra 5 model might deserve

13:52

some consideration if it were

13:53

meaningfully discounted the CPU core

13:56

count is really the only meaningful

13:57

place you see big difference with a drop

13:59

from six PES 8 e cores and two LP e

14:03

cores with 22 threads total to 4 P cores

14:07

a e cores and two LP e cores but the GPU

14:10

component is almost the same between the

14:12

two models so with a big enough discount

14:14

the 135h could definitely become

14:16

interesting because on paper it's less

14:18

of a downgrade than the allly Z1 versus

14:21

the allly Z1 extreme or just the Z1

14:23

versus the Z1 extreme Parts in general

14:25

having a single port for charging and

14:27

for Io has proven extremely annoying on

14:30

both the deck and the Ally and we were

14:33

hugely appreciative of what Lenovo did

14:34

with the legion go which was the utterly

14:37

mindblowing revolutionary concept of

14:40

adding two USB ports and MSI proves our

14:43

own point about the USB thing MSI says

14:45

you'll need a powered Hub in order to

14:47

update BIOS they say updating bios

14:49

requires USB drive and a hub or docking

14:52

with an adapter connected MSI sells an

14:54

$80 Nest docking station with definitely

14:57

not Asus inspired p packaging but it

14:59

recommends upgrading to a 100 W charger

15:02

in order to use it one tiny feature

15:04

worth praising is the tactile bumps that

15:07

have been molded above the USB and the

15:09

micro SD card slots which we like

15:11

because it makes it easier to tell them

15:13

apart in a dark room our first set of

15:14

bench marks is for battery life and it

15:16

includes some normalized results where

15:17

we can look at either FPS normalized or

15:20

battery life sort of survivability

15:22

normalized The Claw is equipped with a

15:24

53w hour battery it's the largest we've

15:26

tested so far although it's essentially

15:28

tied with the deck Leed and the legion

15:29

go all automatic power saving features

15:32

like screen dimming were disabled for

15:33

testing for now we set a 50% screen

15:35

brightness however this is one of our

15:37

only uncontrolled variables in testing

15:39

since 50% can be different things on

15:41

different screens our future testing

15:43

includes nits normalization though so

15:44

that'll be pretty cool once we roll it

15:46

out this first chart is super

15:48

interesting we've added average FPS and

15:50

The Benchmark next to the devices and

15:52

then the battery in the bar remember

15:54

that this doesn't tell the full story of

15:55

course so we'll look at the lows and the

15:56

frame times later but it allows us to

15:58

start showing performance and battery

16:00

life at the same time since both are

16:02

critical this test uses F1 with the

16:04

frame rate cap disabled but resolution

16:06

enforced on all devices to the same we

16:08

have a chart with performance results

16:10

using the same settings coming up as

16:12

well and that'll give us a look at

16:13

efficiency this is super cool though

16:15

because as a data point we haven't seen

16:16

it discussed elsewhere too much the

16:19

Clause Asus z1x competition ran for 2.1

16:21

hours in silent at 38 FPS not much of a

16:24

performance Contender and 1.4 hours with

16:27

performance at 84 FPS average average

16:29

the Z1 performance and the claw balanced

16:31

are equals for battery life which means

16:33

that normalized for battery drain the

16:36

a1m is actually far superior in this

16:38

specific title its normalized Advantage

16:41

is around 50% here and it does have a

16:44

lot of problems but we'll talk with

16:46

those with the frame time pacing later

16:48

the heavier workload allowed the claw

16:50

power profiles to differentiate

16:52

themselves but even here there's only a

16:54

5 minute Improvement between performance

16:56

and balance they're just not that

16:57

different reducing profile the super

16:59

battery significantly extended the

17:01

claw's battery life up 35% from

17:03

performance and at nearly 2 hours but

17:05

that does come with a hit to FPS the

17:07

drop is from 84 fps to 68 between

17:10

balanced and super battery meaning that

17:12

balanced performs about 24% better for

17:14

FPS and more on that soon the ghost

17:17

power saving profile tops the chart but

17:19

at a basically unplayable frame time

17:22

consistency that makes it irrelevant the

17:24

more useful comparison is in performance

17:26

mode where it holds 109 FPS average at

17:28

.4 hours of Life The Deco LED as a chart

17:31

leader here up at 2.3 hours for 84 FPS

17:35

average normalized for FPS and this is

17:37

the really cool data the Alli z1x and

17:39

performance also held 84 FPS average so

17:42

they're the same there but at a reduced

17:45

1.4 hour battery that means the deck

17:47

OLED lasts 64% longer at the same FPS in

17:52

this very specific test and that's

17:54

pretty impressive and we can do a lot

17:56

more with this data in the future as we

17:57

expand it our next battery life test is

17:59

dead cells run at the native resolution

18:00

and vsync refresh rate for each device

18:03

this is intentional and it represents

18:04

normal use the Clause performance is

18:06

good among the high refresh devices

18:08

we've tested although there's no

18:09

specific Improvement between performance

18:11

and super battery modes the super

18:13

battery power limit is too high to show

18:15

a significant Advantage with this light

18:17

workload as compared to the AMD devices

18:19

which have stricter limits and that's

18:20

good here so Intel definitely could

18:22

improve because AMD can go lower on the

18:24

limitations and the performance and

18:26

balance results for MSI are within

18:29

variance of each other here the claw's

18:30

best time was 4.8 hours in this test

18:32

which gives it a real advantage of the

18:33

Allies Z1 X's best of 2.8 hours

18:36

obviously helped by the larger battery

18:38

because this test allows native

18:39

resolution and refresh the legion go is

18:42

disadvantaged and falls behind the Ally

18:45

however loses in a scenario closer to a

18:47

like for like and has the worst battery

18:49

life of all these devices the steamed de

18:51

OLED comes out on top by a huge margin

18:53

at 8.3 hours with its large battery and

18:56

efficient screen although it's

18:58

relatively low resolution and refresh

19:00

rate also benefited here and the same

19:02

applies for the deck LCD there's more to

19:04

it than all that though that's what the

19:05

gaming tests are for and that's what

19:07

we're getting into now so for gaming we

19:09

eliminate FPS caps we do not use any

19:12

variable refresh rate features that's

19:13

for measuring accurately and all tasks

19:16

were performed on battery power unless

19:18

otherwise listed using different

19:20

profiles the steam deck does not have

19:21

different Power profiles it's got

19:23

basically one thing it does uh and it

19:25

also does not benefit from being plugged

19:27

in while gaming so so that's how we test

19:30

these now important thing here is that

19:32

the words don't mean anything so when it

19:34

says performance that's a manufacturer

19:37

defined name for whatever their power

19:39

profile does so performance on for

19:41

example the legion go and the claw

19:43

they're not the same especially because

19:45

they're two completely different CPU and

19:47

GPU Solutions uh so you shouldn't be

19:49

looking at those likewise the actual

19:51

Power number so how AMD and Intel Define

19:54

TDP that's different uh but what we're

19:57

doing is showing you the mix of battery

19:59

and gaming to help with all of that

20:01

Resident Evil 4 was entitled frame

20:02

pacing issues that are difficult to

20:03

represent on a bar chart because of

20:05

their inconsistency and we'll look at a

20:07

frame time plot for that in a moment the

20:09

claw performance and balanced profiles

20:11

are tied for about 59 FPS average but

20:14

although the balanced in super battery

20:16

profiles appeared to have Superior lows

20:18

in reality the run-to-run variance was

20:20

so high that they end up just being sort

20:23

of unreliable in the lows altogether

20:25

they were equally stuttery in real life

20:27

you can't extract any meaning from these

20:29

lows because the singular spikes blow

20:31

out the averaging we'll look at that in

20:33

a second this instability overshadows

20:35

the fact that the claw is actually at

20:37

the top of the chart in terms of average

20:39

FPS surpassing the legion go and the

20:41

Ally z1x and actually out stripping the

20:44

deck OLED by as much as 31% from best

20:48

from the claw to worst of the deck but

20:50

none of that matters here's where it

20:52

gets really bad this is a frame time

20:54

plot we're representing frame time or

20:56

the frame to frame interval on the left

20:57

axis and then the frame counts on the

20:59

bottom in this instance the claw ran

21:01

into a seriously bad frame time Spike to

21:04

600 milliseconds and another nearing 400

21:07

milliseconds a 600 millisecond frame

21:09

time is clear as day to see and it feels

21:11

like a heavy stutter we can actually

21:13

simulate one really accurately in

21:15

postproduction so you can just see what

21:17

it feels like we'll put it on the screen

21:19

now and that is how long the pauses in

21:23

real play or matching it to the exact

21:26

600 millisecond window you're seeing in

21:27

this chart at 1080p the claw frame

21:29

pacing issues continue making it

21:31

difficult to get reliable results the

21:33

addition of a wall powered result pushes

21:36

the average FPS for the go and the allly

21:39

z1x to equal the claw but the top

21:41

results on the chart all level out

21:43

around 43 FPS the more stable pacing of

21:46

the non-claw handhelds make for a better

21:49

experience here regardless of the

21:50

overall averages highlighted by the 4

21:53

FPS balance to 0.1% low result which is

21:56

terrible and that is a particular

21:58

particularly nasty frame time Spike once

22:00

again maybe a different game will help

22:02

so cyber Punk we set each upscaling

22:04

method to an equivalent percent

22:06

upscaling from Source resolution that's

22:08

66% of the width and 66% of the height

22:11

in Intel AMD and Nvidia terminology

22:13

here's the chart cyberpunk 2077 was one

22:16

of the worst performing games we ran on

22:18

the claw relative to the rest of the

22:19

chart we saw consistent hitching that

22:22

persisted even when we exited the test

22:24

area unfortunately the frame time

22:26

inconsistency down at 3 FPS yes with

22:28

0.1% lows made the game unplayable in a

22:31

way that the overall 30 FPS average

22:33

doesn't reflect now we're showing this

22:35

up front we actually have an example on

22:36

the screen because this is what you can

22:38

expect from the claw some games will run

22:41

terribly or not at all the z1x handhelds

22:46

top the chart here led by the Ally Z1

22:49

X's 25 watt turbo mode at 59 FPS average

22:52

with the steam deck OLED demonstrating

22:54

its typically stable frame times and its

22:56

primary advantage which is frame time

22:58

pacing remember that for asus's turbo

23:00

mode will drastically shorten battery

23:02

life and in this instance you can expect

23:03

a sub 1H hour battery the more balanced

23:06

performance mode would put it at 41 FPS

23:08

average with a better battery time the

23:11

low power modes for the two allly

23:12

handhelds and the go land at the bottom

23:14

of the chart by a lawn shot these modes

23:16

aren't suitable for anything beyond 2D

23:18

gaming meanwhile the claw super battery

23:20

mode isn't much worse than its

23:21

performance or balanced modes if

23:23

anything MSI could cut the power further

23:26

here if the Intel part supported it but

23:28

super battery is the lowest power level

23:30

accessible through the UI matching the

23:33

minimum assured power for the 155h on

23:36

Arc not again not that Arc that's a

23:38

different one the Claus performance and

23:40

balanced modes are tied at about 30 FPS

23:42

average with the 5 wat power limit

23:44

increase not enough to make any kind of

23:46

difference here the Z1 non-extreme is

23:48

about half the price we paid for the

23:49

claw and its performance is roughly

23:52

equal to the claw's best result which is

23:54

embarrassing for msi's double the price

23:57

solution even more more embarrassing is

23:59

that the Ally the Z1 the cheap one non

24:02

extreme is blowing out the claw for

24:04

frame time pacing and that matters more

24:06

than just the average 1080p we drop the

24:08

low power profiles and ADD test with

24:10

wall power the MSI claw positioning

24:12

Remains the Same the bump to pl1 and pl2

24:14

from connecting the charger is relevant

24:15

to its performance in this test and the

24:17

average remains 27 FPS with the worst

24:19

lows on the entire chart they are

24:21

consistently inconsistent making for a

24:23

consistently bad experience this is in

24:26

contrast to devices like the legion go

24:28

and especially the Alli z1x both of

24:30

which gain some additional performance

24:31

when plugged in the deck doesn't benefit

24:34

an FPS from being plugged in everyone

24:35

2023 is up now these pair with our

24:37

thermal and battery test the claw is

24:39

tied here in average FPS with the deck

24:40

OLED and the Alli Z1 X's performance 15

24:42

wat power profile the deck goed Remains

24:45

the most consistent for frametime pacing

24:47

although the super battery a1m claw

24:49

result is more consistent than the

24:50

flanking Z1 entries the two z1x powered

24:53

handhelds pull significantly ahead with

24:55

their highest power profiles applied at

24:57

118 FP s and 109 FPS for the results

25:00

while neither the deck OLED nor the claw

25:03

have any additional Headroom Red Dead

25:05

Redemption 2 Vulcan ran well on the claw

25:07

with lows that compare favorably to the

25:09

rest of the chart the claw's best case

25:11

62 FPS average is 7% ahead of the Ally

25:13

Z1 X's performance 15 wat profile

25:16

although the Ally z1x is battery

25:17

draining turbo profile tops the chart at

25:19

66 at 1080p the z1x power devices hit a

25:22

clear limit around 43 FPS connecting the

25:24

claw to wall power resulted in actually

25:26

a lower average of 38 which is a pattern

25:29

we validated across multiple titles and

25:30

it has to do with thermal throttling

25:32

more on that soon balers Gate 3 reliably

25:34

produces low 1% .1% numbers but the claw

25:37

has worse frame pacing than the rest of

25:39

the entries on this chart the Z1

25:41

nonextreme does particularly well here

25:43

and on any given day it's $400 cheaper

25:45

than the claw in dlight 2 the claw's

25:47

best of 49 FPS is behind the Ally z1x is

25:50

best of 56 with its turbo profile and

25:53

within variance of the Legion goes best

25:54

of 50 FPS super battery reduced the

25:57

average frame rate with 24% improvement

25:59

from Super battery to balanced at 1080p

26:02

the z1x and 155h devices begin to level

26:05

off the claw connected to wall power

26:06

with the performance profile did worse

26:08

than it did on battery power which again

26:09

is something we've seen repeatedly now

26:11

in other games now for charging testing

26:13

our most basic charging test is done

26:15

with each device fully powered off and

26:17

dead enough to shut itself down this

26:19

testing's done with the included charger

26:20

because we consider the charger to be

26:22

part of the product so we measured Its

26:24

Behavior in combination with the device

26:26

the claw started off pulling the full 65

26:28

w capacity of its wall charger just like

26:30

the legion go although the go went a

26:32

couple Watts beyond the rating

26:34

afterwards the claw settled into lower

26:36

power threshold before finishing

26:37

completely at 76 minutes charge that's

26:40

the fastest charge time among the

26:42

devices shown on this chart which is

26:44

impressive given that it also has the

26:46

largest battery here's a rough chart to

26:48

illustrate that point generated with

26:50

some log data that we already had on

26:51

hand this chart is truncated before the

26:54

devices reach 100% charge but the point

26:56

here is that the claw follows a steeper

26:58

curve than the other devices shown by

27:01

the hump in this line storing more

27:03

energy quicker the claw has the fastest

27:06

charging rate among devices we've tested

27:08

but whether it can make efficient use of

27:10

that energy is a separate matter here's

27:11

the thermal situation in a full torture

27:13

workload where we have the device

27:15

charging while gaming in its maximum

27:17

power profile the claw produces these

27:19

numbers because it's charging the

27:22

charger I see is heating up the system

27:24

in areas that aren't directly contacted

27:27

by the cold plate and that's alongside

27:29

the battery Heat and the S so heat being

27:32

generated there's a lot of heat in this

27:34

box right now and anywhere rece you

27:36

bound such as initial loading of the

27:38

assets this is seen in the first few

27:40

minutes the temperature climbs to 101°

27:43

on the hottest core of Any Given row of

27:45

data that could indicate bad contact

27:47

distribution of the cooler but it could

27:49

equally be indicative of hotspots within

27:51

the CPU such as on a priority core you

27:54

also see this Spike happen anytime we're

27:56

in a loading screen with with the GPU

27:58

load which is when we're running laps in

28:00

F1 in this test the temperature stays

28:03

generally around 75° for the cores and

28:07

86 for the hottest of the cores any

28:10

shift to CPU only load like the loading

28:12

screen that happens around 700 seconds

28:14

1300 seconds 1700 seconds and 2400

28:18

seconds spikes us up to 101° it's

28:21

technically 1° over this chart bound

28:23

we'll overlay a layer for the frequency

28:25

these spikes always happen just after

28:27

the CB frequency spikes to around 3900

28:30

MHz as with Intel's desktop CPUs

28:33

insufficient cooling means the solution

28:35

can't tame the huge push for frequency

28:37

the good news is that it wasn't

28:39

throttling the CPU during the GPU load

28:41

in this game the bad news is that it was

28:44

throttling sometimes and it's not as

28:46

controlled as it should be now our

28:48

conclusion for this is an interesting

28:49

one it's kind of fun for me because we

28:51

normally do the objective analysis for

28:53

the conclusion and some subjective

28:55

opinions that are formed in the lab here

28:57

but in this instance because I was

28:58

already flying during the review cycle I

29:01

used the not this version but the Taiwan

29:04

one we bought on the plane and got to

29:05

use it in a sort of Real Environment

29:07

where it's intended to be used and that

29:09

gives some unique perspective and so

29:11

we'll approach that side first so these

29:13

are my opinions on it as a handheld in

29:15

general in the cramped and torturous

29:18

environment of a 14-hour flight that's

29:20

10 hours into a 24-hour Journey you

29:22

really sto caring about the specifics of

29:24

frame rate a lot What mattered to me

29:26

were only two things

29:28

that it was playable and that meant 20

29:30

FPS in non-precision games was fine as

29:32

long as it was consistent that's the key

29:34

part and not stuttery and that added

29:37

good battery life if the device died in

29:39

an hour it wouldn't be worth the carry

29:41

on luggage space without using it in a

29:43

controlled way I was switching between

29:45

brightness power profiles purely based

29:47

on how I felt as an end user not how I

29:50

felt as a tester I ended up with about

29:52

an hour and 45 minutes of play time in

29:54

Brew Barons which is an awesome game but

29:56

not a lot of time this is where we get

29:58

to the interesting Insight side of

30:00

things from being in that environment

30:02

purely subjectively I could not possibly

30:05

have cared any less about an extra 5 FPS

30:08

in that environment all I cared about

30:10

was this thing does its job well enough

30:13

to distract me from being on this plane

30:15

for 14 hours and it needs to live long

30:17

enough to take away as much of that uh

30:20

experience as possible so that's what I

30:22

cared about now that boils down really

30:26

to a couple things additionally which is

30:28

value and battery and on the value side

30:32

it's much worse value than competing

30:34

devices it is

30:35

$800 uh and the battery life is also not

30:38

the best so it's in two losing positions

30:40

you could use the inseat charger the

30:41

charger is low enough wattage that most

30:43

planes will support it if their in seat

30:45

charger is working if your neighbor is

30:46

not using it if you're okay with being

30:48

that guy who trips everyone who needs to

30:50

get out of the row that you're in uh but

30:52

the battery still matters the most

30:53

additional thoughts the overlay was at

30:55

times annoying I did have occasional

30:56

crashes as a result of a mix The Arc

30:58

drivers and uh the super battery power

31:01

State and if I were to take a device not

31:03

for review as in I personally get to

31:05

choose what I want to not work on the

31:08

plane then I would not choose this

31:10

device I'd bring either the Ally or uh

31:12

the deck instead now to the objective

31:14

side in the game test we ran the claw

31:16

could perform up to the level of an Ali

31:17

Z1 extreme but with an identical screen

31:19

spec the same memory capacity more

31:21

storage and potentially more battery

31:22

life that makes the claw sound better

31:25

but it's not the claw's one-word summary

31:28

is inconsistent it also doesn't bode

31:30

well for the claw that its bottom tier

31:32

power profile isn't strongly

31:33

differentiated from its highest in

31:35

comparison to the other devices if

31:37

you're trying to maximize battery life

31:38

that's as low as the slider goes the

31:40

existence of the claw a mystery we

31:42

suspect there may be some Intel

31:43

marketing Development Fund involved or

31:45

something because otherwise why would

31:47

you do this uh even the legion go is

31:49

cheaper and the go has a higher

31:50

resolution it has a higher refresh rate

31:52

faster memory it supports 2242 ssds it

31:54

has detachable controllers whether you

31:56

view them as a gimmick or not and we're

31:58

happy to see some silicon variety with

31:59

the claw and

32:01

Intel but you don't buy because of

32:03

variety you buy because value and good

32:06

and it's clear why manufacturers have

32:08

stuck with the safe choice of a Z1

32:10

variant or a 7840 u in most cases as for

32:14

what we would recommend instead the alz1

32:16

extreme has the highest performance per

32:18

dollar with some reliability issues

32:20

we've talked about those at length The

32:22

Deco Leed has a good balance of battery

32:24

life screen quality and price combined

32:26

with stable frame time and the allly Z1

32:29

non-extreme has become a competitive

32:30

budget Choice with huge discounts as low

32:33

as $300 to $400 or so if the top tier

32:36

claw drops to price parody with a top

32:38

tier allies Z1 extreme we'll re-evaluate

32:40

the conclusion as simply as possible is

32:43

this there's no reason to settle for

32:46

good enough when better is cheaper and

32:50

that's it for this review thanks for

32:52

watching subscribe for more as always we

32:53

have more handhelds we're working on

32:55

we're moving into some core component

32:57

reviews for PC parts as well and uh to

33:00

help us out in funding these reviews

33:02

because they are massive and extremely

33:04

expensive and timec consuming for us uh

33:06

on the testing side go to store. Gamers

33:08

access.net consider grabbing one of

33:10

these shirts one of our PC Building mod

33:12

mats for your projects whether that's

33:13

just in the garage or building a

33:15

computer uh or one of our projects in

33:17

auder mats or coaster packs or other

33:19

items on store. access.net or go to

33:22

patreon.com Gamers Nexus to throw us a

33:24

few bucks thanks for watching we'll see

33:26

you all next time

Rate This

5.0 / 5 (0 votes)

العلامات ذات الصلة
MSI ClawGaming ReviewHandheld DevicesPerformance IssuesBattery LifeComparison AnalysisTech CritiqueGaming HardwareIntel ArcUser Experience
هل تحتاج إلى ملخص باللغة العربية؟