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

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.

I used to use the Wegner grey backpack from Swiss as well. It was a sturdy backpack and lasted about four years. But then the straps started falling apart. So I ordered this because of all the upgraded features and boy am I happy I did! Starting with the color, its looks so good! The bag feels rugged and tough but still comfortable to wear everyday to university. Its a lot slimmer than the Wegner I used to have as well. That one was wide and felt a bit bulky. This one can carry more than that one and still feels great. The extra side pouch that pulls out is a big plus cause I can pack gum clothes in there. The charger on the side is a plus as well.

I’ve never seen a pack pack with this many features. It has amazing organization and spaces for everything I need. I love the sunglasses pouch, insulated drink compartment (it really works!), laptop holder, portable battery holder with wire, etc. Looks great too and amazing bag for travel/ tech enthusiasts. Bag holds SO MUCH STUFF, but is not bulky due to side strap pockets. Quality is so good I can imagine it lasting 5+ years.

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.

Bag is better than expected but straps are coming off. Just think that a SWISS bag should be more durable.

Everything you need

This is by far the best designed and constructed backpack Ive ever had. There are pockets designed for multiple specific tasks (though theyre adaptable) such as one for sunglasses and another to keep your drinks cold!

I originally purchased this bag just to hold 2 laptops and a few notebooks but it has gone WAY beyond that. Used it for: Hiking, carrying kids sports equipment, and even just full of course books and its been a champ the whole time. Note: If you put sunglasses in the holster area make sure you remember thats where you put them. Spent 2 hours looking until I realized where they were. Major fail. Awesome bag. 10/10.

The reason why I bought this is because I had one before that was recently stolen, I loved it so much I just had to get a new one. My only two complaints about this model (my first purchase) was the zipper on the quick access pocket broke, rendering it useless - you cant put a wallet or anything important in a broken pocket on the back of your backpack for risk of it falling out or someone stealing it. My other complaint was the USB phone pocket with way too small, it looked like it was designed for a flip phone from 2006 and theres no way a smartphone would fit believe me, I tried. When I was looking at pictures this one it looked the same, so I assumed they didnt update on the design. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they actually fixed it, it will now actually hold a smartphone. My only regret is the color / texture I chose. I wanted to try a different color, my old one was the black and red, the material seemed more durable this, this material almost feels like a polyester Jansport. they also updated the USB port which is also more secure and rubberized instead of plastic. Ill update my review and several months to tell you how the zipper is held up on this one. $100 price point seemed high considering it went to $85 the next day after I bought it, and it originally only cost me $69 at Target. Other than that, overall its a great backpack my orginal probably would lasted me 20 years if somebody didnt steal it. Hopefully I can keep this one safe!

Excellent backpack. Very thoughtful design. Many useful pockets. The shoe pocket also works for quick access to smaller travel bags that hold my laptop accessories or camera accessories. It’s nice to know that I always have access to a usb power bank via USB port on the backpack strap no matter where I go. Great thinking!