Review: Booq’s Boa.XM [system]

I’m always trying out new bags, in search for the perfect combination of design, functionality, construction, and usability. I’ve been a BOOQ fan for a while, they’re an industry leader in quality, design, and construction– and I was thrilled when I was given a chance to really ruggedly test the new Boa.XM System during my trip to Paris. First and foremost, the backpack is really designed around protecting your gadgets, files, papers, etc. The system comes with one of their signature Vyper sleeves, a FonePaq, and PDApaq. The backpack itself has an entirely separate zippered compartment for your laptop, that fits a Vyper sleeve with your laptop inside like a glove. The construction of the sides of the compartment are almost completely solid– read: no crushing, banging, or denting, and it almost has briefcase qualities. It did a great job protecting everything I brought– and I packed this thing to the max. I found the whole backpack to be very useable, every pocket had a purpose. There weren’t any extra or useless pockets. I managed to stuff a pillow in the center compartment with all my other goodies, and zipped it up so tight, it looked as if the zippers were going to burst– but alas a weekend of rugged travel and they held up, and when I unpacked it at home it looked as good as new.

There were very few downfalls to the bag, but here’s what I noticed. Once it’s full, it’s really full. That means no place to strap a jacket on, no place for water bottles, no room for anything extra– when it’s full, it’s full. The waist strap was a little weak, even though the shoulder strap design was ergonomic and quite comfortable, I found the waist strap design was hard to use, and uncomfortable. I don’t think it would take much to beef this feature up and really please some heavy travelers. Overall though, it was a great bag, with rock solid construction and attention to details throughout– I give it a nod of approval to anyone looking for real solid protection.