I'm not giving up my Steam Deck for MSI's new Claw – it's a letdown.

Raw Power: Where the Claw 8 Leaves the Steam Deck in the Dust

I'm not giving up my Steam Deck for MSI's new Claw 8 AI+. And after a full week of testing, I'm confident in that decision. On paper, this handheld outclasses Valve's device in nearly every spec: a faster Intel CPU, a beefier Arc GPU, a larger 120Hz VRR screen. And the latest Windows 11. But raw performance only tells part of the story. The Claw 8 delivers impressive frame rates in AAA titles, yet the daily experience is plagued by software quirks, poor battery life, and a dozen small friction points that add up to an unfinished feeling. As The Verge's own reviews of handheld gaming PCs have shown, hardware alone doesn't make a great portable - the ecosystem matters more. This is my hands-on account of why I'm sending the Claw back and sticking with my Steam Deck OLED.

Let's get the obvious out of the way. The MSI Claw 8 AI+ is significantly faster. Powered by Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V (Lunar Lake) with integrated Arc graphics, it delivers frame rates the Steam Deck OLED can only dream of. In Cyberpunk 2077 at 900p with FSR 3 set to Performance, I averaged 48-52 fps on Medium. The Steam Deck OLED - by contrast, sits at a steady 30-35 fps on Low with FSR 2 - a roughly 40% improvement in raw throughput.

Synthetic Benchmarks vs. Real-World Gaming

• 3DMark Time Spy: Claw 8 = 4,210; Steam Deck OLED = 2,850
• Cinebench R23 Multi: Claw 8 = 9,500; Steam Deck OLED = 5,200
• SSD throughput: Claw 8 NVMe reads at 7,000 MB/s vs Deck's 2,500 MB/s

But numbers only tell part of the story. The real-world feel of 48 fps vs 35 fps is noticeable - especially in fast-paced combat. In Elden Ring, the Claw 8 held a near-locked 40 fps in Liurnia. While my Deck dipped into the low 20s during boss fights. For anyone who values pixel counts over polish, the Claw 8 is the clear winner on paper.

Gaming Performance Deep Dive

I tested six games at matching settings. The Claw 8 won in five, often by a wide margin. However, Starfield ran better on the Deck OLED - Intel's efficiency cores weren't utilized properly, causing hitches. This inconsistency is a recurring theme: games optimized for Intel Arc fly (Shadow of the Tomb Raider). While older engines (Counter-Strike 2) stutter. The Steam Deck's AMD architecture is slower but more predictable.

Thermal Throttling and Clock Stability

Thermal throttling appeared after 30 minutes of Cyberpunk - SoC hit 95°C, dropping CPU clocks and frame rates from 48 to 35 fps. The Deck stays at a steady 80°C with no throttling. This heat directly impacts the feeling of I'm giving this game my all, only to have the hardware pull back. The chassis gets noticeably warmer than the Deck. Which makes longer sessions less comfortable.

Windows 11 on a Handheld: The Same Old Nightmare

MSI ships the Claw 8 with Windows 11 Home - a blessing for game store compatibility (Steam, Epic - Game Pass, Battle net, GoG, Xbox app) but a curse for usability. Touch targets are tiny, the taskbar is comically small. And the bundled MSI Center M overlay is buggy. Installing Baldur's Gate 3 from Steam required navigating a launcher, sign-in prompt. And cloud-save pop-up - three extra taps that a stylus could barely handle. On the Steam Deck, you press "Install" and walk away.

The overlay crashed twice during my testing, leaving me staring at the desktop with no controller support - requiring a hard restart. As The Verge's Steam Deck OLED review notes, SteamOS's Big Picture mode is far more polished. Windows 11 simply wasn't built for 8-inch screens and controller-only input.

The MSI Center M Experience

The companion software needs work. It crashed when I tried to adjust TDP mid-game. And the fan curve options are buried in submenus. While Microsoft has made strides with Windows 11 controller navigation, the experience still feels bolted on compared to the integrated nature of SteamOS.

Software Ecosystem: SteamOS vs Windows for Handheld Gaming

This is where the gap widens into a canyon. SteamOS is built from the ground up for controller input, with a unified launcher, system-level suspend/resume, and per-game TDP profiles that actually work. Windows 11 offers none of that out of the box. You're trading library flexibility for daily friction. I'm giving serious thought to whether that trade is worth it - and for me, it's not.

The suspend/resume feature on the Deck is big. Hit the power button, the game freezes instantly. And you resume exactly where you left off hours later. On the Claw 8, closing the lid or pressing sleep sometimes crashes the active game or drains the battery overnight. That kind of unpredictability kills the handheld vibe. When I'm giving a quick gaming session during a commute, I need the device to wake up fast and reliably.

Game-specific tuning is also weaker on the Claw. The Steam Deck has community-sourced profiles for thousands of titles. So you rarely need to tweak settings. On the Claw 8, I had to manually adjust resolution, FSR mode,, and and TDP for every gameSome titles required launching them through MSI Center M to get the overlay working, adding yet another step.

Driver Updates: A Hidden Pain Point

Intel released three driver updates during my testing week. Each required a full reboot and sometimes broke previously working games. On the Steam Deck, driver updates are baked into system updates and rarely cause regressions. The Claw 8's Intel Arc drivers are improving fast, but they're not yet at the "set and forget" level that handheld gamers need.

Battery Life: The Real-World Tradeoff

I ran a standardized test: play Hades at 60 fps with 50% brightness on both devices, Wi-Fi on, TDP set to 15W on the Deck and the equivalent on the Claw. The Steam Deck OLED lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes. The Claw 8 died at 1 hour and 52 minutes, and that's nearly half the runtimeFor a device that's supposed to be portable, this is a major compromise. When I'm giving a long gaming session on a flight, the Deck gets me there and back. The Claw 8 barely covers one leg of the trip.

The gap narrows at lower TDPs for indie games. Drop to 9W for Stardew Valley or Hollow Knight. And the Claw 8 can stretch to about 2. 5 hours. But the Steam Deck OLED still wins by over an hour. MSI's choice to use a 53Wh battery sounds good on paper. But the Intel SoC's power draw under load is consistently higher than the Deck's custom AMD chip. As Tom's Hardware noted in their Claw 8 review, battery life remains the device's weakest link.

Charging Speed and Heat During Power Delivery

The Claw 8 supports 65W USB-C charging. Which is faster than the Deck's 45W. A 30-minute charge gets the Claw to about 45%. While the Deck reaches 38%. But the Claw gets hot enough during charging that passive cooling isn't enough - the fan spins up even when the device is idle. The Deck stays cool and silent while charging. Small differences, but they add up over a week of daily use.

Build Quality and Ergonomics: Comfort Over Many Hours

The Claw 8 is slightly larger and heavier than the Steam Deck OLED: 794g vs 640g. That extra weight is noticeable during extended sessions. The Claw's grips are more angular. Which digs into my palms after about 45 minutes. The Deck's rounded handles are more forgiving. Button placement on the Claw 8 is also questionable - the start and select buttons are too close to the right joystick, causing accidental presses during intense gameplay.

The screen on the Claw 8 is genuinely excellent. The 8-inch 120Hz VRR panel is brighter and smoother than the Deck's 90Hz OLED. Colors are vibrant. And the variable refresh rate eliminates tearing without V-Sync lag. But a great screen doesn't fix the ergonomic issues. When I'm giving my full attention to a game, I don't want to be distracted by hand fatigue or button misclicks.

Cooling vents on the Claw 8 are positioned on the top edge. Which means warm air blows directly onto your hands during gameplay. The Deck vents out the back, keeping your fingers cool. It's a small design choice that makes a big difference in comfort.

Fan Noise: A Persistent Distraction

The Claw 8's fan is audible even at idle - a low whine that's hard to ignore in a quiet room. Under load, it ramps up to a noticeable whoosh that competes with game audio at low volumes. The Steam Deck OLED is virtually silent at idle and only moderately loud under heavy load. For anyone playing without headphones, the Claw's acoustic profile is a downgrade.

Price and Value: What You're Really Paying For

The MSI Claw 8 AI+ starts at $899 for the 512GB model. The Steam Deck OLED begins at $549 for the 512GB model. That's a $350 premium for the Claw. You get faster performance and a better screen, but you also get Windows headaches, worse battery life, heavier weight, and a less polished software experience. When I'm giving advice to friends about which handheld to buy, the value proposition is clear: the Deck gives you a complete, cohesive system at a lower price. The Claw 8 offers raw power but asks you to accept compromises that many developers simply won't tolerate.

Accessories also cost more on the Claw 8. The official dock is $49, replacement thumbsticks are hard to find. And screen protectors are still scarce at launch. The Steam Deck has a thriving ecosystem of third-party accessories and replacement parts,, and which matters for long-term ownershipMSI's Claw ecosystem is still immature. And that uncertainty adds risk to the purchase.

Resale Value and Longevity Considerations

Steam Decks hold their value well on the used market, thanks to strong demand and Valve's commitment to long-term software support. MSI's previous Claw (the 2024 model) saw rapid price drops after launch. If history repeats, the Claw 8 might depreciate faster. For buyers who plan to upgrade every couple of years, that's a real cost to factor in.

FAQ

Q: Is the MSI Claw 8 AI+ faster than the Steam Deck OLED? Yes, by about 30-40% in most AAA titles. But the gap varies by game. Some titles actually run worse on the Claw due to driver issues or Intel Arc optimization problems.

Q: Can the MSI Claw 8 run all the same games as the Steam Deck? Technically yes, since Windows supports every game store. But expect to spend more time tweaking settings. SteamOS's community profiles make game configuration much simpler.

Q: Which handheld has better battery life for indie games? The Steam Deck OLED wins by a wide margin - roughly 3 hours 45 minutes vs 1 hour 52 minutes in our standardized test. The gap narrows at lower TDPs but the Deck still leads.

Q: Is Windows 11 really that bad on a handheld. For most people, yesTouch targets are too small, the taskbar is hard to navigate with a controller. And system-level features like suspend/resume are unreliable. Workarounds exist, but they add friction to every session.

Q: Should I wait for a future revision of the Claw? Possibly. Intel's drivers are improving rapidly. And MSI could address software issues with updates. But I'm giving this first-gen product a pass and sticking with the Deck for now.

Join the discussion

Are you considering the MSI Claw 8 AI+ over the Steam Deck OLED,? Or is the software experience a dealbreaker for you? Share your thoughts on which handheld ecosystem you trust for the long haul.

What's the most important factor for you in a handheld gaming PC - raw frame rates, battery life, or software polish? I'm giving my vote to polish. But I want to hear your take.

Have you encountered similar thermal or software issues with other Windows-based handhelds like the ROG Ally or Legion Go? Drop your experience below and let's compare notes on what works and what doesn't.