Time for comparisons! In this article, I compare the new MSI Claw to the ROG Ally, specifically the Intel Core Ultra 7 and the AMD Z1 Extreme. The MSI Claw certainly has been a quirky device since its launch with performance issues all over the place, such as broken or crashing games, no VRAM options, and power balance issues. However, I am having fun testing it, and I hope MSI really works on it. It sounds like they do have a long term plan.
I start by looking at Cinebench and notice that I could never beat my highest scores for each. Over on 3D Mark, the MSI Claw was better than the ROG Ally.
However, Cyberpunk was the most broken game I have played yet on the Claw, and it is unplayable, making this a worst-case scenario.
Forza Motorsport is tough, and I had to switch to 720p as my base even if I used upscaling. Skull and Bones was another game that performed poorly on the Claw, both in the benchmark and in real-world gameplay.
Horizon Zero Dawn was another good game to look at, and it had a significant difference between the Ally and the Claw. The claw is trying to push plugged in, and its performance mode is around 45-43 watts. This game is another good title to show what the Ally are doing right now up against the MSI Claw and Intel's core Ultra 7.
Finally, in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the Ally were better than the Claw, and the Claw was GPU-bound.
So, the MSI Claw has a lot of work to do to get its performance smooth and consistent across all games, plugged in and unplugged. However, there is a lot to like about the device, such as its design, sticks, and how it feels in the hand. Thanks for watching!