styli sh laptop bag s
Lug your lavish tech about in comfort, and look good while doing so
Carry the load and look good doing so
Let’s be honest, shall we? A good laptop bag is essential in this day and age. Whether you need to carry your tech, your lunch or missioncritical documents, we all rely upon being able to move around
our stuff day-to-day without it getting lost or damaged en route. So choosing a bag should be at the top of your purchasing list.
That bag needs to look good, too. That’s why we’ve tested six of the most stylish laptop bags to help you find the ideal one. Each of these bags does its job a little differently to the next, but there’s a few things they all must do: carry your tech around in relative safety (bonus points if the bag offers more than a laptop sleeve), and make you look good when you’re on the move.
swish and minimalist carrying ted baker Stark £279, tedbaker.com
If you must have a briefcase for carrying your stuff, you could do a lot worse than this gorgeous offering from Ted Baker, decorated in a slick micro-perfortated leather outer. The lining is classic TB, with a funky print, and you get lots of pockets within which to stash your belongings. There’s a padded laptop sleeve, which, though designed for a 13-incher, sadly won’t accomodate thicker, older laptops. The chunky handles are great to grasp, and there’s a shoulder strap for added comfort.
bombproof, but lacks comfort brooks Rivington £240, brooksengland.com
Brooks designs gear primarily for cycling, so rest assured this bag is tough and weatherproof, with a water-resistant fabric that looks and feels nice to the touch. There’s a huge amount of space inside, plenty of pockets, and a padded sleeve for a 15-inch laptop. All good, then? Oddly, for a bag that’s designed to be carried while riding – where comfort is key – the unpadded nylon straps hurt after a few minutes. And though the back is padded, we felt our laptop digging into our lower back.
simple but effective herschel heritage £60, herschelsupplyco.co.uk
A simple bag for simple pleasures, the Herschel Heritage gives you that back-toschool feel with a retro vibe. Inside you get a single yet generous laptop sleeve. It isn’t padded, though, so be careful what you place against it. There’s also a neat lower pocket for storing your phone, and a headphone port located higher up for listening to music without a cable getting in your way. The Heritage is capacious, comfy and cool, and you can buy it in a frankly ludicrous 45 unique colour options.
a good all- rounder Patagonia Arbor Class ic 25L £65, eu-patagonia.com
Patagonia’s take on the vintage-style backpack is light in the hand, and has a tough 600D polyester fabric with a DWR finish for taking on the worst the city has to offer. There’s loads of room inside, thanks to the single storage space, plus a generous smattering of zippered compartments. The padded insert will take even the chunkiest of laptops, too. Despite the lack of padding on the back and shoulder straps, it feels good to wear, though we did notice a bit of laptop intrusion on our lower back.
rat race- surviving abilities Miss ion workshop Rhake From £279.79, missionworkshop.com
If you have to ascend a mountain to get to the office, the military-spec Rhake is as rugged as it gets, with a choice of HT500 or MultiCam Cordura fabric; you can also spec super-tough Cobra AustriAlpin front connectors (for a £46 premium). Want pockets? This thing has all of them, with a laptop insert and hidden tablet pocket. Each gets a weatherproof lining and waterresistant zips. Well-padded straps make it comfy to wear, though the chest strap lacks adjustment for, ahem, larger folks.
lots of hidden charm East pak Floid £65, eastpak.com
As well as looking rather fetching – more so in this Corlange Spice colour – the Floid has plenty to offer on the inside. There’s a padded laptop sleeve, and though the main compartment isn’t huge (it’s just 16L in capacity), you get two good-sized pockets on the front, a hidden expandable bottle holder, and another pocket at the rear, hidden from view. The latter is perfect for storing valuables, though annoyingly the lack of padding means if it’s a phone you’re stashing, you’ll feel it against your back.