 This Product
The North Face Borealis | |||||
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| Awards |  | | |||
| Price | $98.95 at Backcountry Compare at 3 sellers | $30 List $29.99 at Amazon | $48.74 at Backcountry | $65 List $65.01 at Amazon | $40 List $38.95 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Functional, plentiful storage, water-resistant fabric, inexpensive, versatile | Inexpensive, external USB port, several pockets | Inexpensive, simple, durable | Good price, holds lots of books and binders, easy to use | Inexpensive, great organization, professional profile and style, easy to use |
| Cons | Not super stylish | Thin shoulder strap padding, jangly zippers | Difficult zippers, minimal padding, no water bottle pocket | Uncomfortable when weighted down, poor protection, questionable craftsmanship | Poor water bottle holder, no battery pack with charging station, questionable quality |
| Bottom Line | This spacious backpack offers functionality and value that is unmatched | An affordable laptop backpack with a lot of different pockets for adaptable carrying capacity | This super simple laptop backpack has the form of a traditional kids' school pack with the modern-looking material of a model for adults | A classic model built for students who carry a lot of books | A feature-laden option that does the trick for a super low price |
| Rating Categories | The North Face Bore... | Matein Travel | Herschel Heritage | Jansport Right Pack | Tzowla Travel |
| Laptop Protection (25%) | |||||
| Comfort (20%) | |||||
| Storage (15%) | |||||
| Ease of Use (15%) | |||||
| Water Resistance (15%) | |||||
| Style (10%) | |||||
| Specs | The North Face Bore... | Matein Travel | Herschel Heritage | Jansport Right Pack | Tzowla Travel |
| Volume (L) | 28 L | 28L | 21.5 L | 31 L | Not listed |
| Weight | 2.7 lbs | 1.7 lbs | 1.2 lbs | 1.3 lbs | 1.8 lbs |
| Number of Compartments | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Dimensions | 19.75 x 13.5 x 8.5 in. | 18 x 12 x 7.8 in. | 18 x 12.25 x 5.5 in. | 18 x 13 x 8.5 in. | 19.29 x11.8 x 5.43 in. |
| Number of Large Pockets | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Number of Small Pockets | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Key Clip? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reflective Material? | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| External Side Pocket(s) | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| External Water Bottle Holder? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Fits Laptop | 15" | 15.6" | 15" | 17" | 15" |
| Hip belt | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Sternum Strap | Yes | No | No | No | No |
The North Face Borealis offers the best value of all the laptop backpacks we tested. It is highly versatile with 28L of storage. Its new updates make it more functional and protective, at a lower price. Take it to work or on your next hike — this is one of our favorites.
The protection offered by the Borealis is reliable and trustworthy. It has a separate access compartment for the laptop that is soft, but not fleece-lined. It will fit any size of laptop up to 15 inches and is tight enough that a thinner tablet won't slide right down to the bottom. When loaded down with other stuff, the compartment is tight but will fit wider PCs as well as super-thin MacBook Pros. Our 15-inch MacBook Pro and 11-inch MacBook Air were both well protected in this backpack compartment.
A backpack that earns top marks in this category will typically have a system to keep the laptop off the ground, with additional protection around the sides of the laptop. Also, it should have thicker cushioning in these areas. The Borealis scores well here because it has all those things, minus the thicker cushioning. The backplate of the pack features heavy cushioning that protects the computer if the backpack falls onto its back.
Inside the pack, there is a built-in suspension system that keeps the contents about two inches off the ground. This feature protects when you accidentally throw your bag onto a concrete surface, forgetting there's a valuable piece of equipment inside. Furthermore, with the suspension system, there is padding that seems to be about one-inch thick around the bottom of the bag.
While we love these features, we wish for a touch more padding around the top sides of the bag. Inherently, if it's loaded up, this additional cushioning provides more protection, but if it's empty the top of the laptop is susceptible to damage if the bag falls onto its side near the top. There is no additional strap to keep it in place, but the slim profile of the backpack keeps items from moving around. Overall, good protection that is trusty and reliable.
This model is a comfortable laptop backpack that you can wear all day. It offers an ergonomic fit with a variety of adjustments to ensure a nice fit. The backplate offers excellent airflow offering utility as a hiking backpack or a great travel option. The straps are thick, flexible, and comfortable on the shoulders. We also appreciate both the sternum and hip strap.
As one of the most comfortable backpacks we've tested, we are happy to recommend it for all-day, anywhere use. The backpack straps feature foam that has a built-in venting system integrated inside of it. The foam is flexible and lays flat on the shoulders, with its construction providing an even weight distribution. The adjustable straps are spaced widely apart which offers both a unisex and versatile fit for those that are large to small. Affixed to the straps is a sternum strap that can be slid up and down on a built-in track. The track is long, which we like, giving you lots of options for weight distribution and fit.
The backplate is also comfortable. It features two padding sections that run lateral to the spine, with the spine sitting against a depressed flap of material that offers superior airflow. While this material is nice and breathable, our only caveat is that it's a little bit scratchy when worn directly against the skin.
The integrated hip belt, which is hard to find on many laptop backpacks, adds versatility to this bag. Given its less techy and more outdoorsy design, it also functions nicely as a hiking backpack. The hip belt is pretty thin without additional padding and can be tucked away into the expandable water bottle holders if you don't want the straps flopping around when not in use. This model is a comfortable laptop backpack that we would recommend for any situation where you might need a daypack.
Designed thoughtfully, we enjoy the 28L of completely utilizable storage. From the back of the bag, it has one main laptop compartment, a large high volume pocket, one medium pocket (with organizational capabilities), and small easy-to-access outer pocket. Exterior storage includes two container vessels on either side of the backpack that we love and an updated bungee system. One cool feature is a little Velcro tab at the top of the laptop storage space, meaning that if you don't have a laptop inside, you can affix a hydration bladder to the inside if using it as a hiking pack.
The laptop compartment, as mentioned above, fits laptops and tablets up to 15 inches in size. We would recommend only putting one computer into this compartment as there is no additional separation barrier to keep the computers from rubbing against each other.
The large volume pocket is perfect for stashing papers, books, gym clothes, shoes, and the like. There are no additional organizational pockets in this space either. In a lot of ways, it's nice because you can put anything in there. We fit a jacket, shoes, papers, books, and more. The bottom of the pack is expandable, allowing you to store quite a bit.
The medium pocket is a tiered system. This arrangement means that it sits in front of the large compartment, but doesn't impede the storage of it. It's about half the size, with the pocket depth about half the size of the larger pocket to the back. In this pocket, there is a place to stash a tablet, smaller books, a journal, and the like. It also has a zippered compartment, perfect for your power source, in addition to several smaller organizational pockets to store power cords, pens, and keys.
The small pocket in the front has a fleece material lining. We commonly used this to house our cell phone, keys (just because it's more accessible), or a pair of sunglasses.
The water bottle holders are the most practical that we've seen thus far. Both are made up of expandable mesh that'll fit super wide bottles. Also, when the bag is loaded up, they work just fine because of their expandable nature — a hard feature to find. The bungee system is perfect for affixing a helmet or jacket that is too large to store inside of the backpack.
The Borealis is a super simple backpack that is very easy to use. All the compartments are closed with big and easy-to-pull zippers. The main compartment zipper zips half the length of the main compartment, making finding items quite easy. Several adjustments throughout the bag aren't too complex, which adds to its simplicity. We like the separate computer compartment, as you don't have to dig through other stuff to get to it.
In general, there is a lot of storage with quite obvious utility. There aren't too many pockets, and the organizational options make sense for the average person. We enjoy the adjustable bungee system and water bottle holders that are incredibly functional and simple to use.
This backpack is not waterproof, but the fabric offers a good level of water resistance. In our shower tests, we put this bag under the nozzle for about one minute, agitating the fabric, to see if any water got inside. We also stood in the rain and specifically noted which compartments did and did not get wet.
All the zippers protected by flap covers offered a fantastic level of water protection. After a minute under a raging spray from the shower, and sitting in a pool of water, the front pocket was bone dry. The fabric held up from the spray, offering protection from rainstorms and the like.
The zippers, like most backpacks, are a different story. When opening the medium compartment, we saw a big pool of water sitting at the bottom of the pocket, even though the material in the pocket seemed to be dry. Through the large main compartment, there were a few water drops along the length of the backpack but not much more than that.
In the laptop compartment, we stuffed a cotton shirt, to see if any moisture got in. Sadly, at the very bottom, there were a few drops of water. The material of the bottom is decently water-resistant, the seams and zippers aren't watertight. This issue could improve by adding more flaps over the zippers for enhanced protection.
If you're into the outdoorsy look, you may love this backpack. It reminds us of a simple school bag and doesn't offer the hippest design. That said, it's still cute enough to wear around town and to work, but it doesn't make you look any cooler than you already are.
This high-value laptop backpack is also highly versatile. It's best for those seeking a backpack that you can take to work as well as on the trails. As a lower-priced option, it's also recommended for those looking to pinch a few pennies.
GearLab is founded on the principle of honest, objective, reviews. Our experts test thousands of products each year using thoughtful test plans that bring out key performance differences between competing products. And, to assure complete independence, we buy all the products we test ourselves. No cherry-picked units sent by manufacturers. No sponsored content. No ads. Just real, honest, side-by-side testing and comparison.
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