The MSI Claw is a Mess: Gaming Handheld Can't Compete - Review & Benchmarks
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Date: 2024-04-15
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Comments and reviews: 20
gamersnexus
I bought an MSI laptop last year in August. After a month the screen wouldn't go on anymore, but it did display through HDMI. Tried everything, but nothing worked. Couldn't send it back because it was outside of the 30-day return policy.
It took MSI 2 months to repair the laptop. Got it back and the display showed extreme light bleeding on all edges. Also, the colors weren't as before. Red was orange and purple was pink. I use the laptop for image editing, so this wasn't acceptable. The laptop was unusable with the light bleeding and extremely incorrect colors. MSI asked me to send it back again and it took them another 3 months to repair it. Got the laptop back, and they said nothing was wrong with the laptop. It took them 3 months to tell me that...
I'm chronically ill and have little spending money and saved years to finally buy a good laptop. I then owned a laptop that was unusable to me. Had to sell the laptop, while being honest about it's faults. The laptop was 1700 euro, and I had to sell it for under a 1000 euro. Can't buy a new laptop yet, and it will most likely be a year or more before I can afford another one of that price.
Had contact with MSI for over 20 times, and the customer service was horrid. A couple of times they didn't even knew where the laptop was, and the first time they returned the laptop without telling me, and it was at the post office for weeks. Not even an apology, nothing. This was around Christmas, and it caused me to be incredibly depressed, which in return caused my illness to worsen. Am still feeling the effects of the whole event.
Explained my situation to them multiple times and was always respectful towards them, but they just didn't care at all.
I posted several reviews online, which most of them were removed by MSI. Was even banned from Trustpilot for just posting an honest review. Can't tell you how terrible it feels to write an honest review and for it to be removed.
Later, a person higher up in the company contacted me, and he promised to fix this problem. After a few weeks, I checked the link in his e-mail and the support status was changed to solved, without telling me at all. They gave me false hope, and that's a bit sadistic.
Will never spend that much money on a product ever again, because this has damaged my trust in companies immensely.
Wanted to tell my story so that others will be warned and don't have to go through this. You really don't want to buy anything from this company.
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I bought an MSI laptop last year in August. After a month the screen wouldn't go on anymore, but it did display through HDMI. Tried everything, but nothing worked. Couldn't send it back because it was outside of the 30-day return policy.
It took MSI 2 months to repair the laptop. Got it back and the display showed extreme light bleeding on all edges. Also, the colors weren't as before. Red was orange and purple was pink. I use the laptop for image editing, so this wasn't acceptable. The laptop was unusable with the light bleeding and extremely incorrect colors. MSI asked me to send it back again and it took them another 3 months to repair it. Got the laptop back, and they said nothing was wrong with the laptop. It took them 3 months to tell me that...
I'm chronically ill and have little spending money and saved years to finally buy a good laptop. I then owned a laptop that was unusable to me. Had to sell the laptop, while being honest about it's faults. The laptop was 1700 euro, and I had to sell it for under a 1000 euro. Can't buy a new laptop yet, and it will most likely be a year or more before I can afford another one of that price.
Had contact with MSI for over 20 times, and the customer service was horrid. A couple of times they didn't even knew where the laptop was, and the first time they returned the laptop without telling me, and it was at the post office for weeks. Not even an apology, nothing. This was around Christmas, and it caused me to be incredibly depressed, which in return caused my illness to worsen. Am still feeling the effects of the whole event.
Explained my situation to them multiple times and was always respectful towards them, but they just didn't care at all.
I posted several reviews online, which most of them were removed by MSI. Was even banned from Trustpilot for just posting an honest review. Can't tell you how terrible it feels to write an honest review and for it to be removed.
Later, a person higher up in the company contacted me, and he promised to fix this problem. After a few weeks, I checked the link in his e-mail and the support status was changed to solved, without telling me at all. They gave me false hope, and that's a bit sadistic.
Will never spend that much money on a product ever again, because this has damaged my trust in companies immensely.
Wanted to tell my story so that others will be warned and don't have to go through this. You really don't want to buy anything from this company.
reply
user-xc8bi7cb4y
there is a problem . MANY EXTREME PROBLEMS ALL BLOODY HELL BREAKS LOOSE ASUS IS ONE OF THE WORST when EXPENSIVE PARTS BREAK for CHINA to rob my money then a some one may file a law suit on ASUS I GOT RIPPED OFF EVERY TIME I BUY ASUS ASUS REMOVED HAWAII and ALASKA out of the USA and give it to GUAM to ENFORCE NAZI LAW FOR THERE CEO this is insane to prove a point I am not the only one to get ripped on off by ASUS JAY from JAYZTWOCENTS have a DEFORCE with ASUS and you STEVE having a on ASUS SUR SUD YOU FORGOT ABOUT THAT SIR ENOUGH IS ENOUGH NO ASUS STEAM POWED NO FIGABYTE AND CORSAIR NO APPLEVevery time get ripped off I GET OT THINGS GO TO WRONG and all these guys do is break the law fo pay there CEO and enforce CHINA NAZI LAW athen MSI also doing the same thing 3 year service is not on the sales slip ITS ON THE LAUNCH DATE OF THE SKU NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH NOT THE DATE ON THE SALES SLIP AI AM GOING TI LEGION GO (EXTREME) All the brand names. STEAM ASUS AND MSI is FIREDI Told them I AM NOT DOING BUSINESS and mu horror story will be reported written up and JOE BIDEN FED GOV PROTECT THE CRMIMALS THAT RIPPED ME OFF god speed TRUMP for PRESIDENT 2024
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there is a problem . MANY EXTREME PROBLEMS ALL BLOODY HELL BREAKS LOOSE ASUS IS ONE OF THE WORST when EXPENSIVE PARTS BREAK for CHINA to rob my money then a some one may file a law suit on ASUS I GOT RIPPED OFF EVERY TIME I BUY ASUS ASUS REMOVED HAWAII and ALASKA out of the USA and give it to GUAM to ENFORCE NAZI LAW FOR THERE CEO this is insane to prove a point I am not the only one to get ripped on off by ASUS JAY from JAYZTWOCENTS have a DEFORCE with ASUS and you STEVE having a on ASUS SUR SUD YOU FORGOT ABOUT THAT SIR ENOUGH IS ENOUGH NO ASUS STEAM POWED NO FIGABYTE AND CORSAIR NO APPLEVevery time get ripped off I GET OT THINGS GO TO WRONG and all these guys do is break the law fo pay there CEO and enforce CHINA NAZI LAW athen MSI also doing the same thing 3 year service is not on the sales slip ITS ON THE LAUNCH DATE OF THE SKU NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH NOT THE DATE ON THE SALES SLIP AI AM GOING TI LEGION GO (EXTREME) All the brand names. STEAM ASUS AND MSI is FIREDI Told them I AM NOT DOING BUSINESS and mu horror story will be reported written up and JOE BIDEN FED GOV PROTECT THE CRMIMALS THAT RIPPED ME OFF god speed TRUMP for PRESIDENT 2024
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cacao1312
Got the weaker ally on sale for 400 definitely no regrets definitely encountering bugs but its much better than people make it seem if you have reasonable expectations ive been playing fallout four above 60 fps with settings mixed with ultra, medium and low same with rainbow six siege and it looks great anyone getting one shouldnt expect anything mind blowing just make sure you set the display to 720p in windows and in game but i definitely do worry about future games performance that use much more vram also i have the r9 model and have been running alot of games off micro sd and so far no problems i also highly recommend doing every update you can find though armory, windows and the windows store before adding the micro sd
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Got the weaker ally on sale for 400 definitely no regrets definitely encountering bugs but its much better than people make it seem if you have reasonable expectations ive been playing fallout four above 60 fps with settings mixed with ultra, medium and low same with rainbow six siege and it looks great anyone getting one shouldnt expect anything mind blowing just make sure you set the display to 720p in windows and in game but i definitely do worry about future games performance that use much more vram also i have the r9 model and have been running alot of games off micro sd and so far no problems i also highly recommend doing every update you can find though armory, windows and the windows store before adding the micro sd
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TheCoolDave
I had a MSI flagship mother board, RMA'ed 3 times, moved to an ASUS, never a problem. Last time I re-did my PCs, I went all MSI, and I regrated the whole thing. Nothing but problems. Never again. The CLAW had lots of hope for me, looking forward to seeing Intel bring a powerhouse to the handheld gaming market. Powerhouse LOL. Can't even beat out a SteamDeck LCD a lot of the time.
I'll be honest, I think the CLAW is a joke......If it can't give solid numbers against even a basic Deck in 6 months it will be on the clearance racks.... bye bye Intel in this market....
I'll stick with my Deck LCD for a while longer..... nothing overly impresses me.
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I had a MSI flagship mother board, RMA'ed 3 times, moved to an ASUS, never a problem. Last time I re-did my PCs, I went all MSI, and I regrated the whole thing. Nothing but problems. Never again. The CLAW had lots of hope for me, looking forward to seeing Intel bring a powerhouse to the handheld gaming market. Powerhouse LOL. Can't even beat out a SteamDeck LCD a lot of the time.
I'll be honest, I think the CLAW is a joke......If it can't give solid numbers against even a basic Deck in 6 months it will be on the clearance racks.... bye bye Intel in this market....
I'll stick with my Deck LCD for a while longer..... nothing overly impresses me.
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gamersnexus
Every time I see MSI Claw I can't not see the giant bezels on top and bottom of the screen. It seems like they could have easily gone with a 16: 10 screen given the amount of space available. Before someone claims that games don't support it that's outright false. There are games that are limited to 16:9 aspect ratio but there are more than enough games that do support 16: 10 resolutions to make it worth it especially when these handheld PCs are already at the practical limit of how wide you can make the screen while even the devices with the 16:9 screen aren't making the device shorter and instead have massive bezels.
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Every time I see MSI Claw I can't not see the giant bezels on top and bottom of the screen. It seems like they could have easily gone with a 16: 10 screen given the amount of space available. Before someone claims that games don't support it that's outright false. There are games that are limited to 16:9 aspect ratio but there are more than enough games that do support 16: 10 resolutions to make it worth it especially when these handheld PCs are already at the practical limit of how wide you can make the screen while even the devices with the 16:9 screen aren't making the device shorter and instead have massive bezels.
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MarceloVeronezzi
Spheven: why do you still boher with MSI After the burial, even if a product of the company is good, talking about it wouldn't be, in your eyes, a deservice I mean, you would indirectly helping a dishonest company stay in business. I don't know if giving viewers knowledge of anything good from MSI is a good trade over banning everything from the brand for the common future good ( today this video is a bad review, but knowing you are a honest person Stephen, if the product was good, you would then instead doing a positive review, which would then help MSI ).
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Spheven: why do you still boher with MSI After the burial, even if a product of the company is good, talking about it wouldn't be, in your eyes, a deservice I mean, you would indirectly helping a dishonest company stay in business. I don't know if giving viewers knowledge of anything good from MSI is a good trade over banning everything from the brand for the common future good ( today this video is a bad review, but knowing you are a honest person Stephen, if the product was good, you would then instead doing a positive review, which would then help MSI ).
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HankHillspimphand
havent watched it all but did you look at the one msi sent you to me it looks like they may have made sure you got the best ones which is sus as hell for a company, as it even had 3d mark installed and them not sending one until you said you were buying one. so if you didnt in this reveiw maybe go over and see if they gave you a cooked claw....that might be a story in itself, could even speak and see if it had been messed with if other reviewers got the same.
good video
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havent watched it all but did you look at the one msi sent you to me it looks like they may have made sure you got the best ones which is sus as hell for a company, as it even had 3d mark installed and them not sending one until you said you were buying one. so if you didnt in this reveiw maybe go over and see if they gave you a cooked claw....that might be a story in itself, could even speak and see if it had been messed with if other reviewers got the same.
good video
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shaneeslick
G'day Steve,
While all the Power/Performance information is very Educational but Yeah I agree the Will this keep me distracted without giving me the is the best test, I can live with 30fps in PC games I play but those inconsitent Frametimes will really me & make me turn it off.
It's why I am still perfectly happy with my Gameboy as I get engrossed in the games, I have the rechargable pack plus I can just buy a pack of AA Batteries if I won't have access to a wall socket.
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G'day Steve,
While all the Power/Performance information is very Educational but Yeah I agree the Will this keep me distracted without giving me the is the best test, I can live with 30fps in PC games I play but those inconsitent Frametimes will really me & make me turn it off.
It's why I am still perfectly happy with my Gameboy as I get engrossed in the games, I have the rechargable pack plus I can just buy a pack of AA Batteries if I won't have access to a wall socket.
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WhiteBoyGamer
stuff like the miyoo mini plus or its many competitors are such great devices for actual traveling where you just want to kill time, need battery and value and size. for 50 bucks you can have over 20 years of gaming in the palm of your hand with many hours of runtime. i would not even think about using these huge devices that power for 2 hours and more often than not have software and or game problems. just play snes,nes,ps1,gameboy,gba etc games that actually work
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stuff like the miyoo mini plus or its many competitors are such great devices for actual traveling where you just want to kill time, need battery and value and size. for 50 bucks you can have over 20 years of gaming in the palm of your hand with many hours of runtime. i would not even think about using these huge devices that power for 2 hours and more often than not have software and or game problems. just play snes,nes,ps1,gameboy,gba etc games that actually work
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jessietomich8043
I'll say what everyone else has said a bunch. Windows is a big problem. I have a ROG Ally, and the one thing I want to know is... How long can Windows go without proper functioning sleep and hibernate modes. This the same issue with my gaming laptop but, on the laptop I have no issue doing a complete shutdown when I'm done using it. I can live with some of the jankyness but MS, Intel, and AMD need to get together and get some of this crap ironed out.
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I'll say what everyone else has said a bunch. Windows is a big problem. I have a ROG Ally, and the one thing I want to know is... How long can Windows go without proper functioning sleep and hibernate modes. This the same issue with my gaming laptop but, on the laptop I have no issue doing a complete shutdown when I'm done using it. I can live with some of the jankyness but MS, Intel, and AMD need to get together and get some of this crap ironed out.
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singular9
Just more proof that valve actually tried, the rest just rushed and didn't care, trying to get a cheap cash grab. Valve nailed the optimization, software, and hardware from the beginning and even improved it with the OLED. More fps doesn't mean more better, as shown by how garbage windows is on low power handhelds as well as how low effort ever single other players attempts are at making even back UI and ux elements that are crucial to being a good handheld.
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Just more proof that valve actually tried, the rest just rushed and didn't care, trying to get a cheap cash grab. Valve nailed the optimization, software, and hardware from the beginning and even improved it with the OLED. More fps doesn't mean more better, as shown by how garbage windows is on low power handhelds as well as how low effort ever single other players attempts are at making even back UI and ux elements that are crucial to being a good handheld.
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gamersnexus
How on earth can anyone justify $800 for less than 2 hours of battery life, these mini computers are such a racket. A 144hz screen for a device that can’t hit that threshold is hilarious, every iteration of these devices is going to be for sale on marketplace for a quarter price within a year. The only way to keep them relevant is to do what phone companies do and constantly put out upgraded versions to a hyped up crowd.
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How on earth can anyone justify $800 for less than 2 hours of battery life, these mini computers are such a racket. A 144hz screen for a device that can’t hit that threshold is hilarious, every iteration of these devices is going to be for sale on marketplace for a quarter price within a year. The only way to keep them relevant is to do what phone companies do and constantly put out upgraded versions to a hyped up crowd.
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gamersnexus
You know, what I would like to see I a new video would be a compilation of performance on the MSI claw, rog ally and legion go when steamos is installed to it and used as the primary is for games. Simply cuz a mate of mine swears that the MSI claw is a beast in that way. Because I don't belive him.... Yet its a hill he is willing to die on for some reason, and generally is a smart guy so was surprised at that statement.
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You know, what I would like to see I a new video would be a compilation of performance on the MSI claw, rog ally and legion go when steamos is installed to it and used as the primary is for games. Simply cuz a mate of mine swears that the MSI claw is a beast in that way. Because I don't belive him.... Yet its a hill he is willing to die on for some reason, and generally is a smart guy so was surprised at that statement.
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kindnuguz
I hope these companies continue this path. Handheld gaming device that runs Windows is exactly what I would be more willing to spend money on. Heat is my only concern as with phones it gets really hot and drains the battery really fast. If those two things can be worked out then its gold.
I have been eyeing the Ally with Extreme CPU
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I hope these companies continue this path. Handheld gaming device that runs Windows is exactly what I would be more willing to spend money on. Heat is my only concern as with phones it gets really hot and drains the battery really fast. If those two things can be worked out then its gold.
I have been eyeing the Ally with Extreme CPU
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tyranbrack2637
It would be interesting to see the test results from the sample MSI had sent you. It obviously does not represent the off the shelf product or experience but could be interesting to see the results compared to the one you had purchased. Possibly showing what the claw could achieve, you know provided it too does not suck.
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It would be interesting to see the test results from the sample MSI had sent you. It obviously does not represent the off the shelf product or experience but could be interesting to see the results compared to the one you had purchased. Possibly showing what the claw could achieve, you know provided it too does not suck.
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Chiggs
The ROG Ally is NOT a device that should be recommended by ANY media outlet. The fact that the SD card slot is guaranteed to break because of thermal issues. taking whatever SD card is installed there down with it, is reason enough for that entire device to be given a failing score. I'm surprised to see Steve go so easy on it.
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The ROG Ally is NOT a device that should be recommended by ANY media outlet. The fact that the SD card slot is guaranteed to break because of thermal issues. taking whatever SD card is installed there down with it, is reason enough for that entire device to be given a failing score. I'm surprised to see Steve go so easy on it.
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CR0SSJ
the more and more times I see any review of the MSI Claw it just seems like Intel wanted a handheld gaming device to please some one at the board and MSI was the only idiot that agreed to build one. Then both parties just shrugged and said I mean we did the minimum viable product and left it in the dust day -1 on release.
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the more and more times I see any review of the MSI Claw it just seems like Intel wanted a handheld gaming device to please some one at the board and MSI was the only idiot that agreed to build one. Then both parties just shrugged and said I mean we did the minimum viable product and left it in the dust day -1 on release.
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James-xs9mn
As someone who has a deck oled and ally z1e from my personal experience using both i find the deck to just be better more optimised experience overall, games just run without any fuss. I've spent too much time trying to get stuff to work on the ally that i ended up selling it. Windows sucks on a handheld atm period.
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As someone who has a deck oled and ally z1e from my personal experience using both i find the deck to just be better more optimised experience overall, games just run without any fuss. I've spent too much time trying to get stuff to work on the ally that i ended up selling it. Windows sucks on a handheld atm period.
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aruce9
Well I’ll give Intel this. They most certainly were enthusiastic for making their own chip to rival AMDs APUs, but Intel is Intel and won’t get close to where AMD is in terms of efficiency. A for effort I guess. They must’ve been really confident that they would compete with the ally and the steam deck
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Well I’ll give Intel this. They most certainly were enthusiastic for making their own chip to rival AMDs APUs, but Intel is Intel and won’t get close to where AMD is in terms of efficiency. A for effort I guess. They must’ve been really confident that they would compete with the ally and the steam deck
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shoelesshobo7744
Thank you Steve as someone who was in the market for one of these handheld gaming I relied heavily on Gamernexus videos as a way to compare the ROG ally and the SteamDeck. to make a decision on which one I wanted to go with.
Keep putting out your informative and unbiased content.
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Thank you Steve as someone who was in the market for one of these handheld gaming I relied heavily on Gamernexus videos as a way to compare the ROG ally and the SteamDeck. to make a decision on which one I wanted to go with.
Keep putting out your informative and unbiased content.
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