MSI Unveils Its First Ryzen-Powered Handheld: The Claw A8 with Z2 Extreme and 24GB High-Speed RAM

Oh wow, so MSI just kinda threw this new Ryzen handheld thing at Computex, right? Boom, AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Extreme APU, like some hidden gem they decided to flash around. But seriously, isn’t it kinda like a shadow lurking behind those Lunar Lake options? I mean, remember those? Dimensions, weight, audio—everything’s like déjà vu, but sideways. Anyway, no talk on price or when you can snatch it, but fingers crossed they spill the beans soon.

So, digging inside—this Claw A8 thing—it’s got the Ryzen Z2 Extreme, eight cores doing the dance (3x Zen 5, 5x Zen 5c) and running wild with 16 threads. Kinda feels like that Ryzen AI 7 Pro 360, but with more oomph — RDNA 3.5 graphics or something, like 16 Compute Units of woo-hoo. Then there’s 24GB of this LPDDR5x-8000 memory stuff, which, okay, seems a bit less compared to the usual Lunar Lake bling — 32GB — but what’s new, right? And don’t even get me started on the 1TB SSD; it’s like the M.2 2280 – makes you feel all tech-savvy, huh?

The display? Oh, slightly amusing, if not a clone of Claw 8 AI+—8-inch 1080p IPS thingy, because why not? 120Hz, VRR, all the usual suspects, checking all the boxes, like, “Hey, look, I’m fancy!”

Oh, side note—specs. Just numbers jumping around: Ryzen this, Intel that, LPDDR5x-whatever, storage—yada yada yada—graphics, more numbers. Why do I even care about all these? Anyway…

Back to the Claw A8, like, can we talk battery? 80Wh, six cells, probably enough to survive a gaming marathon if you’re not glued for eternity. Ports—those USB4 Type-Cs, 3.5mm jack, microSD doing its thing, fingerprint sensor—because just typing a password isn’t high-tech enough.

Wireless? So, Wi-Fi 6E! Bluetooth 5.3! But boo-hoo, no Wi-Fi 7 like those flashy Lunar Lake things. What’s the deal here, MSI? And gaming performance—pffft, Intel’s Arc 140V kinda laughs at Radeon 890M, so maybe look twice if gaming’s your mojo.

And that price, oof, I mean, does anyone even know? Lunar Lake’s might be pricier with all their ‘advanced’ pizzazz, but who’s buying a mystery box? The old Claw 8 AI+ was $899 to start, now cruising at $999 or whatever.

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