HONOR MagicBook X 14 (i3) Unboxing and First Impressions Philippines
HONOR recently revealed that it will soon bring two new laptops to the Philippines. One of them is the MagicBook X 14.
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| Premium look and features for less? |
Recently, we were able to grab a hold of its i3 variant ahead of its launch to share with you what we initially think of it.
This device appears to be an entry-level offering designed for students, office work, and even entertainment in a premium-looking body. In particular, the device is boasting a mostly metal-clad body, a 14-inch LCD screen with 1920 x 1080 resolution + slim bezels, 11th Gen Intel Core i3-1115G4 chip, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB SSD storage, and 56WHr battery with USB-C 65W charging, Power button/fingerprint scanner, backlit keyboard, and Windows 11 OS. This also has an S-shaped slim fan blade and φ6+φ8 large-diameter double heat pipes.
The only thing that we do not know for now is its official local price tag.
Anyway, let's begin.
Unboxing/Accessories
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| The box |
The HONOR MagicBook X 14 arrived in a slim brown box with the light blue print of the HONOR logo and the image render of the laptop.
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| The cable and charger |
What's inside is straightforward. You will find the laptop itself, USB-C 65W charging brick, long USB-C data/charging cable, and the paper documentation.
Build Quality/Design
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| When closed |
The materials used? It is mostly metal on the body and frame. The bezels for the display are polycarbonate, but it feels more solid than the older MateBook D Series we tried in the past.
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| Below |
Did we mention MateBook? Yes. Why? HONOR can't deny that it is still inspired by its former parent brand HUAWEI. The design is very MateBook D 14 with an HONOR logo instead of HUAWEI. But, that is not a bad thing.
Premium-look for an entry-level laptop!
The device looks sleek, minimalist, and more premium than the offerings from mainstream brands in its class. It will also remind you of Apple MacBooks.
When closed, you will be greeted by an aluminum cover with a matte-like paint finish. Underneath, you will find the vent, speaker grilles, and rubber stoppers.
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| The keyboard |
When opened, you will find the display with a 4.8 mm narrow bezel on the side and top and a slightly thicker chin with the HONOR logo in the center. This resulted in an 84 percent screen-to-body ratio making it way more immersive than older laptop designs with thicker bezels.
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| Power key/fingerprint scanner |
You will also see a TKL keyboard which is backlit by the way, a hidden pop-up webcam on the camera for privacy, a power key/fingerprint scanner (Windows Hello) in one, a spacious trackpad with gesture support, and the HONOR Magic-link sticker beside the Intel Core i3 sticker.
Do not remove the HONOR Magic-link sticker or its NFC for phone collaboration, file transfers, and more will not work.
Checking the flex of its hinge, it isn't as wobbly as other entry-level laptops we tried. You can tilt this up to 180 degrees.
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| Left |
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| Right |
On the left, you will see the USB-C, LED indicator, USB-A 3.2, and HMDI ports. On the right, it has the 3.5mm combo jack and the USB-A 2.0 port. The number of ports is enough for most casual users. But if you need more, you have to purchase an aftermarket dongle.
Compact and lightweight yet capable?
The device measures just 322.5 x 214.8 x 15.9 mm and weighs 1.38 kg. This simply means that it is quite easy to fit in most laptop bags and is quite lightweight. In short, it is very portable and compact for a 14-inch laptop.
HONOR MagicBook X 14 2022 (i3) Specs
Display: 14-inch LCD (IPS) HONOR FullView Display w/ FHD 1920 x 1080 resolution at 157 ppi
CPU: Up to 4.10GHz 11th Gen Intel Core i3-1115G4 dual-core processor
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics
RAM: 8GB DDR4
ROM: 256GB PCIe SSD
Selfie Camera: 720 HD Recessed camera
Battery: 56WHr Li-Pol w/ 65W charging
OS: Windows 11 Home
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax (2.4GHz/5GHz), Bluetooth 5.1, 1x USB-C, 1x USB-A 3.2, 1x USB-A 2.0, 1x HDMI, 3.5mm headphone jack
Others: Power button/fingerprint scanner, backlit keyboard, touchpad, Magic-link, 2x microphones, 2x speakers, cooling system, Colors: Space Grey
Dimensions: 322.5 x 214.8 x 15.9 mm
Weight: 1.38 kg
Price: PHP 29,990
As of the moment
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| Watching XG on its decent-looking 1080p screen |
So far, it appears that everything that HONOR advertised is correct.
We have only used the laptop for streaming our favorite music videos on YouTube, casual web browsing, and editing images on Photoshop.
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| The Geekbench score |
But, the experience is quite surprising. It does not feel like a "dual-core" laptop and it was able to run the tasks we mentioned quite well for an entry-level device. Based on a quick Geekbench benchmark, it is on par with some 2-3 generations old Ryzen 5 and Intel Core i5 chips.
We won't label a device "flagship" unless it is the very best product of the brand. hehe
We also liked that it has the TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light Certification and TÜV Rheinland Flicker Free Certification for better protection in the eyes.
In the next few weeks, we will be checking its thermals since it has an S-shaped slim fan blade + φ6+φ8 large-diameter double heat pipes, the promise of up to 9.9 hours of local video playback thanks to its fairly large 56WHr battery, 65W fast charging, and other features like Multi-Screen Collaboration.
We will also try if it could be used for rendering videos and playing some games.
Hope that they will price it under PHP 30K. Stay tuned for our report on February 22.
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