HONOR MagicBook 14 Review
- 0.1 HONOR MagicBook 14 Review Specification
- 0.2 Pros
- 0.3 Cons
- 0.4 Price
- 0.5 Hardware
- 0.6 Performance
- 0.7 Design
- 0.8 Battery
The redesigned Honor MagicBook 14 (also available in a 15-inch model) is an inexpensive, portable Ultrabook featuring an attractive display, a strong design, and a powerful 11th-generation Intel “Tiger Lake” Core processor. It’s made for people who don’t want to spend a fortune on a laptop but still need one that can handle light to medium tasks at home, at school, or at the office. Over the past two weeks, I’ve been putting the MagicBook 14 through its paces to determine its strengths, weaknesses, and ultimately, its value to you.
HONOR MagicBook 14 Review Specification
| Display | 14.00-inch |
| Resolution | 1920×1080 pixels |
| Touchscreen | NO |
| Processor | Ryzen 5 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| SSD | 256GB |
| Weight | 1.38 kg |
| Dimensions | 214.80 x 322.50 x 15.90 |
Pros
- Excellent work!
- Long-lasting batteries
- Superior layout Plus
- The pop-Up Camera
Cons
- There aren’t any Gen 4 SSDs.
- Port USB 2.0
- There is no card reader.
Price
The 2021 Honor MagicBook 14 was provided to Windows Central for review purposes. It boasts a 14-inch Full High Definition (FHD) display, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB M.2 SSD, and an 11th-generation Intel Core i7 processor. Additional possibilities include a Core i5 processor, 8 GB of RAM, and a 256 GB solid-state drive. Otherwise, all configurations have the same specifications. The Honor MagicBook 14 is mostly sold in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, while it is also available worldwide from some vendors.
The Core i5 model with less power is available for roughly $771 on Amazon. With an AMD Ryzen 3000 Mobile CPU, a less striking display, and an otherwise comparable design, we also tested the Honor MagicBook 14 for 2020. The Ryzen 4000 Mobile processor version of this laptop was even faster.
Hardware
The Core i7-1165G7, a quad-core processor built on Intel’s innovative 10nm manufacturing process codenamed Superfin, is the machine’s central feature. It can reach a maximum clock speed of 4.7 GHz, uses a 12MB cache, and supports eight threads. It comes with a whole new processor graphics unit called Iris Xe, which boasts compatibility for 8K resolutions (through DisplayPort) and is far faster than its predecessor.
A separate Nvidia GeForce MX450 graphics processing unit (GPU) with 2 GB of GDDR5 is included in the Chinese version of the laptop. In other respects, Honor has maintained the same hardware platform, with 512GB of storage provided by the reliable but dated WD SN730. The lack of a Gen 4 SSD is disappointing, but the fact that you can upgrade makes up for it. The memory is properly organized in dual-channel mode, and it’s twice as much as its predecessor’s.
Performance
Magic-Link allows you to quickly and easily connect your Honor smartphone to your Honor laptop through NFC, and the PC Manager app is still going strong, letting you increase performance on the move (at the sacrifice of battery life). Although the laptop provided very solid figures on all benchmarks we threw at it, one common test, Sandra Sisoftware, stubbornly refused to run for unknown reasons. The MagicBook Pro (Intel model) pleased us most since its integrated graphics performance was on par with that of a discrete Nvidia Geforce MX350 GPU.
Design
The screen of the MagicBook 14 isn’t very impressive in comparison to high-end laptops of the present day, but it’s excellent for the price. The 16:9 aspect ratio is the largest problem, but when compared to the measured 350 nits of peak brightness and 100% sRGB color reproduction, it’s easy to overlook. It also reached 78% in DCI-P3 and 76% in AdobeRGB. At this size, the 1920×1080 (Full HD) resolution looks great, but you should know that there is no other option. It can’t be touched, and its matte texture eliminates reflections.
The laptop’s screen won’t be able to handle the bright sunlight outside, but it should function normally in indoor lighting. The TÜV Rheinland flicker-free and low blue-light certifications are particularly noteworthy because they ensure that the screen is gentler on the eyes even after prolonged use. Not many organizations bother to achieve such certificates; therefore, kudos to Honor for doing so. This is a significant improvement over the 2020 model’s display, which only managed 64% sRGB, 48% AdobeRGB, and DCI-P3, and 277 nits of brightness.
Battery
My evaluation unit’s 11th-generation Core i7-1165G7 processor and 16GB of dual-channel DDR4 RAM make it a zippy performer. Unfortunately, RAM is permanently attached to the board and cannot be upgraded after purchase. However, the M.2 SSD (512GB) may be updated by taking apart the laptop’s bottom cover. The integrated SSD is quite quick, performing at a level consistent with high-end notebooks.
The laptop’s CPU is cooled by a single fan and two heat pipes. Intel Iris graphics are built in, with a standalone NVIDIA MX450 GPU option seemingly exclusive to the Chinese market. The laptop still achieves respectable results in artificial benchmarks. Everyday tasks like intensive web browsing, word processing, email, and Photoshop were no problem. This laptop is not what I would recommend for serious gaming, but it is fine for casual use.
