Honor MagicBook Art 14 Plays Peek-a-Boo With a Modular Camera

American science fiction author and aeronautical engineer Robert A. Heinlein once said, “One man’s ‘magic’ is another man’s engineering.” When that quote comes to mind, I can’t help but think of the Honor MagicBook Art 14. I was floored and instantly jealous when I saw the stunning laptop at Honor’s booth on the IFA 2024 show floor. Why, oh why, can’t the U.S. have nice things and be able to buy this laptop?

The Emerald Green laptop is an absolute sight made from aerospace-grade magnesium alloy. Finally, a laptop that isn’t black, gray, white, or blue. OEMs, please take note. Aside from its color, the notebook is an absolute showstopper due to its ultra-light, super-svelte dimensions. When I first picked up the 2.3-pound, 12.5 x 8.8 x 0.45-inch device, I thought it was a prototype, but then the 14.6-inch, 3120 x 2080 OLED touchscreen sprung to life. And now I have a mighty need to review this laptop; region locks be damned.

But what really grabbed my attention was the MagicBook’s webcam or lack thereof. I looked at the center of the laptop’s top bezel for the shooter, but there was zilch, nada, zero. Seeing my confusion, the Honor rep took me pressed along the back corner of the laptop’s left side. The action revealed a thin green slab with a black module. A closer look revealed that this was the 1080p webcam. The rep stuck it to the top of the display, which automatically launched the camera app. And while that was cool in and of itself, things got even cooler when the rep turned the camera around, capturing everyone behind us. Connected by fairly strong magnets, you must exert a little force to disconnect the module.

But onto the specs. Honor gives consumers several configurations such as a 1.2-GHz Intel Core Ultra 5 processor 125H or a 1.4-GHz Intel Core Ultra 7 processor 155H, up to 32GB of LPDDR5X 7467MH RAM, a 1TB SSD, and integrated Intel Arc Graphics. That puts it on a par with the Dell XPS 13, Asus ZenBook 14 OLED, and the Acer Swift 14. I’m a little wary of Honor’s estimated 9.5 hours of battery life, but I’m intrigued about the six speakers and the Spatial Audio technology. In short, I want to review this laptop, which must be brought to the U.S. ASAP.