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 screen (14.6-inch) with the very handy 3:2 facet 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 bundle – 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 an alternative of fattening the laptop computer’s prime bezel to deal with the digicam, including an unpleasant 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 screen bezels a svelte 2.2mm on the perimeters and prime 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 inside design and number of mild 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 created from 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 refined pink and purple hues) or Emerald Inexperienced, which leans in the direction of blue in sure mild and is not as olive inexperienced because the press supplies would have you ever imagine.
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 function 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 revolutionary. It sits flush contained in the left nook of the laptop computer and could 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 means 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 but it surely does push the 2 ports on the left aspect of the MagicBook Artwork 14 a bit additional down. It is an unbalanced look that might irk some folks.
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 optimistic 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 isn’t the one laptop computer to ship with an OLED panel, it is actually among the many greatest on the market.
It is a 14.6-inch 3120x2080px FullView 10-bit show with a squarer-than-average 3:2 facet ratio, as much as 120Hz refresh charge, and 10-point contact management. The panel has 100% DCI-P3 protection, in addition to a DeltaE (ΔE) score of under 0.5. The panel does 4320Mh PWM flicker-free dimming and even bought TUV Rheinland to certiify for low blue mild 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 larger, particularly in HDR (950 nits) however the MagicBook Artwork 14 continues to be impressively shiny.
We have at all times recommended Huawei and Honor for transport their machines with proprietary show shade assist and the MagicBook Artwork 14 follows that development. Proper-click on the desktop and go into Show Supervisor, the place you possibly can select what shade spectrum the laptop computer adheres to – sRGB, P3, or native. This is a superb function that the majority different PCs lack and is very helpful for content material creators.
That is additionally the place you possibly can alter the colour tone of the display screen, 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 are able to admire 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 players will scoff on the smaller Up and Down arrow keys, however that is the one criticism that we may consider.
The trackpad on the Honor MagicBook Artwork 14 is big and really top quality. The sleek glass floor is superb for gliding your fingers and being a solid-state unit, you possibly can click on wherever you want with the identical exact really feel. You possibly can alter the monitoring sensitivity and the vibration power to your liking.
The trackpad helps as much as 5 fingers, although Home windows at present tops out at 4. There’s numerous proprietary gestures by way of Honor’s pre-installed software program just like the knock to screenshot. All of them get brief 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 superb 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 Hiya assist 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 robotically log you into Home windows as soon as it boots to the login display screen.
The magnetic 1080p digicam does not function IR sensors for Home windows Hiya. High quality-wise, it is a adequate webcam however nothing particular. The picture high quality is okay however there is not any HDR, as an illustration.
The sector of view of the webcam could be very large and you’ll set it to trace your face throughout the body. You can too mess around with digital backgrounds.
Doing calls by way of the MagicBook Artwork 14 is a superb expertise. Callers reported that they heard us fantastic by way of the laptop computer’s trio of mics and appreciated the energetic noise cancellation.
The MagicBook Artwork 14 does not depart you wanting by way of ports. You will have two USB-C on the left aspect – one Thunderbolt 4 (40Gbps) and one USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps). On the appropriate is one USB-A (5Gbps), an HDMI 2.1 (4k@60Hz), and a 3.5mm audio jack.
You must use the Thunderbolt-enabled USB-C on the appropriate (it has a bolt of lightning on it) for charging, because it brings the very best charging pace.
Ports
Efficiency, Copilot smarts, battery life
You possibly can spec the Honor MagicBook Artwork 14 with both an Intel Core Extremely 5 125H (14 whole cores, 4 efficiency, 8 effectivity, 2 low-power effectivity) or the extra cable Core Extremely 7 155H (16 whole cores, 6 efficiency, 8 effectivity, 2 low-power effectivity) with Arc graphics, which we have now right here.
There is a selection 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 appropriate Home windows key for a devoted Copilot key. Copilot works on-device to offer customized solutions and is deeply built-in with Microsoft apps corresponding to Outlook and Microsoft 365.
It might probably generate formulation, create charts and graphs, summarize key factors in emails, and transcribe conferences in actual time. It is a actual pace booster when you do your work by way of Microsoft’s suite of apps.
Copilot
Intel’s Meteor Lake has been reviewed to oblivion at this level so we’ll give attention to 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 pace
We ran a 1-hour stress check on the Honor MagicBook Artwork 14. Like different thin-and-light laptops, it prioritizes being cool and quiet. When careworn, the processor can briefly prime out at 2.7GHz (43W) after which drop all the way down to 2.1GHz (22W) the place it stabilizes. It might often bounce as much as round 26GHz-2.7GHz (35W-39W) after which settle again all the way down to 2.1GH (22W) the place it stays for almost all of the check.
Through the check, the followers had been going full blast however produced not more than 55dB – barely audible in a comparatively quiet workplace surroundings. That is an impressively quiet machine.
The MagicBook Artwork 14 does 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 dangerous – you possibly can comfortably use this laptop computer below load.
Thermal efficiency
The MagicBook Artwork 14 packs 60Wh battery that lasted 6:37 hours in our YouTube video check (400 nits, 80dB) and 6:53 hours in our looking loop check (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 system that stands out from the group of thin-and-light laptops. Its construct is not your typical machined steel and it is available in two attention-grabbing colours. The revolutionary 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 charge.
Then there’s the inconceivable lightness of the MagicBook Artwork 14 – Artwork makes Air appear to be Lead.
And as an total bundle, the Intel-equipped machine works fairly nicely – it is highly effective however runs cool and silent. And you will get very cheap operating instances from the 60Wh battery. Nevertheless, 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 continues 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 superb steadiness of dimension and weight
- Stable really feel, we just like the distinctive shade
- Shade-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 evaluation is CNY 9,499 for the time being, which interprets to €1,200, although European value will undoubtedly be larger.
But when cash’s no object – this very nicely could also be one of the best laptop computer to get within the 14-inch to 15-inch class.
