Honor’s latest MagicBook Pro 14 could the lightweight laptop I’ve been waiting for

Honor might’ve officially announced its refreshed MagicBook Pro 14 earlier in the year, but February’s Mobile World Congress show was my first chance to see the lightweight ultraportable laptop in the metal. Between its gorgeous OLED display and immensely powerful Intel Core Series 3 silicon, it has serious creator appeal – and might be good for gaming as well.

Given the name there will inevitably be a few comparisons with the latest MacBook Pro, but the Honor more than holds its own. At 1.37kg it’s lighter than Apple’s best, with a metal build that’s just as easy on the eyes. Dual USB-Cs, twin USB-As, an HDMI 2.1 and a 3.5mm headset port almost put it on par for connectivity (only a card reader misses the cut) and the power button also doubles as a fingerprint sensor.

The island-style keyboard felt spacious and comfortable to type on during my brief demo, and I liked the responsiveness of the haptic touch panel. It’s a generous size, too.

More impressive still was the display. With a 3.1K resolution, the OLED touchscreen was simply gorgeous, with impeccable contrast, brilliant viewing angles and plenty of brightness. The 60/120Hz variable refresh rate ensured the Windows desktop felt smooth, and it’s been given the TUV Rhineland thumbs up for eye care.

Having tried it in the excellent Asus Zenbook Duo, I already know the Core Ultra X9 388H is a chip to be reckoned with. Intel’s Panther Lake silicon isn’t just faster on the Windows desktop; it has serious graphical chops that’ll make both creators and gamers very happy. Being able to render 4K videos during office hours then kick back with Cyberpunk 2077 at Full HD resolution is quite the achievement for a 14in ultraportable.

Even better, it doesn’t demand as much from the battery as a laptop with dedicated graphics. The MagicBook 14 Pro’s 92Whr cell is also particularly large for a 14in laptop. Honor reckons the combination is good for 15.5hrs of use, compared to around 13 hours on an equivalent MacBook Pro. All-day working away from the mains shouldn’t be an issue here.

There will be versions sold with 24GB or 32GB of RAM, and if the 1TB of storage isn’t sufficient it’s got dual M.2 2280 slots. Upgradeable SSDs are pretty unusual among ultraportables, with the trend being to solder the memory chips directly to the motherboard.

Honor is also talking a big game about interconnectivity, with apps to support direct wireless file transfers to iPhone and iPad, as well as Honor’s own stack of Android smartphones and tablets.

The Honor MagicBook Pro 14 will be going on sale soon, directly from the Honor web store. You’ll be able to get one with either a Core Ultra 5 336H or 338H, or a Core Ultra X9 388H CPU. Europe and the Middle East are also in line, with no plans to bring it to the USA.

Tom Morgan-Freelander Deputy Editor

About

A tech addict from about the age of three (seriously, he's got the VHS tapes to prove it), Tom's been writing about gadgets, games and everything in between for the past decade, with a slight diversion into the world of automotive in between. As Deputy Editor, Tom keeps the website ticking along, jam-packed with the hottest gadget news and reviews.  When he's not on the road attending launch events, you can usually find him scouring the web for the latest news, to feed Stuff readers' insatiable appetite for tech.

Areas of expertise

Smartphones/tablets/computing, cameras, home cinema, automotive, virtual reality, gaming