SwissGear Unisex-Adult 5358 USB ScanSmart Laptop Backpack, Black Dot, Large

Usable, but should have had more internal pockets instead of the totally useless-to-me Shoe pocket that takes up so much room inside the bag if you actually put shoes inside the pocket. Not as many usable internal pockets as would appear from photos. The shoe pocket is also of thin material that will probably not last long if you actually put shoes inside it. With perfect 20/29 hindsight realize I should have bought the other model. Durability; Looks durable, but only actual usage and time will tell that. Annoying zipper strap arrangements, not really well thought out by the designer.. You have to unfasten them to use the bag zipper there. (See photos) Has two totally annoying useless straps with round plastic circles at the end of them hanging down the bottom of the bag. These are for adjusting the bag to fit your back, but some way of fastening the extra length of them up and out of the way should have been considered. Will probably just cut the extra length off, since there is apparently nothing on the bag that those plastic circles at the ends actually fasten to. (See photos) No instructions included with the bag; but lots of lovely tags to explain, fastened here and there on the bag for instructions. The lock is a joke a kid could easily force open, if you want a lock on the bag get a real one. Keeping it, but will modify it to fit my needs. Overpriced for what you get, and annoying. Will probably just remove the worthless fragile shoe pocket by cutting it out inside the bag, never use that zipper, and use industrial silicon glue to place some durable pockets inside the bag in that compartment. Silicon gluing durable pouches inside to make more pockets works for me. Have modified bags before.

The backpack overall is great with one small, annoying feature...the built in sunglass holder. Its a hard case which I understand is great for protecting glasses but when trying to use the zippered middle section of the bag, the hard case gets in the way. Would be great if you could remove it or if the pouch was soft or pliable. If you try to remove the case you lose the pouch altogether since its sewn in. Other than that, great backpack.

This is my second Swiss backpack last one was over 7 years old. Hated to let it go but needed a new one. Have been using this one about a week. So far so good. Adjustment getting used to different placement of pockets and compartments. Gave it a 4 on comfort as it is still a little stiff. Gave it a 3 on stretch as I have not really filled it up to see how good the stretch is.

UPDATE 01/27/2020: The zipper on the shoe compartment came off completely a couple days after Christmas 2019 while traveling, rendering that portion of the backpack useless. While I was using that portion of the backpack not for its original intended use as designed by SwissGear, it should have held up for much longer than 5 months. The bag is sitting unused and empty in my home office while I use a LowePro backpack. --- Recently my 6 year old NorthFace 40L Overhaul backpack that I used for travelling, EDC, et cetera started to fall apart. When I saw this backpack on Amazon I wondered if the zippered shoe compartment would be able to fit a camera case (https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Holster-Camera-Case-Cameras/dp/B008MWBY6W/). And it fits it perfectly! I did add some extra padding inside of the shoe compartment before putting the camera case inside. While this isnt a dedicated camera backpack it suits my needs perfectly. So far Ive travelled several times around Alaska, to Seattle, and to the Midwest with this backpack and it comfortably holds my MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, Canon 6D Mkii w/ 24-105mm L lens attached, as well as a 70-200mm L lens in a padded bag along with extra room for light toiletries and random small items. My only complaint after using it for a few months is that the shoulder straps dont seem to sit comfortably around my shoulders.

I use it for work, it has plenty of space and pockets. The only 1 complaint is that 1 side strap pulled off on the 2nd or 3rd time using it. I toss on the back of trucks and pretty sturdy and hasnt even scuffed up. The back straps are extremely long and hang past my knees. I really like this one and would recommend it.

Before I found SwissGear I only thought I liked my prior backpacks. They became my refernece. SwissGear seems to be standard issue for most IT people. My prior backpacks that have met my needs. Swiss Gear, Maxxum & Synergy (Older Version), and Kenneth Cole Reaction. I mention them as a reference. My purpose for a backpack is to carry my laptop, electronics, and accessories. This includes 16 Laptop, 13 Work Laptop, & Tablet. Im glad to see it still has the key holder. I use mine for a small flashlight, ear plugs, & a swiss army knife attached via small S-biners. This is handy but does get in the way of using the pocket for a larger tablet. The pockets in the front compartment are ok, but I wish they had a small zippered pocket. The arrangement is fairly standard. The TSA friendly feature is handy for better access to the laptop compartment. The TSA has me remove my laptop anyway. They didnt get the memo. My 16 laptop is on the larger side and it fits comfortably. A 13 laptop fits easily into the tablet spot. Thus far the padding has protected my laptop in spite of the backpacks propensity to roll over (and often onto the floor). When it comes to sitting up, its not as stable as my reference backpacks. The battery pocket works. I have a battery just under the maximum capacity the TSA allows, so fairly large. Having the battery in that spot creates a pressure point on your laptop. So far thats not caused any problems but it seems odd. A mesh pocket above the laptop and/or tablet pockets would be handy. The USB cable is USB A. Safe but not the future. The cable is longer than it needs to be though maybe thats so you can use a battery lower in the compartment. The extra length can sometimes get in the way. The cable doesnt appear to be replaceable. Thats too bad. Cables wear out. One of the shoulder straps has the external USB A connection. A mesh pocket sits below it. It will hold a larger phone (S21 is what I used) for charging though its an awkward arrangement but probably functional. The luggage strap is too low or to thin to hold it stable when loaded. It tends to lean and that will throw smaller luggage you may have it strapped on, off balance. I had to grab the hanging strap to keep it stable while walking. The handle is improved. They have the same metal cable but the padding is better. The hardcase glasses pocket is a mixed bag. My sunglasses are in a hard case so for me a soft one would work better. I carry my ear buds in this pocket as well. Its tight but fits. The glasses pocket is also in the way of getting anything in and out of the main compartment. More so as you fill the pack. You can see this in the photo. If they put it on the back, it would be in the way of the two pockets but less in the way of accessing the main compartment. Its an annoyance. The two pockets are nice. They should have put a mesh compartment above the pockets for misc items. The potential spot for the mesh pocket is in the photo. The main compartment is small relative to the backpacks I reference above. But for every day carry thats a fair trade off. The backpack has 3 outside pockets, not counting the sunglasses spot. It could have 7. It should have more than it does. The two side pockets are ok. One is mesh for a beverage but also has a zipper compartment with some insulation. Its gimmicky but...I used it for its purpose so thumbs up. No problems there. The other side pocket is a shoe pocket. It has a mesh zipper pocket inside which I use for some cash that Id rather store in the front compartment if it had actually had such a pocket. I also store a small pouch of accessories I use often. Yes a pouch inside a pocket because otherwise everything would get lost in the shoe sleeve. I might use the sleeve for a rain jacket in the summer. The last outside pocket is the front pocket. This is essentially using the front flap as some bonus storage. Its a bad design. I bought the smallest USB cable organizer I could find and found it wouldnt fit. The inside is large enough the zipper isnt. You can see this in the photo. I ended up using another pouch for inside the pocket. Where I would put other pockets. Two small ones would fit, on the top half of each side. The front flap could fit a small one where the Black cloth and logo is. You could have two more below that for relativly flat items.. Either vertical, horizontal or a larger one to fit misc items you tend to pick like boarding passes, luggage claims and paper. With these and the mesh pockets they could have added, or even half of them, this pack would be far better than it is. But it lacks some of the design niceties they used to include in their older backpacks. With that and a tweak to the design of the sunglasses holder location I would have the best daily carry backpack Ive ever had. But thats not the case. Ive had to improvise solutions to problems that older backpacks had already figured out. The quest continues for a good EDC backpack. This will do until I find it, but this isnt it. That said, my first choice for that next one would still be Swiss Gear.

While there is a separate space for shoes, you cant fit a womens size 9.5 in the opening without smooshing the backs of the heel down...not ideal! Also, when you have shoes in that area you are very restricted on the interior space for other items. I would say this backpack is on the smaller to mid size...not something that works for middle school/high school needs!! We ultimately sent it back. If you need something small I can say the stitching/design looked solid/well made. If you are expecting to pack gym shoes and carry a laptop and notebooks this is not the backpack for you!!

Please look at the corresponding pictures in this review. This is not even the same backpack. There is no place to put a spare charging battery, even though it was specifically advertised, the accessory pockets are completely different, and the charging port is on the side of the bag and not on the strap even though the phone pocket is still there. I am assuming that they are just selling the defective ones on Amazon. Regardless, as this is Swiss Gears official store, I will not be buying from them again and would recommend you do the same.

Im a nursing student and needed something to organize all my stuff. Between class, lab and clinicals we have to take everything with us at all times. Before I had a one compartment bag and it was a disaster. Now I have all my stuff separated and its way more of a convenience switching between everything. I have no real use for the builtin charger cord thing, but its there. Only complaint is the same I seem to have with every product, which is there convenient place to put my 32oz Nalgene bottle. The bottle pouch is insulated but only fits a small bottle. I just use it to store other small items. Overall this is a great product!

A year ago, I got into a bad motorcycle accident where the bike itself was totaled. The Swiss backpack, however, survived with minor abrasions and slashes! The backpack fits my 17in gaming laptop, holds a ton of space, and even has a charging port on the strap (that unfortunately never worked!). If it wasnt for the port, Id give this bag 5 Stars.