Guys, please report spam as soon as you see it so it can be removed. Let us know what you think about the 1TB Claw - with a new UK price drop of £300 to £499.
I know that the Claw gets a lot of flack, but despite that I picked up one about 2 months ago just because it was heavily discounted. I've been quite impressed that I'm able to play games like Forza Horizon 5, Black Myth and Diablo 4. I'm sitting here playing RDR2 on medium settings without any issues. I don't have any other handheld to compare it to, but I'm quite impressed with it.
I have one of these, just the 512GB version, ive really had a lot of fun with it - I only play indie stuff on it, when im on the bus going to work, ideal for that nice screen too
Good viewpoint from the point of a desktop gamer - I always wondered how it would work - but the video helped me realise I think I will wait for the new one, that battery life is terrible
Thanks for the review - I am waiting for the new one, but the price drop make sense, even if the 512GB version is still full price and costing as much as this one. Wonder how many of them they will sell to grandmothers at christmas
Not really. Steam deck is a piece of shaite doomed to fail next gen. These machines actually have better compatibility and will run steam os soon. Buying a steam deck is a very bad idea atm as most games don't run well
The 1tb Lenovo Legion Go was recently on sale for $599. I'm guessing the competition for black Friday sales will be a good time to snag a portable of your choice. The downside with the Steamdeck (I own the LCD version) is that it's only sold through the Steam store.
😂😂😂😂😂 Any other portable can run that OS with bazzite. Steam deck is very bad in 2024, games like helldivers just burn the system. Enjoy your slideshow dimulating machine
Anyone who plays AAA games on a desktop system with a modern GPU will find one of these hard to take - but i guess if you travel a lot - short journeys and like an indie game like Vampire survivors they are a good way to spend an hour
I have a 2080 equipped rig with a 13700K and I love playing on my Claw. Yea it's power is lackluster compared to even other handhelds, but I'm still able to mostly play the games I like....besides maybe COD Advanced Warfare. It's a nice thing to have in bed if you don't wanna have your laptop on your lap
Not really. I use my handhelds more than my 4080 pc because of how convenient they are. Also the performance of them are way better than you think with the right settings. I'm getting 60 plus fps in Forza horizon 5 with high settings 1080p
I think they are just clearing stock, but its a good way to do it. might want to wait until the new one is out, I can see these dropping even more on black friday and christmas/new year sales
RGB features are a turnoff for me. 95% of the time, it's a pointless distraction. The other 5% are actual useful features, such as indicating battery life or status indicators. It's amazing how experienced product designers manage to get this wrong. For example the PS4 controller, where they tacked on a huge RGB panel, whose main mission in life is to create a reflection in your screen.
I know it's nonsense but I really like the backlit RGB thumbsticks. Just look so cool with that. Wonder if It costs any serious amount of battery life having them on?
Honest review - you didnt seem overly impressed and my overall feelings were that its a missed opportunity. I think Valve know the audience better and while the prices arent great either, they have such a strong platform - although not enough power for bigger games, just indie stuff IMO
The Claw isn't too bad if you temper your expectations considering it's a 1st gen proper dGPU down to an iGPU. I've been able to play games like FH5 with about 40- 45 FPS on high at 1080p. HD2, I have to lower to 720p and run some settings low and others medium but it also runs about 30-45 fps. Lunar Lake will be a MASSIVE step up so I suggest looking at that one when it launches...presumably MSI doesn't screw up the BIOS
Thanks Mat, you look sad, but I thought you did a good job - its a tough thing to review, I never have had one of these before so was nice to get a general real world experience
Does the Claw A1M support any specific thermal management software or manual performance tweaking? Also curious to know if the Hall effect joysticks replaceable, or are they soldered into the board?
Uhh, what do you mean by thermal management software or manual performance tweaking? Also, iirc they might be soldered in but I haven't had any issues since I've had mine... Owned it since launch. I've played many different games like FH5 and HD2 and haven't had controller issues. I'll warn ya though and make sure you download all the newest firmware through M Center. If it doesn't show up, check the MSI Downloads page on their site. Had an issue with my right stick and turned out I didn't have the firmware for the controller updated. Oops
@ Thanks for the info! When I mentioned thermal management, I was thinking of any built-in options to adjust fan speeds or manage thermal throttling. And by manual performance tweaking, I meant settings for dialing in power or performance levels directly-something similar to what you see on some gaming devices. Good to hear the joysticks are solid. I was curious if they’re replaceable down the line or if they’re soldered in for good. I’ll also take your advice on the firmware and keep an eye on MSI’s site to avoid any issues. Much appreciated!
@@PCPro2017 So, adjusting that stuff is really weird. I assume they half baked it cause they knew it wasn't worth the effort doing super granular adjustments and what not. The manual mode DOES allow you to adjust power level, but not fan curve levels. Super weird for software....but not a massive gripe for me. Fan speed is normally pretty good. Oh! You can also adjust wattage based on whether you are running from battery or the wall. As for fan adjustment, you can do that on the Performance mode. You can let it do it by itself or do fan adjustments based on temperature on a graph. Both fans can be adjusted differently when it comes to temperatures. Also there is an Overboost feature that can help with performance on some games, other games might not launch however .
Having one of these for quite a while (512GB 135) I paid £350 for one used (I dont think it had actually been used at all) I found it fine to meh. Got good use out of it but some games simply dont work, crash or run so bad they might as well not work (Arc problems). I like the sticks and the buttons are fine. The quick menu software frequently fails to work and requires a reset to get it working again. MSI has not had any updates to bios or software for ages so think they are done with it. If you want a handheld just get something powered by AMD, I picked up an Antec Core HS (AyaNeo Slide) which came with 2TB hdd, dock and case for £550 and prefer that to my Claw. Oh and if you want to replace the Claws m.2 you have to take the whole cooling system apart and repaste the cpu, terrible internal design.
They've made some big improvements since launch and with the massive price cuts it does look more appealing. But I think it's just about a lost cause now. They have a new one with much better hardware just round the corner and the RoG ally mops the floor with it performance wise for similar outlay. However I think you can't be too hard on the battery life of this thing because the battery life on all of these things is pretty terrible. Steam Deck oled and Ally X being quite a bit better than the rest but still nothing to write home about.
You said the sound isnt bad out of it ? really? I am quite surprised. never seen one in the flesh, my mate has the steamdeck, first gen,. sound out of it is dire
Gaming on that small screen means you dont have to have all the quality options turned on so it is going to be a fairly decent gamer. Plus would be great for emulation.
I think the best option is to get the steamdeck, Valve have it all sussed running on linux as well, so no random windows updates which hose the whole thing
I'm definitely interested in picking a handheld up. The big question is which one though. I'll likely wait and see what the new model from MSI is like before deciding. Mat
I don't claim this as some Linux fanboy, the biggest problem of the MSI Claw is that it ships with Windows. Why? Because of framepacing, the frametime-consistency. See GamersNexus who emphasized that multiple times. On the SteamDeck the FPS is lower (older hardware) but the frametime is much more consistent. That is most likely for 2 or 3 reasons. With a low powerbudget (25 Watt for example) the backgroundprocesses of Windows just use too much CPU and with that electrical power, those backgroundprocesses cause the GPU to have to wait longer for the data its need (especially with DX9/DX11) and you get higher framerendertimes. On Linux mostly (very few exceptions, those use OpenGL) Vulkan gets used for gaming, this also smoothens out the framerendertime, even though the dxvk-instructions were generated based on DX. Finally the used CPU-scheduler on SteamOS does better threadmanagement which helps to reduce cache-related datalatencies, this is a bigger problem for 2 ccd Ryzen than for 1 ccd Ryzen. I don't understand why MSI made the decision to use Windows, SteamOS is opensource, just use it! Valve went as far as actively supporting a 'competing' gamingtablet because Valve wants other companies to use SteamOS too, their interest is preventing Microsoft from locking gaming down and forcing (UWP was a step to it, fortunately that failed) game-developers to go through their MS Store. With Linux as a good option MS can't do that.
windows is a terrible OS, I would agree. Is the Steamdeck any better? ive heard a lot of people complain about the updates for it and the patchy performance from time to time. Its linux , right?
@@4thofjuly-fk4oq Steamdeck is a layered linux - its pretty solid . its going to take a bit of a performance hit running the emulation systems it does, but generally for what it is, its pretty good. I wouldnt touch a full windows OS for one of these. Microsoft dont know their arse from their elbow lately. Dont believe me? Check ANY CPU launch this year.
@@4thofjuly-fk4oq The performance is better because it uses Linux thanks to the much lower backgroundload from the OS itself. That matters a lot more with 25 Watt available than with 200 Watt available. Where the average FPS is lower it just is because it uses a 5 year old CPU and a 4 year old GPU, also the GPU is pretty small. The SteamDeck only needs updated hardware and that will come in the next few years. I guarantee you that 40 FPS average with low fluctuations in framerendertime gives you a better gaming-experience than 6 FPS average with the framerendertime varying wildly. The SteamDeck uses a 'locked down' (immutable) tweak of Arch Linux. Immutable means that you can not easily install other software on it outside the users-directory. Valve chose to do that to protect the user against his own actions breaking the system. Because on Linux you can easily break your system if you don't know what you do. :)
£300 - thats some price drop in a year, they must need to clear stock before the new one is released - its not bad. my mate has one, battery life is shocking though
they dont know what to do with this pos, so they change prices to encourage buyers to waste their money on it, it is at 500, buy, it was at 550! buy soon!
Good review, interesting angle to take. it was massively overpriced. I dont know what MSI were thinking apart from maximising their profit margins which I assume they didnt in the end
@@0tispunkm3y3r Ally is more power hungry. AMD CPU needs 5W less to get similar performance, but whole system of Ally (total power consumption) actually takes more power.
You didnt seem too impressed, hopefully kitguru get the OLED steamdeck to look at, battery life isnt great on it either, but its AMD hardware and it is a bit better than 2 hours
Waiting on the new one as I think its using less power hungry hardware and will hopefully have an OLED and bigger battery. the main issues with it from day 1
Good. video, I agree. its not too bad, but it was massively overpriced and the battery is lifted from an Apple watch. with the price cut its a good deal better - why on earth are they selling the 512gb version for the same price as the 1TB one ? is someone not checking the prices? Good review mat as always mate
I have one, its ok, but its not very portable, as you need to bring a portable battery charger to use it for more than a few hours - MSI need to rework the battery for the new model. I like my steamdeck too, its a bit more practical
It's not just the UK. Here in 'mainland' Europe this specific model dropped from 939 EUR in April to 499 EUR now. Lines up with the price drop in the video.
ti male it more expensive and make more sad the reality of the device that decoded to use a inteo cpu that is well known for suck at games on mobile? it is just as it should be
@@betag24cn I took it over an AMD part because of the speakers, haptics, and the fact they use hall effect instead of normal potentiometers like Asus does. On top of that, we need Intel to be better in the GPU department so I was willing to deal with a hotter CPU and lukewarm GPU if it meant supporting Intel's GPU division and seeing Alchemist's weird quirks. Now when people come up to me, I can give an unbiased opinion on how I feel about this handheld.
what specs, this thing is a bad intep laptop, overheats like a inteo laptop but dpesnt have the battery for a inteo laptop it is amazing a steam deck oled, this thing is a joke
very monotone mat this one. you look fed up. Thanks for the review - it looks ok I guess, battery life is surprisingly bad. wonder if the new one will fix that
@@dreschaffhausen5693Lunar Lake is limited 30 watts constant and it technically can go above that, not for long at all. It's Xe2 iGPU does much better than this one does and is much more competitive with current AMD from the HX 370.
I'd be careful with these, I'm seeing listings all over the place. The 135H more than the 155H, 1 TB twice the price as 512 GB. I use a Fire HD 10 with a BSP D8 controller, under £55 with sales, etc. Moonlight / Sunshine to the PC.
They are good for games like Vampire survivors, but otherwise I wouldnt pay the £500 they are asking for them, the ASUS one is also terrible, in fact worse
What the heck is the AI about? I liked the dig at Apple, its all buzz words. 50% longer than the market average, so the average is around 1 hour and 20? nonsense
ITs not bad, my sister has one and she loves it. She won it in a competition when it was released and its held up well./ battery life is terrible however as you say. she is constantly charging it
@@betag24cnI bought this over the Asus because it doesn't have SD card issues, doesn't have joystick issues thanks to it being Hall Effect, and it's speakers are great compared to the competition. On top of that, it power my Sennheiser HD8 DJ headphones just fine through its headphones jack
My buddy has this and a steamdeck, his statement is that each have their strong points, and he packs a 20,000 or higher 65watt battery bank with either of them, because the deck drains fast if you use windows on it... its gotten better but... its still far from ideal... the claw works better for alot of what he does, and with the dock hes got, it works as a full desktop pc hooked to a tv, price drops are always welcome, and my buddy has 2 of these now he was a tester and bought one because his wife kept nabbing his and leaving the deck... shes got a couple games you just cannot run on linux due to their anti-cheats that shes still addicted to, that run great on the claw using user created controller profiles. oh and it was a mess early on when he got it...was actually fine if you just used it docked but... battery life was worse and perf was also worse... im told one up side has actually been ms update applying bios updates, as its needed quite a few.. LOL
The Steamdeck OLED is my favourite. its not perfect, far from it, but i have enjoyed it, I only play twin stick shooters on it tbh. most AAA games run like turd on a stick
![BEST Gaming Handheld in 2024!? [Steam Deck OLED | Ally X | Legion Go | Claw]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/czoKrKcgHaY/mqdefault.jpg)
![BEST Gaming Handheld in 2024!? [Steam Deck OLED | Ally X | Legion Go | Claw]](/img/tr.png)
Guys, please report spam as soon as you see it so it can be removed. Let us know what you think about the 1TB Claw - with a new UK price drop of £300 to £499.
I know that the Claw gets a lot of flack, but despite that I picked up one about 2 months ago just because it was heavily discounted. I've been quite impressed that I'm able to play games like Forza Horizon 5, Black Myth and Diablo 4. I'm sitting here playing RDR2 on medium settings without any issues. I don't have any other handheld to compare it to, but I'm quite impressed with it.
@@quintingreyling2571 what version of claw?
@ReyGaleon-p2q I have the Core Ultra 5, so not even the higher spec'ed Ultra 7
I have one of these, just the 512GB version, ive really had a lot of fun with it - I only play indie stuff on it, when im on the bus going to work, ideal for that nice screen too
512GB same price as the 1TB? why not drop the 512gb to £325? would sell much better if they are clearly old stock to make way for the new model
Good viewpoint from the point of a desktop gamer - I always wondered how it would work - but the video helped me realise I think I will wait for the new one, that battery life is terrible
I have a manba one controller that is compatible with PC and SWITCH, I wonder if it can be used to play with this console?
Should be it's got, I've had many issueses across several pcs using built in Bluetooth. Intel laptop's with intel Bluetooth antennas
Thanks for the review - I am waiting for the new one, but the price drop make sense, even if the 512GB version is still full price and costing as much as this one. Wonder how many of them they will sell to grandmothers at christmas
Hard to get market share in this with Valves steamdeck, its killer
Not really. Steam deck is a piece of shaite doomed to fail next gen.
These machines actually have better compatibility and will run steam os soon. Buying a steam deck is a very bad idea atm as most games don't run well
The 1tb Lenovo Legion Go was recently on sale for $599. I'm guessing the competition for black Friday sales will be a good time to snag a portable of your choice. The downside with the Steamdeck (I own the LCD version) is that it's only sold through the Steam store.
LeGo in preference any day, love removable controllers
The poor battery life is due to a smaller than needed battery size combined with shocking windows oprtimisations and power profiles.
I like the optimism you would get Wukong running well. its ran like turd on my AMD discrete GPU since I got it
Mat, you need to try the steamdeck, its a fantastic little OS system on that, very good
😂😂😂😂😂
Any other portable can run that OS with bazzite. Steam deck is very bad in 2024, games like helldivers just burn the system.
Enjoy your slideshow dimulating machine
Can you not get more out of it with lower screen brightness - did you have it on full?
A great game for this is actually GTA - the older ones, they run great and dont kill the battery so much
GTA San Andreas baby !
Shout out CJ!
@@kindnessofwooedandwooer2494 oo
Mat cant believe you never tried any handheld before, must have been some shock running everything on low IQ
I like the high refresh 120hz screen, love vampire survivors so I can play it at lunch time in winter at work for an hour
Another great video. I love you guys
What version of Windows does this run?
Anyone who plays AAA games on a desktop system with a modern GPU will find one of these hard to take - but i guess if you travel a lot - short journeys and like an indie game like Vampire survivors they are a good way to spend an hour
I have a 2080 equipped rig with a 13700K and I love playing on my Claw. Yea it's power is lackluster compared to even other handhelds, but I'm still able to mostly play the games I like....besides maybe COD Advanced Warfare.
It's a nice thing to have in bed if you don't wanna have your laptop on your lap
Not really. I use my handhelds more than my 4080 pc because of how convenient they are. Also the performance of them are way better than you think with the right settings. I'm getting 60 plus fps in Forza horizon 5 with high settings 1080p
@@justswitched8841 Great
I think they are just clearing stock, but its a good way to do it. might want to wait until the new one is out, I can see these dropping even more on black friday and christmas/new year sales
Currys - no stock no worries
Good idea putting the battery drain up in a timelapse - doesnt last too long
For such an important spec for a handheld, it really disappointed
Mat
@@KitGuruTech Battery life is the achielles heel of x86....
I tried playing Horizon Dawn on the steamdeck - was dire
It looks nice, good review, I was amazed Wukong even loaded to be perfectly honest
Can’t say it ran very well mind you !
RGB features are a turnoff for me. 95% of the time, it's a pointless distraction. The other 5% are actual useful features, such as indicating battery life or status indicators. It's amazing how experienced product designers manage to get this wrong. For example the PS4 controller, where they tacked on a huge RGB panel, whose main mission in life is to create a reflection in your screen.
Good thing it's not hard to turn off the RGB on the Claw
I know it's nonsense but I really like the backlit RGB thumbsticks. Just look so cool with that. Wonder if It costs any serious amount of battery life having them on?
Honest review - you didnt seem overly impressed and my overall feelings were that its a missed opportunity. I think Valve know the audience better and while the prices arent great either, they have such a strong platform - although not enough power for bigger games, just indie stuff IMO
The Claw isn't too bad if you temper your expectations considering it's a 1st gen proper dGPU down to an iGPU.
I've been able to play games like FH5 with about 40- 45 FPS on high at 1080p.
HD2, I have to lower to 720p and run some settings low and others medium but it also runs about 30-45 fps.
Lunar Lake will be a MASSIVE step up so I suggest looking at that one when it launches...presumably MSI doesn't screw up the BIOS
I love that Halls Of Torment, and it looks fine on that, based on your gameplay
It's a great game :)
Mat
Thanks Mat, you look sad, but I thought you did a good job - its a tough thing to review, I never have had one of these before so was nice to get a general real world experience
Does the Claw A1M support any specific thermal management software or manual performance tweaking?
Also curious to know if the Hall effect joysticks replaceable, or are they soldered into the board?
Uhh, what do you mean by thermal management software or manual performance tweaking?
Also, iirc they might be soldered in but I haven't had any issues since I've had mine... Owned it since launch. I've played many different games like FH5 and HD2 and haven't had controller issues.
I'll warn ya though and make sure you download all the newest firmware through M Center. If it doesn't show up, check the MSI Downloads page on their site.
Had an issue with my right stick and turned out I didn't have the firmware for the controller updated. Oops
@ Thanks for the info!
When I mentioned thermal management, I was thinking of any built-in options to adjust fan speeds or manage thermal throttling. And by manual performance tweaking, I meant settings for dialing in power or performance levels directly-something similar to what you see on some gaming devices.
Good to hear the joysticks are solid. I was curious if they’re replaceable down the line or if they’re soldered in for good. I’ll also take your advice on the firmware and keep an eye on MSI’s site to avoid any issues. Much appreciated!
@@PCPro2017 So, adjusting that stuff is really weird. I assume they half baked it cause they knew it wasn't worth the effort doing super granular adjustments and what not.
The manual mode DOES allow you to adjust power level, but not fan curve levels. Super weird for software....but not a massive gripe for me. Fan speed is normally pretty good. Oh! You can also adjust wattage based on whether you are running from battery or the wall.
As for fan adjustment, you can do that on the Performance mode. You can let it do it by itself or do fan adjustments based on temperature on a graph. Both fans can be adjusted differently when it comes to temperatures.
Also there is an Overboost feature that can help with performance on some games, other games might not launch however .
I really want to like this but gaming on the move would just make me nauseous 😵💫
It's bad enough when I look down to check my phone for a minute 😂
Depends, I can get a USED steam deck for less than Retail for the claw.. or any of the Steam Deck derivatives.
if a used steam deck is better than a discounted msi claw, you know it is very bad that thing, msi hopefully got enough money from intel for this one
@@betag24cnWell it seems like it was a stopgap. They're already going to release their new one soon if you think about it. Lunar Lake ftw
@PixelatedWolf2077 you are optimistic,i know how bad inteo is doing rigth npw, i wouldnt keep my hope up on this
Having one of these for quite a while (512GB 135) I paid £350 for one used (I dont think it had actually been used at all) I found it fine to meh. Got good use out of it but some games simply dont work, crash or run so bad they might as well not work (Arc problems). I like the sticks and the buttons are fine. The quick menu software frequently fails to work and requires a reset to get it working again. MSI has not had any updates to bios or software for ages so think they are done with it. If you want a handheld just get something powered by AMD, I picked up an Antec Core HS (AyaNeo Slide) which came with 2TB hdd, dock and case for £550 and prefer that to my Claw. Oh and if you want to replace the Claws m.2 you have to take the whole cooling system apart and repaste the cpu, terrible internal design.
Thanks for the comments and info 👍🏻
Given the power draw of intel ultra 7 processors, its no surprise the battery life suffers :( this may perform better docked rather than handheld
I really want one. Looking at the price and adjust it for inflation and then look at the original iPod
They've made some big improvements since launch and with the massive price cuts it does look more appealing. But I think it's just about a lost cause now. They have a new one with much better hardware just round the corner and the RoG ally mops the floor with it performance wise for similar outlay.
However I think you can't be too hard on the battery life of this thing because the battery life on all of these things is pretty terrible. Steam Deck oled and Ally X being quite a bit better than the rest but still nothing to write home about.
Whats the default install like, is it clean? no crapware installed?
How long does it take to charge to 100% from low? did you mention that? didnt see it
You said the sound isnt bad out of it ? really? I am quite surprised. never seen one in the flesh, my mate has the steamdeck, first gen,. sound out of it is dire
For a handheld device with tiny speakers the performance is decent
Mat
Gaming on that small screen means you dont have to have all the quality options turned on so it is going to be a fairly decent gamer. Plus would be great for emulation.
All depends on the games you play , I have even found some badly coded INDIE games kill the battery too, but with the £300 price drop its not too bad
with that price drop, buy a steam deck, ypu will be happier and no one will look at you for buying a msi claw
Can it take a standard USB fast charger?
I think the best option is to get the steamdeck, Valve have it all sussed running on linux as well, so no random windows updates which hose the whole thing
1TB for this at 499 is good price point, I might get one for christmas as I have had a shite year
The IPS screen is ok, but I hope their next one is OLED, blacker blacks,. and this screen lets it down a bit compared to the steamdeck OLED
Would you really buy that Mat as you said at the end?
I'm definitely interested in picking a handheld up. The big question is which one though. I'll likely wait and see what the new model from MSI is like before deciding.
Mat
With the frame drops and instability of the claw i don't think it's worth even the price drop unless they fix the frame studder.
I don't claim this as some Linux fanboy, the biggest problem of the MSI Claw is that it ships with Windows. Why? Because of framepacing, the frametime-consistency. See GamersNexus who emphasized that multiple times. On the SteamDeck the FPS is lower (older hardware) but the frametime is much more consistent. That is most likely for 2 or 3 reasons. With a low powerbudget (25 Watt for example) the backgroundprocesses of Windows just use too much CPU and with that electrical power, those backgroundprocesses cause the GPU to have to wait longer for the data its need (especially with DX9/DX11) and you get higher framerendertimes. On Linux mostly (very few exceptions, those use OpenGL) Vulkan gets used for gaming, this also smoothens out the framerendertime, even though the dxvk-instructions were generated based on DX. Finally the used CPU-scheduler on SteamOS does better threadmanagement which helps to reduce cache-related datalatencies, this is a bigger problem for 2 ccd Ryzen than for 1 ccd Ryzen. I don't understand why MSI made the decision to use Windows, SteamOS is opensource, just use it! Valve went as far as actively supporting a 'competing' gamingtablet because Valve wants other companies to use SteamOS too, their interest is preventing Microsoft from locking gaming down and forcing (UWP was a step to it, fortunately that failed) game-developers to go through their MS Store. With Linux as a good option MS can't do that.
windows is a terrible OS, I would agree. Is the Steamdeck any better? ive heard a lot of people complain about the updates for it and the patchy performance from time to time. Its linux , right?
@@4thofjuly-fk4oq Steamdeck is a layered linux - its pretty solid . its going to take a bit of a performance hit running the emulation systems it does, but generally for what it is, its pretty good. I wouldnt touch a full windows OS for one of these. Microsoft dont know their arse from their elbow lately. Dont believe me? Check ANY CPU launch this year.
@@4thofjuly-fk4oq The performance is better because it uses Linux thanks to the much lower backgroundload from the OS itself. That matters a lot more with 25 Watt available than with 200 Watt available. Where the average FPS is lower it just is because it uses a 5 year old CPU and a 4 year old GPU, also the GPU is pretty small. The SteamDeck only needs updated hardware and that will come in the next few years. I guarantee you that 40 FPS average with low fluctuations in framerendertime gives you a better gaming-experience than 6 FPS average with the framerendertime varying wildly. The SteamDeck uses a 'locked down' (immutable) tweak of Arch Linux. Immutable means that you can not easily install other software on it outside the users-directory. Valve chose to do that to protect the user against his own actions breaking the system. Because on Linux you can easily break your system if you don't know what you do. :)
£300 - thats some price drop in a year, they must need to clear stock before the new one is released - its not bad. my mate has one, battery life is shocking though
Not surprising battery life is rubbish given the CPU. If had an ARM inside it....
no one is buying it after the reviews, they dont know what to do with it
@@dreschaffhausen5693ARM isn't worth it at all currently. Windows hasn't properly made an ARM compatible OS yet, it's too new.
meanwhile in our place we are waiting for the price to drop again but are currently stuck at 550 euros@@betag24cn
One of these with a lunar lake Intel would be formidable.
Guessing that will be next year and the price is going to be closer to a grand.
no one inows, because no one will waste money on it to discover how bad the intel gpu in it is
@@betag24cnHave you seen performance for it? Lunar Lake is very good for being a 30 watt part
Thanks for the coverage - I saw this on currys last week for £499 and it went back up to £549 and now its £499 - whats going on with it ?
You're welcome! Hope you enjoyed the video. The pricing is a little bit all over the place for sure
Mat
they dont know what to do with this pos, so they change prices to encourage buyers to waste their money on it, it is at 500, buy, it was at 550! buy soon!
Good review, interesting angle to take. it was massively overpriced. I dont know what MSI were thinking apart from maximising their profit margins which I assume they didnt in the end
What is the power drain? my steamdeck takes around 18 watts gaming < I measured it
This thing uses a lot. I think in the top mode it pulls a good 10W more than the Ally. Something like 43W total.
@@0tispunkm3y3r Ally is more power hungry. AMD CPU needs 5W less to get similar performance, but whole system of Ally (total power consumption) actually takes more power.
As long as it does not come with Dragon Center preinstalled !
It comes with M Center, which I think is a Claw only feature
Does it get hot in your hands? my ASUS one is very toasty
Was wondering the same thing!
Toasty? How so? I...can answer the MSI heat question if I understand what you mean.
You didnt seem too impressed, hopefully kitguru get the OLED steamdeck to look at, battery life isnt great on it either, but its AMD hardware and it is a bit better than 2 hours
I hope so too
Mat
the 120hz IPS screen is good on this, but the new steamdeck with OLED is better.
My thoughts exactly should have put an OLED on it.
Would be really interested to try a Steamdeck. I'll maybe pick one up at some point
Mat
Waiting on the new one as I think its using less power hungry hardware and will hopefully have an OLED and bigger battery. the main issues with it from day 1
You risk burn in with OLED but the newer Claw coming out later is supposed to have a much bigger battery and more efficient hardware
This may just have to bet new go to for travel gaming!
I dont think I would have bought this at £800, but £500 its pretty reasonable. if only the battery would last 3 hours
Good. video, I agree. its not too bad, but it was massively overpriced and the battery is lifted from an Apple watch. with the price cut its a good deal better - why on earth are they selling the 512gb version for the same price as the 1TB one ? is someone not checking the prices? Good review mat as always mate
Could you imagine buying the 512gb version not realising the 1tb is on at the same price!
Thanks! The pricing is bizarre I agree
Mat
I have one, its ok, but its not very portable, as you need to bring a portable battery charger to use it for more than a few hours - MSI need to rework the battery for the new model. I like my steamdeck too, its a bit more practical
Battery tech in general needs to improve I think
Mat
MSI are clearing stock, never used it. screen looks ok - thats the big thing for me, screen quality and battery life - battery life looks terrible.
they are not clearing stock, they are trying to clear stock 😂
I love the concept of handheld gaming, but am I the only one who thinks battery life should be their top priority?!
They arent powerful enough - if someone manages to get a bigger battery into these and the latest AMD mobile silicon they might be alright. no thanks
Nah, not gonna happen until Ryzen comes out with new Ryzen parts, plus Lunar Lake is close around the corner for the handheld.
@@PixelatedWolf2077 Right!
512gb free on Currys - you sure this is an official sale and not currys randomly getting something wrong?
It's not just the UK. Here in 'mainland' Europe this specific model dropped from 939 EUR in April to 499 EUR now. Lines up with the price drop in the video.
Wish they had gone the extra mile and included an OLED screen. For the price that would have been a bargain. As it is its OK.
ti male it more expensive and make more sad the reality of the device that decoded to use a inteo cpu that is well known for suck at games on mobile? it is just as it should be
Rubbish, oleds need more power.
@@betag24cn I took it over an AMD part because of the speakers, haptics, and the fact they use hall effect instead of normal potentiometers like Asus does.
On top of that, we need Intel to be better in the GPU department so I was willing to deal with a hotter CPU and lukewarm GPU if it meant supporting Intel's GPU division and seeing Alchemist's weird quirks.
Now when people come up to me, I can give an unbiased opinion on how I feel about this handheld.
I think these are only any way good for B list games and little indie things, Dave the diver is good on it
The specs of these things just amazes me. Only problem they have is that Nintendo switch which is almost the perfect handheld.
Its a screen powered by a potato.
@@user-uv8qn1br8q Im old school and remember the original game boy...
what specs, this thing is a bad intep laptop, overheats like a inteo laptop but dpesnt have the battery for a inteo laptop
it is amazing a steam deck oled, this thing is a joke
@@betag24cn You mean Intel?
@festerleech4952 This dude is just a hater lmao
very monotone mat this one. you look fed up. Thanks for the review - it looks ok I guess, battery life is surprisingly bad. wonder if the new one will fix that
You're welcome - Sorry for coming across like that - I'm all good though, thanks :)
Mat
Wukong on that? wow, didnt think it would even have run in the first place - even if it was a stutter fest
I was pleasantly surprised too. By no means was it flawless, but it was just about playable (most of the time)
Mat
They tried to screw us over with the price . .they cut £300 and still make profit? bye bye MSI.
Im pretty sure they need to clear stock, and if you can enjoy this one, 499 for a 1TB portable gaming unit really isnt too bad. faults and all.
some reduction I agree. I doubt they are selling them at a loss either.
I'm sure they could price it at 400 and still make a profit of 50 on each one lol
Two hours of battery. Reminds me of the old Game Gear and Atari Lynx...
Wow the lynx, that was epic. loved it back in the day
OG gameboy was what 80 minutes? thats not too bad given its extremely more advanced graphically and technologically
Two kids I knew at school had a lynx and a game gear. Both of those were absolutely amazing at the time.
Ah the GameGear - I did use that as a kid - takes me way back :)
Mat
These are only good for indie titles,. nothing else
cheer up mate, life isnt that bad
he does look very down, I agree.
living in the grim UK will do that to you.
I'm all good guys, thanks :) - although I did go a bit monotone on this one sorry, not sure why :)
Mat
@@KitGuruTechIt's that Brummie accent, always sounds like that to me👍🤣
DONT BUY YET, WAIT TILL BLACK FRIDAY !
Don't use the word BLACK, it's offensive to white people
Windows on one of these? absolutely no chance.
the problem here is not windows, is intel inside.
@@betag24cnNah, it's a Windows issue. Coming from a pure Windows user and a MSI Claw user.
@@PixelatedWolf2077 dont defend it, you know how bad is it.
@@betag24cn it's actually the Intel arc igpu,it's very new and a lot of games are not optimised for it😮💨
Battery life, means it is basically useless. waste of everyones time. but thanks for confirming that !
hey, it is thw best intel could offer!
it is better than amd... oh, wait
@@betag24cn Need ARM or maybe the new gen mobile cpus can do better.
@@dreschaffhausen5693Lunar Lake is limited 30 watts constant and it technically can go above that, not for long at all.
It's Xe2 iGPU does much better than this one does and is much more competitive with current AMD from the HX 370.
Intel ran handheld is worst idea.
I'd be careful with these, I'm seeing listings all over the place. The 135H more than the 155H, 1 TB twice the price as 512 GB.
I use a Fire HD 10 with a BSP D8 controller, under £55 with sales, etc. Moonlight / Sunshine to the PC.
Nope, Steam deck rules at that price.
I see you died just as much as me playing Wukong. as in every 10 seconds. hated it
I'm not much good at timing based combat. I've never killed a single boss in Elden Ring 😂
Mat
Don't run games on these devices at native resolution, you just aren't going to get a good experience.
They are good for games like Vampire survivors, but otherwise I wouldnt pay the £500 they are asking for them, the ASUS one is also terrible, in fact worse
I honestly was curious what games people can actually play on them without problems,maybe counterstrike 2 or something😅
Dont buy that Mat, get the steamdeck, is the best of a bad bunch
I'll maybe pick one up after christmas, thanks mate
Mat
ROG ALLY is rubbish as well, I returned mine to Amazon
They even managed to cram AI into it and all it seems to do is kill the battery - lols
this is a laptop cpu, so all laptops must have a ai chiplet now, you like it or not, you use it or not, thanks microsoft
What the heck is the AI about? I liked the dig at Apple, its all buzz words. 50% longer than the market average, so the average is around 1 hour and 20? nonsense
ITs not bad, my sister has one and she loves it. She won it in a competition when it was released and its held up well./ battery life is terrible however as you say. she is constantly charging it
if your first statement to degend it is its not bad, is very bad, and you have to pay for it
@@betag24cnI bought this over the Asus because it doesn't have SD card issues, doesn't have joystick issues thanks to it being Hall Effect, and it's speakers are great compared to the competition.
On top of that, it power my Sennheiser HD8 DJ headphones just fine through its headphones jack
And msi make new claw for 1000$ 😅 still use intel wtf
800 Euro Crap 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
AI engine - always has to be AI - MSI wise up, seriously guys
Still MSI, so no
they would need to pay me money to get and use one, alot of money
nothing will make it worth any ammount of money
This thing is complete trash. No idea what MSI was doing.
Stutter city.
1TB is quite useful for the price. pretty good. Wonder how the 120hz IPS compares to the 120hz OLED in the steamdeck
My buddy has this and a steamdeck, his statement is that each have their strong points, and he packs a 20,000 or higher 65watt battery bank with either of them, because the deck drains fast if you use windows on it... its gotten better but... its still far from ideal... the claw works better for alot of what he does, and with the dock hes got, it works as a full desktop pc hooked to a tv, price drops are always welcome, and my buddy has 2 of these now he was a tester and bought one because his wife kept nabbing his and leaving the deck... shes got a couple games you just cannot run on linux due to their anti-cheats that shes still addicted to, that run great on the claw using user created controller profiles.
oh and it was a mess early on when he got it...was actually fine if you just used it docked but... battery life was worse and perf was also worse... im told one up side has actually been ms update applying bios updates, as its needed quite a few.. LOL
Same Here. Have the Release Steam Deck and got an U5 Claw for 280€. For this price, i think ITS a No brainer
What is the power drain? my steamdeck takes around 18 watts gaming < I measured it
The Steamdeck OLED is my favourite. its not perfect, far from it, but i have enjoyed it, I only play twin stick shooters on it tbh. most AAA games run like turd on a stick
im going to guess no, because the intel chips are still trash
yep, pretty much
Depends on the game though. It's not entirely a lost cause, plus because of it I almost bought a A770 LE I found online for a good price cause of it