MSI has quietly launched a new, refreshed variant of its latest gaming handheld, offering double the storage capacity of the original model. Called Tempest Edition, the new handheld keeps most specs intact, mainly upgrading its storage and style.
MSI Claw 8 AI+ Polar Tempest Edition retains all that made the original Sandstorm version what it is, perhaps to keep costs down, while rocking a new style that may attract new users. For this refresh, MSI went with a more basic white on black theme, giving Claw an Alienware feel. While I prefer the golden tones of the original, the RGB lighting should produce better effects on this white model. As a reminder, you can customise both the joystick rings and buttons to your preferred colours.
The second change is storage, which jumps from 1TB to 2TB, giving you double the room to install games. It might not mean too much against the ever-increasing size of newer games, but it’s still far more comfortable than playing the uninstall minigame.
Other than this, MSI Claw 8 AI+ Polar Tempest retains the same Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor, packing four P-cores and four E-cores alongside an Arc 140V iGPU. Both the CPU and iGPU share a 32GB memory pool, giving the handheld enough RAM to run any game. You should also find the same TDP modes, including the Power Save 8W, Balanced 15W, Sport 30W, and an entirely custom option.
This means you can expect identical gaming performance to the Sandstorm version, just in a new package. For example, when configured to mimic Steam Deck’s 800p resolution and 15W TDP, Claw goes neck-and-neck with Valve’s handheld. But when you unleash its full 30W potential, Claw nearly doubles its frame rate. The trade-off is a reduced battery play time, down to around two hours. You can expect a playable 30fps+ experience even on demanding AAA titles such as Cyberpunk 2077, as long as you don’t crank those settings to the max.
That said, simpler games like Rocket League, Graveyard Keeper, and Super Meat Boy are definitely the best ones to pair with such a power constraint machine. If you can’t live without your state-of-the-art graphics, you can always enable Intel’s XeSS frame generation to double your fps and boost smoothness at the expense of potential image artifacts.
MSI Claw 8 AI+ is available at €1,107 on Amazon Germany. No doubt a hefty price compared to well-established handhelds such as Steam Deck and ROG Ally X, albeit with more RAM and storage. In case you mainly care about the newer look, MSI has also launched a 1TB model, which should cost less at around €999, like the original Claw 8 AI+.
