Booq Boa Shift – Accessory Review
Last November we had the chance to offer you our opinion of Booq’s Boa Squeeze, a normal sized backpack with a decent amount of storage and enough padding to keep your gadgets safe from harm’s way. Recently Booq was so nice to supply us with a slightly bigger pack from the Boa collection, namely the Boa Shift. We hope this one will perform just as great as its smaller counterpart.
As stated in the introduction, the Boa Shift is slightly bigger as the Boa Squeeze, making it a tad bigger than other daypacks. Booq often opts for a fairly classy design and this bag is no exception, except for the two white ‘tears’ on the front of the bag. These two tears make the design a bit more sporty, compared to many of the other bags. Most of the pockets are well hidden and the side pockets, without zippers, are only barely visible. This creates a smoother whole without too many excess exterior ‘nonsense’. Overall the bag is suited for any occasion.
With the larger size, comes the option to store a bit more items you wish to bring with you on your travels:
- On the front of the bag you will find one zippered pocket, which is neatly hidden behind the stitching on the right side. The front pocket will allow you to store some smaller items, such as a small notepad, pens and so on.
- The main compartment on the bag has zippers that go down to right above the base of the bag, thus allowing you to open the bag further than the Boa Squeeze. This makes it easier to fit in bigger items. On the backside of the lid that opens the main compartment, you will find one small zipper closed, netted pocket to story some small items and two other open pockets. These two pockets are also able to store only several small items, such as a phone. If you desire to do so, you can even close the bigger pocket with a button, which in turn creates another smaller pocket . In the back of the main storage area, you will find another four (smaller) pockets that allow you to store different items such as your tablet, some paperwork and several other smaller day-to-day items.
- Again on top of the bag you will find another zipper closed area. This area serves as a sanctuary for your laptop or MacBook. You can easily store a 17 inch MacBook or up to a 16,4 inch laptop. (Sometimes even bigger ones will still fit, depending on the thickness and the frame.) With a decent amount of padding and the sturdy exterior of the bag, your hardware is in a well protected environment.
- On each side there are two slip closed pockets, that again allow you to store several smaller items. These pockets are great to store your beverage(s).
- Lastly, you will find a small pocket on each of the shoulder straps. Normally these should be big enough to store an item such as a smartphone or a MP3-player. This makes them easy to use when you have headphones with a shorter cable. That being said, you will face a bit of a pickle when you remove your backpack, without unplugging the ears first though.
Thanks to the easy accessible pockets, the Boa Shift is very easy to use. Especially when storing bigger items in the backpack, it’s a very welcome feature that the main compartment is able to open in such a wide angle. That being said, the side pockets will like a small step back compared to the Boa Squeeze, but they still do the trick.
A fun extra is the fact that when purchasing the bag, you will get a small matching pouch with the bag. This pouch can serve as a pencil case or a great extra accessory to store your earphones and other small trinkets.
Comfort wise the Shift is also great. There’s ample padding on the back, and the shoulder straps are fairly wide, thus spreading the pressure of the weight, if you’re packing a lot of stuff. Sadly, the padding in the straps itself is a tad less than their other bags.
As is common with the Booq bags, the exterior is made out of nylon that has been treated to repel water. This makes sure your stuff stays neat and dry, even in poor weather conditions.
Thanks to the sturdy materials used to produce the Boa Shift, the backpack is able to maintain its shape quite well. You will notice that the bag is solid and will remain as such, even when it gets squashed during one of your trips.
Even with the protective coating, the two tears on the front attract a bit more dirt than the rest of the dag. The folds that are inside the tears might prove a bit harder to clean.
Terralinq is once again an extra feature of the bag, which gives the chance if you lose your bag, that an honest finder can contact you if they find your precious lost cargo.
Conclusion
Booq’s Boa Shift proves to be a great bag if you need a bit more storage room on a day-to-day basis. The backpack offers ample protection and is comfortable for nearly all daily activities. Easy storage, with the easily accessible main compartment is its greatest plus. Overall, a great bag with a classy but sportive look.
Booq Boa Shift - Accessory Review,
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