Well there it is! MSI Claw A1M is the official name of the next big vendor to jump into the handheld gaming space to take on the likes of the Steam Deck, ROG Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go. Unlike the Steam Deck which runs SteamOS Linux, once again we have a vendor going with Windows 11.
From the press release: "In our commitment to enhancing the gaming experience for our users, we aim to address market pain points and dedicate efforts to the handheld space,” said Eric Kuo, the Executive Vice President& NB BU GM of MSI. “We have fine-tuned specific designs tailored exclusively for gamers, debuting our very first handheld, Claw, which redefines the standards in the handheld market."
MSI say it offers MSI Cooler Boost Hyperflow technology, featuring dual fans and heat pipes that efficiently dissipate heat, and that the intraflow thermal design optimizes airflow to cool internal components "ensuring top gaming performance". They're also bringing their "MSI Center M UI" to it giving quick-access to various features and settings like a game launcher. So once again, it's another UI being slapped on top of Windows.
The official specs sheet is below:
| Claw A1M | |
| Processor | Up to Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 processor 155H |
| Operating System | Windows 11 |
| Chipset | Integrated SoC |
| Memory | LPDDR5 onboard, 16GB, dual channel |
| Display | 7" FHD (1920 x 1080), 120 Hz Refresh Rate, Touch Screen, 120 Hz Refresh Rate, 100% sRGB(Typical), 500nits(Typical), IPS-Level panel |
| Graphics | Intel® Arc Graphics |
| Storage Slot | 1 x NVMe M.2 2230 SSD by PCIe Gen 4 x4 |
| Sensor | 6-Axis IMU Vibration Motor |
| Communication | Intel® Killer™ Wi-Fi 7 BE1750, Bluetooth v5.4 |
| Audio | 2 × 2W Speakers / 1× Audio combo jack / Hi-Res Audio readyk |
| I/O Ports | 1 x Thunderbolt™ 4 / DP/ USB Type-C (w/ PD 3.0 Charging) 1 x microSD Card Reader 1 x Audio combo jack 1x Power button with Finger Print Sensor |
| Battery/Adapter | 6-Cell, Li-Polymer, 53Whr / 65W USB Type-C PD 3.0 |
| Dimension | 294 (W) x 117(D) x 21.2(H) mmn |
| Weight | 675 g |
I'm always happy to see more competition for the Steam Deck, but it remains to be seen just how it will perform. And it will come in multiple different configurations with different storage. In terms of performance, from what I've seen from YouTube videos like Dave2D it's quite limited as they weren't allowed to do much yet on benchmarking but it's somewhat comparable to the ROG Ally. Again though, it seems another case of it needing to draw more power for better performance.
The MSI Claw releases sometime in the first half of 2024.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Philadelphus Jan 9
Who comes up with these names?Quoting: CatKillerNone of these other devices have enough users to show up in the Steam Hardware Survey, but the Deck does.Out of curiosity, would they actually show up? And not just appear as part of "Windows 11"?
Quoting: Philadelphus"Claw"? Is that what your hands will feel like after using one for an extended period of time? Who comes up with these names?See, I was thinking that as well (albeit after being unable to resist posting the Inspector Gadget reference earlier
). There's an awkward method of holding a gamepad by that very name, which can harm your hands and wrists - even without the other issues that MSI is trumpeting their handheld having, I can't imagine why they'd want to name their device after a technique that can cause injury to the user.
These handhelds will run their own UI too.. so you will have the vendors UI competing with the windows 12 Ui and then Steam's UI running, along side all the other useless junk that windows runs.. And don't forget your anti-virus software on your handheld and your built in adware and spyware.
The mass of cheaper Android devices already have their own niche with emulation / android store games. So In reality No company has a proper answer to the steam deck until they run SteamOS and ditch windows completely.
Quoting: LoftyI wonder if behind the scenes Microsoft are pushing their partners to create a mountain of these useless e-junk things to take the 'steam' out of the Steam Deck's success and to normalize a mediocre windows handheld gaming experience until they finally come up with a 2 bit pile of crap 'gamer Ui' for windows 12 (with some other proprietary lock crap) that all these knock off hand helds will be incentivized to run.See also: Netbooks.
Quoting: elmapuleveryone else will be forced to use windows, unless some companies like system76 or maybe cd project red enter the game
Speaking of, I'd love to see a handheld from System76 / Slimbook / Starlabs / etc. but that's wishful thinking, considering these companies mostly resell rebranded Clevo/Tongfang laptops. Even if they did make their own handheld hardware, they don't have access to SteamOS nor a solid relationship with Valve to even entertain the possibility of future access. 😔
Quoting: PhiladelphusOut of curiosity, would they actually show up? And not just appear as part of "Windows 11"?Yes. They all have APUs. "AMD Custom GPU 0405," the APU used in the Deck (although, according to a Discord comment, potentially not the Deck OLED) is used by 0.78% of hardware survey respondents; I've not seen any of the chips used by any of the other handhelds in the list. 0.15% is the share that gets you out of the Other bucket.
StoneColdSpider Jan 9
Quoting: PenglingClaw?Next time Steam Dock.... NEXT TIME!!!........
"I'll get you next time, Gadget! NEXT TIME!"
StoneColdSpider Jan 9
QuoteMSI Claw A1MThat just makes me think of the Terratec Mystify Claw.......
Quoting: lejimsterWith all these Windows handhelds being released I wonder how long it will be before Windows introduced a custom OS that competes with SteamOS.I WinCE at the thought.
Quoting: elmapulthat is disapointing, if more vendors keep using windows then soon or later we will strugle to compete.Not really. That's kind of like saying if we keep on releasing new Linux distros then sooner or later Windows will struggle to compete . . . If none of the Windows clones of Steam Deck actually sell, while the Steam Deck keeps on selling, it's fine.
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