Again in July, Honor unveiled the MagicBook Artwork 14 for the Chinese language market and it seemed really spectacular on paper.
It has a virtually 15-inch display (14.6-inch) with the very handy 3:2 side ratio, and it is a 120 Hz touchscreen OLED panel in addition. The laptop computer has a 60Wh battery, a full set of ports, Intel’s Core 7 Extremely 155H processor with as much as 32 GB of RAM, and as much as 1 TB of storage.
All that matches in a 1.03kg package deal – you learn that accurately – a feather above 1kg. To place that into perspective, the 15.3-inch MacBook Air has solely round 7% extra show space (677cm2 vs 634cm2) however weighs 46% extra (1.51kg vs 1.03kg). Half a kilo is a large distinction for an ultraportable laptop computer.
Honor ships the MagicBook Artwork 14 itself in a skinny field and its 65W adapter and removable USB-C cable in a separate field, tucked right into a plain larger cardboard field.
Design and construct high quality
The Honor MagicBook Artwork 14 has discovered a novel answer for its digicam placement. As a substitute of fattening the laptop computer’s high bezel to accommodate the digicam, including an ugly notch, or settling for an up-your-nose answer, it made the digicam a magnetic piece that attaches to the highest of the show when in use and tucks into the laptop computer’s physique the remainder of the time.
This leaves the display bezels a svelte 2.2mm on the perimeters and high and makes for a clean-looking machine. Plus it eliminates any privateness issues you may need as not solely the digicam is not you it is outright indifferent when you do not want it.
A intelligent internal design and number of gentle supplies all through make the unbelievable 1.03kg weight potential. The laptop computer has an titanium keyboard, which reduces the burden by 16% in comparison with earlier fashions.
The physique is comprised of a magnesium alloy, making the casing 30% lighter than earlier fashions. The end known as Satin Emanel Spraying Know-how, which is a skin-friendly coating that is additionally extremely sturdy per the corporate’s claims. The laptop computer ships in both Dawn White (with delicate pink and purple hues) or Emerald Inexperienced, which leans in direction of blue in sure gentle and is not as olive inexperienced because the press supplies would have you ever consider.
Inside, Honor designed battery so it optimizes area utilization by 28%.
The Honor MagicBook Artwork 14 feels similar to the Huawei MateBook X Professional 2024, which we reviewed again in July.
Each machines characteristic an analogous textured end, however whereas the MateBook X Professional 2024 is barely lighter at 980g, its 14.2-inch show is notably smaller, as is its touchpad.
The MateBook X Professional 2024 and the MagicBook Artwork 14 2024
The tuckaway digicam module is undoubtedly modern. It sits flush contained in the left nook of the laptop computer and may be popped in or out by a finger press. The module sits very securely within the laptop computer physique, and it may be tucked in whichever approach you need – even with the pins outward (although you should not do this).
It is a intelligent method to take care of the digicam on a laptop computer nevertheless it does push the 2 ports on the left facet of the MagicBook Artwork 14 a bit additional down. It is an unbalanced look that would irk some individuals.
The intelligent magnetic mechanism to cover the digicam
The digicam module attaches to the highest of the laptop computer and largely stays out of sight. It snaps with a constructive magnetic really feel and can be utilized going through the again of the laptop computer when you’d need that for no matter cause.
The digicam attachment
Show, keyboard, audio system, digicam
The show of the Honor MagicBook Artwork 14 is a masterpiece. Whereas it is not the one laptop computer to ship with an OLED panel, it is actually among the many finest on the market.
This can be a 14.6-inch 3120x2080px FullView 10-bit show with a squarer-than-average 3:2 side ratio, as much as 120Hz refresh fee, and 10-point contact management. The panel has 100% DCI-P3 protection, in addition to a DeltaE (ΔE) score of beneath 0.5. The panel does 4320Mh PWM flicker-free dimming and even bought TUV Rheinland to certiify for low blue gentle emissions certification.
The panel is rated at as much as 700 nits of brightness in HDR mode and we measured a constant 500 nits in SDR mode. The Huawei MateBook X Professional 2024 measured barely increased, particularly in HDR (950 nits) however the MagicBook Artwork 14 remains to be impressively vivid.
We have all the time recommended Huawei and Honor for transport their machines with proprietary show coloration help and the MagicBook Artwork 14 follows that pattern. Proper-click on the desktop and go into Show Supervisor, the place you may select what coloration spectrum the laptop computer adheres to – sRGB, P3, or native. This is a superb characteristic that the majority different PCs lack and is particularly helpful for content material creators.
That is additionally the place you may modify the colour tone of the display, put it in eBook mode, and finetune the colour.
Show administration software program
Honor and Huawei keyboards have lengthy been glorious for typing however the MagicBook Artwork 14 is a step above. We won’t actually say we will respect the titanium construct however the keys really feel barely softer and extra dampened than on the MateBook X Professional 2024.
The keys have the usual 1.5mm key journey and are very well-spaced. Avid avid gamers will scoff on the smaller Up and Down arrow keys, however that is the one grievance that we might consider.
The trackpad on the Honor MagicBook Artwork 14 is big and really prime quality. The sleek glass floor is superb for gliding your fingers and being a solid-state unit, you may click on wherever you want with the identical exact really feel. You possibly can modify the monitoring sensitivity and the vibration energy to your liking.
The trackpad helps as much as 5 fingers, although Home windows at the moment tops out at 4. There’s quite a lot of proprietary gestures by means of Honor’s pre-installed software program just like the knock to screenshot. All of them get quick demo movies and you’ll resolve whether or not to allow them or not.
There are six audio system and three microphones on this laptop computer and so they’re doing a wonderful job. There’s loads of quantity to fill a room and there’re even some hints of bass beneath, making the sound full.
You get a fingerprint scanner with Home windows Whats up help inside the ability button and it really works with out points. It helps fingerprint caching, which means a single press will energy on the machine and mechanically log you into Home windows as soon as it boots to the login display.
The magnetic 1080p digicam would not characteristic IR sensors for Home windows Whats up. High quality-wise, it is a ok webcam however nothing particular. The picture high quality is okay however there is not any HDR, for example.
The sector of view of the webcam may be very broad and you’ll set it to trace your face throughout the body. It’s also possible to mess around with digital backgrounds.
Doing calls by means of the MagicBook Artwork 14 is a superb expertise. Callers reported that they heard us positive by means of the laptop computer’s trio of mics and appreciated the lively noise cancellation.
The MagicBook Artwork 14 would not go away you wanting when it comes to ports. You have got two USB-C on the left facet – one Thunderbolt 4 (40Gbps) and one USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps). On the precise is one USB-A (5Gbps), an HDMI 2.1 (4k@60Hz), and a 3.5mm audio jack.
It is best to use the Thunderbolt-enabled USB-C on the precise (it has a bolt of lightning on it) for charging, because it brings the very best charging velocity.
Ports
Efficiency, Copilot smarts, battery life
You possibly can spec the Honor MagicBook Artwork 14 with both an Intel Core Extremely 5 125H (14 complete cores, 4 efficiency, 8 effectivity, 2 low-power effectivity) or the extra cable Core Extremely 7 155H (16 complete cores, 6 efficiency, 8 effectivity, 2 low-power effectivity) with Arc graphics, which we’ve right here.
There is a alternative between 16 GB or 32 GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 1 TB NVME SSD.
That is Honor’s first Copilot-integrated laptop computer and it swaps the precise Home windows key for a devoted Copilot key. Copilot works on-device to offer customized solutions and is deeply built-in with Microsoft apps equivalent to Outlook and Microsoft 365.
It might generate formulation, create charts and graphs, summarize key factors in emails, and transcribe conferences in actual time. This can be a actual velocity booster when you do your work by means of Microsoft’s suite of apps.
Copilot
Intel’s Meteor Lake has been reviewed to oblivion at this level so we’ll deal with the way it particularly performs on this machine. It is a very shut match for the Core 9 Extremely 185H we examined within the Huawei MateBook X Professional 2024, having the identical variety of bodily cores.
In Geekbench 6, it managed an analogous rating in single-core however is round 15% behind in multi-core. The SSD speeds are good however are nearer to PCIe Gen 3 than Gen 4.
Geekbench 6 and disk velocity
We ran a 1-hour stress take a look at on the Honor MagicBook Artwork 14. Like different thin-and-light laptops, it prioritizes being cool and quiet. When harassed, the processor can briefly high out at 2.7GHz (43W) after which drop right down to 2.1GHz (22W) the place it stabilizes. It could often soar as much as round 26GHz-2.7GHz (35W-39W) after which settle again right down to 2.1GH (22W) the place it stays for almost all of the take a look at.
Throughout the take a look at, the followers have been going full blast however produced not more than 55dB – barely audible in a comparatively quiet workplace atmosphere. That is an impressively quiet machine.
The MagicBook Artwork 14 would not get very heat both. The twin followers are bridged by a beneficiant vapor chamber, which mix to include after which disperse the warmth from the highest of the keyboard to the again of the machine. We measured slightly below 50° C on the highest, which wasn’t too unhealthy – you may comfortably use this laptop computer underneath load.
Thermal efficiency
The MagicBook Artwork 14 packs 60Wh battery that lasted 6:37 hours in our YouTube video take a look at (400 nits, 80dB) and 6:53 hours in our looking loop take a look at (400 nits). Charging the laptop computer from 0% to full took round an hour and a half, and it bought to 43% within the first half-hour.
Conclusion
Honor made a compelling ultrabook within the MagicBook Artwork 14. From whichever angle you take a look at it, that is an distinctive machine that stands out from the gang of thin-and-light laptops. Its construct is not your typical machined metallic and it is available in two attention-grabbing colours. The modern magnetic digicam permits for a skinny and even bezel round a show that is larger than most 14-inch rivals. To not point out that it is a tremendous OLED panel with quick 120Hz refresh fee.
Then there’s the not possible lightness of the MagicBook Artwork 14 – Artwork makes Air seem like Lead.
And as an total package deal, the Intel-equipped machine works fairly properly – it is highly effective however runs cool and silent. And you may get very cheap operating occasions from the 60Wh battery. Nonetheless, the newly introduced Snapdragon X Elite-equipped MagicBook Artwork looms over this Intel one with urgent questions – how a lot better at battery endurance will the ARM model be?
Nonetheless, that one remains to be some time away and the Intel Core Extremely 7 155H with its far superior graphics is nearly to hit the market.
Professionals
- Strikes a wonderful stability of dimension and weight
- Strong really feel, we just like the distinctive coloration
- Colour-accurate OLED show with 500 nits of SDR and 700 nits of HDR brightness
- Wonderful port choice – Thunderbolt, USB-A, HDMI
- Runs quiet and funky
- Revolutionary magnetic digicam design
Cons
- Just one USB-C is Thunderbolt 4
- Digicam slot pushes USB-C ports to the center of the laptop computer
- SSD not fairly as much as PCIe 4.0 requirements
Honor hasn’t but disclosed the worth and availability of the MagicBook Artwork 14, so we won’t actually advise you to get one or not. In China the very best spec mannequin on this evaluate is CNY 9,499 for the time being, which interprets to €1,200, although European value will undoubtedly be increased.
But when cash’s no object – this very properly could also be the most effective laptop computer to get within the 14-inch to 15-inch class.