New AMD MSI Claw handheld looks set to arrive this month with competitive price

It looks as though the first official AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme handheld to hit the market could be the MSI Claw A8, based on a new listing in China that suggests the handheld will ship before the end of July 2025. As part of this same listing, a price is given, which translates to around $970, meaning the Claw A8 could be set to launch for a similar price to the Intel-powered 8 AI+ model.

On paper, the new MSI Claw A8 is set to be one of the best gaming handhelds in terms of power, sporting the new AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chips alongside 24GB of LPDDR5x 8,000MT/s RAM and a 1TB SSD. MSI stuck with Intel for its Claw 8 AI+ model, which course-corrected a lot of mistakes made in the original A1M, but a surprise announcement in May revealed it would be releasing an AMD alternative, the Claw A8.

A pre-order advert has appeared for the MSI Claw A8 in China, first spotted by Videocardz, where it's stated that the device will start shipping later this month, but we're yet to see confirmation for the US or any other market. Thanks to a 15% subsidy offered by the Chinese government when purchasing certain products, the Claw A8 cost could be as low as $737, but the price without these subsidies, and including tax, is approximately $970 using current conversion rates. The price without tax is approximately $860.

If this price were to translate over to the US and European markets, it would mean the Claw A8 is on par with the 8 AI+ MSRP, which currently stands at $999 / £899. It's not yet clear whether the 8AI+ would receive a price cut when the A8 launches, but it would certainly be welcome given that the MSI Claw 8 AI+ has only become more expensive since it first released, which is reportedly a result of tariffs imposed on imports into the United States.

In a change from the original announcement, this listing also now states that the Claw A8 has Wi-Fi 7 when it was originally stated as having Wi-Fi 6E. It's not clear whether this is a change since the announcement or a mistake being corrected from the original reveal.

MSI has, it seems, beaten the likes of Asus and Lenovo to market with the AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme, so the spotlight will be firmly placed upon the Claw A8, and its benchmarks, should it follow a similar release schedule in Western markets.

If you want to take a closer look at some other Windows handhelds that will closely compete with the Claw A8, check out our AOKZOE A1X review and our Ayaneo 3 review, with both devices costing over $1,000 but offering substantial performance improvements over the likes of the ROG Ally X and Steam Deck.

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