The launch of the MSI Claw was far from successful. In fact, the company made efforts to keep it low-profile, without any official review embargo and with staggered launches across regions. This early exposure to the product, plagued with numerous issues, left a negative impression on gamers.
Recent reviews often highlight that the Claw isn’t inherently flawed, but rather its pricing is problematic. MSI has set a higher price for its first handheld compared to the launch prices of the ASUS ROG Ally or the Lenovo Legion Go. The issue arises as both of these consoles are frequently available for less already, yet offer superior gaming performance. The only comparable model in terms of pricing was the Core Ultra 5 135H, which lacks the full GPU specs found in the 155H variant.
Currently, the leading UK retailer, Curry’s, has slashed the price of the Core Ultra 7 155H variant to £599, marking a significant reduction of £200 or 25% from its original launch price. This substantial price drop applies to the flagship version, boasting the top-tier Core SKU and offering 1TB of storage.
As of now, this pricing adjustment appears to be confined to the UK. However, the official US store has already reduced the price of the Core Ultra 5 135H model to $649. Considering that the product is barely two months old, this price reduction came sooner than anticipated, possibly indicating a necessity for the adjustment.
An official price reduction for the MSI Claw is essential across all regions where it’s available. The initial MSRP doesn’t align well with the performance of Radeon 780M-based Ryzen Z1 chips, which outpace it in gaming.
Source: Curry’s