MSI's Claw 8 utilizes AMD's Ryzen Z2 Extreme APU to deliver powerful gaming performance, but reduces the memory by 8 GB.

MSI Claw 8 with Ryzen Z2 Extreme Showcased at Computex, Featuring 24 GB LPDDR5X RAM

The new MSI Claw 8 gaming handheld looks a bit different from the Claw 8 AI+ from the outside. Surely, it's almost identical in layout, but they gave it a slightly different grip than the latter. There are some more differences in appearance, which we will talk about later, but let's take a look at the specs of the new one.

MSI calls it Claw 8 BZ2EM, which indicates the processor inside the handheld. The Claw 8 runs on the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme APU, which is AMD's brand-new custom chip for handhelds. It's somewhat of a cut-down version of the Strix Point and brings 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture; four cores are based on Zen 5, and the other four on Zen 5c.

The iGPU remains the same as on the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, i.e., Radeon 890M, which is one of the fastest iGPUs on mobile platforms. Surely, we have Strix Halo, but those chips are quite expensive to be deployed in a handheld at the moment. Considering the Radeon 890M is comparable to some budget GPUs, it's going to be excellent for playing games.

The MSI Claw 8 brings lower VRAM capacity compared to the Claw 8 AI+ (24 GB vs 32 GB), and while the latter brings 8533 MT/s LPDDR5X memory, the newer A8 brings 8000 MT/s speed. The rest of the specs are mostly identical to the Claw 8 AI+, including display, connectivity, and battery. MSI has unveiled most of the specs, where we can see some subtle differences between the two, like weight and wireless connectivity.

The Claw 8 comes with an 8-inch IPS-level display, boasting a 1920x1200p resolution with VRR and touchscreen. The display can reach up to 500 nits in brightness, which is exactly what we see on the Claw 8 AI+. Moreover, the cooling solution is also the same, both featuring the Cooler Boost HyperFlow with dual fans and dual pipes.

Connectivity includes 2x USB4 ports with 40 Gbps of bandwidth, Wi-Fi 6E for wireless internet, and Bluetooth 5.3 for peripheral connectivity. The console is 30g lighter than the MSI Claw 8 AI+, which also received a new version called Claw 8 AI+ Polar Tempest Edition, featuring a white exterior. Both Claw 8 BZ2EM and Claw 8 AI+ Polar Tempest Edition will be available in various colors, but the exact date of availability and pricing haven't been disclosed yet.

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