MSI Claw A8 released in France with lower than expected pricing
The MSI Claw A8 is taking a rather unusual route to market after debuting in May during Computex 2025. Arguably, Asus and Lenovo have left the door open for MSI with the late 2025 releases of their next-generation gaming handhelds. Likewise, Zotac has now indicated that its Zone Pro gaming handheld will not launch until the autumn.
As it stands, the Legion Go S (curr. $549 on Amazon) is the only new Windows gaming handheld released by a major OEM this year. However, the Legion Go S uses the relatively weak and inefficient Ryzen Z2 Go APU instead of the Ryzen Z2 Extreme found in the Claw A8. Nonetheless, MSI has taken a piecemeal approach to releasing its AMD-powered gaming handheld, with new launches occurring without warning.
Now, Redditors have spotted MSI stocking the Claw A8 in France for €899.99. Unfortunately, MSI appears to have quickly run out of stock with some Redditors claiming to have got their order in a few days ago. Arguably, the biggest surprise is MSI's pricing, which undercuts that offered in Germany by €100.
Given that France has a higher VAT rate than Germany, we cannot see a reason for the 11% price disparity. Hopefully, this latest Claw A8 release is indicative of lower launch pricing for other markets. For instance, MSI's latest gaming handheld is yet to reach Africa, the Middle East, North America, South America or the UK as far as we can tell.
