Swissgear Getaway Laptop Backpack review

Feb 15, 2024

The Swissgear Getaway Laptop Backpack weighs just over one pound, contains simple built-in organization and, most importantly, snugly fits my 14-inch laptop.

Lightweight yet sturdy quality

Minimalistic, clean design

Easy-to-use zippers with rubber extenders

Simple and effective organization

Thin, minimally-padded fabric

Skinny carrying handle

No side pockets for water bottles

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The Swissgear Getaway Laptop Backpack is the perfect bag for minimalists, designed for those who want to travel as light as possible and in style. This sleek backpack barely weighs more than a pound, and it’s an excellent option for day trips, overnight stays, or simple commutes.

Little design elements make the bag feel high-quality, like the easy-to-pull rubber extenders on zippers, the Swissgear logo made with metal and leather, and the eye-catching pinstripe liner inside the bag. The dark grey exterior fabric looks timeless, and it feels thin and breathable, but durable.

Most importantly, the Swissgear Getaway Backpack has a dedicated sleeve for laptops up to 13 inches wide and a few simple pockets to keep your small odds and ends organized. You can fit a few changes of clothes inside, or some textbooks, a pencil bag, headphones, and other school supplies.

This backpack certainly isn’t perfect, but for the right person, the upsides eclipse any downsides. Let’s get into what I loved about this laptop bag, and what I think could’ve been better!

The Swissgear Getaway Laptop Backpack is available for $48.99 from the Swissgear website. There are five color options to choose from, including Camo Two-Tone Print, Granite Winter Turq, Noir Satin, Urban Heather, and Heather Gray. At the time of writing, the only color option in stock is Heather Gray, which is the color of our review unit.

Because this backpack is a compact, lightweight option for people looking for a simple daily-use bag, it’s no wonder so many color options are sold out. It boasts a 13-inch wide laptop sleeve inside that effortlessly accommodated my 14-inch laptop, and despite having only one main compartment, it fit everything I needed it to with room on top for extra stuff.

Swissgear’s Getaway Backpack demonstrates how timeless a minimalist design can be. The bag’s simplicity makes it attractive, with a solid black strip on the bottom, textured grey fabric adorning the rest of the bag, and black accents from the zippers and their chains. The exterior polyester fabric is slightly rough to the touch and thin, but there’s padding where you need it most.

Inside, there’s a decorative lining with a grey and white diagonal pinstripe pattern. Then, all zippers have long, rubber extenders that add fashion and function to the bag. These zipper extenders are eye-catching, but their intended purpose is to make it easier to zip and unzip the bag and its pockets.

The best part about this backpack’s design is how incredibly light it is. It weighs just over one pound when empty, and it’s fairly compact as well, measuring 17.5 x 12.5 x 6 inches. If you have to cart around multiple textbooks or a hefty laptop, this one-pound backpack ensures you’re not carrying any more weight than you need to. The laptop compartment measures 13.5 x 11 x 1 inches.

For the price, it would’ve been nice to see a few extra design elements. There are no side pockets for a water bottle or an umbrella, and there’s no water-resistant fabric or a luggage strap. The carrying handle is also thin and slightly scratchy, which feels like a missed opportunity when you look at the high-quality of the logo on the bag’s front and the rubber extenders on the zippers.

For some, the Getaway Laptop Backpack may not have enough storage space. There’s only one zipper compartment with open storage space, two built-in slip pockets, a thinly padded laptop sleeve for up to 13-inch wide laptops, and a small, detached zipper pouch for your phone, wallet, or keys. Others may find this amount of storage to be plenty.

Looking at this backpack, I didn’t know if all of my daily-use items for work would fit inside — but they did! I packed my 14-inch laptop, two hard-cover, spiral planners, a medium-sized journal, a paperback book, a standing pen bag, and a thin pencil bag. To my surprise, there was still a little room in the bag for an extra book or a water bottle. There was also extra room above my belongings to store something small or malleable, like snacks or a sweater.

On the bag’s front, there are two quick-access pockets. One is big enough to hold a small- to medium-sized book or some extra pens and pencils, and the other is too small for a smartphone, so it might be better suited for sticky notes, keys, or a wallet.

The shoulder straps on this bag feel thin and barely padded, but they’re soft on bare skin and provide enough support for what the bag can hold inside. It feels comfortable to wear for long periods of time, even if the bag is fully packed.

You can adjust the shoulder straps when the bag is on your back, but trying to adjust them when it’s off your back is a bit difficult. To raise the bag higher on your back, you’ll pull down on the strap tails to tighten them. To lower the bag, you can pull up on the plastic strap clips and let out some slack.

The Getaway Laptop Backpack has a slightly reinforced bottom, so while your belongings might sag a little bit inside, they won’t completely sink. This makes the bag more comfortable to wear, and also protects your belongings when you set the bag down on a hard floor.

Whether you’re familiar with Swissgear as a brand or not, you might recognize one of the company’s first best selling products: the Swiss Army Knife. Swissgear has a history of making high-quality products, and that trend continues in the Getaway Laptop Backpack and Swissgear’s other products.

Any product purchased through Swissgear.com automatically receives a 10-year extended warranty. According to the card attached to our review unit, “the warranty applies when the product is used under normal conditions for which it is designed.”

Swissgear’s Getaway Laptop Backpack is perfect if you’re looking for something minimal in every way except quality. It’s super lightweight, only has one main compartment to fill, and two simple external pockets. The shoulder straps and overall fabric is thin, but it feels durable and of high-quality.

If you need a simple bag to hold a few days worth of clothes or textbooks and school supplies, you’ll be happy with the Getaway Laptop Backpack. There’s enough organization inside to keep the important stuff separated — like your laptop, keys, and wallet — but you won’t invest in unnecessary space or pockets that you’ll never use.

If you like having separate pockets for your belongings or you have a lot to pack inside a bag, you probably won’t like this backpack’s minimalistic design. Similarly, if you can’t do without side pockets for a water bottle or an umbrella, you should opt for a different backpack.

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