Best Genuine Leather Backpacks for 2021
Whether you’re traveling to work or school, using a backpack is the most comfortable way to carry your laptop, books, and anything else you need for the day. A backpack is more ergonomic than a messenger bag, holds more than a briefcase, and looks more stylish than a rolling bag. We’ve designed some backpacks that are best laptop backpacks for commuting on buses, trains, cars, bikes, and planes.
Although every person has their respective criteria of a perfect backpack, the bags we recommend can carry a laptop and its power supply, remain comfortable to carry while commuting, and look classy at the same time.
We have backpacks that are suitable for people who travel by tube, buses, train, cars or bike. The backpacks are ultra-organised tech wranglers for people who want different compartments, for the fashion-forward and those who want something small, easy to carry and stylish. The backpacks can be used for short weekend trips, and for fitness-minded folks who bring their gym gear to work.
North Star Backpack from Salamanca Leathers
Who it’s for: This is a great bag that has a lot of space if you intend to carry around a ton of tech and your main concern is keeping it all organized and safe. It looks suit an office setting well.
Why it’s great: The North Star Backpack holds and organizes an impressive amount of gear without bulging or coming across as aggressively techy-looking. It is backed by a lifetime warranty against defects. Even more important, it’s comfortable to sling over your shoulder.
For two weeks, I carried a 13-inch MacBook Pro and its charger, an iPad, a planner, a notepad, a keyboard, various cables, two power banks, my keys, and a travel mug inside the backpack. (That’s a lot of technology for one bag.)
Even with all of that stuffed inside, the bag was comfortable and easy to carry around. Because of quarantine orders throughout 2020, I couldn’t travel far, but I did spend hours wearing the backpack while walking around my neighbourhood to get a sense of how it distributed weight.
Thanks to the bag’s robust straps and back panel, my walks were always pleasant. The pack’s fit was stable and comfortable thanks to the adjuster that allowed its two shoulder straps to change size.
The North Star backpack’s huge number of pockets and compartments let me slot everything I wanted to carry into specific places, so items were easy to find. The back compartment is suitable for a memo pad or a laptop up to 17 inches, as is the main pocket in the bag’s central compartment.
The front compartment has an assortment of storage options. I found the two separate exterior zipper pockets on the front useful for smaller things that I wanted to grab regularly, such as my external battery pack and an SD card.
Oliver Blake Backpack from Salamanca Leathers
Who it’s for: The Oliver Blake Backpack will suit you if you’re a practical city commuter.
Why it’s great: The Oliver Blake Backpack combines a slim aesthetic (in colours ranging from flashy to subdued) with a practical design that is perfect for subway commutes. Its main pocket can easily fit a wide variety of stuff—notebooks, chargers, books, headphones—and the back compartment for your laptop.
During testing, the bag’s outside zippered pockets were big enough to fit a portable charger, a snack, some cables, and a Kindle.
The pack is extremely light, and its shoulder straps are cushy and padded, so it will remain supremely comfortable even after you’ve filled it with all of your work essentials.
Although our tester—and some of our colleagues—loved the bright, bold colour options of the Oliver Black Backpack (we originally tested it in Cognac and Bordeaux). The backpack is available in various colours for everyone’s tastes.
