If you’re eagerly awaiting the MSI Claw then you may be confused by the fact that even the manufacturer itself can’t quite decide on exactly when its Intel-powered handheld will hit the shelves.
The MSI Claw’s release date is officially set for March 8 and has been confirmed by MSI in the US but retailers are saying different, including the company that makes them. Heading over to MSI’s website will reveal that the mainstream variant, the Intel Core Ultra 5-135H model, retailing for $699, will ship on March 12, five days ahead of its ‘official’ release window. We’re showing you where to buy MSI Claw pre orders through retailers such as Newegg.
Speaking of Newegg, this retailer has the release date of the MSI Claw set as March 15, a full week after the ‘official’ US release date which ships and is sold by the outlet. So, what’s going on? It’s hard to say exactly why no one can agree on when the Claw will actually hit shelves, making it hard to know when to expect one. That means you’ll either get one in two days or be waiting another week, which is incredibly frustrating, especially if you’ve been following the hardware since its CES 2024 unveiling.
We recommend pencilling in Friday in your calendar and keeping our page bookmarked to avoid any potential disappointment. It’s possible that you could be waiting into next week, but we’ll be updating you as things become more concrete. It’s far for the manufacturer and retailers to be at odds like this, further adding an unnecessary level of confusion which could hurt its chances at rivalling the Steam Deck OLED, Lenovo Legion Go, and ASUS ROG Ally.
The MSI Claw could get a staggered launch
A possible explanation of what’s happening around the launch of MSI’s first foray into the handheld scene could be that the manufacturer is staggering launch of its three variants. The cheapest of the lot could be coming after the two pricier versions (which sell for $749 and $799) respectively). This would incentivize getting a more expensive option first to be right there on release. It would explain way the $759 MSI Claw is sold out before it’s even been released.
