The MSI Claw is here to claim the crown for the best handheld gaming console. A slew of similar Windows 11 handhelds, such as the Asus ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go and AyaNeo 2S (among others), have flooded the market in the past year. MSI’s handheld differentiates itself from the pack by being the first such device to sport one of the new Intel Meteor Lake processors. On top of that its MSI Center M launcher promises to work more seamlessly than the UIs found on rival systems.
I went hands-on with the MSI Claw during CES 2024 and it’s arguably my favorite product from this year's show. As great as it seems, however, it needs to go above and beyond to dethrone the current handheld king … the mighty Steam Deck. Valve’s handheld, especially the latest Steam Deck OLED has it all, including access to the Steam library, the intuitive SteamOS, a solid form factor and a relatively affordable price. The MSI Claw certainly has a lot to prove if it wants to topple the Steam Deck.
