MSI's latest gaming handheld, featuring Ryzen Z2 Extreme, will finally make it to the shelves this month in China and will be available with and without subsidy.

The new iteration of the MSI Claw gaming handheld, which the company showcased at Computex is about to see a retail launch . While there is no word on the retail launch in other parts of the world, from what we know from platforms like JD, the MSI Claw A8 BZ2EM handheld is launching this month in China.

The Claw A8 is the first handheld from MSI to adopt an AMD chip and is based on the latest custom Zen 5 Strix-Point aka Ryzen Z2 Extreme. If you are familiar with the Ryzen Z2 lineup , the Ryzen Z2 Extreme is the fastest SoC in the series, offering an 8-core/16-thread Zen 5 core configuration. The Claw A8 handheld still gets the Radeon 890M graphics, which is the fastest in the Z2 lineup and also in the Strix Point family.

As seen on JD.com, a Chinese ecommerce website, MSI has started taking pre-orders for the gaming handheld. While the handheld isn't ready to ship yet, it's reported that it will start shipping later this month. The marketing infographic also shows the official price tag for Chinese residents. The Claw A8 handheld apparently can be bought at either 6,999 Yuan but a subsidized price tag of 5,949 Yuan is also available. The prices translate to roughly US$976 and US$830 respectively.

The price tag is competitive to the Claw 8 AI+ handheld, which features Intel Lunar Lake chips but the Claw A8 is somewhat lighter and has some small differences in the connectivity. As for other specifications, there isn't much difference between the Claw 8 AI+ and Claw A8, which includes the same display, featuring 1200p resolution on an IPS-level display with VRR and touchscreen support. The Claw A8 BZ2EM will be available in two different color variations: Neon Green and Polar Tempest.

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