The Best Commuter Laptop Backpack

Backpacks are an essential part of a commuter’s day. Not only do we transport important objects, they’re one of the only products that bridge personal and work life. Our days start and end with the backpack, developing a closer relationship with this singular product than most others.

We spent dozens of hours (and many commutes) testing a crowd favorite – the commuter laptop bag. For employees who take their laptop on the go, this is the ideal backpack category. Known for their style and function, these backpacks are simple in nature and designed for everyday use. You won’t find a plethora of pockets and features, but all of them sport a laptop sleeve and a large pouch for your lunch or other belongings.

When done right, backpacks will get used five days a week and can be seen on the bus, train, or walking to the office. However, the bar is high. Since we develop close relationships with our backpacks, it’ll take something special to convince the recipient of the bag to give up the old for the new.

After a lengthy testing spree of bags, we recommend the Timbuk2 Parkside Laptop Backpack for its reliability, sleek design, and usability during your commute. We also recommend the Herschel Heritage Laptop Bag for its functional and popular design.

OUR RESEARCH METHODS

Over the span of several months, two testers used all bags for dozens of commutes, around the house, on the bus, and even on four different flights to test their performance in several categories:

Aesthetics – The overall look and feel of the bag. Simply put, does it look like something you’d want to take to work or out and about?

While we cannot say with certainty that everyone will agree with this subjective category, we believe that our top two choices stand above the competition. When considering how a bag should look, our priority was to find bags that most people would want to take to work.

Most of these bags come in only a handful of colors (this is by design). Most colors are neutral dark tones and maybe a navy blue if you’re lucky. Manufacturers want to create bags that people won’t object to. While this does limit your creativity a bit, look around, you don’t see a whole lot of pink and yellow backpacks on the bus.

Bag Size: Another consideration within aesthetics is the size of the bag. While all bags fit similar sized laptops, (all accommodated a 15-inch screen) the height of the bag varied. We found that we could group most of the bags into two categories: normal-sized and over-sized. More on the utility of each size later, but consider the size preference of your employees before proceeding.

Construction – Does the bag feel like it’s well made? Is the material durable and functional? Do the zippers work well?

Not all bags are built the same, even if they look similar. For the most part, we found that it’s true you get what you pay for when it comes to backpacks. However, we were surprised by some of the generic options. Our top performing generic bag, the Heritage Supply Tanner, felt like it would be flimsy at first, but fared better in our tests than its more expensive, branded counterparts.

Apart from the Timbuk2 Rogue Laptop Backpack, we don’t recommend any of these bags for long walks to work when it’s raining. Most commuter backpacks utilize a fabric blend for their material, which is great to look at, but not water resistant.

Comfort: Is the bag comfortable to wear when loaded? Are the straps and padding sufficient?

Surprisingly, the comfort category is where many of our favorite bags faltered. Now, before we get into that, something to consider is how often you’ll actually wear your backpack. Most commutes go somewhat like this: pack your bag, wear it briefly to the car, place it on the passenger seat until you get to work, wear it as you walk to the office, put it under your desk for eight hours, then reverse that for the trip home. Even if you throw in a trip or two on the subway/bus, they still don’t spend that much time on your back.

This is all to say that even though they get a lot of use compared to other types of bags, you won’t be wearing them all that much. None of the bags were uncomfortable, and if your load consists mostly of a laptop, lunch and water bottle, you’ll be fine regardless of your choice.

In our tests, the Timbuk2 bags underperformed relative to their competition, with noticeably less supportive padding in the straps and back. The Herschel backpacks had more padding but provided rigid straps that we assume will be more comfortable the more its worn. Our generic options all had less padding than their branded counterparts, but most were surprisingly comfortable as they conformed to your shoulders and back.

Utility – Does the bag work well? Can it fit everything you would expect it to?

For our testing, each bag needed to hold our laptop, lunch, water bottle, headphones, snack, and other small items. All bags were able to hold those items, with the larger bags offering plenty of space for additional items including a change of clothes for an evening workout.

Both of our picks, the Timbuk2 Parkside and the Herschel Heritage bag, have very similar storage. The generic options tend to be a little smaller, but still enough for most. Our largest bags (the Presidio, Little America, and Rogue) are much larger. If you need an extra pair of shoes or are going on a weekend trip, you’ll need the extra space, but for most, lugging a huge bag to and from work every day is probably overkill.

Organization – Does the bag have enough pockets? Are you able to easily access your laptop and other items?

All bags tested included a built-in laptop pouch to keep your tech safe and protected. Most bags contain one large pouch where everything is stored, and then a secondary external pocket meant for quick access. As mentioned, the external Herschel pockets tend to be smaller, while the Timbuk2 options are built for iPads and more storage. It’s really a matter a preference.

The larger bags may offer too much storage, with deep cavities making it difficult to access items at the bottom of the bag.

Decoration: Does this bag allow for stylish branding?

See the section below on bag decorations for more tips, but here we will say that each bag offers different flexibility in terms of decoration. For most backpacks, you’re going to be best off with a nice embroidered logo on one of the larger front pockets. Some bags, notably the Presidio and Herschel bags, offer less flexibility, with a defined logo placement on the front.

Using the above metrics, each bag was graded on its performance by each tester, and the total scores were averaged accordingly. The Timbuk2 Parkside and Herschel Heritage bags had the highest combined score.

For SwagLab, we try to compare apples to apples. That’s why we didn’t include the Peak Design backpack in our commuter backpack test, but still want to mention it. Priced around $250, it isn’t fair to compare them to the other bags in our test – and that’s okay.

For employee recognition, holiday gifts, or milestone anniversaries, a Peak Design product is a great option. Built especially for photography enthusiasts, this bag can fit all your equipment and more (and yes, it also has a spot for your laptop).

That being said, this bag isn’t for everyone. The Peak Design bag eclipses all others we tested in term of size. If you have a lot of gear for work or take to the mountains for photography trips on the weekend, you’ll love the Peak Design bag.

DECORATION TIPS
As we hinted at earlier, you have a few options in terms of decorating on backpacks. Most companies will opt for logo placement on the larger compartments of the bag.

Embroidery: For backpacks, the most common decoration is embroidery. Since bags are subjected to more wear and tear than a t-shirt, embroidery is a good option to ensure your design lasts and fits the look of a quality bag. Embroidery can often be decorated on several parts of the bag, but keep in mind the limitations each bag may bring. Since we run our own print shop, we know about these limitations firsthand. The main consideration is if the embroidery hoop and arm of the machine will fit within the pocket or location you want. If that sounds too technical, just know there may be some testing required to double check if a particular spot works for embroidery (or if the logo size needs adjusting).

Patches/Labels: Another great option with a very retail look is a patch or woven label. They come in all different types and materials from faux leather to PVC. Most labels and patches can also hold more detail than embroidery, so if you need to retain small text, this could the method for you. Again, the limitation here is how the sewing machine can get into and around the bag in order to sew on the label. Yes, we do this in-house too.

Limitations: Some bag brands limit what decoration type and locations are allowed. Herschel is quite specific about additional branding – only heat transfers are allowed and only within a specific imprint size and location. The Presidio stipulates the co-branding must be embossed on a specific leather patch. These rules do seem limiting, but the brand is simply trying to protect the overall look of their item.

Heat Transfers: As we just mentioned with the Herschel bag, heat transfers are another option. The benefits are a variety of transfer material options, but the fabric of the bag must be considered and even tested to see what works best. The heat press pallet will also need to fit within the bag for proper pressing.

As with most products, we encourage our clients to take a more creative approach to designing bags. Instead of massive logo placement, consider adding more subtle branding or using a sewn-on patch. Not only do these design choices look better, but it’s more likely that the recipient of the product will get more use out of the backpack.