In the world of Transformers toys, there’s a concept known as “redecos.” This is when the manufacturer takes the mold for one figure but uses a different color plastic or paint and calls it a new figure. As I was testing the MSI Claw, a gaming handheld from a PC manufacturer, all I could think of was that it felt like a redeco of the Asus ROG Ally.

That's not great because I rated the Ally quite poorly (though Asus' new ROG Ally X fared a bit better). So we're left with what feels like a reskin of a poor product, but other factors make the Claw even worse. Our review unit took some time to arrive at our doorstep, yet in June—mere months after the launch of the Claw—MSI announced two new successors expected to arrive this fall. Bizarrely, despite the poor reception at launch and the rush of sequels coming soon, the Claw remains for sale. So here's a PSA: Don't buy it.

Outdated Hardware

Where the MSI Claw differs from the original ROG Ally is minimal. It uses an Intel processor instead of AMD on the Ally, has a 53-watt-hour battery instead of 40 Wh, and the power button with a built-in fingerprint sensor is on the left instead of the right. Yes, there are a couple of other minor hardware differences, but the similarities are so much more prominent. The button layout is nearly identical, right down to the two rear, customizable paddles. It has the same 7-inch 1,080p, 120-Hz screen, the same 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, and the same 512 GB solid-state drive.

You can get a slightly upgraded model with a 1-terabyte SSD and an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor (which is the model I tested), but with the recent release of the ROG Ally X, you probably shouldn’t. The Claw’s replacement, the MSI Claw 8 AI+, has better specs and it's not far off.

Frankly, I could end the review here. Hardware iterations might move fast, but it’s rare to see a company announce a product’s successor three months after the original drops. There’s no good reason to buy the MSI Claw rather than wait until the follow-up. But we should still talk about how this one performs as a baseline. And, well, the bar is already set pretty low.

Square One

At this point, when I open up a new Windows-based gaming handheld, I know to expect a lengthy period of wrestling with the interface to get even basic things working. I don’t like grading on a curve—the kind of user interface issues that get a pass on devices like this would be inexcusable on, say, the Nintendo Switch or even the Steam Deck—but even with my expectations adjusted, I was constantly frustrated.

MSI has an app that tries to be the bridge between Windows and a handheld interface called MSI Center M. It has shortcuts to different storefronts like Steam, Xbox, Ubisoft, and Epic. In theory, this is convenient, but in practice, it’s almost easier to swipe through the normal Windows interface to launch these apps.

When launching Steam, for example, the app would launch in its standard Desktop mode, rather than the controller-friendly Big Picture mode. However, even when I manually enable Big Picture mode, the Claw automatically switches to Desktop input. This means the left control stick moves a cursor around, while the A button clicks. In my experience, the Claw seemed to switch to Desktop input when opening almost any app, including several games. It was a constant fight just to know how to control the device.

This was made worse by some baffling performance issues. A button on the right side of the screen is dedicated to opening a quick launcher that lets you swap between Desktop and Gamepad inputs. Yet, when I pressed this button, the menu often failed to load at all or lagged so much that the menu would appear and disappear again several seconds later.

Git Gud (at Running Games)

I was hopeful that once I got into a game, at least, the performance would get better. It did not. In Doom Eternal, one of my go-to games to test on handhelds, I suffered from a baffling problem in which holding the control stick forward moved my character at a snail’s pace. My best guess is that the software was interpreting my input as very slightly pushing the control stick forward, but after over an hour of trying to troubleshoot it, I couldn’t figure out how to get it to work.

In Starfield, the input issue wasn’t a problem, but everything else was. Even on the lowest graphics settings, I was barely getting above 15 frames per second while idling in New Atlantis. This was in MSI’s “Super Battery” mode that limits power draw to extend battery life. Switching to “Balanced” let me get almost to 30 fps, but dramatically spiked the power usage.

While in Balanced mode, Starfield was drawing a ludicrous 40 to 42 watts, even while sitting idle. At that level of power drain, the 53-Wh battery could barely last more than an hour. Once I entered combat, the situation got worse, with the frame rate dropping below 20 fps, while still maintaining that massive power draw. Even the Super Battery mode—which, again, was essentially unplayable—drew a sustained 28 watts. It couldn’t hit two hours before dying.

Smaller, less power-hungry games like Hades II ran better. But like the ROG Ally before it, it’s just not worth the trade-offs. I managed to maintain between 100 to 120 fps, but the Claw drew between 20 to 30 watts to do so (Super Battery could cap this around 28 watts, which is still a lot). Even under the best conditions, I could only get around two hours of Hades II time. Meanwhile, on the Steam Deck OLED, I was regularly getting five-plus hours without a charge.

At this point, being critical of the MSI Claw feels like preaching the virtues of beating a dead horse to the Dead Horse Beating Choir. I don’t enjoy being overly harsh, and I think the device’s performance speaks for itself. Once the company announced that follow-ups would be coming with better processors, bigger batteries, and even a larger screen option, the debate on whether to buy the original Claw became moot. You shouldn’t. Period.