Tech Suppo

HONOR MagicBook 14 review (2021)

Shubham

Over the past couple of years, HONOR has strengthened its laptop market and has formed a diverse lineup. In addition to the release of fundamentally new models, the company does not forget to update existing laptops. Meet the MagicBook 14 2021 model year in a time-tested case and with the new 11th-generation Intel Core i7.

What we’re dealing with?

The look of the updated MagicBook 14 has not changed compared to the original version. It is a whole aluminum laptop with a purple tint, which strongly depends on the ambient light. Fascia is painted blue, and a year ago, this combination seemed to be unattractive, but now like, thanks to the unusualness, let’s say extravagance. Blue is quite appropriate because it is the signature color of HONOR.

The quality of assembly and materials at altitude, aluminum is thick and can not be twisted. This laptop can be relied upon in the future for several years. The body is reliable. With all this, the mass is small, only 1380 grams. The ultrabook is almost not felt in the backpack behind his back.

The screen is 180 degrees open. The course of the hinge is quite tight: the lid does not open with one hand, but there are no backlashes and tremors in the open position. Note that the casing is plastic, and all the responsible parts are metallic.

The screen is better!

The 14-inch diagonal can be considered optimal for a laptop for every day. On the one hand, such a screen can be used comfortably without the monitor’s connection at home. On the other hand, the laptop is compact and light enough for everyday wear in a backpack. Framing is thin around the perimeter and slightly thicker at the bottom is a familiar solution. The matrix itself is matte and is sunk into a frame.

To the screen tested last year, the laptop was one claim – far from full-color coverage. The new product has improved dramatically: the sRGB space coverage is 96%, and the deltaE deviation does not exceed 4 units in just one shade. The rest is normal. Contrast, color saturation, and viewing angles at a high level. Look at the screen nicely.

Soft silent keyboard

HONOR ultrabooks use a high-quality keyboard with a soft short-moving mechanism. The clicks are almost silent but with enough feedback for a blind set. The last generation had a slurred tactile response from reduced navigation arrows. In this laptop, the problem is fixed. Keys only 78 without a digital block: single-story Enter, large keys-modifiers, miniature arrows. Caps Lock, FN, and F7 have built-in indicators that show the status of the respective options.

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The keys are slightly rough and are equipped with high-quality engraving, evenly translucent LEDs. Just two brightness levels without a smooth ignition, the glow is dull and noticeable only in total darkness.

The layout confuses the front camera hidden between the F6 and F7. Because of this, the function keys are extended, and the first time, you have to look at them so as not to miss them. The mechanism is springy: one press – the camera jumps out, the second – hides back in the body. The camera is pointing from top to bottom and overlaps with hands during printing. But complete privacy is guaranteed – a good solution for those who use photography infrequently.

The elongated touchpad 120 × 65 mm with a plastic coating is unified with other brand laptops. Responsiveness and accuracy do not cause complaints. There is no desire to turn to an ordinary mouse.

A fingerprint scanner built into the turn-on button is used for logging in quickly. The sensor inherited from smartphones works quickly and accurately.

A pair of speakers is directed downwards so that the sound is effectively reflected off the table to enhance the effect. As a result, the sound is clean and deafening. The frequency range is balanced. There is a small number of low.

New ultimatum Processor

The pride of the updated laptop is hidden under the hood. It features 11th-generation Intel Core mobile processors from the Tiger Lake line with new Iris Xe graphics. In my case, the top-of-the-line Core i7-1165G7. Together with 16GB of RAM, the laptop can perform any task related to engineering calculations, design, and photography.

Video editing will be tuned to the built-in graphics, which have become more powerful but still unsuitable for serious tasks. When running from a battery, performance does not decrease – in front of us, a computer is not tied to an outlet.

A more powerful iron required the modernization of the cooling system. Two thermal tubes are attached to one fan, which comes into contact directly with the processor chip. The principle has not changed: the collection of cold air is carried out through the lower cover, and the release of warm air at the display hinge. Since the fan’s diameter is small, in a quiet room, noise is heard even at minimal speeds. Fortunately, in-office mode, the system works in passive mode.

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The cooling system allows the heat pack to be increased to 28 W for 30 seconds. Over a long distance, the processor is limited to a standard 15 watts. At full load, two of the four cores reach 94 degrees outside the trotting boundary. The results of tests confirm the possibility of short-term expansion of the heat package: the indicators are between the reference results of the processor with 15 W and 28 W.

Connected through PCI Express x4 SSD provides the highest possible speed for this interface. The full capacity is 512GB, with two sections, 119GB of the system and 341GB of personal data.

Western Digital’s M.2 drive is removable and can be replaced with any other compatible one.

Wireless interface support is complete thanks to the state-of-the-world Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 network map. It has a two-range Wi-Fi 802.11ax with 2×2 MIMO and Bluetooth 5.2 aggregation support. There are no problems with their work.

Not without the branded option – synchronization with the smartphone from Huawei or HONOR. To connect, it is enough to open the PC Manager utility, choose the appropriate menu item and bring the device to the NFC label in the corner. Features include transferring drag-and-drop files, sharing a general clipboard, and broadcasting a smartphone screen. Smartphones with MagicUI 4 and EMUI 11 have the ability to launch up to three windows with different applications. I used this option to output WhatsApp and Viber, so I don’t install individual customers on your PC.

Running time and autonomy

HONOR engineers took care of the 56-⋅h battery. With it, you can count on 7-8 hours of office work on medium brightness with the keyboard’s backlight. If you save money, you can stretch your working time for a longer time.

The battery takes up all the free space under the lid, which indicates the rational use of the interior space. The battery is removable, enough to twist the screws around the perimeter. Compared to last year’s model, the markings and voltage have changed, the capacity has remained the same.

Charging via USB-C with Power Delivery. The laptop is compatible with 10-capacity charges without PD – it’s a good way to maintain battery levels in an emergency. Included is a 65-watt power supply and a Type-C cable in a regular exquisite with a comfortable clamp. When connected to Huawei and HONOR smartphones, super Charge is particularly fast-charging up to 40 watts.

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To extend the battery life, you can limit the maximum charge level. This is especially true when the laptop works most of the time with a connected power supply, as lithium batteries do not like constant recharge. You can also set up a timeout to turn off the keyboard’s backlight, which will also help save the charge.

Everything you need without adapters

The set of interfaces has not changed. On the left was a USB Type-C, as well as USB 3.0 and HDMI. Modern corrosion is used to transmit data and charge with Power Delivery. There is no support for the output of the image, and even more so the full-fledged Thunderbolt 4. That is, to connect two external monitors and through a full-size HDMI, and through Type-C will not come out.

On the right side is the second full-size USB of the outdated version 2.0 and the combined audio jack. When you connect a regular flash drive, the speed compared to USB 3.0 is four times lower, and it’s only suitable for the simple periphery of mice, keyboards, and headsets. Thus, there are only two high-speed USBs on the case, one of which can be busy charging.

Recall after two weeks of use

Last time MagicBook 14 impressed with a combination of a quality case with a balanced iron for very little money. The updated model continues to be started, but now with the flagship iron. Top-of-the-line Intel Core i7-1165G7 with 16GB of memory and full-color matrix for 95-100 thousand rubles is a good offer in our realities. Especially considering the pleasant keyboard with backlight, all-aluminum body, and display hinge without backlash. HONOR can be used for the second full-size USB of the outdated 2.0 version, suitable only for mice, keyboards, and headsets. The novelty is worth paying attention to those for whom the laptop is the only computer.

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