launched

OnePlus launched its best product of 2017, but it wasn’t the hotly anticipated OnePlus 5 smartphone. The Travel Backpack has a demure look and a surprisingly functional design. Its available at the price of $69.

The look of the OnePlus Travel Backpack is very clean in design. One big pocket up front, one zippered main compartment at the top and fair tidy straight lines in all directions. It is simple in the best possible way. It is made out of the extremely durable Cordura material. It is  escorted by a shinier faux leather covering the front pocket, the two side pockets, and the bottom of the bag.

Rough materials and simple looks are all well and good, but the expectations from OnePlus remained low. Chinese companies like Xiaomi have a custom of finding white-label products and just smacking their logo on them as an upselling method. This is not the case with this backpack, however. It was designed entirely inside the house by 28-year-old designer Hui Wang. Her approach is to look at other bags, find faults with them, and then design in a different way. Hui has eliminated all the things about which people are usually complaining about.

There’s nothing innovative inside the OnePlus backpack, and there really doesn’t need to be. The front pocket has two narrow organizer pockets inside it, which are repeated on the inside of the main compartment, only with a bit more depth. They’re perfect for filling with techie things like adapters and cables or accessories like lip balm and tissues etc. There’s also a very deep zippered pocket just inside the top of the main compartment, and just opposite it you’ll discover a slot that can accommodate a 10-inch tablet. Alongside those bits, it’s just a big old crater.

The neatness of this backpack is best articulated in its exterior pockets. On each side, there’s a pocket that sits horizontal when not in usage, but can carry a 500ml / 16oz water bottle when required.

The few disadvantages of the Travel Backpack are slightly unavoidable. The Cordura material, selected for its durability, is quite inflexible and not specifically elastic. The zippers have been covered up to improve water resistance and preserve a simple look, however that makes them slower and fussier to use than others.

Overall, though, this backpack has tons of advantages and very few disadvantages. It even comes with a rain cover, a neat clothes bag with two zippered compartments. One for clean shirts, the other for laundry, and a reflective brand logo that will “keep you safe at night” according to the company.