You don’t need magnification, if you can see that both bevels are fully meeting in a straight edge, from heel to toe and that all chips are removed.

Of course you need to look at the bevel and edge, with some magnification. Otherwise how would you know? Granted if you honed razors all day, every day, you probably get good enough to know when that is, without looking, but that generally is not the novice honer.

Magnification is not that expensive, why would you not use it?