Honor magicbook 15 bmh-wfq9hn driver

During the May presentation, HONOR presented the MagicBook 15 laptop to the Russian audience. Aluminum case, AMD Ryzen, concern for privacy and a reasonable price tag – it sounds great, but is everything so good in practice? What can an AMD processor with integrated Vega graphics do? Let’s look at the review of the new product.

In mid-September, we got acquainted with the updated Honor MagicBook 15 BMH-WFQ9HN laptop with an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U processor, which overall left a good impression, although it could not be called ideal. At the same time, the company released a 14-inch model on the same AMD processor – it is a little more compact and lighter, and also slightly different in technical characteristics. There are also quite unexpected differences, and for the better in comparison with its older brother. However, first things first.

Packaging and accessories

The box of the MagicBook 14 NMH-WDQ9HN is exactly the same in design as other Honor laptops, not counting the premium versions with the letter “s”. Perhaps it’s time for the company to somehow differentiate its mainstream products in terms of packaging design, so it will be more convenient for customers, given the number of Honor models produced.

In addition to the laptop, the box contains a warranty card, a quick start guide, a power adapter and a USB cable.

The official cost of the 14-inch version of MagicBook is 60 thousand rubles (plus traditional gifts), there may be discounts from time to time, including in large retail chains. The warranty is 1 year, the country of origin is China.

Laptop configuration

The width of the Honor MagicBook 14 is 35 mm less than the 15-inch version, and the depth is 15 mm less. The thickness of both models is the same and is 16.5 mm at the front and 20.5 mm at the rear. And these are the only changes that can be noted when getting acquainted with the design of the laptop, everything else is exactly the same, including the only available color with the original name “Space Gray”.

The weight is almost 200 g less, it is 1.36 kg. In our opinion, the weight is still large for a 14-inch model, although it is completely uncritical for an adult.

The plastic base differs only in smaller acoustic grilles – nothing else.

Thanks to the plastic feet, the laptop is stable on flat, dry surfaces and does not slip on inclined surfaces.

The front and rear ends of the Honor MagicBook 14 case are no different from those of the 15-inch model, as is the set of ports.

Let us recall that on the left is a USB Type-C (2.0) for charging (with indicator), a USB Type-A port (also 2.0) and an HDMI video output, and on the right is a combined headphone/microphone jack and USB 3.0 Type- A.

There is no map reader, nor is there a Kensington lock.

In addition to its more compact size, another difference between the Honor MagicBook 14 and the 15-inch version is the ability to open the lid all 180 degrees.

The body is assembled from aluminum panels and a plastic base. There are no complaints about the build quality; we did not find any creaking or loose panels.

Input devices

Due to the fact that the Honor MagicBook 14 is smaller in size, the absence of a number pad on the keyboard cannot be considered a disadvantage for the laptop; there is really nowhere to place it. But a column of keys, including at least PgUp and PgDn, could fit well on the work panel, but we will most likely see this from Honor only in another couple of generations.

Membrane-type keyboard, 1.4 mm key travel, almost silent typing.

And, unexpectedly, the 14-inch version had a keyboard backlight, which for some reason was missing from the larger model. The backlight is two-level, automatically switched off.

As for the touchpad, due to the more compact dimensions of the case, it is 7.5 mm smaller in height, its dimensions are 122×65 mm.

Nevertheless, there were no inconveniences when working with the touchpad.

But there are no changes in the webcam; it is still hidden in the middle of the line of functional buttons and opens after pressing.

Let us remind you that the camera resolution is 720p (HD).

The laptop’s power button, located at the right edge of the case, has a fingerprint scanner built into it.

It can help you unlock Windows in a second.

Honor MagicBook 14, of course, has no restrictions in supporting the proprietary “Multiscreen” function.

Thanks to its presence, you can transfer files from a smartphone to a laptop for editing, simultaneously use two smartphone applications on the laptop screen, and also receive video and voice calls.

Screen

The Honor MagicBook 14 laptop uses a 14-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 1920×1080 (edid-decode report). The sides and top of the screen frame are 5.5mm wide, while the bottom is 20.0mm wide.

The outer surface of the matrix is ​​black, hard and semi-matte (the specularity is well expressed). There are no special anti-reflective coatings or filters, and there is no air gap. When powered from the mains or battery and with manual brightness control (there is no automatic adjustment based on the light sensor), its maximum value was 307 cd/m² (in the center of the screen on a white background). If you avoid direct sunlight, then this value allows you to somehow use the laptop outdoors even on a sunny summer day.

To evaluate screen readability outdoors, we use the following criteria obtained from testing screens in real conditions:

These criteria are very conditional and may be revised as data accumulates. Note that there may be some improvement in readability if the matrix has some kind of transreflective properties (part of the light is reflected from the substrate, and the picture is visible in the light even with the backlight turned off). Also, glossy matrices, even in direct sunlight, can sometimes be rotated so that something quite dark and uniform is reflected in them (on a clear day, for example, the sky), which will improve readability, while matte matrices need to be blocked from the light to improve readability. Sveta. In rooms with bright artificial light (about 500 lux), you can work more or less comfortably even with a maximum screen brightness of 50 cd/m² or lower, that is, in these conditions the maximum brightness is not an important value.

Let’s return to the screen of the laptop under test. If the brightness setting is 0%, the brightness is reduced to 5.5 cd/m². In complete darkness, the brightness of its screen can be reduced to a comfortable level.

At any brightness level there is no significant backlight modulation, so there is no screen flickering. As proof, we present graphs of brightness (vertical axis) versus time (horizontal axis) for different brightness settings:

This laptop uses an IPS type matrix. Microphotographs show a typical IPS subpixel structure (black dots are dust on the camera sensor):

Focusing on the screen surface revealed randomly located microdefects of the surface, which are responsible for the matte properties themselves:

The grain of these defects is several times smaller than the size of the subpixels (the scale of these two photographs is approximately the same), therefore focusing on microdefects and the “jumping” of focus across subpixels when changing the viewing angle are weakly expressed, because of this there is no “crystalline” effect .

We measured brightness at 25 points on the screen, located in increments of 1/6 of the screen width and height (screen borders not included). Contrast was calculated as the ratio of the brightness of the fields at the measured points:

If you step back from the edges, the uniformity of the white field is good, but the uniformity of the black field and, as a result, the contrast is worse. The contrast is typical by modern standards for this type of matrix. The photo below gives an idea of ​​the distribution of black field brightness over the screen area:

It can be seen that the black field is mainly highlighted closer to the edge. However, the unevenness of black illumination is visible only in very dark scenes and in almost complete darkness; it should not be considered a significant drawback. Note that the rigidity of the cover, even though it is made of aluminum, is low, the cover is slightly deformed at the slightest applied force, and the deformation greatly changes the nature of the illumination of the black field.

The screen has good viewing angles without significant color shift even when viewing large deviations from perpendicular to the screen and without inverting shades. However, when deviated diagonally, the black field becomes very bright and acquires a reddish tint.

The response time for the black-white-black transition is 17 ms (9 ms on + 8 ms off), the transition between halftones of gray in total (from hue to hue and back) takes an average of 25 ms. The matrix is ​​not fast, there is no overclocking.

We determined the total output delay from switching video buffer pages to the start of displaying the image on the screen (remember that it depends on the operating characteristics of Windows OS and the video card, and not just on the display). At 60Hz refresh rate the latency is 12ms. This is a small delay, it is absolutely not felt when working on a PC, and even in very dynamic games it will not lead to a decrease in performance.

Two refresh rates are available in the screen settings – 60 and 48 Hz. The second one can be useful when watching movies. At least at the native screen resolution, the output comes with a color depth of 8 bits per color.

Next, we measured the brightness of 256 shades of gray (from 0, 0, 0 to 255, 255, 255). The graph below shows the increase (not absolute value!) of brightness between adjacent halftones:

The increase in brightness is quite uniform, and formally each next shade is brighter than the previous one. However, in the darkest area, visually the first shade of gray does not differ in brightness from black, and subsequent ones are poorly distinguished, since the increase in brightness in the shadows is slow:

An approximation of the resulting gamma curve gave a value of 2.17, which is slightly lower than the standard value of 2.2. In this case, the real gamma curve slightly deviates from the approximating power function:

Color gamut very close to sRGB:

Therefore, visually, the colors on this screen have a natural saturation. Below is the spectrum for the white field (white line), superimposed on the spectra of the red, green and blue fields (lines of the corresponding colors):

Apparently, this screen uses LEDs with a blue emitter and green and red phosphors (usually a blue emitter and a yellow phosphor), which, in principle, allows for good separation of the components. Yes, and the red phosphor apparently uses so-called quantum dots. However, specially selected filters cross-mix the components, which narrows the coverage to sRGB.

The balance of shades on the gray scale is good (graphs Without correction in the figures below), since the color temperature is quite close to the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is below 10, which is considered acceptable for a consumer device indicator. At the same time, color temperature and ΔE change little from hue to hue – this has a positive effect on the visual assessment of color balance. (The darkest areas of the gray scale can be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

Additionally, by moving the point on the color wheel in the screen settings, we tried to correct the color balance. The result is presented in the graphs above with the caption Corr.

The correction allowed us to slightly improve the color balance, but there is no particular need for such a correction.

Enabling the Eye Protection option reduces the intensity of the blue component, by exactly how much – you can adjust it with the slider (in Windows 10 there is a corresponding setting). In principle, bright light can lead to disruption of the daily (circadian) rhythm (see separate article), but everything is solved by reducing the brightness to a low, but still comfortable level, and reducing the contribution of blue distorts the color balance.

Let’s summarize. The screen of this laptop has a high enough maximum brightness (307 cd/m²) so that the device can be used outdoors on a bright day, shielded from direct sunlight. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable level (up to 5.5 cd/m²). The advantages of the screen include low output latency (12 ms), good color balance and sRGB color gamut. The disadvantages are the low stability of black to the deviation of the gaze from perpendicular to the screen plane. Overall the screen quality is high.

Internal structure and components

Need I say that the internal layout of the Honor MagicBook 14 is exactly the same as the MagicBook 15? It’s unlikely that this will be a revelation for anyone, it’s just that the components are located a little more densely and the printed circuit board is shorter, and there are no voids between the battery and the speakers.

The BIOS of the motherboard, based on the AMD Promontory system logic set, is one step fresher than in the “tag” – version 1.02 dated July 26, 2021.

There are no differences at all in the processor – a fairly new six-core AMD Ryzen 5 5500U with support for parallelization of up to 12 threads, made using a 7 nm process technology, is also installed here.

With a base frequency of 2.1 GHz, this processor can overclock up to 4.05 GHz. The official specifications of the processor indicate a thermal package of 28 watts; in fact, the long-term consumption of the processor is 27 watts, which we will verify during testing.

If the central processor in the smaller MagicBook has not changed compared to the older version, then they took pity on the memory here, reducing its volume from 16 to 8 GB. Perhaps this is the most important drawback of this laptop, since it is impossible to increase the volume, and there is simply no other version of the Honor MagicBook 14.

The effective frequency of dual-channel DDR4 is 3.2 GHz with timings of 22-22-22-52 CR1. Its speed characteristics according to the AIDA64 Extreme test are identical to the memory of Honor MagicBook 15.

At this point, the differences in the hardware of the two Honor MagicBook variants ended, so next the sister of talent woke up, that is, brevity. The graphics integrated into the processor are AMD Radeon Graphics running at 1.8 GHz.

The storage capacity of the laptop is 512 GB, it was released by Solid State Storage Technology Corporation (model SSSTC CL1-8D512).

And yes – again there are no differences from the larger model.

Accordingly, the SSD test results in these laptops are also no different. It should be noted once again that the drive here is average in speed, and its operation significantly depends on the laptop’s power mode, which we will demonstrate further in two screenshots.

As for the temperature regime of the SSD, despite the absence of a heat spreader, there is no reason to worry, since even in the stress test the maximum temperature was only 48 °C, and in normal operation it is 35-36 °C.

The wireless network is implemented by the Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200NGW controller, which supports the 802.11ax standard and operates at frequencies of 2.4 and 5 GHz with a channel width of up to 160 MHz and a maximum throughput of up to 2.4 Gbit/s.

By the way, without any difficulties or special financial costs, it can be replaced with a more modern AX210.

The laptop has two 2 W speakers, and the Conexant CX8070 audio codec is responsible for audio processing.

The volume of the built-in speakers was measured while playing an audio file with pink noise. The maximum volume was 77.4 dBA, so among the laptops tested at the time of writing this article (minimum 64.8 dBA, maximum 83 dBA), this laptop is louder than average in terms of volume.

Cooling system and load operation

The cooling system in Honor MagicBook 14 is exactly the same as in the 15-inch model.

Let us recall that it starts with the heat exchanger on the processor, continues with two heat pipes 8 and 6 mm wide and ends with a radiator through which the fan drives cold air, sucking it in from below.

The design is very compact, but at the same time it is sufficient to provide the CPU with efficient cooling and low noise levels.

When working from the power adapter, the laptop has a choice of two modes: productive and balanced. They can be switched either by pressing the Fn+P key combination on the keyboard or through the installed software.

As in the previous article, we performed a stress test of the laptop processor using the powerMax utility (using AVX instructions) when powered by the supplied adapter, as well as when powered by a battery. Monitoring was carried out using the HWinfo64 utility, and the room temperature during the test was 24 °C. We present the results of stress tests of the laptop when operating from the mains in two screenshots.

Performance mode (≈2.8 GHz, 26.6 W, 80.9 °C)

Balanced mode (≈2.3 GHz, 17.4 W, 65.3 °C)

In performance mode, after temperatures have stabilized, the processor of the MagicBook 14 laptop operates at the same frequency as in the 15-inch model, however, if then the processor temperature was leveled at around 74 °C, then in a more compact case (albeit with the same cooling system), the temperature was immediately higher by 6 °C and stabilized at almost 81 °C. The cooler fan makes more noise, but it is not critical, and it still cannot be said that it irritates or puts pressure on the ears. In balanced mode, the CPU reaches 2.3 GHz, which is 0.2 GHz lower than the MagicBook 15, with almost the same heat dissipation and 2 °C higher temperature. In other words, there are differences in the operation of the same processor in two different laptop cases, and later we will make sure that this does not fail to affect the performance of the more compact version.

In the meantime, let’s see how the laptop processor behaves when running on battery power, when only the balanced mode of processor operation is available (only this mode, by the way, is available even after the battery charge drops to 20%).

Balanced mode (≈2.35 GHz, 17.4 W, 66.1 °C)

And here the picture is already the opposite. If in MagicBook 15, when running on battery power, the processor stabilized at 1.9 GHz at 12 W and 49 °C, then in MagicBook 14 the exact same AMD Ryzen 5500U runs at 2.35 GHz at approximately 17 W and 66 °C. Let us add that in this case the laptop runs very quietly.

Noise level and heating

We measure the noise level in a special soundproof and semi-muffled chamber. In this case, the microphone of the sound level meter is positioned relative to the laptop so as to simulate the typical position of the user’s head: the screen is tilted back 45 degrees (or maximum if the screen does not tilt 45 degrees), the axis of the microphone coincides with the normal emanating from the center of the screen, the front end of the microphone is located at a distance of 50 cm from the screen plane, the microphone is aimed at the screen. The load is created using the powerMax program, the screen brightness is set to maximum, the room temperature is maintained at 24 degrees, but the laptop is not specially ventilated, so in the immediate vicinity the air temperature may be higher. To estimate real consumption, we also present (for some modes) consumption from the network. The battery is pre-charged to 100%. In the settings of the proprietary utility, the Performance or Balanced profile is selected:

If the laptop is not loaded at all, then its cooling system can operate in passive mode. Under heavy load, the noise from the cooling system is low. The nature of the noise is smooth and does not cause irritation.

For a subjective assessment of the noise level, we apply the following scale:

From 40 dBA and above the noise, from our point of view, is very high, long-term work on a laptop is difficult, from 35 to 40 dBA the noise level is high, but tolerable, from 30 to 35 dBA the noise is clearly audible, from 25 to 30 dBA noise from the cooling system will not stand out much against the background of typical sounds surrounding a user in an office with several employees and working computers; somewhere from 20 to 25 dBA a laptop can be called very quiet, below 20 dBA it is conditionally silent. The scale, of course, is very arbitrary and does not take into account the individual characteristics of the user and the nature of the sound.

Below are thermal images taken after long-term operation of the laptop under maximum load on the CPU and GPU (Performance profile; the supplied power supply is used):

Under maximum load, working with the keyboard is not entirely comfortable, since the area under the left wrist heats up significantly. Holding a laptop on your lap is also unpleasant, since your knees come into contact with high-heat areas, and your knees also partially block the ventilation grill, which increases noise and can cause the laptop to overheat. The power supply gets very hot, so you need to make sure that during long-term work with high performance it is not covered with anything.

Productivity

We tested the performance of the central processor, RAM and storage of the Honor MagicBook 14 NMH-WDQ9HN laptop in real applications in accordance with the methodology and set of applications of our iXBT Application Benchmark 2020 test package. For comparison, we included in the table the results of testing the older model Honor MagicBook 15 BMH-WFQ9HN with exactly the same processor, but twice the amount of RAM, as well as the Honor MagicBook 15 (BOHL-WDQ9HN) laptop with an AMD Ryzen 5 4500U processor. The reference system based on the 6-core Intel Core i5-9600K processor has not been forgotten either. Let us add that all laptops were tested in maximum performance mode when powered from the mains. The results are shown in the table.

As you can see, the 14-inch model is slower than the 15-inch model by about 3.5%-4% in terms of the integral result, which is a consequence of both half the amount of RAM and less efficient processor cooling due to the compact size of the laptop . However, the difference is not at all critical, while last year’s model with the AMD Ryzen 5 4500U processor was left behind by an average of 13%.

In terms of performance in 3D benchmarks, there is practically no difference between the new Honor MagicBooks, as can be seen from the results from the previous article and from the screenshots below.

Battery life

The power adapter and battery of Honor MagicBook 14 and MagicBook 15 are completely the same. The HN-200325EP0 adapter has a power of 65 watts (20.0 V, 3.25 A), it is connected by a cable with USB Type-C connectors to the corresponding port of the laptop.

The battery has a capacity of 56 Wh (7330 mAh), it charges from 1% to 65% in 60 minutes (measured).

According to HWinfo64, the battery capacity when fully charged was almost 53 Wh, which is 5.4% lower than the nameplate.

After four full charging cycles, the average time was 1 hour and 56 minutes (almost the same result as the 15-inch version of the laptop).

We checked the autonomy of the Honor MagicBook 14 NMH-WDQ9HN in the PCMark’10 test package at a screen brightness of 100 cd/m² (55% on the brightness scale). Theoretically, all other things being equal, the 14-inch model should work longer than the 15-inch, but in practice this did not happen.

While the MagicBook 15 in Modern Office lasted 12 hours and 55 minutes, the MagicBook 14 lasted only 12 hours and 38 minutes. In the Applications office test, the first lasted 12 hours and 52 minutes, while the second lasted only 11 hours and 32 minutes. In conditional gaming performance (Gaming test), the difference was 13 minutes in favor of the Honor MagicBook 14 NMH-WDQ9HN, but you must agree that for such laptops this test is the least useful. Well, video content on a laptop can be played for a little longer than 10 hours. In principle, the results for this class of compact laptops are not bad, but why did the more compact model lose? Most likely due to the higher frequency and higher consumption of the processor when running on battery power, it is difficult to find another explanation.

Conclusion

Honor MagicBook 14 NMH-WDQ9HN differs from the 15-inch model by a smaller screen diagonal and lower maximum brightness, the presence of only 8 GB of RAM versus 16 GB, more compact dimensions and 200 grams lighter weight, the ability to tilt the screen 180 degrees , backlit keyboard, and also cost 10 thousand rubles lower. Well, it also has a slightly smaller touchpad, but no one will notice this. The performance of the 14-inch version is 4% lower, but this is also difficult to notice in work, and in general the laptop’s performance is more than sufficient for business meetings and office routines. Everything else is the same on these laptops, including a quality screen, ports, Wi-Fi 6, and a 512GB SSD. Therefore, choosing the one that is suitable for your use case is very simple.

Thin and metallic

The design of the laptop follows the general direction of HONOR laptops. The compact body with sleek lines is made entirely of aluminum. The brand’s designers still adhere to the most neutral approach. As a result, the new product, at first glance, differs little from the solutions of the previous generation and from its “neighbors” in the model range. The exterior is businesslike and discreet. The only decorations are a small brand logo engraved on the cap and a thin turquoise bevel around the perimeter of the cap. The model cannot boast of individuality, but, on the other hand, this makes it universal: it is suitable for a student, a photo studio employee, and a manager of a large company.

Despite the large screen diagonal, MagicBook is noticeably more compact than most 15-inch models. The laptop weighs about 1.5 kg, and the body thickness does not exceed 17 mm. As for the dimensions, they are closer to 14-inch solutions. This was achieved thanks to the extremely thin frames around the display. The size of the indents has been reduced not only on the sides, which is no surprise to anyone today, but also on the top. This is because the webcam was moved to one of the buttons in the top row of the keyboard. To extract the webcam, just click on this button. Thus, two problems were solved at once. Firstly, there is no longer any need to leave a wide frame above the screen. Secondly, you don’t have to worry about privacy: when the camera is not needed, it is securely hidden in the depths of the case. An additional bonus is that the screen visually appears larger than it actually is.

Another design feature was the fingerprint scanner built into the power button. This eliminates the need to enter a password to log into Windows. To trigger, as a rule, a single touch when turning on the device is sufficient. However, in some cases you need to put your finger on the fingerprint sensor again.

You can’t do without adapters

The new product is not surprising with the abundance of available physical interfaces. In the thin case there was room for a pair of USB 3.0 in a standard form factor, a 3.5 mm combined audio jack, full-size HDMI and universal USB Type-C. The latter can only be used during battery operation, since it is used to connect the power adapter.

Things are better with wireless capabilities. The laptop can interact with Wi-Fi networks in both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. MagicBook 15 is also equipped with a Bluetooth module and an NFC chip.

High-quality display without harm to the eyes

The display of the new MagicBook also boasts a good IPS matrix with a 15.6-inch diagonal. The resolution is 1920×1080 pixels. With this combination of parameters, the clarity of the picture does not raise any questions. When working with the screen at a distance of 40-50 cm, individual pixels are not visible, the image does not seem “loose”, as is the case with inexpensive HD panels. Consumer qualities are also in order. I PS panel provides excellent viewing angles – you can distinguish the image without problems even with large screen deviations. The brightness reserve is enough to work on a laptop in bright daylight. In this case, the matte coating of the display, which does not reflect so much, is also beneficial. The uniformity of illumination is also pleasing. Even when working in the dark, the panel does not cause any glare. We have not forgotten about caring for the user’s health. The HONOR MagicBook 15 display supports TÜV Rheinland certified eye protection mode. It reduces harmful UV radiation and prevents eye fatigue.

Rich inner world

With the release of energy-efficient Ryzen mobile platforms equipped with built-in Radeon Vega video chips, it became possible to abandon the use of discrete video accelerators. In the case of HONOR MagicBook 15, the vendor’s choice fell on the quad-core AMD Ryzen 5 3500U. It includes four physical Zen+ cores that process 8 data streams. The maximum frequency within the framework of dynamic overclocking technology can reach 3.7 GHz, and the volume of third-level cache in this model is 4 MB.

The built-in video accelerator Radeon Vega 8 received 512 computing processors with a core frequency of up to 1200 MHz. Like most similar solutions, the built-in chip does not have its own memory. Therefore, 1 GB of RAM is reserved for its needs. In this case, it plays into the hands of the fact that the manufacturer installed two RAM sticks, thanks to which they operate in dual-channel mode. The total amount of RAM is small by modern standards – only 8 GB DDR4-2400. Since it is not expandable, this may impact performance in demanding applications.

The test modification of the laptop is equipped with a 256 GB SSD drive. There is also an option with a 512 GB drive. The drive boasts decent performance – a nice feature, considering that we are talking about a mid-segment laptop.

Print to your heart’s content

The laptop received a low-profile island-type keyboard, familiar to thin models – in this it is no different from most similar solutions. There is no number pad. Considering that this is a 15-inch device, you subconsciously expect to see it. On the other hand, this made it possible to make the buttons large, with a good distance between them. So there are practically no errors or mistakes when touch typing. The key travel is decent by ultrabook standards. Among the shortcomings, we note the lack of backlighting, which can cause inconvenience when working in the dark.

The touchpad has an average area and good touch processing accuracy. This is enough for comfortable work in a file manager, office programs, or even simple image editing. Plastic is used as a covering. But the build quality is pleasing. There is no play when tapping, which is sometimes the case with the older version of the MagicBook Pro.

Autonomy

A 42 Wh battery is responsible for autonomous operation. The battery capacity is enough to not think about a power outlet during the working day. When playing a Full HD video, the laptop lasted 9 hours 50 minutes (50 percent display brightness, airplane mode). However, even if the battery is discharged, this should not be a problem. 30 minutes at the outlet with the included adapter is enough to replenish 50% of the charge.

Performance

By the standards of compact ultrabooks, the MagicBook 15 demonstrates good speed. Of course, the capabilities of the built-in video accelerator and 8 GB of RAM are not enough to comfortably run AAA games or professional photo and video editing. However, such devices are not intended for such tasks. In addition, for those who want to have fun at maximum speed without shelling out big sums for gaming hardware, cloud gaming services are already available. But for typical everyday scenarios the performance is sufficient. The HONOR MagicBook 15 can handle most work programs – the main thing is that they do not require more than 8 GB of RAM. As for games, the combination of quad-core Ryzen and Radeon Vega 8 confidently handles most popular online projects at medium-low settings at Full HD resolution.

Specifications of HONOR MagicBook 15

AMD Radeon Vega 8

15.6 inches, 1920×1080, IPS, matte

SSD, 256/512 GB, NVMe

CONNECTORS AND INTERFACES

1 x USB Type-C 3.1

2 x USB Type-A 3.0

HDMI

3.5mm jack (combo)

802.11 b/g/n/ac

Bluetooth 5

Test results

Single-core — 841

Multi-Core – 3076

FireStrike — 2313

Night Raid – 7873

Single-core – 345

Multi-core – 1469

WORLD OF TANKS ENCORE

1920×1080, medium settings – 46 fps, 8004 points

1920×1080, high settings, “Tank battle” scene – 40 fps

Magic-Link – the magic of one touch

The main feature of the current generation of HONOR laptops is support for Magic-Link technology. Thanks to it, it is easy to connect a laptop with one touch to HONOR or HUAWEI smartphones, and then transfer files and images in both directions. Or activate broadcasting of your phone screen and control it from your laptop. For all this, you need to touch the desired point on the ultrabook with your smartphone once (it is marked with a special sticker). Once paired, you can quickly transfer files from one device to another by dragging them with your mouse – without any wires. And if we are talking about an image, just open it in the smartphone gallery and bring it to the MagicBook 15 – and the image will automatically open on the laptop. This function, of course, will only work in tandem with a smartphone equipped with an NFC module. Another requirement for the phone is that its firmware must be at least EMUI 9 or MagicUI 2 (in the case of HONOR). At the same time, owners of models running EMUI 10 / Magic UI 3 will receive a full range of capabilities.

Results

MagicBook 15 proved to be a balanced solution. The new product contains the most popular features in this class, although it did not come without some compromises. These include a small number of connectors, non-expandable RAM and the absence of a keyboard backlight. However, these nuances are due to the form factor of the device and the desire to keep the price within reasonable limits. In all other respects, the MagicBook 15 showed its best side. It provides decent performance, has a high-quality screen and good battery life, not to mention a compact metal body. The laptop is perfect for those who often need to take a laptop to work, study, or just want to have a universal solution at hand for a reasonable price.

Recommended price at the time of publication

Go to the manufacturer’s website