 This Product
The North Face Recon | |||||
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| Awards |  Best Value for a Great Laptop Backpack |  Best for High Capacity | Best Laptop Backpack on a Tight Budget | ||
| Price | $109.00 at REI Compare at 3 sellers | $40 List $24.99 at Amazon | $42 List $21.99 at Amazon | $40 List $25.59 at Amazon | Check Price at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | Large volume, top-notch organization, good structure, and a massive laptop compartment ensure this pack is well loved by travelers and daily commuters | A pack with a lot of storage capacity and enough pockets for all kinds of tech and accessories | An inexpensive and versatile backpack with unique features and a touch of style | Massive volume and tons of pockets are what make it appealing | Simple style and a friendly price tag make this pack appealing to a broad range of buyers |
| Rating Categories | The North Face Recon | Yorepek Travel Extr... | Matein Travel | Shrradoo Extra Larg... | Lenovo Laptop B210 |
| Laptop Protection (30%) | |||||
| Comfort and Fit (20%) | |||||
| Storage (20%) | |||||
| Ease of Use (20%) | |||||
| Versatility (10%) | |||||
| Specifications | The North Face Recon | Yorepek Travel Extr... | Matein Travel | Shrradoo Extra Larg... | Lenovo Laptop B210 |
| Compatible Laptop Size | 16.0" | 17.0" | 15.6" | 17.0" | 16.0" |
| Volume | 30 L | 50 L | 28 L | 50 L | 17.5 L |
| Number of Main Compartments | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Number of Large Pockets | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Notable Large Pockets | 1 exterior mesh drop-in pouch, 1 exterior fleece-lined top zippered, 1 exterior top zippered with multiple accessory pouches, 1 laptop sleeve | 1 exterior zippered with multiple accessory sleeves, 3 interior drop-in, 1 laptop sleeve | 1 exterior zippered with multiple accessory pouches, 1 laptop sleeve | 1 exterior zippered with multiple accessory sleeves, 3 interior mesh drop-in, 1 laptop sleeve | 1 exterior zippered, 1 laptop sleeve |
| Number of Small Pockets | 7 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 4 |
| Notable Small Pockets | 1 interior top zippered, 1 pen sleeve, 5 interior accessory sleeves | 1 top zippered, several accessory sleeves, 2 exterior zippered, 1 pen sleeve | 3 exterior zippered, 1 zippered mesh, 2 pen sleeves, 2 drop-in pouches | 1 top zippered, 1 coin zippered, 2 exterior zippered, 0 pen sleeves | 3 interior pouches |
| External Side Pockets | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| External Water Bottle Holder | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Additional Features | Key clip, removable webbing hip belt, sternum strap, reflective material, daisy chains, mesh drop-in pouch | Key clip | Key clip | Key clip, combo-lock main zipper, reinforced security handle, rear gear clip, USB charging port, eyewear loop, luggage stowe strap, | Lightweight, quick-drying fabric |
| Weight | 2.5 lb | 2.2 lb | 1.7 lb | 2.9 lb | 1.0 lb |
| Dimensions | 19.5" x 13.0" x 7.0" | 18.0" x 13.5" x 6.5" | 18.0" x 12.0" x 7.8" | 19.4" x 15.0" x 11.1" | 18.9" x 12.5" x 2.5" |
The 30-liter Recon is made of 210D ripstop polyester treated with PVC-free DWR coating. With three storage compartments, two water bottle pockets, a mesh pouch, and a micro-fleece-lined small pocket, it easily fits large, 16-inch laptops while keeping your small items organized.
The laptop compartment of The North Face Recon is tall and spacious, spanning the full 19-inch torso length. “I had no issues sliding my 15-inch Macbook and 15-inch Microsoft Surface Pro into this pack,” said one tester. “It even has plenty of room to spare, and could accommodate many larger, wider laptops.”
Daul-direction zippers can be tucked under small arches of webbing on either side of the opening, allowing you to sort of “lock” this compartment during travel. The backside of this compartment is lined with soft material, while the back panel is both padded and filled with a rigid protective material that helps to keep your laptop safer. A thin layer of padding separates this compartment from the main compartment and lines the bottom of the bag — though there's no suspension strap to keep your laptop from bottoming out. When directly compared against other models in our lineup, the Recon was outperformed in this metric by the Incase Icon, Timbuk2 Authority Deluxe, Peak Design Everyday, and Patagonia Refugio Daypack 30L. In particular, we really liked the shell density of both the Timbuk2 and Incase models.
Made of burly, ripstop 210D (300D, for certain colors) polyester with strongly reinforced stitching, corners, and components, the Recon is designed to keep your laptop protected for a long time. However, when it comes to water protection, this isn't the bag we'd recommend in a downpour. The fabric comes treated with a PVC-free DWR (durable water resistant) coating, which helps in light precipitation.
But in our shower test, the zipper and very small interior flap proved to be no match for the spray, allowing the interior to take on water quickly. On a drizzly day exploring the corners of Prague's parks, the Recon stayed dry inside, offering enough protection against average precip. “But, when I subjected my pack to 30 seconds of moderate garden hose spray, the water pooled at the bottom of the pack — right where our laptop would sit,” said a recent product tester.
If you've been searching for a laptop backpack with a longer torso, The North Face Recon is for you. This bag has 19.5 inches of torso length. And with its stiff back panel, weight is more evenly distributed against your spine, making long days much more comfortable.
The strategically placed back padding is thick and fits well on all our testers. The only downside to this design is that the unpadded center strip digs into our spines when we're bent forward on a bike. Unless you're an avid bike commuter or someone with a rather protruding spine, we think you'll find this bag comfortable to wear.
A removable webbing hip belt would provide lateral stability while biking (if you don't mind that back panel!), but it's not weight-bearing to help with heavy loads on commutes or day hikes. The shoulder straps are well-padded and flexible without being too thick or stiff, giving them both comfort and convenience. “I feel this pack is comfortable enough to wear for longer time frames associated with commuting, traveling, or walking across campus,” noted one of our testers, who is always on the go.
While The North Face also offers this bag in a very similar-looking women's version, our female testers never felt this unisex bag was a poor fit. A fully adjustable sternum strap slides easily up and down on rails or can be removed completely if you prefer your backpack without.
With 30 liters of storage space and a cavernous main compartment, the Recon feels large. It packs well, even for our main tester, a self-identified chronic over-packer. With lots of pockets, plenty of room, and extra external attachment points, we never felt like we had to leave things behind with the Recon in tow.
While many laptop backpacks claim they can stand upright, many fall short of that claim. The TNF Recon actually does a solid job standing upright under all but the most imbalanced loads. Both the Yorepek Travel Extra Large and the Shrradoo Extra Large 50L do a decent job of sitting on their own, and they also offer the most amount of storage of the entire bunch.
The rigid back panel and large, flat bottom help it fill up in a more balanced way without even trying, and we're rather impressed at how easily it stays upright even as we dig through it to find specific items. Straps along the bottom of the pack let you minimize its surface area when you're not carrying as much stuff, helping the Recon to be stable under diverse loads.
The laptop compartment and the main compartment are each a single large space with dual-direction zippers running far down both sides of the bag — great for both right and left-handed users. The ability of this bag to stand upright makes it easy to balance on top of a roller bag when heading to your next destination.
The third compartment is just 10 inches deep, holding small belongings at the top of the bag. This dual-zippered space has many small organizational pockets, including a tablet sleeve, a zippered pouch with a key clip, a pen holder, and several smaller slip pockets.
A surprisingly large, microfleece-lined, zippered pocket is tucked almost out of sight above the top of the external back mesh pocket, easily fitting a pair of sunglasses in a case, a large smartphone, and a snack. The external stretch pocket swallows up extra layers or a travel pillow in transit, while double daisy chains down either side give plenty of room to clip a hat or other oddly shaped extras.
Two water bottle pockets adorn the sides of the bag, which are made of durable, unstretching material with an elastic panel to accommodate larger containers. Because of this design, they're not the easiest to access, but they fit all the one-liter bottles we use regularly and keep contents secure, even when running through an airport or sliding the bag under a train seat.
Given the color options and overall design of the Recon, it has a far more sporty aesthetic than any laptop bag we'd want to bring while wearing a suit or striding confidently into a board room. It's great for casual uses and commutes and comes in enough color combinations to match most people's styles.
The laptop compartment has a velcro loop and a water hose hole at the top to be compatible with a hydration reservoir you might be fond of carrying on a hike. The sternum strap also has an emergency whistle built in, and numerous reflective loops — on the shoulder straps, on the sides of the bag, and near the buckles of the bottom adjuster straps — to improve you being seen in low light. When directly compared against similarly styled packs in our grouping, we felt the Osprey Nebula 32 and the Patagonia Black Hole 25 showed more versatility than the Recon. One key factor is their sleeker, more generic-looking lines and overall style.
The Recon isn't the cheapest laptop backpack out there. Yet it presents itself as a high-value item in terms of quality protection in most everyday and travel scenarios, good capacity and organization to keep you moving efficiently, and a high level of comfort and stability through long days over many miles. If you need an effective, high-functioning laptop bag and the Recon fits your aesthetic, we think you'll be pleased with the performance you get for your money.
Both the Osprey Nebula 32 and Patagonia Black Hole 25 have similar outdoorsy styles, but if you need something with better protection and a more professional design, the Timbuk2 Authority Deluxe is one of our favorite options. We also love the intense protection and sharp looks of the Incase Icon, which is pricey but performs impressively well. The North Face Borealis is another solid option with great value, though it scores slightly lower in our testing than the Recon. Or if you're all about high capacity for long trips, the Yorepek Travel Extra Large is an above-average option for a below-average price.
