About a little over a week ago, Mobile Edge sent over one of their demo units for their upcoming CORE Gaming Backpack to the office. So, we figured we’d put the thing though its paces in ways it probably wasn’t ever intended. Last week members of the GAMBIT team headed to Florida to meet with family that were affected by the hurricane, do some freelance coverage, and take photos. This was the perfect time to test out all the features of the CORE Gaming Backpack and see how each fared under some intense conditions.
The most striking thing you are going to notice about the CORE Gaming Backpack is the size. This isn’t some rinky-dink JanSport thing, or glorified messenger bag, this is a monster of a bag. That said, even when loaded to the brim and the seams at their limits, the CORE Gaming Backpack will still meet FAA regulations and passed the carry-on test we created. It’s not a fancy test, but since we were in a hurry to get to Florida we decided to only take a carry-on bag. This was our challenge before Mobile Edge contacted us, but once we got the CORE Gaming Backpack everything changed for the better.
We travel fairly light as it is, but we managed to fit a Macbook Pro with charger into it’s own compartment (more on that lovey feature later), three pairs of pants, two pairs of shorts, six t-shirts and the requisite number of boxers and socks. On top of that we also loaded in a tablet, one paperback novel (Ready Player One), a 3DS, two backup battery packs, and a Samsung point-and-shoot camera. We had to keep the DSLR unit and accessories in their own bag, but we did swap it all with the clothing once we got settled into our room. It’s fair to say that the CORE Gaming Backpack holds quite a lot of gear!
But the CORE Gaming Backpack far more than simply a big bag with lots of pockets, although it has them. The coolest and most convenient feature for travelers is clearly the TSA certified laptop section of the bag. I’ve heard of this before, but this was the first time I got to check it out for myself. If you travel a lot you already know how much of a pain it is simply getting through TSA screening. Our home airport is LAX, so waiting in massive lines is par for the course.
The worst thing is traveling solo and having to fill those bins with all your stuff. Your shoes in one, all your pocket stuff in another, your jacket in another, and your laptop by itself in one. You can imagine why lines are so long when every person is fumbling about trying to move four bins down a row all alone. Thankfully, the CORE Gaming Backpack has you covered with most of this.
The backpack comes equipped with a TSA certified section that lets you simply unzip that portion of the bag, exposing only your laptop, and letting you slide it through the X-ray machine. What I also like is that the compartment is clearly marked as Checkpoint Friendly so that TAS agents won’t give you stink about it. I also like to keep my pockets empty during screening, so I just tossed everything into one of the side pouches of the backpack which made my life so much easier.
Another neat feature that I haven’t seen before is the USB capabilities the bag features. On the side of the CORE Gaming Backpack, just between the upper and lower pouches, is a hardened USB port. It seems weird at first, but opening the bad reveals an opening that feeds the included USB cord into one of the internal pockets of the backpack. It’s here where you can put a backup battery pack and keep yourself from digging through everything to find it. I actually got a couple of interested comments at the airport about why I was plugging my phone into my backpack.
Now that I’ve talked about some of the cool features of the CORE Gaming Backpack, I have to talk about the quality which is, of course, superb. Even this being a sample unit and getting it before the Kickstarter for the project ended, Mobile Edge sent out a really high quality product. Even packed to capacity and pushing the seams to the limits, the CORE Gaming Backpack held up just fine, even being tossed around a fair bit.
What’s even better is how comfortable it was lugging it about. The shoulder straps are shock absorbent and padded so well that you’ll never want to go back to any other straps. They are also breathable, something I was very thankful for while out in the Florida humidity. The backside of the backpack is also padded with a number of strategically back saving pads that make it all really comfortable to wear. You also have a front chest strap for added security and comfort as it helps keep the entire thing held against you.
This isn’t some backpack that slides down, or one where you’ll be readjusting the straps all the time to get comfortable, it’s on a whole different level in terms of quality and comfort. Mobile Edge even tricked out the handle on the top of the backpack by reinforcing it with wire wiring encased in a hard, but flexible plastic, that is itself covered in a plastic handle. Needless to say, the CORE Gaming Backpack is built to hold up for a very long time.
You couple that with the fabric backing that lets you velcro (I know it’s called hook and loop, we saw Velcro’s viral video too, but I can’t change now) personal patches onto your bag and you have something that’s also really easy to personalize, without damaging it in any way. The CORE Gaming Backpack from Mobile Edge is not only hands down the best gaming backpack out there, it’s quite possibly the best backpack period. If you are a serious traveler looking for the perfect carry bag, or a gamer looking to transport your gear from venue to venue, you are going to at least want check out the CORE Gaming Backpack from Mobile Edge. Odds are you’ll love it just as much as I did.
It should be noted that while I was away testing the backpack out for this review that the company reached their goal on Kickstarter goal, so you’ll be able to snag yourself one soon! The only real issue I have with the product is that I have to send it back home to where it came from. Thankfully, now that the Kickstarter worked out I can pick one up for myself!
Final Rating:
“Highly Recommended”
A unit was provided for review
About Author
