Again in July, Honor unveiled the MagicBook Artwork 14 for the Chinese language market and it seemed actually 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 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 big 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 greater cardboard field.
Design and construct high quality
The Honor MagicBook Artwork 14 has discovered a singular resolution for its digital camera placement. As a substitute of fattening the laptop computer’s high bezel to deal with the digital camera, including an unpleasant notch, or settling for an up-your-nose resolution, it made the digital camera 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 edges and high and makes for a clean-looking machine. Plus it eliminates any privateness considerations you may need as not solely the digital camera is not you it is outright indifferent when you do not want it.
A intelligent internal design and collection of mild supplies all through make the unimaginable 1.03kg weight potential. The laptop computer has an titanium keyboard, which reduces the load 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 consider.
Inside, Honor designed battery so it optimizes house 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 digital camera module is undoubtedly revolutionary. 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 means you need – even with the pins outward (although you should not do this).
It is a intelligent method to cope with the digital camera on a laptop computer however it does push the 2 ports on the left aspect 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 digital camera
The digital camera 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 dealing with the again of the laptop computer when you’d need that for no matter purpose.
The digital camera attachment
Show, keyboard, audio system, digital camera
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.
This can be a 14.6-inch 2120x2080px FullView 10-bit show with a squarer-than-average 3:2 facet 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) ranking of under 0.5. The panel does 4320Mh PWM flicker-free dimming and even obtained 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 greater, particularly in HDR (950 nits) however the MagicBook Artwork 14 remains to be impressively vibrant.
We have at all times counseled Huawei and Honor for delivery 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 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 players will scoff on the smaller Up and Down arrow keys, however that is the one grievance that we may consider.
The trackpad on the Honor MagicBook Artwork 14 is big and really top quality. The graceful 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’ll be able to alter the monitoring sensitivity and the vibration energy to your liking.
The trackpad helps as much as 5 fingers, although Home windows at present tops out at 4. There’s a variety of proprietary gestures via 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 they usually’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 Hiya assist inside the facility button and it really works with out points. It helps fingerprint caching, that 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 screen.
The magnetic 1080p digital camera would 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 no 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. You too can mess around with digital backgrounds.
Doing calls via the MagicBook Artwork 14 is a superb expertise. Callers reported that they heard us superb via the laptop computer’s trio of mics and appreciated the lively noise cancellation.
The MagicBook Artwork 14 would not go away you wanting by way of ports. You’ve two USB-C on the left aspect – one Thunderbolt 4 (40Gbps) and one USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps). On the proper is one USB-A (5Gbps), an HDMI 2.1 (4k@60Hz), and a 3.5mm audio jack.
It’s best to use the Thunderbolt-enabled USB-C on the proper (it has a bolt of lightning on it) for charging, because it brings the best charging pace.
Ports
Efficiency, Copilot smarts, battery life
You’ll be able to 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’ve got 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 proper Home windows key for a devoted Copilot key. Copilot works on-device to provide personalised solutions and is deeply built-in with Microsoft apps similar to Outlook and Microsoft 365.
It will probably generate formulation, create charts and graphs, summarize key factors in emails, and transcribe conferences in actual time. This can be a actual pace booster when you do your work via 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 take a look at on the Honor MagicBook Artwork 14. Like different thin-and-light laptops, it prioritizes being cool and quiet. When confused, 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 sometimes 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 had been going full blast however produced not more than 55dB – barely audible in a comparatively quiet workplace setting. 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 just under 50° C on the highest, which wasn’t too dangerous – you possibly can 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 searching loop take a look at (400 nits). Charging the laptop computer from 0% to full took round an hour and a half, and it obtained to 43% within the first half-hour.
Conclusion
Honor made a compelling ultrabook within the MagicBook Artwork 14. From whichever angle you have a look at it, that is an distinctive gadget that stands out from the gang 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 digital camera permits for a skinny and even bezel round a show that is greater than most 14-inch opponents. To not point out that it is a tremendous OLED panel with quick 120Hz refresh fee.
Then there’s the unimaginable lightness of the MagicBook Artwork 14 – Artwork makes Air seem like Lead.
And as an general package deal, the Intel-equipped machine works fairly nicely – it is highly effective however runs cool and silent. And you may 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 significantly 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.
Execs
- Strikes a wonderful steadiness of measurement and weight
- Stable really feel, we just like the distinctive shade
- Colour-accurate OLED show with 500 nits of SDR and 700 nits of HDR brightness
- Glorious port choice – Thunderbolt, USB-A, HDMI
- Runs quiet and funky
- Progressive magnetic digital camera design
Cons
- Just one USB-C is Thunderbolt 4
- Digital camera 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 value and availability of the MagicBook Artwork 14, so we won’t actually advise you to get one or not. In China the best spec mannequin on this evaluation is CNY 9,499 in the intervening time, which interprets to €1,200, although European worth will undoubtedly be greater.
But when cash’s no object – this very nicely could also be the very best laptop computer to get within the 14-inch to 15-inch class.