Official: MSI Claw 8 AI Plus has 80Wh battery and Intel Lunar Lake to match Asus

Just three months after releasing its first gaming handheld PC, it received rave reviews – this is my — MSI is already announcing a potential replacement. The “MSI Claw 8 AI Plus” replaces its lackluster Intel Meteor Lake chip Brand new Lunar Lake onesWhile its 7-inch, 1080p 120Hz variable resolution rate screen has been replaced by a larger 8-inch screen.

Perhaps more importantly, MSI revealed that it will feature up to an 80 watt-hour battery. Verge — linking it with the recently announced Asus ROG Alley X For the largest battery in a PC gaming handheld. Despite the larger screen, it will still deliver a smooth 120Hz refresh rate with VRR, writes MSI marketing specialist Anne Lee.

The Claw will also feature a second USB-C port with Thunderbolt 4 capabilities, just like Asus, it will come with a wall-mounted charger instead of the original’s two-cord brick, and it will have enhanced “tactile feel of the LB/RB buttons.”

MSI didn’t provide any other details or even a single image about the new handheld, only telling us that the company will release more information At Computex – PC Show which is currently going on in Taipei, Taiwan. But as of today we know that Intel’s Lunar Lake has up to 50 percent more GPU performance By comparison Meteor Lake and its Xe2 GPU require less power for similar performance — though Intel doesn’t label its chart axes, so we don’t know by how much.

MSI announced one more Today’s version of Claw: A limited edition Controversy version that looks like the game’s Pip-Boy wrist computer, but unfortunately it’s based on the original 7-inch MSI Claw with Meteor Lake, not Lunar Lake. So unless there are a lot of hardcore fans Controversy + Claw fans, I expect this one will be similarly dead on arrival. Still, MSI’s press release says it will have “the industry’s largest battery,” so maybe there will be a surprise or two in there?

In case you’re wondering, yes, I’ve been retesting the original MSI Claw with the latest BIOS and set of drivers, and I’m yet to see enough of a performance increase to make any changes to my recommendation.

Update, June 4: Jacob Roach of Digital Trends There are photos of the Lunar Lake version – And it’s a complete redesign with an M.2 2280 slot for longer SSDs coming in September.