Certain handhelds are already seeing a nasty $100 price spike thanks to tariffs

With the new US tariffs coming into play, costs are expected to rise. This is especially true for products shipped from China, which are currently undergoing huge tariffs that will see prices soar. This has a knock-on effect on products that use Chinese components as part of the design, and the tech world relies on them a lot.

We’ve already seen the Switch 2 preorders go on indefinite hiatus in the US as Nintendo works out how the new tariffs will change the console’s price, but it seems the changes won’t stop there. Other handheld companies are quietly shifting their console prices up by $100 to cover the additional costs from the tariffs.

Some handheld consoles get a stealthy $100 price increase

As spotted by Windows Central, companies with handheld consoles on the shelves are nervously eyeing their products’ MSRPs. Some have seen a price increase with no prior announcement from the company:

While checking the best gaming handhelds today, I noticed that MSI’s US website currently lists the new MSI Claw 8 AI+ and MSI Claw 7 AI+ gaming handhelds both at $100 higher than their initial MSRP. For those in the U.S., this brings the Claw 8 AI+ from $899.99 to $999.99 and the price of the Claw 7 AI+ from $799.99 to $899.99 MSRP.

Windows Central notes that the same consoles have not undergone the same price spikes in other currencies. For instance, UK people can still grab the Claw 8 AI+ for its regular MSRP of £899.00. As such, there’s a very high chance that the recent US tariffs are to blame for the price increases in the US.

Windows Central did note that some storefronts still show the old MSRP, so it doesn’t seem like the news has spread everywhere just yet. If you’ve had your eye on one of the best PC gaming handhelds out there and you live in the US, now might be the best time to grab one before the prices go up any further.