Honor MagicBook 14 (2022), hands on: A good-value 14-inch workhorse with discrete graphics

Honor MagicBook 14 (2022)

professionals and cons

Professionals

• Twelfth-gen Core i5 CPU
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 2050 possibility
• All-day battery life
• Aggressive worth

Cons

• 300 nits display
• 720p webcam
• Disappointing audio system

Honor is thought primarily as a smartphone producer, however the Chinese language firm’s portfolio extends to tablets resembling the wonderful Honor Pad 8, wearables (bands, watches and earbuds) and the MagicBook vary of 14-inch, 15-inch and 16-inch laptops.

Because the time of writing the Honor MagicBook 14 (2022) isn’t but obtainable within the UK, though French and German consumers can discover it on-line with a beginning worth of €999.90 (~$1,064). This buys you a 12-core (4 Efficiency, 8 Environment friendly) Intel Core i5-12500H processor, built-in Iris Xe Graphics, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. A mannequin with discrete Nvidia GeForce RTX 2050 graphics prices €1,199.99 (~$1,276). The MagicBook 14 can be obtainable in China and Malaysia, however not formally within the US. 

The construct may be very strong, and the aluminium shell ought to show immune to knocks and scratches within the regular course of occasions. The 1.58kg weight, whereas on the excessive facet for a 14-inch laptop computer, did not hassle me as I carried this machine round in my rucksack. At 16.9mm thick it is not super-thin both, however the chassis does enable room for a full-size HDMI port and USB-A on the correct facet, plus a pair of USB-C ports and a 3.5mm headset jack on the left. One of many USB-C ports is used to cost the laptop computer. 

The 14-inch display sits in bezels skinny sufficient to earn a claimed screen-to-body ratio of 88.15%, and there is a 720p webcam above the display. The display’s decision of two,160 by 1,440 pixels means content material is sharp and clear though its 300 nits most brightness is on the low facet. Nonetheless, I discovered it completely enough for indoor working. The 170° viewing angle meant I may simply share content material with somebody sitting to at least one facet of me. 

My assessment unit had a US keyboard structure, however in any other case I discovered it environment friendly and cozy to make use of. There’s 1.5mm of key journey and good bounce-back, and the light clicking generated by typing ought to swimsuit those that prefer to work in relative quiet. There’s a fingerprint sensor within the higher proper of the keyboard, built-in into the ability button. The touchpad is responsive and simple to familiarize yourself with, and as giant because the wrist relaxation permits. 

The disappointing function so far as the person expertise is anxious is the speaker system. Their grilles are on the underside of the chassis, which muffles the sound while you’re working with the laptop computer in your lap or any softer floor. High quantity is not as excessive because it may very well be, and there is a fuzziness to the sound output that makes music listening somewhat disappointing. The audio system are tremendous for spoken-word content material, however for those who’re in search of a powerful audio performer for after-hours leisure, you would possibly wish to look elsewhere. 

The 75Wh battery is specified pretty much as good for 15 hours of 1080p native video playback. My expertise throughout testing means that 10 hours of battery life could be nearer to the mark. Nonetheless, that should be sufficient for a productive day away from mains energy. Honor has launched a system known as OS Turbo, which may recognise utilization eventualities and alter energy consumption accordingly. In response to the corporate, this may scale back energy consumption by as much as 20%. Honor supplies a 135W charger, which it says can take the battery from empty to 100% in 80 minutes.

The Honor MagicBook 14 (2022) carried out properly for the mainstream knowledge-worker duties I threw at it throughout testing, the array of ports is kind of robust, and battery life was good. For those who’re in search of a workhorse laptop computer for on a regular basis utilization, and may discover it on sale, the MagicBook 14 is value contemplating.

Honor MagicBook (2022) specs

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