HONOR MagicBook 14 Review
Key Specs
Windows 10 Home
Up to AMD Ryzen™ 5 4500U Processor
RAM: 8GB DDR4 Dual-Channel
Up to 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
14” HONOR FullView Display
Battery life: up to 10 hours
HONOR has made quite the name for themselves in the tech world with phones and laptops standing up against the top names. Now, they’re back with the HONOR MagicBook 14 NoteBook – how does it fare and what will it be best used for? Find out in this Rapid Review.
Design & Build Quality
Straight off the bat, you will notice the MagicBook 14 looks stunning. I was sent the Space Gray version to review (there is a Mystic Silver also) and that colour combined with its newly acquired Azure Blue Chamfer, looks wonderful. The aluminium body looks and feels great although I did find that it was somewhat easy to gain marks and scuffs.
The MagicBook 14 is perhaps the thinnest and lightest Laptop/NoteBook I’ve seen too! Weighing in at just 1.38kg, you wouldn’t believe it’s such a powerful bit of kit because of just how light it is. Although it’s light, it feels strong – which is good.
Keyboard & Trackpad
The MagicBook 14′s fully backlit keyboard is one of the quietest I’ve had the pleasure of typing on. I’m used to typing on big, loud ‘clicky’ keys but with this, the sound is almost non-existent. It’s great for when you’re trying to type things up when somebody’s watching TV!
The keyboard also houses a hidden camera! Simply press the camera button impeded into the keyboard and the camera will pop up with it. It’s a great idea but the practicality of it wasn’t ideal – for me at least. This is due to the fact that the camera is pointing up at you getting the least flattering image – chin up. In terms of its quality though, it was great. It features a 720P HD camera, perfect for those Zoom meetings.
Alongside the keyboard there is the power button, which is also the fingerprint scanner, making signing in fast and simple. I also had no problems with the trackpad. It’s big and super responsive which is what you want – it reminds me a lot of Apple’s Macbook trackpad.
Display
The HONOR MagicBook 14 features a 14-inch, FullView, almost bezel-less display. It’s a fully laminated LCD display to stop light reflection – which it does wonderfully. It also features a TÜV Rheinland certified display to reduce excessive blue light for safer and more comfortable reading.
As for the bezels, it’s an ultra-thin 4.88mm bezel, the only thing that lets this down is the bezel at the bottom of the screen as this is quite a bit thicker than the rest. Other than that, it’s perfect. The screen is beautiful and the colours pop as they should. The text is crisp and clear, also.
All-Day Battery Life
I’m always sceptical when I see a laptop boasting it has all-day battery life but I am happy to confirm that the HONOR MagicBook 14 does have all-day battery life, depending on what you’re doing, of course. It has a 56 WH high energy density battery that will give you up to 10.5 hours of juice, which is phenomenal.
What’s better than that is, say if you forget to charge it one night and it’s out of power? Don’t worry, the 65W Fast Charger combined with a USB-C port will get you a 46% charge in just 30 minutes. That’s insane, and it’s extremely practical.
Performance
The HONOR MagicBook 14 is powered by an (up to) AMD Ryzen™ 5 4500U Processor and 8GB of DDR RAM meaning this is a powerful bit of kit. It struggled with no task I set it and opened apps and web pages almost instantly. I was also pleased to see that loading the NoteBook up took mere seconds also, as soon as you press that power button, it’s ready to go. Video editing wasn’t a problem, opening numerous word documents wasn’t a problem and playing the odd indie game wasn’t a problem either, which was nice. Having (up to) 512GB of hard drive space on an SSD wasn’t bad either. More than enough room.
Multi-Screen Collaboration
If you own an HONOR phone, it has never been easier to connect it to your laptop with multi-screen collaboration. Multi-screen collaboration allows you to share your smartphone screen and files and allows you to edit them with the same keyboard and mouse. Pick up exactly where you left off without having to jump between devices with a simple tap. Revolutionary, right?
Conclusion
Overall, the HONOR MagicBook 14 was a pleasant surprise and blew my expectation out of the water. No, it’s not going to be perfect as a solely gaming computer, but it will handle indie games no problem. Personally, I think this would be more suited as a work/personal computer for students and reviewers (like myself). It will handle anything you throw at it and is fast, light and versatile. What more could you want? I only wish the camera was in a slightly more flattering position.
Rapid Reviews Rating
4.5 out of 5
4.5
For more information and to purchase the HONOR MagicBook 14, visit the website here.
One Comment
Pingback: