MSI Claw A8 vs A8 AI+: What’s the difference?

MSI surprised fans at Computex 2025 with the reveal of the long-rumoured MSI Claw A8 handheld gaming console – but how does it compare to the MSI Claw A8 AI+?

While key details about the Claw A8 are yet to be revealed, even at this early stage, the differences between the Claw A8 and its AI-infused brethren are clear to see – and that could sway your buying decision one way or the other.

Here are four key differences between the new MSI Claw A8 and the MSI Claw A8 AI+.  

Pricing and availability

At the time of writing, MSI has yet to disclose just how much the new Claw A8 will cost, or when it’ll go on sale.

The MSI Claw A8 AI+, on the other hand, launched earlier this year and costs a cool £899/$999. 

The MSI Claw A8 has an updated design and colour options

If there’s one clear difference between the MSI Claw A8 and the top-end A8 AI+ at a glance, that’d be the overall design. 

The A8 sports a new, more ergonomic design. Its handles appear to curve inwards – in a similar way to the competing Asus ROG Ally – to provide extra comfort during those extended gaming sessions. 

That also extends to the colour options. While the white finish looks similar to the Polar Tempest edition of the A8 AI+, the new lime green colour option is certainly eye-catching – and likely to split opinion, as it has already done in the Trusted Reviews office. Some love it, others hate it; it’s all a matter of taste.

Otherwise, the two handheld gaming consoles share plenty of similarities; both sport an 8-inch FD+ screen, and both offer the same RGB-emblazoned analogue sticks. 

The MSI Claw A8 is powered by the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme

The MSI Claw A8 diverges from the Intel-powered A8 AI+ with the use of the new AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme – one of the first devices to use the new APU. It has appeared in a prototype of the Lenovo Legion Go 2, and is rumoured to be the chipset of choice for the Xbox handheld, but the Claw A8 could be the first to actually ship with the new chipset.

It’s a big deal too; it’s AMD’s most powerful Z2 chip to date, offering an upgrade over the Ryzen Z1 Extreme used in the ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go. It has eight CPU cores and 16 GPU cores, a notable jump from the Z1 Extreme’s 12-core GPU. 

The MSI Claw A8 AI+, on the other hand, sports the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V. Interestingly, the two chipsets seem on par in terms of hardware, so it’ll be interesting to see which handheld comes out on top in benchmark tests. 

The MSI Claw A8 AI+ has more RAM

While the two handhelds seem fairly evenly specced where APUs are concerned, the MSI Claw A8 AI+ takes the win when it comes to RAM allocation, offering 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM.

The new Claw A8, on the other hand, comes with ‘up to’ 24GB of LPDDR5 RAM, suggesting that there could be a lower-spec variant at a cheaper price point – though this is TBC. 

The MSI Claw A8 AI+ has better connectivity

The Claw A8 AI+ also has the upper hand when it comes to connectivity, sporting the latest and greatest including support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 – thanks largely in part to the use of an Intel chipset.

The Claw A8 with its AMD APU, offers support for the slightly slower but still capable Wi-Fi 6E, along with Bluetooth 5.3.

Early verdict

It seems like the MSI Claw A8 could be a solid alternative to the top-end Claw A8 AI+ with similar graphics performance and an updated design – though it’ll all come down to the all-important pricing, which is yet to be confirmed.

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