A new wave of premium handhelds is on the way and MSI’s upcoming Claw 8 EX AI+ is leading the charge. The company revealed its latest handheld during a hands-on event at its headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan before Computex 2026. The Claw 8 EX AI+ will follow up MSI’s previous handhelds introduced in 2024 that start at around $800, but is reportedly going to cost as much as $1,500. It comes out on June 23.

To justify that high cost, the latest MSI handheld is getting a major performance boost thanks to the new Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip. According to ZDNet Korea, the Claw 8 EX AI+ offers an updated SSD design that lets owners easily upgrade the storage through an M.2 2280 slot. The handheld still gets up to 32GB of memory, an 80Wh battery and an eight-inch touchscreen display with a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. However, the hands-on event announced that the Claw 8 EX AI+ will have improved haptics along with better ergonomic design for its buttons and joysticks.

According to PCGamer, MSI hasn’t landed on a final price for the Claw 8 EX AI+, but the configuration on display at its event carries that $1,500 price. That means we could see more affordable choices with less memory and storage, or a smaller display. However, that price estimate isn’t too surprising considering the ongoing crisis around component costs. As for potentially cheaper alternatives, MSI’s Claw 8 EX AI+ will see competition from the Acer Predator Atlas 8 and a handheld from OneXPlayer, both of which also feature the Arc G3 Extreme chips.