Handheld gaming PCs have slowly been growing in prominence since the Steam Deck exploded onto the market back in 2022, but for the last two years, the most powerful handhelds have been using the same Z1 Extreme chipset. The MSI Claw A8, announced at Computex 2025, looks to be the first handheld using the Z2 Extreme announced at CES 2025.
The MSI Claw A8 is similar to the recently released Claw 8 AI, but a couple of the specs have been changed. MSI has lowered the maximum amount of RAM down from 32GB to 24GB of LPDDR5X, clocked at 8,000MHz. The display also now supports VRR (variable refresh rate). So, while both displays are 120Hz FullHD panels, the A8 will experience screen tearing less often.
Of course, the biggest difference is moving from the Intel Core Ultra 7 285V to the AMD Z2 Extreme. This is a gaming APU with 8 Zen 5 CPU cores and 16 RDNA 3.5 graphics cores. That GPU has more Compute Units than the 12 in the Z1 Extreme, but also ups the architecture half a generation.
MSI has also announced an updated version of the MSI Claw 8 AI+ with a new colorway and a bigger 2TB SSD. That handheld is still powered by the Intel Core Ultra 7 285V.
The MSI Claw A8 should be out later this year, but MSI hasn’t shared a specific launch window, or even a price for it. However, given that the MSI Claw 8 AI+ costs $999, this new AMD-powered version probably won’t be cheap.
The AMD Z2 Extreme Race Is On
The AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme was announced kind of under the radar at CES back in January 2025. Nearly five months later, we still haven’t seen a handheld hit store shelves with the new silicon, so now it’s just a matter of waiting to see which manufacturer gets there first.
Because, technically, the Lenovo Legion Go 2, which also debuted at CES 2025, is powered by the Z2 Extreme, but the company has not even hinted when it might make its way to market. Instead, we got the Z2 Go-powered Lenovo Legion Go S, which was both less powerful and more expensive than the original Legion Go.
The rumored Asus ROG Ally 2 will also likely use the Z2 Extreme, if leaks are to be believed, though that hasn’t even been announced yet. Plus, there is plenty of speculation that Asus and Microsoft are going to be teaming up on some kind of Xbox-branded version of the Ally 2, which would also likely be powered by the Z2 Extreme.
Still, there is one handheld that we know isn’t going to be using the Z2 Extreme, and that’s the Steam Deck 2. Valve has come out and said that this next generation of Z-series chips from AMD isn’t enough of a generational leap to justify a new handheld. And while that does cast some shade on how good the Z2 Extreme will even be, new Steam Deck alternatives will at least be a bit better than what’s on store shelves now, and that’s not a bad thing.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
