Distributor: Bergsala Enigma
Pixelbags Daypack 13 – Accessory Review
Some of you will probably have noticed by now that we love to protect our valuable hardware with quality backpacks, such as the ones from Booq. Whilst their serious designs are top notch for every occasion, we are also quite geeky at heart and love a change of pace from time to time. This is where the Pixelbags come in, to shine their colorful light on us. We had the chance to try out their Daypack 13, to create a personalized fun looking backpack.
The Daypack 13 looks like a very average day-to-day backpack, except for the black rubber ‘plate’, on which you’ll be placing your pixels, in order to get your own custom made bag. You’ll be treated to a monotone bag, with not that many whistles and bells, as the back itself will only have two visible compartments. Overall, a simple, yet effective design which allows for the pixels to stand out even more, when you have thought of a design that is.
As the backpack’s purpose is for a day-to-day usage, you’ll find a decent amount of room, albeit in only two compartments.
- On the front of the bag, there’s a small pocket, which is probably big enough to store your lunch (if it’s wrapped in tinfoil) and inside the small compartment there are a few placeholders for pens and a small sleeve, a tad bigger than a smartphone.
- The main compartment can be opened with the zipper(s) to nearly halfway the sides of the bag. This makes the main compartment easily accessible and allows for bigger items to fit in more comfortably. The main storage area does not have any extra separate compartments, except for a small netted pocket, which is closed by a zipper. The stretchable material allows for the small pocket to be stretched out and hold a small amount of valuables or items you wish to find quite rapidly. Other than that, the main area allows for a decent amount of items to be stored, such as a binder, some extra paperwork and some other documents and goodies.
Even though the bag is not uncomfortable, it’s not the pinnacle of comfort either. With the very flimsy material and the lack of padding in the straps, the backpack feels quite average. Whilst we already expected these bags would be more of a gimmick for children, a bit extra would have been great.
When we finally got to the puzzling part, we were quite excited to finally start placing all of the small studs (pixels) onto the backpack, to create our chosen, legendary design, namely a Pokémon (we did mention we were quite geeky). We saved the design we initially created on the editor on the official Pixelbags website, and we simply had to open it, mark our beginning point and off we went. Even though the initial pixels were placed quite easily, the following ones became harder and harder to place. When a pixel you wish to place, is surrounded by already placed ones, you will find it difficult to actually put on the next one, without having to add pressure as if your life depended on it. We found that working on a hard surface worked a lot better or folding the backpack in such a way that the row you wish to place pixels on stands out. This might be why the developers chose a more flimsy/softer material for their backpack, because it would otherwise be even harder to start forming your desired design.
Even though the price of the Daypack 13, might not be the lowest for the overall materials used for the bag, the cost of having to buy extra pixels is actually quite low (keep in mind, we worked with the small pixels and not the bigger ones). If you buy other products, you can still use the same pixels for your new bags or accessories, if they have the same kind of ‘base plate’. So, if one of your products is worn down, you can transfer all the pixels to your newest addition.
Another concern that came to mind was: will the pixels stay in place? Why yes sonny, they certainly will. The pixels will stick on the bag like a colorful looking glue and are actually harder to remove than one would expect. You will really need to dig in with your nails, beneath the surface of the rubber studs in order to remove them. Of course, accidents can still happen, but overall they stick quite well to the bag. That being said, the bottom row comes off a tad easier, as there is no proper frame to keep the pixels in place.
Wear and tear will probably come a little faster, if the Daypack 13 is actually used on a daily basis. If you travel light, the bag will manage just fine, but if you pack some sturdy binders or some heavier items, we doubt the backpack will survive for a very long time. Nonetheless, the bag is both intended for practical use, as well as a fun ‘toy’ for a younger audience (or us).
Conclusion
The Daypack 13 was a fairly fun introduction to the Pixelbags universe. We had fun creating a nice design, got frustrated at times placing the pixels but loved the outcome of our heavy pixel-placing-labor. Overall the backpack might look simple and will not be the sturdiest one around, but your ‘drawing’ will surely catch the spotlight. And keep in mind, if you want another design, you can simply create a new one, in order to get a totally new bag. However ,be warned, as a day-to-day pack, the quality of the bag is not always up to par with other brands.
Pixelbags Daypack 13 - Accessory Review,
No Comments