[HONOR MAGICBOOK 14] - 2021 - Intel I5 - Review - Tests - Data -Result

Hello HONOR fans!

For about 3 weeks I have been testing the new HONOR MagicBook 14 2021 with the cutting-edge Intel® Core ™ i5-1135G7 processor of the 11th generation, 8 GB DDR4 dual-channel RAM, the Intel® Iris® Xe graphics and the fast WiFi 6 (ax). A 512 GB PCIe NVMe SSD offers plenty of fast storage space. The RRP is 849 Euros, at least in Germany.

The experiences I have made in the three weeks, I would like to share here with you.

For all those who want to learn German, or love subtitles - here is my video:

What the laptop looks like, what is there, I have already described in the following report:

[MagicBook 14] 2021 Intel® - Unboxing / Data / First Impression

DESIGN & DISPLAY

The new HONOR MagicBook 14 2021, powered  by  Intel®, features a  14-inch HONOR  FullView  display that provides good representation for office, media and video content. The display does a good job despite the somewhat weak values, which are in the brightness 250  nits, a contrast of 800:1 and a color gamut of  45% NTSC. 

[MagicBook 14] 2021 Intel® - Display test in sunny weather - are 250 nits bright enough?

The display can be opened by 180°,  which I personally always find very practical, as you can lay it flat on the table for a presentation in a group. Due to the  178° angle, in which you can also read the display,it is perfect for such situations.

View of the MagicBook 14, 180° open

The colors are vividly displayed and even in daylight and indirect sunlight, the fully laminated IPS display is easy to read and it reflects little.

Due to the TÜV Rheinland certifications (flicker-free & reduction of the blue light spectrum), as well as through the integrated and well-adjustable eye comfort mode in the HONOR own PC Manager, you can actually work comfortably on the laptop for hours without the eyes quickly tiring. The longest time was over 6 hours constant on the display and my eyes were still fit.

The sturdy,  aluminum-made case with its very noble azure fase isjust  1.38kg light and  15.9mm  thin. This makes it a pleasant ultraportable companion in everyday life and it fits even in the smallest pockets.

The MagicBook 14 takes up very little space in the small HONOR BackPack  

PERFORMANCE

For me, the performance in daily and real use is much more important than pure benchmark values, which judge the performance very theoretically according to fixed algorithms. For example, on your PC or laptop only one program needs to be open or run in the background and you have other ratings through the benchmark programs. They create a guideline value under laboratory conditions and therefore you can also believe such values on reputable websites.

But back to the actual performance of the HONOR MagicBook 14 2021  with the  11th generation Intel Core 5 processor and the 8GB dual-channel RAM (2400).

I have run on the laptop for the first performance tests several differently oriented programs:

• The current Office programs of the Microsoft 365 package, such as Word, Excel,  Powerpoint,  etc.

• Graphic editing software,in my case GIMP, the extensive open source program, since with me a photo editing takes place only rarely and therefore the quite expensive Adobe Photoshop as a subscription is not worthwhile

• Video Editing Software,  Cyberlink  PowerDirector Ultimate 18

• 3 games (for testing only), PubG  Mobile, Counter Strike Global Offensive and the older  Unreal III

OFFICE APPS

All Office programs run smoothly. They load very quickly, there are no delays and thanks tothe  WiFi 6 standard,  transmission on the network is also much faster  than before.

Lightning-fast editing & storage for all Microsoft 365 programs

GRAPHIC EDITING

Anyone who knows  GIMP,  knows that the program and its elements are very extensive and it usually takes time for the app to be readyfor use. This has become much better with the new HONOR MagicBook 14 2021.  My older Intel Core 7 laptop with also older 16GB RAM takes longer to load the program and is also slower when editing. As I said, I'm not a graphic designer, but for me the working performance and the quality of the screen are completely sufficient to edit an image from time to time.

Good display of colors and fast image editing, even with GIMP

VIDEO EDITING

Video editing with my semi-professional app also runs without dropouts or delays. The rendering of  Full  HD videos  is  no problem and is fast. 4k videos take a little longer, but are still rendered faster than with the old I7 processor.

Video editing semi-professional -no problem with the MagicBook!

BATTERY

With the built-in 56 Wh battery  I came to about 10 hours of running time when watching video and the office editing,in gaming it was at least just under 7-9 hours,which the battery has held on one charge. After a 10-minute charge I was able to work again for about 2 hours, after half an hour it was almost half full and after about 2 hours the battery is fully charged (3-100%).

To protect the battery, you can set in the PC Manager to what extent you want to limit the charge to protect the battery.

The 65W  strong and only  200g light charger  is not only suitable for the MagicBook 14, but also to charge other devices such as your Smarthone or your Wearable.

With the HONOR MagicBook 14 2021 you can also, for example, load your smartphone on the go - even if the laptop is switched off. So, you can use it like a powerbank.  Therefore, the charging cable offers the corresponding USB-C ports on both sides.

Charge your smartphone on the go with the MagicBook. Don't forget the charging cable!

GAMING

This is where the HONOR MagicBook 14 2021  clearly reaches its limits. Older and simple games are in a good quality fluid and possible at high settings. For newer or more complex games, on the other hand, you have to lower the settings a bit so that they run smoothly.

UNREAL 3 runs at full speed on the HONOR MagicBook 14!

BUT –  the HONOR MagicBook 14 2021  with its integrated Intel  Xe  graphics does not claim to be a gaming laptop, for which you easily have to spend at least 2 times the money.

Counter Strike - Global Offensive on MagicBook 14 2021

For me as a casual player, it is completely sufficient to play a round of CoD,  ArK  or a little  PubG from time to time. My older Unreal 3 runs better than ever. One can certainly speak of  an immersive gaming experience.  

PubG Mobile is really fun on the MagicBook!

COOLING

Especially during gaming, the HONOR MagicBook  works at full steam. The extremely large fan and the "Dual HeatPipes" construction ensure  low temperatures  and  quiet operation, even under full load. When using normal office tasks, the cooling did not even start and you could work silently.  During operation, the fan is very quiet and did not bother me.

SOUND

The sound from the 2 built-in speakers is of course not a hi-fi  system,but you can understand the interlocutor well in video conferences, when working, listening to music and at games you have a good sound experience. However, the virtual surround sound experience was not really available, but as I said, even with the sound I can not complain and for such a small, compact laptop it does its thing very well.

VIDEO

With the FullView  Full  HD IPS display,  watching videos is particularly fun - even in daylight. All photos here I have taken in bright sunshine outside directly at the window and you can see that the supposedly only  250 nits, or cd / m²  are perfectly sufficient. The  colors, contrast  and  image sharpness  are  excellent on the display of the  MagicBook 14.

Crystal clear picture & good sound - so watching video is fun!

POP-UP CAMERA

The pop-up camera hidden between the F6 and F7 offers not only a good image quality but also a high level of security. No one can involuntarily activate and spy on the camera. The viewing angle is a bit strange if you are used to cameras in the upper side of the display bezel.

If you want to look at your interlocutor, you have to look down.

KEYBOARD & TOUCHPAD

The keyboard of the MagicBook 14 has a great feel, not too soft and not too hard. In my opinion, HONOR has worked ideally here. Even the touchpad had no dropouts, as they happened from time to time with my predecessor. I think improvements have been made here.

The keyboard has a complete backlight that allows you to work well in the dark.

GENERAL PERFORMANCE

You can clearly tell the new MagicBook 2021  that it is a very fast laptop that does not "run out of steam" even with  multiple tasks. It  starts very fast and automatically logs me in through the fingerprint sensor and I am ready to work within seconds. You don't even need to confirm the fingerprint again – pressing once is enough for the MagicBook.

From the sleeping mode, it starts up again in less than 2 seconds.   You don't need patience anymore!

CONNECTIVITY & MULTI SCREEN COLLABORATION

The HONOR MagicBook is equipped with 2x2 MIMO dual antennas  and has the new WiFi 6(ax)standard.

The connection in the network and to the Internet is thus more stable and faster than ever before. For me, transfers are about 3-5 times faster than with my old WiFi 5 devices.

The multi-screen collaboration  works excellently. You simply hold your compatible phone to the MagicLink sticker,pair the device and I can work interactively between the screens of the laptop and my smartphone.   Depending on the model, I can open up to  3 apps on the display of the MagicBook  and copy or control content in both directions. I can even insert the cache with the other device without any problems, which is very practical and makes my work a real relief.  

Only (certain) HONOR devices are supposed to work, but my old P30 Pro also works with the MagicBook.

With up to 3 apps you can work via multi screen collaboration.

A little tip: Games on the smartphone can also be played more comfortably on the MagicBook display. Especially with a WLAN 6 connection, the latency is very low.

Fun with Asphalt 9, mirrored on the display of the MagicBook  by the smartphone.

The ports have two USB-A (2.0 and 3.2),a  USB-C (power),a full HDMI and a 3.5mm audio jack.  Here I would prefer a second USB-C Thunderbolt for further models, which is already supported by the Intel processor.

RESULT

The HONOR MagicBook 14 2021  in the Intel Core I5 version of the 11th generation has done very well with me in the first 3 weeks.

The performance is noticeably better than my old  AMD  Ryzen  5 model from last year.

Especially the graphics  and the speed have increased significantly.

With the WiFi 6 module, the transfer of files has also become significantly faster.

Although the same values for brightness, contrast and color space are given, the Intel  Xe graphics seem to do a better job in this regard than the AMD Vega 8 graphics of my predecessor model.

If you want 100% sRGB, a contrast of 1000:1 and a brightness of 300 cd/m², you have to resort to the Intel Core I7 11th Gen, or the MagicBook 15 2021, both of which offer slightly better values.

The larger and very fast SSD storage with 521 GB pleases, because 256 GB are quite fast in the older version. Games and apps should still be installed on the D: drive so as not to burden the system partition.

In general, I would recommend the HONOR MagicBook 14, 2021 I5, to everyone without hesitation for the home office, homeschooling, the university or as a good compact all-rounder.

As a gaming laptop, of course, it does not go through and also for professional graphics editing you certainly take displays that have a high Adobe RGB color space and are larger.

For the leisure or to edit holiday videos, the performance is easily sufficient. Even for my HD videos on Youtube  I like to use the HONOR MagicBook 14.

The low weight and their compact design actually make it an ultraportable companion that fits in everywhere and is very light.

The pop-up  camera takes some getting used to, but the quality is good!

Overall, the MagicBook 14 gets a very good rating from me, as quality, appearance and especially the performance are right.

I hope you enjoyed my little first review  about the new  MagicBook 14 2021.  

If you have any questions, constructive criticism, or further suggestions, please write them in the comments.

I look forward to any feedback!

Cya soon or beyond, Mike