HONOR MagicBook 16 Review : This 144Hz, Powerful & Thin laptop works like MAGIC!

You’re probably used to hearing the name HONOR when it comes to smartphones. But HONOR has been expanding its offerings to include smart home devices and even laptops for quite a while.

And speaking of laptops, the HONOR MagicBook 16 is the latest laptop joining the HONOR family. It is being recognized as one of the best gaming laptops out there with an AMD Ryzen 7 with a leg up on its competition in the weight category coming in at under 2kgs.

So what else is great about the laptop, and what we all need to know is how the HONOR MagicBook 16 is when it comes to performance and everyday use? 

Well, let’s find out!

 

Unboxing

But first, let’s go through the unboxing process.

The HONOR MagicBook 16 comes in a white-colored box, with HONOR MagicBook 16 Series text in the middle and the HONOR logo down below.

Opening the box, towards the left, there is the USB-C to USB-C cable. Then below that, there is the USB-C 65W Power Adapter.

Next towards the right, there is the Manuals, and finally, the laptop itself.

 

Design & Build

Next, let’s talk about the design and build quality.

So HONOR has brought its own flavor to the overall design where it is pretty minimalist with the Space Gray finish and a simple embossed HONOR brand on the cover.

And it feels sturdy thanks to the aluminum body. It has enough heft to avoid feeling like a little light “toy” where it has undergone many rigorous quality tests, like up to 960 hours of high to low temperature and humidity tests, 25,000 hinge endurance test, and other durability tests, on the keyboard, power button, trackpad, and the Type-C Port as well.

Unlike many thin and light laptops out there, this one comes with a good number of ports, including a HDMI port, two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, and two USB Type-C 3.2 ports. So unless you’re planning to “take over the world”, you won’t really need a USB dongle.

So yes, overall, I have to say that I loved the overall build quality and the design of the laptop, which already makes it one of the key strengths that the HONOR MagicBook 16 has.

 

Display

As for the Display, it has a 16.1-inch IPS Anti-glare LCD screen with Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution and 300 nits brightness. 

What’s sweet is that it is calibrated to cover 100% of the sRGB gamut, which is a good thing if you’re using it for video editing like me or even photo editing.

And it has a 16:9 aspect ratio, and the best feature of the display is the slim 5.1mm bezel which puts the focus on the display, making the screen great for your everyday media consumption and gaming as well. 

Speaking of gaming, it comes with a 144Hz refresh rate, which is another HUGE plus compared to other laptops within this price range.

Then nestled in the bezel is also the integrated webcam, a huge improvement from the double chin and nose hair highlighting positioning of the previous versions and some other laptops out there.

Then the screen is also certified for low blue light emission by TUV Rheinland. So no more eye strain or even sleepless nights when looking at the laptop’s screen for continuous hours of usage.

 

Specs

Now, it’s time to get into the “guts” of the HONOR MagicBook 16. This particular version comes with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor. In addition, it’s an APU a.k.a Accelerated Processing Unit, which houses both the CPU and GPU in one unit. This is because there are some benefits to this as it allows us, the user, to get better performance at lower wattages, which are equally as important when it comes to laptops. 

The Ryzen 7 5800H also comes with AMD’s latest Zen 3 architecture, giving it about 26% more performance than the previous Zen 2. It’s also got a higher clock speed at 4.4GHz and 8 cores – up from the 7 in the 4000 series. 

The integrated AMD Radeon GPU has also been improved with 15% more power than before, and both AMD and HONOR claim that it’s as good as having a discrete GPU, but we’ll see later when we take it for a spin.

And finally, the laptop is complemented with 16 gigabytes of DDR4 RAM and 512 gigabytes of SSD storage; it has WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity as well. 

 

Daily Use

And now, let’s find out how the laptop performs during my daily usage.

As usual, I used the laptop to do some video editing on DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Premiere Pro for the sake of testing the video editing over there. 

While the processors have ample power to process HD and Full HD videos without any problems on Adobe Premiere Pro, it struggles with anything higher than 4k resolution. 

For me, that was a problem because I shoot at a 6K resolution, which of course, I am sure you won’t be shooting and editing at that high resolution, so for most people out there, this would be totally more than enough.

When it comes to gaming, the laptop did pretty well. While I wouldn’t call it a “hardcore” gaming PC but it was great for the medium-level gaming.

It can handle 1080p gaming fairly well with little to no screen tearing or frame drops, and this was with the default recommended settings for each game, when it comes to textures and shadows. 

Kicking the laptop into Performance Mode did elevate the performance up to about 43% with higher than recommended settings, where games like PUBG and Genshin Impact ran pretty well over here as well.

Of course, aside from the inherent performance of the APU, the cooling system is crucial in maintaining the performance of the machine. The HONOR MagicBook 16 comes with an intelligent cooling system. It has 2mm thick triple heat pipes to help disperse heat from the APU. 

Then, these pipes are connected to two 75mm fans, which direct cool air into the system, and HONOR has optimized the system with S-shaped blades and an optimal wind path to allow up to 68% more airflow, and this will give it better cooling than most laptops in its class. 

 

And all of this was true indeed, as during my usage, it did get a tiny bit warm but NEVER hot to the touch, and this ONLY happens when I do very heavy video editing work for about 6 hours straight with the charger plugged in.

As for consuming media, this laptop is a little bit above its competition. It has two loudspeakers that support 360 Degrees of virtual surround sound. In addition, the drivers themselves are supported by the Nahimic engine, which gives it added depth and fidelity. 

The N-Force feature in the Nahimic dashboard allows the speakers to produce virtual 5.1 and 7.1 channels for a more immersive experience. 

So, if you’re like me and like your audio tuned a certain way, the dashboard allows you to do just that, but if you’d rather the computer do the optimizing for you, you can just use the Smart Mode, and it will adjust automatically. 

And where the HONOR MagicBook 16 truly performs is when it comes to productivity with the built-in Magic-Link technology to mirror your phone to HONOR MagicBook 16, where you will literally see your phone’s exact screen on the laptop as well.

The feature allows you to seamlessly work on both devices with features like drag and drop to move files between the devices, opening up to 3 phone Windows, giving you easy file arrangements and multi-tasking as well.

You can even take calls without taking your eyes off the laptop. No Wifi? Well, you can still send WhatsApp or Telegram messages from your phone to your laptop. 

Then the laptop’s large touchpad allows for better mobility and accuracy while using it, so the touchpad was really good; feels nice when you’re using it and clicky too. 

And the reason why the trackpad is huge too is that it is integrated with NFC for the Magic-Link technology as well.

The full-sized backlit keyboard also complements the experience. It’s got some travel, and while I always preferred a very tactile keyboard for an external keyboard, for laptops, I am very used to this type, so it was very much home to me.

Then the integrated fingerprint on the power button is an even bigger story where it is quick and responsive, in a fraction of a second. (0.66s)

The HONOR MagicBook 16 comes with a rather small power brick. In fact, it charges through USB-C with a 65W charger in the box, as seen earlier, which can also SuperCharge HONOR smartphones

And this 56Wh battery is able to last about 7.5 hours during my review period with continuous heavy usage. However, HONOR does rate it for about 8 hours of continuous video playback, and if you run low on power, you’ll be able to top up your charge completely in just 1.5 hour.

 

Conclusion

So, in conclusion, the HONOR MagicBook 16 is an excellent option if you decide to invest your money in it.

You’ll be getting a capable and light laptop with enough power to do most things – simple to advanced video and photo editing, medium-level gaming, and, not to mention, staying productive on the road with features like MagicLink. 

That said, if you really want something light, durable, and have excellent performance for its price, the HONOR MagicBook 16 is your go-to for below RM4500, coming at a price of RM4,299.

So with this, I hope you found the information helpful in making your purchase decision.

Don’t forget that the MagicBook 16 is available for purchase right now. If you get it during the Raya season, you will get free gifts worth RM936, including Microsoft Office 365 Personal, a mouse, a laptop bag, and 1 year of battery care

You can even get it in installments for as low as RM5.88/day from HONOR’s website. 

Also worth mentioning is that the HONOR X series is also available now, which are some of the best affordable smartphones available, and the “hero” of the lineup is the HONOR X9 5G, one of the most affordable 5G devices available, which I have done a video review on that, so do check it out if you have done so

And if you get the phone before the end of June, HONOR is giving you an extra year’s warranty too!

Get your HONOR MagicBook 16 now with free gifts worth up to RM936, including Microsoft Office 365 Personal, a laptop backpack, a wireless mouse, and one year of battery care.
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