MSI's new Lunar Lake-powered Claw 8 AI+ gaming handheld will have a massive battery

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is the company's second-generation PC gaming handheld and the first to be powered by Intel's new Lunar Lake processor with integrated Intel Arc Battlemage graphics. We got to go hands-on with a pre-release build of the MSI Claw 8 AI+ at PAX Australia and were impressed with how well it handled games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Forza Horizon 5.

2

We went hands-on with the MSI Claw 8 AI+ at PAX Australia 2024.

With CES 2025 around the corner, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ has earned a '2025 Honoree in Gaming & eSports' award - with a new listing that confirms one aspect that will set it apart from the competition, outside of going Team Blue for the hardware. The listing confirms that the MSI Claw 8 AI+ will have a massive 82WHr battery, essentially double what you can find in Valve's Steam Deck.

It also has a slightly larger capacity battery than what's inside ASUS's ROG Ally X refresh, and it will provide "4+ hours of gameplay for AAA titles."

However, that's a vague statement, so we'll have to wait for reviews to determine precisely what the larger battery brings to modern gaming. The Windows 11 gaming handheld also includes an NPU with 48 TOPS of AI performance, so it is Copilot+ ready and worthy of the AI+ branding. Again, as the first Lunar Lake gaming handheld, we're interested to see how Intrel's efficient new SoC translates to performance at 15W or so - especially in comparison to equivalent Ryzen chips from AMD.

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is expected to officially launch or become available to pre-order or purchase at CES 2025 in January, so stay tuned for pricing information.

• Read more: Microsoft Gaming CEO confirms Xbox handheld development and looming release
• Read more: AYANEO 3 gaming handheld announced, Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, high refresh-rate OLED
• Read more: Valve's Steam Deck OLED is now available in stylish limited edition White
• Read more: Windows 11 just got new functionality for PC gaming handhelds and controllers