Protect Your Computer on the Go With These Laptop Bags and Backpacks

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Whether you travel frequently, commute daily, or occasionally escape to your local coffee shop to work, you know the challenges of safely carrying a laptop. From hurriedly dropping it into a TSA security bin or trying to jam it into your shapeless messenger bag, it can easily take a beating. And the tiniest of bumps or dings can mean you’ll need to part with your computer for a few days or more to send it in for repairs.

Fortunately, there are backpacks and commuter bags that take into consideration the importance of an integrated laptop sleeve. Some bags have fixed and heavily padded laptop panels, while others have side zippers for easy access to your computer without the need to unpack everything else. Many also have features like built-in power banks and USB ports for added convenience.

No matter how or why you travel, these are the best laptop bags for keeping your computer secure.

What to Consider

Use and Materials

Think about how you’ll use your laptop bag. Do you need a versatile backpack that’s big enough to carry your laptop plus clothing and other necessities for a few days’ worth of travel? Or would a smaller, more minimalist day bag for daily commutes suffice?

As a general rule, the more a bag costs, the more likely it is to be made with quality materials and offer better construction—think leather, ripstop nylon, and heavy-duty canvas. Budget bags are sometimes made with low-quality materials and, though they can still be good bags for a year or so, they’ll likely show wear and tear quickly with heavy use. If you plan to put your bag through its daily paces, go with something more durable.

Design and Style

How many pockets do you need? In addition to the laptop sleeve, some bags don’t have much more than a main compartment and a few smaller pockets for your phone, keys, water bottle, and other items. Others open up or expand to reveal pockets for organizing toiletries, a tablet, and whatever else you’re hauling. No matter what you choose, make sure the bag’s laptop sleeve can accommodate the dimensions of your laptop.

Finally, consider the bag’s aesthetics: Do you want a professional-looking briefcase-type bag? A backpack with extra room for commuting essentials? Or more of an outdoor-focused bag you can take on camping trips? The list below includes various styles, such as roller bags and shoulder bags.

How We Selected

In addition to my own experience as a travel writer and gear tester, I weighed consumer reviews, did market research, and conducted a thorough evaluation of price, features, materials, and overall value to come up with these recommendations. I also limited the list to only verifiable brands with some level of manufacturer guarantees. I considered only bags and backpacks that are well reviewed and those designed with padded laptop sleeves. Here are the laptop bags I recommend.

The Expert: I’m a freelance travel writer and editor, meaning I frequently travel and always have my laptop with me. My laptop is my office, so I take protecting it very seriously. My trips regularly include adventure travel, so having very protective tech gear is important, especially when my luggage gets rained on or tossed in the back of pickup trucks. I’ve tested plenty of protective gear for laptops, tablets, and camera gear, and have learned what brands and materials provide the best protection for expensive tech items.

Work Medium Cargo Backpack

Need a bag that can go from commuting to traveling to sitting near a desk in your next in-office meeting? Equal parts vintage aviator and modern Wall Street, the Briggs and Riley Work Medium Cargo Backpack is loaded with features.

In addition to aesthetically pleasing elements like leather detailing, this backpack has heavily padded and lockable tech pockets, USB and headphone pockets, and is made with nearly wear-proof materials. If you do happen to damage it, though, Briggs and Riley has a no-questions-asked lifetime guarantee.

Little America Backpack Mid-Volume

The slim and compact Little America backpack isn’t just highly rated, it’s also highly practical, especially for urban commuters trying to squeeze into crowded public transportation or cycle through heavy traffic.

It has a padded, fleece-lined pouch for laptops up to 13 inches and mesh back padding to encourage airflow, helping to avoid those dreaded sweat spots if you’re commuting to work on a warm day. Need more room? Consider the classic 25-liter model, instead.

Travel Computer Backpack

If you don’t leave the house without at least a laptop, a phone, and a tablet, check out this surprisingly affordable Kroser computer backpack. Despite its rather average size, it fits a laptop up to 17 inches and has several extra tech pockets for a tablet, headphones, a phone, and smaller items. But the best feature might be the external USB port so you can charge your tech on the go.

Classic Leather Slim Backpack

This sleek and classically styled leather backpack from Samsonite is a bag that’ll last you for decades—on account of its style and its durable leather material. Like a good trench coat, it’ll be appropriate to carry even when other style trends come and go. I especially like that the backpack has a separate padded laptop pocket, plus two additional slim zippered pockets for tablets, notebooks, and paperwork.

Subterra Travel Pack

If you need to haul your work supplies and clothing for a short trip but don’t want to deal with fancy features or open a dozen pockets to find what you need, consider the very straightforward Thule Subterra Travel Pack. Its simple design has a large central pocket with a mesh zipper, a removable padded laptop/tablet sleeve, and a smaller pocket for keys or your phone. It also has a long side strap if you’d rather sling it over your shoulder than wear it on your back.

Carry On Pro

Frequent fliers who prefer carry-on luggage need to be diligent in their bag selection. With your clothing, shoes, and larger items filling a roller, duffel bag, or other suitcase, you’ll have to pack everything you need during the flight, including your electronics and laptop, into a bag that fits beneath the seat in front of you. Unless you use the July Carry On Pro, that is. The roller bag has everything you want in a piece of carry-on luggage, like a compression panel and hard shell, but it also has an external removable padded case for a laptop, tablet, and other thin items. Because it snaps onto the carry-on, it doesn’t count as a separate bag, but you can remove it to keep at your seat. And that frees up your under-the-seat space for a non-laptop bag, like an extra duffel or camera case.

Tasra Del Dia 16-Liter Backpack

The 16-liter Tasra isn’t particularly large compared to a standard backpack, but it has a lot going for it that makes it a compelling choice. First and foremost is its sustainability: Cotopaxi is well-known in the outdoor world for its industry-leading sustainability practices, and the Del Dia line of bags exemplifies that better than any other product. All the bags are made from fabric scraps that would otherwise end up in landfills, meaning each bag has a unique color combo based on whomever was sewing them on any given day. The smaller size works well for commuting by bike or carrying to a crowded restaurant, and in addition to a padded laptop pocket, the backpack has two large front pockets for cords and chargers, wallets, a phone, or other small travel accessories. The straps also tuck away, which helps the pack slide neatly under a seat.

The Essential Features of a Laptop Bag, According to Expert Suzie Dundas

PM: What makes something specifically a laptop bag?
S.D.: There’s no hard and fast definition of what makes something a laptop bag or not. Generally, any bag with a slim, padded pocket for a laptop counts as a “laptop bag,” but it might technically be a backpack, briefcase, carry-on bag, or messenger bag. A laptop bag isn’t any specific style; it’s just a catch-all term for any type of bag with a laptop-specific pocket.

PM: Is a padded laptop pocket the only feature that matters in a laptop bag?
S.D.: A padded pocket for a laptop is the defining feature of a laptop bag, but it might not be the only feature to consider for some buyers. Other useful features for travelers with laptops include smaller pockets to organize cords, chargers, and USB devices; straps or zippers to keep the laptop in place; smaller pockets for iPads or tablets; and power banks or external ports to charge your tech on the go.

PM: Do I need a laptop bag and a laptop sleeve?
S.D.: That’s up to you. Certainly, a separate laptop sleeve (a slim, padded case) combined with a padded laptop bag adds more protection than either one alone. But a laptop bag with a built-in padded sleeve is probably enough for the bumps and drops of average travel. And most laptop bags are meant to be used without a laptop sleeve, so it might be a tight squeeze to fit your laptop inside a laptop bag if it’s also inside a laptop sleeve. Laptop sleeves are useful if you need to carry your laptop in a bag that doesn’t have padding, but for most people, a laptop bag probably provides enough protection.

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