Professional’s Ranking
Professionals
- Spectacular core efficiency
- Glorious all-day battery
- Robust set of ports
Cons
- Barely drab design
- No i7 possibility
- Quick charger solely ships with RTX GPU mannequin
Our Verdict
The Honor MagicBook 14 (2022) is as sensible because it will get. Loads of energy (together with an non-obligatory RTX GPU), lengthy battery life, and a various set of ports make this a smart possibility for college kids and staff who prioritise efficiency.
Honor inherited so much from former dad or mum firm Huawei, however one underrated component of that could be a knack for quietly succesful laptops.
The MagicBook vary is reliably succesful and reasonably priced – by no means the plushest or most premium laptops round, however all the time wonderful worth.
That hasn’t modified with the 2022 refresh of the MagicBook 14, which delivers spectacular energy and longevity whereas skirting the decrease fringe of the premium worth bracket due to a no-frills design.
Design & construct
- Strong – however heavy – aluminium construct
- Solely out there in gray
- Loads of ports
If there’s a phrase best-suited to the MagicBook 14’s design, it’s in all probability ‘purposeful’.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
I don’t wish to do the laptop computer soiled an excessive amount of, however in the end that is an aesthetic that tilts firmly away from type, with out ever straying too far in direction of changing into unattractive.
Solely out there in a gray end, the MagicBook 14 is constructed from an aluminium alloy meaning it feels sturdy and strong by laptop computer requirements. The draw back is that at over 1.5kg it feels heavy for it – not a lot that it’s burdensome to hold in a backpack, however sufficient that you simply’d hesitate to name it light-weight.
A tapered design signifies that the entire package deal nonetheless feels fairly slim and compact regardless of the 14in show, although the bezel around the show is just a little thicker than you would possibly discover in some rivals across the identical worth.
Ports are one other sturdy level right here. Alongside the left aspect you’ll discover a pair of USB-C 3.2 ports, both of which can be utilized for charging too, alongside the three.5mm headphone jack. Alongside there’s a welcome USB-A port (an growing rarity in laptops) together with an actual oddity: a full-size HDMI port.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
Finally, it is a easy, strong, gray slab of metallic. It feels powerful and appears skilled, and for loads of those that can be greater than sufficient – however if you’d like one thing extra placing, you’ll must look elsewhere.
Keyboard, trackpad & webcam
- Glorious, comfy keyboard
- Respectable trackpad
- 720p webcam
One factor the MagicBook 14 gives is a extremely nice keyboard.
Honor has kitted it out with a full-size board, and the 1.5mm journey distance on the keys retains them feeling quick and fluid. There’s a little bit of bounce to each press, however no clickiness or mushiness. It’s nice.
The keyboard additionally encompasses a mixed energy button and fingerprint sensor, which lets you flip the laptop computer on and unlock it with a single button press.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
The trackpad is much less spectacular than the keyboard, although it’s not dangerous actually – it’s simply not all that particular. It’s a cushty measurement, although smaller than the touchpads on some laptops nowadays, but it surely feels prefer it’s made out of plastic, not glass, which suggests there’s just a little additional friction as you swipe.
Lastly, above the show you’ll discover a 720p webcam. That is about what you’d count on: it will get the job executed on a Zoom name, however high quality actually isn’t nice, particularly with shiny lights or darkish rooms. There’s not all that a lot better on the market although. It additionally doesn’t assist Home windows Hi there facial recognition, which suggests you’ll have to make use of the fingerprint sensor or an old style password to register.
Display & audio system
- 14in, 1440p LCD show
- 3:2 side ratio for productiveness
- Twin audio system
In case the identify didn’t give it away, the MagicBook 14 is kitted out with a 14in show. It’s LCD, somewhat than OLED, however that’s no shock at this worth. It’s additionally restricted to a 60Hz refresh price, however once more, that’s not too unusual.
The display’s stronger specs are its decision – an in depth 2160×1440 – and side ratio – the boxy 3:2 type. This latter is more and more widespread in laptops, and offers you additional vertical display area, which is right in case you’ll principally be utilizing this to work on. The draw back can be additional letterboxing if you watch films, so that is much less well-suited if it’s primarily for streaming Netflix in mattress.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
Setting apart the core specs, the display right here seems to be fairly good. It’s not tuned for good colour-accuracy (it solely hit 72% of the AdobeRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts when examined with our SpyderX) but it surely’s shiny sufficient to make use of in direct gentle, detailed, and can get the job executed with regards to primary inventive work or the aforementioned Netflix in mattress.
The twin audio system right here aren’t something to jot down dwelling about, however they maintain their very own. For extended music listening you’ll undoubtedly wish to join headphones or a speaker, however these are crisp sufficient for a Zoom name or podcast, which is probably going the place they’ll see most of their use.
Specs & efficiency
- 12th-gen H-series Core i5 chip
- Non-compulsory RTX 2050 GPU
- Robust efficiency all-round
The MagicBook 14 this 12 months comes with a single CPU possibility: a 12th-gen Intel Core i5. It’s extra highly effective than it sounds although, as a result of the chip right here is the i5-12500H, which runs at the next wattage and clock pace than the P- and U-series chips you discover in most non-gaming laptops.
The result’s that that is truly able to outperforming some latest i7 laptops, and has posted a few of the finest uncooked benchmark scores we’ve seen this 12 months. This can be a highly effective laptop computer, and don’t let the i5 badge put you off.
I’ve been testing the common mannequin, which makes use of Intel’s built-in Iris Xe graphics. In the event you want extra energy you’ll be able to decide to purchase a mannequin with an Nvidia RTX 2050 included, which ought to add sufficient oomph to make this a succesful machine for video enhancing and the like.
Whichever mannequin you go for, it comes with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of storage – you don’t get any choices right here, although not less than that retains issues easy.
As for wi-fi connectivity, the laptop computer contains Wi-Fi 6 (however not the more moderen 6E) and Bluetooth 5.2.
Battery & charging
- Implausible battery life
- Quick charging – but it surely varies by mannequin
Let’s begin with the unambiguously good: battery life on the MagicBook 14 is superb. When it launched the mannequin, Honor claimed the laptop computer would run for 17 hours. We have been, understandably, just a little sceptical.
So think about my shock once I ran our normal battery benchmark – enjoying a 720p video on loop at a set show brightness – and the laptop computer lasted for a full 17 hours and 32 minutes. Honest play Honor.
After all you don’t usually spend your time watching movies on repeat, however the battery holds its personal in additional typical use circumstances too. That’s more durable to measure after all, however I’ve discovered the MagicBook 14 greater than able to lasting a full workday with juice left within the tank, which is actually the brink that issues.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
Charging impresses too, although there’s some variation right here, as a result of Honor ships a distinct charger relying on the mannequin you purchase. Choose up the usual MagicBook 14 and also you’ll get a 65W charging brick, however in case you improve to the RTX GPU then Honor will in flip improve you to a a lot sooner 135W charger.
Even this slower charger is quicker than most laptops although – I obtained 39% of the battery again in simply half an hour, and Honor says a full cost would take 95 minutes.
Higher nonetheless, the laptop computer helps sooner charging whichever mannequin you purchase, Honor merely doesn’t provide the quick charger. So in case you already personal a extra highly effective USB-C charger from one other system, or purchase a third-party charger, you’ll be able to reap the benefits of the sooner speeds from that with out spending lots of additional for a GPU chances are you’ll not want.
Software program & options
- Ships with Home windows 11
- Simple file and screen-sharing with different Honor units
The MagicBook 14 ships with Home windows 11 Dwelling, the newest model of the Microsoft working system, so that you’re just about getting the very best software program expertise you’ll be able to count on from a Home windows laptop computer.
Honor doesn’t intervene with the expertise an excessive amount of, however does add in its personal PC Supervisor software program. This has two primary features, the primary of which is to streamline firmware and BIOS updates for the assorted laptop computer parts.
The second is to allow straightforward file-sharing and screen-streaming with different Honor units, like telephones or tablets. Which means with a easy NFC faucet you’ll be able to share recordsdata or convey your cellphone show up on the laptop computer in its personal window.
It’s nice tech, and simple to make use of, however the massive draw back is that it solely works with different Honor {hardware}. So to get the profit you’ll must go all-in on the corporate’s ecosystem – in case you’re not able to additionally decide up an Honor cellphone or pill you then received’t get a lot use out of it.
Worth & availability
The MagicBook 14 is accessible now in “choose European markets,” which not less than in the interim doesn’t embody the UK – although control Honor’s UK site. It’s additionally unavailable within the US, and is unlikely to ever launch there.
The bottom mannequin of the laptop computer will set you again €1,099 (round $1,070/£960), whereas the improve to a discrete GPU and sooner charging raises the worth to €1,299 (roughly $1,270/£1,130).
By MagicBook requirements that’s costly, although for the ability on provide that is nonetheless a reasonably aggressive worth. It’s actually premium, however by staying nearer to at least one grand than two, it undercuts a number of different choices available on the market.
Dominic Preston / Foundry
Take a look at our rating of the very best laptops available on the market to see what else we’d advocate, or our extra particular guides to the very best enterprise laptops and finest laptops for college kids.
Verdict
The MagicBook 14 will show a very good possibility for staff on the go who want sturdy efficiency and a prolonged battery life and are keen to forego some luxuries to get them in a comparatively reasonably priced package deal.
In order for you a laptop computer that may flip heads then this isn’t it, however with a very good port choice and loads of energy (in each senses) that is an eminently sensible possibility, with lots to advocate it.
Specs
- Home windows 11 Dwelling
- 14in 2160×1440 LTPS touchscreen, 185ppi, 60Hz
- Intel Core i5-12500H processor
- Intel Iris Xe Graphics or Nvidia RTX 2050 GPU
- 16GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 512GB SSD storage
- 720p webcam
- 2x USB-C (information, charging)
- 1x USB-A
- 1x HDMI
- Headphone jack
- Fingerprint energy button
- Twin-band Wi-Fi 6
- Bluetooth 5.2
- Twin audio system
- Twin microphones
- 75Wh battery
- 65/135W charger
- 308x228x16.9mm
- 1.54/1.58kg
- Area Gray