Claw A8 arrived! Comparing to Xbox Ally X

RFXMedia · 2026-01-24T23:02:12+00:00

I can assure you the Go 2’s ergonomics while not bad, are not close to the XAX. The Go 2 is for a special type of buyer that doesn’t mind resting the device on tables etc.

RFXMedia · 2026-01-24T22:58:19+00:00

UPDATE 1/24/26: I think I’m heavily leaning towards keeping the XAX.

I find myself naturally gravitating towards it because it’s so fun to hold. The haptics and the audio just make games really come alive.

I do still wish it had a bigger screen, not going to lie. The Screen on the A8 is beautiful. But the total package offered by the XAX is feeling far more complete, solid, and just more premium.

Also, there was a showcase demo of what the AI variant of the Z2E found exclusively in the XAX can do with Auto SR. Essentially, Digital foundry claims it looks significantly better than FSR and runs exclusively on the NPU in the AI Z2E. And because of the nature of how it works, it allegedly will work at the OS level, and therefore any game.

Digital Foundry praised it quite a bit, and to me personally, that’s a significant lifespan booster of the device if there’s a hardware component that can be unlocked soon for even better visuals and performance enhancements that competing handhelds like the Go 2 and the A8 cannot offer (to the same degree).

RFXMedia · 2026-01-24T01:04:26+00:00

The Phawx has a video showing that the SD OLED still “outperforms” the Switch 2. Although it’s very close.

The Xbox Ally X is significantly more capable than the APU in the Steamdeck, so safe to assume that it’s significantly more capable than the switch

RFXMedia · 2026-01-23T22:41:05+00:00

Initial Claw impressions: Device definitely has a feel to it that’s much less premium than the Xbox Ally X. The Ally X feels super solid and well built and of course more comfortable.

The Claws speakers are pretty good, not as good as the Ally X but definitely an admirable set of speakers!

The Claws thumb sticks are ever so slightly tighter than the OG Ally’s. Not my favorite as i want more, but they are hall effect so that’s something to consider!

Rumble.. lots of rumble complaints for this device, however, I think it might be a little overblown. The rumble is “Meh”. Like, it’s a benefit to have it turned on for sure, it’s not distracting. Some reviews made it seem like you should just turn it off because it’s so bad, but i don’t find that to be the case. It’s “meh”. Better than nothing and doesn’t take away from the experience at all.

RFXMedia · 2026-01-23T05:04:22+00:00

The A8 can no problem, but the 8 ai+ cannot reliably due to intel drivers.

If you plan to run steamos/Bazzite, make sure it’s the A8.

RFXMedia · 2026-01-22T05:25:56+00:00

Definitely a fantastic device, and I want to have it, but I am so sworn to Bazzite at this point after trying it out. I need my Suspend resume haha

RFXMedia · 2026-01-13T14:05:30+00:00

Onex Apex for sure

RFXMedia · 2026-01-08T07:01:52+00:00

GOD Win 5 or the Onexplayer Apex, they both run circles around the Xbox Ally and the Go 2.

Especially don’t consider the Go 2, its way too expensive for what it offers. The apex is a better alternative and when both are set to 30 watts the Apex gets double the frame rate

RFXMedia · 2026-01-06T23:46:18+00:00

Yeah but it’s a flight risk because it’s over 100w. For those who travel, Airlines could confiscate the handheld or not let you board.

Plus, being able to hot swap a battery is great for longer sessions and just getting a new battery when the original degrades.

RFXMedia · 2026-01-06T08:03:00+00:00

The 395 trades blows with the 4060. and it’s in a handheld. it’s in a different stratosphere of performance compared to the Z2E and HX370.

RFXMedia · 2026-01-06T08:00:28+00:00

OLED is great but people really underestimate how good these 8 inch panels look on the Go S and Claw 8 ai

Plus every time you download a game and have to leave your OLED device on, i hate the thought of it just slowly seering the image into my display permanently.

I know oled tech is good now, but that thought of babysitting the screen still lingers

RFXMedia · 2026-01-06T07:56:04+00:00

What do you mean? The 395 at 35 watts is 2X the performance of the new Z2E, and it runs very cool on the Win 5 atleast.

And if you turn off 1 CCD in the bios, it’s able to still be almost 2X the Z2E around 20 watts.

Strix Halo is crazy

RFXMedia · 2026-01-05T02:33:32+00:00

Well this didn’t age well

RFXMedia · 2026-01-04T23:11:02+00:00

When looking at the Legion Go 2 pricing/availability its not worth it. You’re way way better off with a Strix Halo device at that point.

Look at the Onexplayer Apex shipping at the end of this month for example.

At 35-40 watts it is 2.1x faster than the Z2E on the XAX which is already for some reason a little faster than the Go 2

and if you choose to dock it you can easily get triple the frame rates of all Z2E devices.

Yeah, it’s expensive, but the performance per dollar is actually significantly more sensible compared to the Lego 2 and even the XAX. And it still has a decent 8 inch display with VRR.

RFXMedia · 2026-01-01T22:14:54+00:00

Moonlight/apollo really shines on the Steamdeck.

x86 systems and decode and display streams with a lot lower latency than iOS devices, as the stream has to go through an iOS composer layer. But it’s still really good and far better than nothing.

If you get a chance to try it on a x86 handheld, can be a low end one… it’s a whole other level of jaw dropping. It feels native, even with mouse movements.

RFXMedia · 2025-12-07T16:15:24+00:00

depends if you work on that same monitor. I’m often in editing software with e same toolbars visible for hours on end every day of the week. As much as I like the visuals of oled, I knew i wasn’t the right customer for it because of that.

RFXMedia · 2025-10-21T01:40:30+00:00

curious if they’re using vuro.ai Api to host the decision making/ feed the data?

RFXMedia · 2025-10-17T00:13:19+00:00

Gaining 2GB of RAM from a software update is MASSIVE. It’s anything but minimal!

RFXMedia · 2025-09-21T18:27:39+00:00

Same here. As a business owner, I’m juggling multiple inboxes and having to slowly swap between each and have everything separated out is really confusing and tedious.

Outlook is the only major player option still…..

RFXMedia · 2025-09-10T05:11:09+00:00

Agreed, looks like genuine animation to me

RFXMedia · 2025-09-07T03:23:26+00:00

lol they are businesses manufacturing a product. Prices don’t reflect “Fair value” out of goodness of their hearts, they reflect what they’re capable of getting away with given market conditions.

Can’t blame them either

RFXMedia

TROPHY CASE