Honor has unveiled a new MagicBook laptop, a sleek-looking device that comes with a novel trick up its sleeve: a removable webcam.
The Honor MagicBook Art 14 (2024) is a svelte laptop (it weighs just over 1kg and is 13mm thick), and its premium lines and 14-inch OLED display with slim bezels aren't compromised by having to fit an integrated webcam.
That's because, as mentioned, the webcam is removable and can be stored in a slot on the side of the laptop (much like a bulky SD card). As shown in an unboxing video highlighted by Tom's Hardware (see below), you simply pop the webcam out of its storage slot and place it on top of the laptop's lid (magnetically) and you're good to go.
The MagicBook Art 14 specs include an OLED display with a sharp 3120 x 2080 resolution (yes, it has a 3:2 aspect ratio) and a 120Hz refresh rate.
The laptop also includes either an Intel Core Ultra 5 125H or Core Ultra 7 155H CPU (Meteor Lake, 14 and 16 cores respectively) and a 1TB SSD, with speedy LPDDR5X system RAM. It's no slouch, so to speak, but the downside is that, as Tom's notes, the Honor MagicBook Art 14 will only be on sale in China.
That said, it could come to other countries eventually, or more specifically, the idea of a detachable webcam it introduces could come to other laptops.
See in the
Analysis: The detachable reality
We always like to see a laptop with an innovative idea, and the MagicBook Art 14's webcam certainly qualifies in that regard.
This is a solution that has a few advantages. Firstly, when not connected, the webcam doesn’t spoil the premium look of the Art 14, as already mentioned. Secondly, in terms of privacy, you can rest assured that you’re safe from prying eyes when the camera is removed and stored away (no need to attach any unsightly black tape here). Thirdly, there’s the versatility of having a front or rear camera at will, as you can attach the unit in either direction.
The obvious downside to this idea is that a removable camera is also a camera that can get lost. That said, if you're diligent and always put the webcam back into its storage slot after you're done using the device, then it should never get lost. At least in theory.
Overall, we think it's a pretty clever idea and it will be interesting to see if it catches on with other laptop makers.
