Which is why I got the steam deck myself it’s also better supported in the long run I think once new iterations of the windows ones come out these current models will lose all support from asus, Lenovo and Msi
A small tip, if you wanna test VRR quickly you can use Nvidia's Gsync pendulum demo and enable test mode in the app. It will basically have a vertical bar scrolling horizontally, so if it tears it's extremely obvious and if it has vsync stuttering (aka VRR not engaged) it's very easy to see too. You can even adjust the target Fps range from within the app so you can test the range. Despite the Gsync name it works just fine on freesync and HDMI VRR
@@RetroGameCorpswhere do we send you messages at? Or where do you recommend i sell my n64 dev consoles. And other related stuff like silicon graphics Power animator 8.5. 9.5. And finally 10.5 still sealed brand new with untouched registration etc. 9.5 was still sealed but it hot torn half way over the past 20years. 8.5 is brand new untouched as well but unsealed. They’re like a square foot cube each. All the manuals and cds etc. I also have all sorts nes. Snes. 64. Play station. And gameboy. Super scope? I dunno. Lots of stuff
@@fattymacd69for someone who has only used windows Linux is actually a user friendly experience I didn’t think I’d use my steam deck as a computer but I spend a good amount of time in desktop mode
Celeste, a game on the pico, consuming 20w 😅. Maybe they can get it lower. For reference Celeste can run in silent mode on the ally with 6w draw on the GPU and 10w total. (On steam)
I’ll be honest, the charger thing is a complete deal breaker for me. There’s no excuse for not being able to use other chargers. Defeats the whole point in having a type-C connection. It’s a handheld, it’s meant to be taken around with you, and I would not want to carry two separate chargers with me everywhere. Especially given the size of this MSI charger.
After MSI BRICKED my 6 year old laptop in a forced windows 10 update, I vowed to never buy anything from them ever again. I don't regret buying a ROG Ally over this improvised firebomb garbage. MSI products all overheat and feel like they will catch fire at any moment even with turbo fan mode and a literal air conditioner cooling it. Which is why the reviewer here points out "stuttery gameplay" because the device easily overheats. All MSI computers do. This stopped being a problem for me when I switched over to another computer brand. I never once had those experiences with Asus. Meanwhile I had to unbrick that MSI stealth laptop at least twice within the first year I got it and another a year before it was bricked via forced windows update and it would easily reach 90 C even on idle right out of the box. If anything the msi stealth was anything but stealthy and louder than the replacement computer I got. The ROG ally is silent even when running a demanding game like BG3. The MSI claw also has inferior specs to the Z1 Extreme handheld PCs and is way overpriced. Should be $400 instead of $800 as its closer to the old steam deck in terms of specs. Also don't expect MSI to give a damn about the software here like ASUS and valve do. What you see here is final and they will never update it. They will want you to buy the "MSI claw 2" next year instead and customer support will outright tell you to fuck off if you have any questions about your device even if its still under warranty. "WE DO NOT DO REPLACEMENTS OR REPAIRS" is their favorite phrase.
For easy VRR testing, in Windows Settings -> Display -> Graphics -> Change default graphics settings. If the device supports VRR, you should see a toggle to enable/disable Variable Refresh Rate. If you open it on Rog Ally the toggle is there.
Going to be really niche. With Ally 2 likely to be using new Ryzen and MSI themselves likely to go to a variant of Arrow Lake next, this is quickly going to become a museum piece. ;) Few sold, if historical interest only as an experimental testbed for post-Meteor Lake Intel chip design.
Unfortunately, Arrow Lake looks like a disappointment on the GPU side again. It’s the same integrated GPU. ROG Ally will be dethroned by the Strix ROG Ally or Steam Deck 1/2.
Hardest pill to swallow with the ROG Ally is the battery life. If this ends up having less battery life, that's pretty rough. Only thing that could be its success would be if it can play higher end games when plugged in.
that is what Im not able to understand what the heck is Intel doing, claw has 50Whr battery a full 10W more than Ally and it's still getting worse battery life
@@jakoick1298 New handheld to market. The driver probably aren't optimized. Just like other handhelds, their launches aren't great. Just like ROG Ally and Steam Deck, it will get better over time.
Right, so if plugged in, it should be better. If not, why not get one that is equal when plugged in, or better when not? Just want the best for the consumer@@oo--7714
The thing about all Windows handhelds on the market right now is that they use laptop chips and not chips specifically designed for handheld game consoles
@@SuperHyphyOne No, I mean really the only Linux one is the steam deck and there are windows handhelds that underperform it like the Loki zero or Ayaneo made a 7320u version of the Air Plus. It just comes down to how powerful the chip is and the steam deck Chip is not the most powerful one but it is the most battery-efficient one because it was custom made for the steam deck.
For your full review, please comment on suspend/resume and Gyro usability for first person shooters. Most reviewers just forget those and they're quite important on my Deck!
As a launch Steam Deck owner, all I can think whenever I watch all these handheld reviews is "Good lord the Legion Go just looks gorgeous every time I see it next to the competiton. How is it the underdog?". If Windows handhelds could get a standby mode like the deck I'd switch in a heartbeat.
If SD could hibernate like my Ally does I would use it more. Standby is fine, but it drains the battery a lot. Many times I try to play with my SD and the battery is dead. My Ally goes to hibernate after a few minutes, so it barely loses battery.
They do my good sir!!! I’ve been using a custom build of windows for handhelds I can suspend all games even ones not installed in steam. I been using it for a year now no complaints. It also comes with no blot-ware
@@omargraham523 I know I'm probably a google search away from finding out more, but to make sure I find the same thing you're talking about are you able to point me in the right direction? 😅
@@valrond That's a really solid take. I do definitely have the same issue every time there's a good amount of time between when I go to use it. I do camp work (Spend 2 weeks at a time in oilsands camps in Northern Alberta) and when I use it for a little bit each night I never have any worries of it being dead. However it is always dead the first night I go to use it getting back to camp, so I know what you're talking about. I just work a job where I'm on-call so it's super convenient to be able to just click a button and gtfo knowing I can pick it up and resume where I left off at a moment's notice. ROG also has the benefit of being compatible with mods for games. In these cases I've just been streaming from my laptop to the SD to do the job if need be. I definitely think the emulator experience would be better on a windows handheld for myself though. Because swapping to desktop mode on the deck and trying to track down roms that way feels like a chore, I'd rather be able to do it all on a windows handheld where the gaming and desktop experience are one and the same.
the cooling is super cool and important. my brothers all had bad laptop problems with nice gaming laptops and my msi stealth has lasted 10 years now. i'm assuming bc i got a nice fan to go underneath it.keeping it cool has been proven to make laptops last a lot longer.
FYI In order to use the pop up keyboard during WIndows setup, choose "add a second keyboard" right at the beginning, always did this with the Ally and Legion Go. Hope that helps
In a future release, rather than increase the performance of devices like the ROG Ally or MSI Claw, I would love to see better battery life, battery life was a major reason why I purchased the Odin 2.
Odin is Android handheld while Ally, MSI etc are PC handhelds. It's oranges and apples. Android handheld will win in battery life against PC handhelds atm.
If they don’t fix the external power accessories that’s a MAJOR problem. Battery life on handhelds is not great but if you can atleast use an external battery pack it’s makes a huge difference. Without your pretty much gonna have to always be plugged into that laptop charger…
yeah, that's a MAJOR concern. Ally has no problem taking full charging power from 65W charger that came with ROG Phone 5 (which supports 20V obviously), 140W Baseus 3-port charger, and from the USB-C connection to my monitor. In all three situations, charging is up together with 30W Turbo mode. Let's hope MSI can fix that with BIOS updates.
You should check out Intel Endurance Gaming mode. You would need to install Arc Control but you'd be able to select an FPS mode then it would balance the FPS with the wattage allocated to the CPU/gfx.
Even though I am very happy with my steam deck, I'm really happy to see big PC manufacturers leaping into the space. Should be cool to see how the landscape shifts in the coming months/years.
@anobody4606 kind of. It's always the Steam deck users self inserting themselves into the conversation. It happens all the time a new device comes out. They gotta remind us they are steam deck users and they are soooo happy with their device and appreciate competition.
@@shawnsmith564 It's a fair point, that's also what I thought at first and that I will return it. Instead I fell in love with the screen and the "nunchucks" and I'm using it every day in bed and at the office 😁 couldn't be happier with it
@xdeathstar I've been playing it too and it looks like I'll be returning this msi claw. Everything looks terrible especially the dpad and I like fighters so if it looks like that like the ally it looks like doa
@@shawnsmith564If that works for you then go ahead :) I'm also playing Street fighter V on my legion Go and I have a good and natural grip, but I have big hands, so maybe this won't fit so nice for everyone
Ugh... Really wish they'd start allowing 2280 SSDs in these devices. There's plenty of space to fit them. (hell, the GPD Win 4 can fit one and it's tiny)
Ok, during CES, I live on a few websites (that I only use once or twice a year) and I personally saw that a MSI rep during CES(video) said that the display WILL support VRR. I've really been watching the Claw, (on everything I can find on it) I am an Intel fan (desktops) and wanted to see if they could really compete here. They do not have any history in this market. Other "early" reviews were kind of saying it was disappointing, the numbers in performance were not there, not even close. Your video hinted at better than very early firmware but, not even close to higher end AMD chips. I am looking for your real-world tests but, from what I am seeing, there is a lot of firmware updates that need to come for this device, if performance is this bad across the board, on all these games that you showed in 6 months, the high-end model will be $399 just to clear out of them... The next few months on this device will be the real show what it can and can't do. So far, I'll stick with my Steam Deck LCD..... Very disappointing on a release product so far at these price points. I need to rebuild my desktop and looking over Intel's offerings vs. price point(i've never built an AMD desktop), I think I might go deep into AMD for desktop.
Honestly, the best part about this device is that you have access to the AI accelerated XeSS upscaling which is supposed to look better than FSR and equivalent to DLSS although XeSS support in most games is kinda behind the other 2 solutions.
AMD has apparantly been teasing AI upscaling recently as well, so we`ll have to see if the Z1E gets it, once it eventually drops, and how well it works on the Ally and Go
@@baysidejr I just checked the promotional material and there's an image where they promote AI Upscaling (for the Intel Core Ultra CPUs) in form of XeSS. I don't think DP4a is considered "AI powered" because it's just a GPU instruction so maybe they're doing it in another form instead of using XMX cores? That or it's basically false advertising.
@@andreanastacio9548 I think if AMD does it, it's probably going to be RDNA4 only. RDNA3 apparently has "AI Cores" but not in the same fashion as the XMX or Tensor cores found in Intel and Nvidia cards respectively, but let's see what they do.
Seems well engineered and built, but The Intel chip is making this DOA. Its just too expensive, inefficient and underperforming. Even with deep discounts its just cant compete with what's AMD has been selling for almost a year.
I was researching for so long on what to get, and boom… This gets announced and I almost waiting. But I couldn’t resist the Deck OLED and bought that a month ago. Looks like I made the right choice instead of waiting on this. This confirms that for me. Great video.
@@Lordshadow29-w1n Yeah I love my ROG Ally. Even though the Deck is still great, especially for its price (and I would say it is the most power balanced PC ever) the ROG is a beast in how well it can run all games.
Idk, as long as you arent looking to emulate ps3 and up the retroid pocket 4 pro can do near perfect ps2/gc/wii emulation for $200, if all you’re looking for is an emulation device springing for a pc gaming windows handheld seems a bit much, no?
@@jammo7370 maybe so but the way the wind is blowing we might see more and more emulators unavailable on Android. Can’t stop Windows though. Plus as a PC gamer I’d find a use for the extra power
@jammo7370 a few people want them for switch emulation to. The added bonus about these is you also get windows gaming. The price jump is large but it opens up what you can play massively
@@DarkAbyss9 oh yeah, I’m well aware of what they’re capable of, I own a steam deck oled and it blew my mind playing mad max at 90fps in bed on a portable system, but if emulation is the foremost purpose of buying a device like this, like the original commenter said, then it makes no sense to get a device like an rog ally, and if you want switch emulation on top of other emulation, a modded/hacked switch lite can easily get the job done for significantly less than a windows gaming handheld but effort needs to be put into it.
21:10 there is acutally an option for on screen keyboard you missed it 😅 Or windows 11 being windows 11 might have removed it, but I remember using the on screen keyboard in win 10 as my keyboard stopped working and I had just formatted my pc
The companies making these machines certainly agree, since it takes up space on online discussion pages that might otherwise be criticisms of ~1 hour of play time on 720p low settings
The Street Fighter test is the best benchmark for a d-pad. Start with Ken/Ryu, then give it try with E. Honda and Zangief. If you can do all of their moves without issue, then it's a good d-pad.
yeah, I was looking at getting a new gaming-leaninglaptop this year and was very interested in seeing what the new intel CPUs would be able to do and how efficient they would be, because battery life is important to me (this is why I have an Odin 2...). and they're not all that great, so I'll wait another year for a laptop.
It's crazy what kind of consoles are coming onto the market. I can still remember there were times when there was only Gameboy Advance and Sony PSP. Maybe I'll have the time to play the latest consoles at some point. Thank you and greetings from RetroGameCity 🤗🤗
Hi Russ and Retro gamers I am allso 2 to 3 generations behind🤪 i will get mi steam deck lcd tomorrow😄😄 and we will see if i have a better experience with the Deck or mi Odin 2 😎 i wish you a nice Japan vacation, take care and chill Greetings from Switzerland fuselito
You are the first as far as I know to do a true comparison between the AMD and Intel handhelds. Been waiting for this. I think I will pass on this for now until drivers improve. Thank you!
@@jesusbarrera6916 first time I have seen AMD chip and intel chip at least compared for frame rate at different wattages. Everyone else had just said this Intel chip was faster than the older Intel chip. No real comparison between the two at lower wattages (my use case). Yes it was brief but it was what I wanted.
I am working as an Intel Brand Rep in Canada since last 6 months, I was pretty hyped for this device, and the review seems nice. You really pointed out the main points. The ultra processors are a bit different in nature, and after your review, it makes sense the MSI Claw should have used an h or HX processor, not the ultra; the ultra processors and the integrated arc are not made for gaming, even if it is handheld. The Arc A350 is not a gaming GPU, and I wonder why they thought of using it on a gaming handheld. Maybe they wanted to marketize the new CPUs, but the laptops with ultra processors are superb. I thought we were now done with laptop tech, but the ultra processors brought a whole new change in laptop tech.
“The vent smell is not half bad” 😂 Btw Russ, can you do a video on your experience shopping for retro games in Japan? I’m going next month, gonna be looking for a DSi or 3DS and maybe some other hardware
It costs €828 (core 5) and 949 (core 7) here in the Netherlands. Meanwhile I can get the Ally Z1 Extreme for 579 new. Why would i pay so much more for the Claw?
I hope you enjoy the claaawww. I immediately think of that one scene in Toy Story 1 with the alien toys. 😂 these handhelds are so cool to see them being developed over time. I heard that even Nvidia might be looking into the business. Nintendo and Sony really sweating rn. Although most of the new wave of handhelds look the same to me. The Steamdeck really started a whole new era
For this price, why did they go with such large bezels? That was also a factor with the rog ally and I wanted a steam deck olead but being able to download and run gamepass games and the extra power won me over. Hopefully the ally 2 can fix that along with haptic sticks and better battery
Russ I have to ask. You hinted at a native 48Hz refresh rate mode during your 1st impressions. Have you tried running games at a locked 24fps while in that mode to save power? You can frame cap with RTSS if not allowed while in game. Just curious how bad it looks unless it's still playable.
I love your channel; from awesome content to a friendly community in the comment section. Love the vibes and the videos! Keep up the great work! Have fun on vacation brother 😁
Based on what I seen from a review on the Onexplayer X1 using the same chip, this chip is an emulation beast that runs better and more efficient than my 6800U AOKZOE A1, the native PC gaming is lackluster though.
I was hoping this would mean more progress on Linux for compatibility with Intel graphics, which would benefit me even more in the long run as an owner of the Intel Arc A750. I wasn't expecting this MSI Claw would be sticking with Windows. That's disappointing for me. This is not to take away from the progress made so far with using this card for Linux gaming. Hell, as of two or three weeks ago, Resident Evil 4 Remake is working and I'm having a blast with it. Now I'm waiting for Ghostwire Tokyo. Steam Link streaming isn't going well, but Sunshine is helping make up for that. And yes, I've tried to install Windows due to my growing frustrations with the Arc A750 on Linux with newer games, but even Windows made it difficult for me to install which made me realize that once again, I shouldn't take Linux for granted lol At least my Steam Deck OLED is brilliant and can run any game I've had difficulty with on my PC!
Windows just doesn't belong on handhelds like this. I know its super easy for these companies to just slap windows on it instead of making their own software but damn, it really puts the steam deck a league above. Also "i had to push a lot of power into it to get games to run well" you just described intel in a nut shell.
This is proving that getting the ROG ally instead of this was a good choice. Though if MSI are interested and willing to keep this updated then the performance and watt usage will get better.
![BEST Gaming Handheld in 2024!? [Steam Deck OLED | Ally X | Legion Go | Claw]](/img/1.gif)
I like extra competition, but the high price without a sizeable performance increase or stand-out feature kept my excitement at bay.
Nothing to be excited with this product. I knew from the beginning it's nothing special
yeah you’d be a big silly boy to buy this over the ALLY when BB sells it for $600 pretty much every other week
@@rickystafford7433 yes, i don't like ally and would not buy it even for 500, but i agree with you
Asus and msi models are overpriced! Their laptops and gpus are always more expensive than other brands. I am always hesitant 💯
Which is why I got the steam deck myself it’s also better supported in the long run I think once new iterations of the windows ones come out these current models will lose all support from asus, Lenovo and Msi
Fake gaming is when I spend more time buying games than playing them.
The older I get, that seems to be my favorite game
@@dadsqch So true sadly 😢
@@Yungwolf904depends on what country you live in and how much you make
A small tip, if you wanna test VRR quickly you can use Nvidia's Gsync pendulum demo and enable test mode in the app. It will basically have a vertical bar scrolling horizontally, so if it tears it's extremely obvious and if it has vsync stuttering (aka VRR not engaged) it's very easy to see too. You can even adjust the target Fps range from within the app so you can test the range.
Despite the Gsync name it works just fine on freesync and HDMI VRR
Thank you, I’ll check it out!
I wish it was just a simple vertical bar scrolling horizontally. The closest I could get was setting the camera to orbit and using the pillars.
@@RetroGameCorpswhere do we send you messages at? Or where do you recommend i sell my n64 dev consoles. And other related stuff like silicon graphics Power animator 8.5. 9.5. And finally 10.5 still sealed brand new with untouched registration etc.
9.5 was still sealed but it hot torn half way over the past 20years.
8.5 is brand new untouched as well but unsealed. They’re like a square foot cube each. All the manuals and cds etc.
I also have all sorts nes. Snes. 64. Play station. And gameboy. Super scope? I dunno. Lots of stuff
I hope i didn’t already ask you this stuff
@@Coincidence_Theorist there are Facebook and reddit groups for questions like that.
Oh no... RUN! It's the CLAW!!! Nothing can stop the CLAWWWWW!!!
Jim
Carrey
@@cristianellis2742 You liar
Run boy run!! Save yourself
It’s more like the mom’s boyfriend
The Lenovo Go and Ally are still the best Windows based Handheld-PCs. The Steamdeck is the best Linux based and most userfriendly.
Linux and user friendly has never been used in the same sentence but you are correct sir
lets shorten to simply stating that SD is the best :D
Do any other x86 handheld PCs besides the Steam Deck work well with Linux? I'm not aware of any others that offer Linux in addition to Windows.
@@fattymacd69for someone who has only used windows Linux is actually a user friendly experience I didn’t think I’d use my steam deck as a computer but I spend a good amount of time in desktop mode
@@fattymacd69I was pretty surprised with how straightforward the Linux distro on the Deck runs. We’ve come a long way
Burns fast through too much power.....not a surprise from Intel.
Yup just like my rog rally I return 3 of them back to best buy worst console ever right now im using onexfly no issues at all best device ever for me
@@MICKEY0001😂😂the ally is not the worst. It's a good start that can be improved upon. Mine still to this day works perfect
@@MICKEY00013 ?
Intel sucks. They should've just cloned the ROG Ally
@MICKEY0001 the rog ally is running a amd cpu, not intel.
Celeste, a game on the pico, consuming 20w 😅. Maybe they can get it lower. For reference Celeste can run in silent mode on the ally with 6w draw on the GPU and 10w total. (On steam)
same with other light games like Slay the Spire, 10W mode with similar figures
I’ll be honest, the charger thing is a complete deal breaker for me. There’s no excuse for not being able to use other chargers. Defeats the whole point in having a type-C connection. It’s a handheld, it’s meant to be taken around with you, and I would not want to carry two separate chargers with me everywhere. Especially given the size of this MSI charger.
I like this channel, videos are always well structured while having a chill vibe. Subscribed!
Yup that is russ 😳
I like the intro music, it's catchy af, maybe the number 1 reason I stick to the videos
After MSI BRICKED my 6 year old laptop in a forced windows 10 update, I vowed to never buy anything from them ever again. I don't regret buying a ROG Ally over this improvised firebomb garbage. MSI products all overheat and feel like they will catch fire at any moment even with turbo fan mode and a literal air conditioner cooling it. Which is why the reviewer here points out "stuttery gameplay" because the device easily overheats. All MSI computers do. This stopped being a problem for me when I switched over to another computer brand.
I never once had those experiences with Asus. Meanwhile I had to unbrick that MSI stealth laptop at least twice within the first year I got it and another a year before it was bricked via forced windows update and it would easily reach 90 C even on idle right out of the box. If anything the msi stealth was anything but stealthy and louder than the replacement computer I got. The ROG ally is silent even when running a demanding game like BG3. The MSI claw also has inferior specs to the Z1 Extreme handheld PCs and is way overpriced. Should be $400 instead of $800 as its closer to the old steam deck in terms of specs.
Also don't expect MSI to give a damn about the software here like ASUS and valve do. What you see here is final and they will never update it. They will want you to buy the "MSI claw 2" next year instead and customer support will outright tell you to fuck off if you have any questions about your device even if its still under warranty. "WE DO NOT DO REPLACEMENTS OR REPAIRS" is their favorite phrase.
It's always great day when russ uploads my RUclips notifications always asks me if I wanna watch your videos and I say yeah man I wanna do it.
very well played lmao
"And now for some real world testing let's start with Contra for the NES" 😁I love this guy. Awesome video have a great time in Japan.
Speaking of contra, a new contra game justncame oit and its awesome!
"The claw chooses who will go and who will stay!"
hahahaha and it chose Buzz Lightyear!!! 😂😂😂
For easy VRR testing, in Windows Settings -> Display -> Graphics -> Change default graphics settings. If the device supports VRR, you should see a toggle to enable/disable Variable Refresh Rate. If you open it on Rog Ally the toggle is there.
You're a true gamer now, Russ
no but for real, what is a fake gamer? 🤔
@@juanamador9136 One who plays candy crush saga (and any mobile p2w games for that matter)
@@juanamador9136 Someone who doesn't game on an MSI Claw, obviously
I was comfused until I got to 6:25 😂
Time for him to complain about diversity and receive sa allegations I guess 😢
I find Russ' speech and vocabulary very calming, my heart rate gradually slowed throughout this video
Thanks for the review! Watched it while I’m trying to get through Dark Souls Remastered on my ROG Ally.
Going to be really niche. With Ally 2 likely to be using new Ryzen and MSI themselves likely to go to a variant of Arrow Lake next, this is quickly going to become a museum piece. ;) Few sold, if historical interest only as an experimental testbed for post-Meteor Lake Intel chip design.
Are the chips even out yet? Once they are be another year tell its out in anything
Unfortunately, Arrow Lake looks like a disappointment on the GPU side again. It’s the same integrated GPU. ROG Ally will be dethroned by the Strix ROG Ally or Steam Deck 1/2.
2025
Hardest pill to swallow with the ROG Ally is the battery life. If this ends up having less battery life, that's pretty rough. Only thing that could be its success would be if it can play higher end games when plugged in.
that is what Im not able to understand what the heck is Intel doing, claw has 50Whr battery a full 10W more than Ally and it's still getting worse battery life
@@jakoick1298 New handheld to market. The driver probably aren't optimized. Just like other handhelds, their launches aren't great. Just like ROG Ally and Steam Deck, it will get better over time.
@@ShadeKoopa I think it's both.
Bro it has 16 cores, the rog ally has 8 obviously it will use more powa, not to mention it is on 7mn. The rog ally is on 4.
Right, so if plugged in, it should be better. If not, why not get one that is equal when plugged in, or better when not? Just want the best for the consumer@@oo--7714
For some reason whenever I think about the Msi claw, the song crawling by linkin park gets instantly stuck in my head
Now it’s in my head, thanks a lot!
@@RetroGameCorpssorry about that!
CLAWING in my skin!!
The thing about all Windows handhelds on the market right now is that they use laptop chips and not chips specifically designed for handheld game consoles
Which is also the reason why they have better performance than ones that don't run Windows out of the box.
@@SuperHyphyOne No, I mean really the only Linux one is the steam deck and there are windows handhelds that underperform it like the Loki zero or Ayaneo made a 7320u version of the Air Plus. It just comes down to how powerful the chip is and the steam deck Chip is not the most powerful one but it is the most battery-efficient one because it was custom made for the steam deck.
For your full review, please comment on suspend/resume and Gyro usability for first person shooters. Most reviewers just forget those and they're quite important on my Deck!
Whisker Squadron: Survivor just made my wish list.. never heard of this game!
Same here. Russ inadvertently showcasing hidden gems
i paused the video and bought it when it came up lol
Same here, I'm a sucker for Star Fox clones
Awesome. The one channel and reviewer I was hoping would give their take on it. Thanks as always Russ!
As a launch Steam Deck owner, all I can think whenever I watch all these handheld reviews is "Good lord the Legion Go just looks gorgeous every time I see it next to the competiton. How is it the underdog?".
If Windows handhelds could get a standby mode like the deck I'd switch in a heartbeat.
Interesting. How come? Game compatibility?
If SD could hibernate like my Ally does I would use it more. Standby is fine, but it drains the battery a lot. Many times I try to play with my SD and the battery is dead. My Ally goes to hibernate after a few minutes, so it barely loses battery.
They do my good sir!!! I’ve been using a custom build of windows for handhelds I can suspend all games even ones not installed in steam. I been using it for a year now no complaints. It also comes with no blot-ware
@@omargraham523 I know I'm probably a google search away from finding out more, but to make sure I find the same thing you're talking about are you able to point me in the right direction? 😅
@@valrond That's a really solid take. I do definitely have the same issue every time there's a good amount of time between when I go to use it.
I do camp work (Spend 2 weeks at a time in oilsands camps in Northern Alberta) and when I use it for a little bit each night I never have any worries of it being dead. However it is always dead the first night I go to use it getting back to camp, so I know what you're talking about.
I just work a job where I'm on-call so it's super convenient to be able to just click a button and gtfo knowing I can pick it up and resume where I left off at a moment's notice. ROG also has the benefit of being compatible with mods for games. In these cases I've just been streaming from my laptop to the SD to do the job if need be.
I definitely think the emulator experience would be better on a windows handheld for myself though. Because swapping to desktop mode on the deck and trying to track down roms that way feels like a chore, I'd rather be able to do it all on a windows handheld where the gaming and desktop experience are one and the same.
the cooling is super cool and important. my brothers all had bad laptop problems with nice gaming laptops and my msi stealth has lasted 10 years now. i'm assuming bc i got a nice fan to go underneath it.keeping it cool has been proven to make laptops last a lot longer.
That intro will forever be 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
I was just thinking the same thing!
Its like the light hearted Version of MVGs "MISTAKES WERE MADE" Intro 😂
FYI In order to use the pop up keyboard during WIndows setup, choose "add a second keyboard" right at the beginning, always did this with the Ally and Legion Go. Hope that helps
In a future release, rather than increase the performance of devices like the ROG Ally or MSI Claw, I would love to see better battery life, battery life was a major reason why I purchased the Odin 2.
Odin is Android handheld while Ally, MSI etc are PC handhelds. It's oranges and apples. Android handheld will win in battery life against PC handhelds atm.
just buy a battery pack lmao
0:53 whisker squadron survivors?!?!? That sounds awesome 👏🏼
seeing how Intel has improved their GPU performance with driver updates I am hoping they do the same with the new meteorlake series
Glad I pulled the trigger on the legion go. Best gaming handheld in my opinion. I welcome the competition tho!
If they don’t fix the external power accessories that’s a MAJOR problem. Battery life on handhelds is not great but if you can atleast use an external battery pack it’s makes a huge difference. Without your pretty much gonna have to always be plugged into that laptop charger…
yeah, that's a MAJOR concern. Ally has no problem taking full charging power from 65W charger that came with ROG Phone 5 (which supports 20V obviously), 140W Baseus 3-port charger, and from the USB-C connection to my monitor. In all three situations, charging is up together with 30W Turbo mode. Let's hope MSI can fix that with BIOS updates.
You should check out Intel Endurance Gaming mode. You would need to install Arc Control but you'd be able to select an FPS mode then it would balance the FPS with the wattage allocated to the CPU/gfx.
Even though I am very happy with my steam deck, I'm really happy to see big PC manufacturers leaping into the space. Should be cool to see how the landscape shifts in the coming months/years.
As always found the Steam deck user. 😂
@@Umbralogy Is that supposed to be a diss or something? 🤣
@anobody4606 kind of. It's always the Steam deck users self inserting themselves into the conversation. It happens all the time a new device comes out. They gotta remind us they are steam deck users and they are soooo happy with their device and appreciate competition.
@@Umbralogygo to sleep lil bro
@killculator8124 nah lil bro I'm working my 9-5
Even as a LA Clippers fan I still think the OG steam deck is the best value on the market.
I’d trust a crackhead in withdrawal to organize my drawers while I’m not home before I’d trust a Clippers fan
KL is made of paper his hurt again but, I do like that BONES is getting minutes.
@@BillyOrBobbyOrSomething i have no idea wtf an LA Clippers is but your comment is definitely going into my lexicon
@@turbochargedfilms it’s just a terrible NBA basketball team whose fans suffer from Stockholm Syndrome 🥲
The arrow points to where you attach a lanyard or hand strap.
Technical question: are those metric fingers or standard fingers?
I keep picturing the claw grip when I hear about this thing
yup, doesn't make it sound very ergonomic lmao
Lmao
I like that you are honest about a recommendation without extensively testing it first!
I think the arrow on the back is pointing to a place to attach a strap. You can see the two slots, I'm guessing they're connected inside.
That's so rad you're starting off the video with some whisker squadron!
Well, for the same money I bought the Legion Go and I'm far more satisfied. I'm using it everyday both as a desktop and a gaming machine
Legion go is just too large for me
The best tablet so far in the world. My imagination of an iPad mini that was supposed to be finally came true thanks to the legion go after 10 yrs.
@@shawnsmith564 It's a fair point, that's also what I thought at first and that I will return it. Instead I fell in love with the screen and the "nunchucks" and I'm using it every day in bed and at the office 😁 couldn't be happier with it
@xdeathstar I've been playing it too and it looks like I'll be returning this msi claw. Everything looks terrible especially the dpad and I like fighters so if it looks like that like the ally it looks like doa
@@shawnsmith564If that works for you then go ahead :) I'm also playing Street fighter V on my legion Go and I have a good and natural grip, but I have big hands, so maybe this won't fit so nice for everyone
The offset sticks of these handhelds really bug me. Isn't that incredibly uncomfortable?
Ugh... Really wish they'd start allowing 2280 SSDs in these devices. There's plenty of space to fit them. (hell, the GPD Win 4 can fit one and it's tiny)
Ally can too with the 90 degree adapter. Fits perfectly.
My guess is cause 2280 uses more power the mp600 mini 1tb uses 4.3w where as the mp600 1tb uses 6.5w
pretty sure the engineers at MSI know better than you lol
I feel like I’m gonna stick with the ALLY. Nice review! Can’t wait to see what the Ally 2 brings to the table.
I was gonna wait to get this but I got my ally last month...so happy I went with the ally
Why not steam deck bro
I got a ally to and I have a steam deck but o prefer the Ally
@@ESTENT-cu7qd why? Im just curious no hate
@@shto4782çünkü malzeme olarak daha kaliteli ayriyeten çok çok daha güçlü ses kalitesi çok daha iyi ve en büyük artısı Windows 11
You dodged a bullet there...
OR THE CLAW ?!
Ok, during CES, I live on a few websites (that I only use once or twice a year) and I personally saw that a MSI rep during CES(video) said that the display WILL support VRR. I've really been watching the Claw, (on everything I can find on it) I am an Intel fan (desktops) and wanted to see if they could really compete here. They do not have any history in this market. Other "early" reviews were kind of saying it was disappointing, the numbers in performance were not there, not even close. Your video hinted at better than very early firmware but, not even close to higher end AMD chips.
I am looking for your real-world tests but, from what I am seeing, there is a lot of firmware updates that need to come for this device, if performance is this bad across the board, on all these games that you showed in 6 months, the high-end model will be $399 just to clear out of them...
The next few months on this device will be the real show what it can and can't do. So far, I'll stick with my Steam Deck LCD..... Very disappointing on a release product so far at these price points.
I need to rebuild my desktop and looking over Intel's offerings vs. price point(i've never built an AMD desktop), I think I might go deep into AMD for desktop.
Are you using imperial or metric fingers for measurement??
Finger measurements are intrinsically imperial.:)
@@nathanl2966joks
I'm interested to see if the "SteamOS forks" could make the games run better and better limit the power draw (by limiting core usage) :)
Honestly, the best part about this device is that you have access to the AI accelerated XeSS upscaling which is supposed to look better than FSR and equivalent to DLSS although XeSS support in most games is kinda behind the other 2 solutions.
@@baysidejr Really? If that's the case, then this product is truly worthless unless they drop the price.
AMD has apparantly been teasing AI upscaling recently as well, so we`ll have to see if the Z1E gets it, once it eventually drops, and how well it works on the Ally and Go
@@baysidejr I just checked the promotional material and there's an image where they promote AI Upscaling (for the Intel Core Ultra CPUs) in form of XeSS. I don't think DP4a is considered "AI powered" because it's just a GPU instruction so maybe they're doing it in another form instead of using XMX cores? That or it's basically false advertising.
@@andreanastacio9548 I think if AMD does it, it's probably going to be RDNA4 only. RDNA3 apparently has "AI Cores" but not in the same fashion as the XMX or Tensor cores found in Intel and Nvidia cards respectively, but let's see what they do.
what a thorough first look! nice, thanks and subscribed!
does anyone know why none of these have touch pads? it doesn’t seem like there is any reason.
Seems well engineered and built, but The Intel chip is making this DOA. Its just too expensive, inefficient and underperforming. Even with deep discounts its just cant compete with what's AMD has been selling for almost a year.
its easy to find an ally for $500 that runs circles around the claw
Right now it's between Rog and, I guess Oled Steam Deck. But, lately, my go-to has been my LegionGo.
I would like to see a VRR comparison in the review. It would be cool to see the difference for something running around 40 FOS
I've never made a bad handheld purchase thanks to your in-depth reviews.
If you have rog ally or odin 2 you did
@@shto4782odin 2 really? What didn’t you like about it?
@shto4782 rog ally is a pretty solid handheld lol. 😂
@@Drzestrella19lol I return 3 of those back to best buy 😂😂 rog rally sucks
@@Drzestrella19 just another windows handheld which will be out 1000 of this year
I was researching for so long on what to get, and boom… This gets announced and I almost waiting. But I couldn’t resist the Deck OLED and bought that a month ago. Looks like I made the right choice instead of waiting on this. This confirms that for me. Great video.
Appreciate the review, definitely avoiding this one for its battery and charging issues.
You could of told me this was just a black ROG Ally and I would of believed you
But its worse than the great rog ally😂
@@Lordshadow29-w1n Yeah I love my ROG Ally. Even though the Deck is still great, especially for its price (and I would say it is the most power balanced PC ever) the ROG is a beast in how well it can run all games.
Not to be that guy, but I'm being that guy.. It's *could have*
@dhananjaysingh5378 in the beginning the rog ally wasn't good
That's racist! 😂
7:10 is it because of the camera angle or the device is bent?
Its the camera angle 100%.
Was waiting for you to cover this before I made a decision! Emulation on Android is looking rough so I’m definitely getting a Windows handheld
Idk, as long as you arent looking to emulate ps3 and up the retroid pocket 4 pro can do near perfect ps2/gc/wii emulation for $200, if all you’re looking for is an emulation device springing for a pc gaming windows handheld seems a bit much, no?
@@jammo7370 this
EDIT:
I own both a deck oled and a odin 2. both are fantastic for emulation but i do a lot more than that with my deck
@@jammo7370 maybe so but the way the wind is blowing we might see more and more emulators unavailable on Android. Can’t stop Windows though. Plus as a PC gamer I’d find a use for the extra power
@jammo7370 a few people want them for switch emulation to.
The added bonus about these is you also get windows gaming. The price jump is large but it opens up what you can play massively
@@DarkAbyss9 oh yeah, I’m well aware of what they’re capable of, I own a steam deck oled and it blew my mind playing mad max at 90fps in bed on a portable system, but if emulation is the foremost purpose of buying a device like this, like the original commenter said, then it makes no sense to get a device like an rog ally, and if you want switch emulation on top of other emulation, a modded/hacked switch lite can easily get the job done for significantly less than a windows gaming handheld but effort needs to be put into it.
21:10 there is acutally an option for on screen keyboard you missed it 😅
Or windows 11 being windows 11 might have removed it, but I remember using the on screen keyboard in win 10 as my keyboard stopped working and I had just formatted my pc
...Vent smell NEEDS to become a bonafide review metric!! Love it!!! LOL
The companies making these machines certainly agree, since it takes up space on online discussion pages that might otherwise be criticisms of ~1 hour of play time on 720p low settings
The Street Fighter test is the best benchmark for a d-pad. Start with Ken/Ryu, then give it try with E. Honda and Zangief. If you can do all of their moves without issue, then it's a good d-pad.
The mice rejoiced they had outfoxed the cat. Then down came the claw and that love... Was that.
I'm looking forward to the benchmark results
You can use fsr and xess with this chip. Intel always uses too much voltage by default, I wonder if it underclocks well
yeah, I was looking at getting a new gaming-leaninglaptop this year and was very interested in seeing what the new intel CPUs would be able to do and how efficient they would be, because battery life is important to me (this is why I have an Odin 2...). and they're not all that great, so I'll wait another year for a laptop.
It's crazy what kind of consoles are coming onto the market. I can still remember there were times when there was only Gameboy Advance and Sony PSP. Maybe I'll have the time to play the latest consoles at some point. Thank you and greetings from RetroGameCity 🤗🤗
Hi Russ and Retro gamers
I am allso 2 to 3 generations behind🤪 i will get mi steam deck lcd tomorrow😄😄 and we will see if i have a better experience with the Deck or mi Odin 2 😎 i wish you a nice Japan vacation, take care and chill
Greetings from Switzerland fuselito
You are the first as far as I know to do a true comparison between the AMD and Intel handhelds. Been waiting for this. I think I will pass on this for now until drivers improve. Thank you!
Agreed. I'm a fan of Intel, but I'll wait till they improver the drivers. If the desktop Arc GPUs are anything to go by, it will.
what true comparison?
@@jesusbarrera6916 first time I have seen AMD chip and intel chip at least compared for frame rate at different wattages. Everyone else had just said this Intel chip was faster than the older Intel chip. No real comparison between the two at lower wattages (my use case). Yes it was brief but it was what I wanted.
D pads being an afterthought is such a bummer.
Rgb back light face buttons, are they individually programmable?
I don’t see that in the settings, but hopefully they will offer more robust options in the MSI app with updates.
Would be cool for emulation of the snes or psx and matching the colour of the system buttons.
I am working as an Intel Brand Rep in Canada since last 6 months, I was pretty hyped for this device, and the review seems nice. You really pointed out the main points. The ultra processors are a bit different in nature, and after your review, it makes sense the MSI Claw should have used an h or HX processor, not the ultra; the ultra processors and the integrated arc are not made for gaming, even if it is handheld. The Arc A350 is not a gaming GPU, and I wonder why they thought of using it on a gaming handheld. Maybe they wanted to marketize the new CPUs, but the laptops with ultra processors are superb. I thought we were now done with laptop tech, but the ultra processors brought a whole new change in laptop tech.
Looking handsome Russ
“The vent smell is not half bad” 😂
Btw Russ, can you do a video on your experience shopping for retro games in Japan? I’m going next month, gonna be looking for a DSi or 3DS and maybe some other hardware
Can the battery from the MSI Claw fit in the Ally? That's my main interest.
It costs €828 (core 5) and 949 (core 7) here in the Netherlands.
Meanwhile I can get the Ally Z1 Extreme for 579 new.
Why would i pay so much more for the Claw?
Yeah no. 40-50W of powerdraw, worse performance, worse parts, hard pass.
I hope you enjoy the claaawww. I immediately think of that one scene in Toy Story 1 with the alien toys. 😂 these handhelds are so cool to see them being developed over time. I heard that even Nvidia might be looking into the business. Nintendo and Sony really sweating rn. Although most of the new wave of handhelds look the same to me. The Steamdeck really started a whole new era
Exciting and Disappointing (So Far) - title of my new s*x tape. Sorry I've been binging Brooklyn Nine Nine. Thanks Netflix
Yo man, you need some sleep
Just the fact that the charger is absurd is a no go against the Ally.
You can run FSR on anything - even Intel graphics.
For this price, why did they go with such large bezels? That was also a factor with the rog ally and I wanted a steam deck olead but being able to download and run gamepass games and the extra power won me over. Hopefully the ally 2 can fix that along with haptic sticks and better battery
The RGB on the controls are absolutely obnoxious.
Bright Vibrant indie games aren't the best way to showcase the difference between OLED and LCD screens. Makes it seem closer than it really is.
Over price ,no OLED and crappy Dpad🙄...I'm just keep my old steam deck and wait for SD2
The Temudeck, ROG Ally Express, Wishbernic Paw, Major Stutters Incoming Claw
Steam Deck survives another year
Definitely
Barely until Rog Ally 2 it's definitely over 😂
@@mosthated8848 omg... so naive. Nothing your rog ally 2 will do. Its just another windows laptop with 1 hour of battery at most
Which Intel GPU driver did you use?
wow which game is that, that we're seeing in the introduction ?
looks amazing !
Russ I have to ask. You hinted at a native 48Hz refresh rate mode during your 1st impressions. Have you tried running games at a locked 24fps while in that mode to save power? You can frame cap with RTSS if not allowed while in game. Just curious how bad it looks unless it's still playable.
I love your channel; from awesome content to a friendly community in the comment section. Love the vibes and the videos! Keep up the great work! Have fun on vacation brother 😁
Russ. The dragon logo and wording is classic MSI design. :)
That's a pretty slick little device. Does it have a motion sensor? I wonder how well it would work with Vita3K?
Based on what I seen from a review on the Onexplayer X1 using the same chip, this chip is an emulation beast that runs better and more efficient than my 6800U AOKZOE A1, the native PC gaming is lackluster though.
aside from Xenia being completely busted :/ which is a shame because many 360 games are fine with 15W on the Ally
I was hoping this would mean more progress on Linux for compatibility with Intel graphics, which would benefit me even more in the long run as an owner of the Intel Arc A750. I wasn't expecting this MSI Claw would be sticking with Windows. That's disappointing for me.
This is not to take away from the progress made so far with using this card for Linux gaming. Hell, as of two or three weeks ago, Resident Evil 4 Remake is working and I'm having a blast with it. Now I'm waiting for Ghostwire Tokyo.
Steam Link streaming isn't going well, but Sunshine is helping make up for that.
And yes, I've tried to install Windows due to my growing frustrations with the Arc A750 on Linux with newer games, but even Windows made it difficult for me to install which made me realize that once again, I shouldn't take Linux for granted lol
At least my Steam Deck OLED is brilliant and can run any game I've had difficulty with on my PC!
Windows just doesn't belong on handhelds like this. I know its super easy for these companies to just slap windows on it instead of making their own software but damn, it really puts the steam deck a league above. Also "i had to push a lot of power into it to get games to run well" you just described intel in a nut shell.
This is proving that getting the ROG ally instead of this was a good choice. Though if MSI are interested and willing to keep this updated then the performance and watt usage will get better.
I mean overall case and software design is similar to rog ally, why bother to buy a less powerful machine for much higher price?