Since our sample is not a retail unit, nor sourced from MSI, we cannot comment on either MSI’s choice of shipping and packaging, nor the accessories. Our sample came with an OWC Thunderbolt 4 dock of mediocre abilities (e.g., lacking additional ‘internal’ storage and a meh level of USB ports)… and a set of Sammy Bluetooth IEMs. Given the price of those items, we sincerely doubt MSI is taking a bath by including them. As such, we are going to skip over both the shipping container and the ‘accessories’ that our obviously non-standard sample came with. So instead of our usual M.O., let us dive directly into the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ and what it is… and is not.
Upon opening the Intel box and taking a quick glance at the Claw 8 EX AI+, we thought “Void Purple” was nothing more than just a bog-standard Midnight Purple that had been desaturated to produce a hybrid, amethyst-esque colorway. However, viewing it under different lighting conditions (and observing how it reacts under said conditions) reveals it is more accurately described as a variant of burgundy. While we are not fond lovers of anything French (even French adjacent), no one can deny that this is a famously luxurious color. One that is right up there with Royal Purple in its august history… and baggage.
History aside, it appears that MSI has (finally) hired a legitimate CMF (Color, Material, Finish) Designer…. and said professional took that famously purplish-red wine (with a hint of black) color, mixed in a massive chunk of orchid, and then finished it off by adding a dollop of white to create a brighter (albeit still with a surprisingly low light reflectance value), customizable (read: brandable) color that “pops.” One that aims to be “fun” and thus intentionally avoiding the snobbish, pompous, “I went to Oxford and know how to tie an Oxford knot” elitism most adults associate with burgundy. Put another way: it is a “safe” rebellious color meant to invoke the youthful vigor of a rave rather than a country club mixer. The results, however, are… inconclusive. This is not an inexpensive device, and as such, we classify this custom colorway much like we do our “Tiffany Blue” clad accessories: if you must ask the price, you probably will have to pause and think about how to justify paying for whatever it is applied to. To be fair, “because I can” is always a legitimate justification.
Either way, we are glad they did not once again resort to the loud, polarizing, and downright gimmicky neon lime green used previously – a color whose best attribute is making the new Claw’s secondary “Luminous Blue” colorway look good in comparison. And yes. “In comparison” is doing the heavy lifting in that judgement. Unlike Void Purple, Luminous Blue is a moderately bright colorway that suffers from extreme shifts in perceived coloration based on lighting. Put simply, when judged in vacuo rather than in situ, Lumi’ Blue is decidedly “meh”. With its sole claim to fame being that it visibly shows you that this is the base model (B370 + 512GB vs B390 + 1TB), not the premium edition… and MSI are strongly suggesting spending the extra couple hundred for the premium (Void Purple clad) model if one is considering spending Claw 8 EX AI+ levels cash on a handheld gaming device.
So, color us impressed that MSI finally engineered a stable, premium base colorway that doesn’t lose its dignity when the lights go down, nor scatter when the lights go up. Instead, they built a beautiful canvas upon which to build a premium feature set. Sadly, they just lacked the final bit of verve required to trim it out like a true masterpiece. To wit, instead of boring black, they should have boldly taken the accent color a step further. Utilizing (cyber)punk cyan or even brushed brass accents for the D-pad and the primary option buttons. That would have created a stunning neo-vintage / cyber-luxury contrast, stripping away any lingering snobbish undertones and helping buyers overcome the fact that “funky purple” is never going to be everyone’s cuppa… but boring blue is even worse.
Furthermore, where they did not give these critically important buttons their due, you may overlook their importance. Especially the bottom left button near the top right corner of the screen. This teeny-tiny button activates MSI Quick Settings. Typically this would fall into the ‘oh that’s nice’ bonus feature, but on a handheld gaming device that lacks an integrated KB+M, this seemingly unassuming button makes life eons easier. It does so because MSI Quick Settings makes life eons easier.
For example, when activated, you have access to everything from fan profile curves to power/performance caps, to instantly nuking a misbehaving app, to an on-screen keyboard (always nice when you have to enter usernames and passwords on a handheld computer), to quick screen grabbing, to even an on-screen FPS and Power monitoring ability.
Equally important is the other side of the screen’s bottom tiny button activates MSI Center M (with the ‘M’ most likely standing for Mobile). When activated, this highly optimized variant of MSI Center allows you to not only instantly launch individual games but even certain “A(AA..A)” mega-corp’s proprietary game shop’s launcher. Including but not limited to EA, Battle.net, Ubisoft… and best of all, Steam. It almost is obvious that where it is Windows 11 based you can even launch DOS/Android/Sony/Nintendo emulators and pretty much any other app you want to via a couple seconds of effort. All via one teeny-tiny button. A button deserving of better than basic black plastic. Please do better, MSI, as it deserves better.
