HONOR MagicBook Pro 14 Laptop Review. A Compact and Fast Ultrabook

In this new review, we take a look at the HONOR MagicBook Pro 14 ultrabook featuring the new flagship Intel Core Ultra 9 285H processor and 32 GB of RAM. On paper, this should be enough for 4K video editing, office tasks, and even some gaming. Let's take a closer look at the device.

The appearance of HONOR ultrabooks remains minimalist and utilitarian — the MagicBook Pro 14 is made of aluminum with a matte texture, giving it a premium feel. The device weighs only 1.37 kg with a thickness of 15.9 mm, making it one of the lightest and thinnest laptops with such specifications on the market.

The model is available in two colors — "Icy White" and "Space Gray," as shown in our review. The laptop lid is simple, without flashy logos or accents. Despite its slim body, the laptop does not feel fragile. It is well-built, with no flex or creaking. The device opens to about 160 degrees. The surface is resistant to scratches and fingerprints — an essential feature for a laptop that will accompany you on any trip.

Inside, there is a neat keyboard with even backlighting. It does not have the usual Home, End, Page Up, or Page Down keys familiar to PC users. The keys themselves are made of matte plastic with an oleophobic coating, which helps keep them clean. The large and responsive touchpad is a pleasure to use.

The bezels around the display are quite thin — only 3.75 mm, with a screen-to-body ratio of 91.5%. All the edges of the laptop are rounded. Everything looks strict, modern, and well thought-out.

One of the highlights of the HONOR MagicBook Pro 14 is its touchscreen OLED display with a 3:2 aspect ratio (resolution 3102 by 2080 pixels). This aspect ratio provides more workspace for office applications, and the 14.6-inch resolution makes it convenient to arrange multiple windows at once. The DCI-P3 color gamut with 10-bit hardware color depth is perfect for creative tasks and color work. The only downside is that the glossy screen can be overly reflective at times. The touchscreen is responsive and accurately registers finger input.

The screen's peak brightness is 700 nits, with an automatic brightness adjustment feature. This is enough for comfortable outdoor use, though under direct summer sunlight, the brightness might not be sufficient. An important feature for an OLED display is eye protection from flicker, which works in manual mode (requires activation in settings), but works excellently: anti-PWM is 4320 Hz.

The ports are also up to standard: two USB-C (10 Gbps each), two USB-A, HDMI 2.1, and an audio jack. The power button features a built-in fingerprint scanner, there's a good webcam, three microphones, and high-quality stereo speakers.

It’s worth highlighting the battery life: the HONOR MagicBook Pro 14 is equipped with a 92 Wh battery, and together with AI-optimization via HONOR Turbo X, it delivers up to 12 hours of real-world use. Charging is fast: 47% in 30 minutes, 100% in just over an hour.

The 100W fast charging adapter is quite hefty (almost 300 grams) and bulky, which doesn’t seem like the most optimal solution for a mobile device. The cable length is less than two meters.

The HONOR MagicBook Pro 14 features the new 16-core Intel Core Ultra 9 285H processor (there is also a version with Intel Core Ultra 5 225H available) with next-generation Intel Arc graphics supporting ray tracing. TDP in "Performance Mode" is 115W, and 80W in standard and under prolonged load.

Of course, our ultrabook can’t truly compete with gaming laptops featuring discrete graphics, especially now that laptops with NVIDIA's 50-series GPUs have entered the market.

Nevertheless, the HONOR MagicBook Pro 14 allows you to play modern session-based games at medium settings with stable frame rates, and even enjoy AAA titles after a long workday.

The laptop also boasts a fairly quiet cooling system even under maximum load. Yes, the fans are audible, but the noise is not at all annoying. The cooling itself has been upgraded compared to the previous generation, with increased heat dissipation and optimized airflow. While watching videos or browsing, the fans are completely silent.

We tested the HONOR MagicBook Pro 14 in synthetic benchmarks like Cinebench R23, CPU-Z, and CrystalDiskMark. The results are shown in the screenshots.

We also evaluated the laptop’s performance in 3DMark: with tests including Time Spy, Time Spy Extreme, XeSS, CPU Profile, and Storage Benchmark to check SSD game loading speeds.

All gaming tests were performed in maximum performance mode. All settings were set to medium with XeSS upscaling enabled where possible. The base resolution was set close to Full HD, preserving the aspect ratio.

It is also worth noting that the performance drop without the adapter, compared to most laptops on the market, is only a few percent. This is a nice bonus if you want to play a bit without running to a power outlet.

As expected, classic games like The Witcher 3, CS:GO, PUBG, and others deliver a stable 60 FPS. In some cases, graphics settings can even be set above medium.

Cyberpunk 2077 showed around 50 FPS on medium settings, naturally with XeSS upscaling enabled. This is a quite playable result, and for smoother visuals you can also tweak draw distance, crowd density, or particle effects.

It’s also worth mentioning that due to the display’s non-standard aspect ratio, you get more vertical information in the frame. This offers a rather interesting gaming experience, different from playing on a regular monitor.

The HONOR MagicBook Pro 14 can compete for the title of the most optimal ultrabook on the market. This laptop can be an ideal everyday companion, especially for users working remotely. It’s not demanding on the power grid, holds a charge excellently, delivers solid performance thanks to its flagship processor, and even lets you enjoy some gaming after a workday.

Breathtaking! Ultrabooks are usually a rather niche tool for working with graphics, video, or everyday tasks. In the case of the HONOR MagicBook Pro 14, it’s also a decent way to spend an evening gaming.

Flawless Build. We give this award for the metal body, well-designed cooling system, and the feeling of reliability for years to come.