Design
The Softside has a bit of a retro-modern approach to a classic roller, introducing the cloth-like feel and the familiar squish of comfort like a cozy pair of sweats, but with durable nylon and a water-repellent coating. This results in a feel that is surprisingly “hard” to the touch compared to the images on their website. The bag holds up, it doesn’t cave in, and the water-resistant protection helps keep it looking clean. While intellectually I know that this means you can opt for the light Stone color, my instincts forced me to avoid the look of wear and tear with a darker color.
This bag is deceivingly simple, and has just enough of the bells and whistles that you need in a dependable piece of luggage without trying to over-incentivize you to its usefulness.
The soft colorways available are all about coming home and the comforts of home while on the road. This isn’t your sleekest bag for business travel but a feeling of keeping it casual yet with the elevated touches of modern functionality and athleisure.
Organization
The exterior of the bag features a ribbed design hiding two no-show slim exterior pockets giving you a convenient place to stash your passport and your laptop or tablet. The lower laptop (or document) sleeve is always in reach, though it’s a tight fit so it takes a little wiggling to extract out. This provides a bit of padding though not guaranteed laptop protection if you checked this bag for whatever reason. This design is not only aesthetically pleasing but it may hide your items from grabby hands or sneaky fingers when you aren’t looking.
When you open the bag you will see a large open cavity. On the backside of the cover is one big mesh organizer with a zipper. Covering the open cavity is a patented interior compression pad system that doubles as small item (cables, chargers, odds and ends) storage with mesh zip pockets, with what could even be used as a shirt sleeve compartment on the backside. This organization sleeve is bound to the bag with two compression straps, holding down the contents behind it. How much it actually compresses your items is questionable, since it’s not going to give the amount of compressing into every nook and cranny that additional packing cubes provide. Away does sell their own proprietary cubes that may fit the bag’s dimensions successfully. At the very least, this compression sleeve ensures that TSA won’t deal with a mess of stuff falling out when they go see what oddly shaped item you packed in your bag that set off their concern.
Expansion
When the built-in compression isn’t doing it, there is some built-in expansion. Away took the expansion (or compression) of the main section from their previous roller and put it to work in this bag. Being a frequent traveler I try to only buy packing cubes or bags that expand so this was a real win for me, especially considering that this bag is meeting international budget airline restrictions in size and it’s easy to run out of room quickly.
Bonus Items
One of the great things with this bag is that it comes with all the accessories you need for regular travel.
There is a hanging zippered pouch sewn onto the top of the main compartment. This is just about the size of a toiletry bag, so you can skip the bulk of a designated toiletry bag if you choose and still have your items quickly accessible.
Lockable zippers are nothing new but Away takes the extra effort to help you stay coordinated by including a TSA approved combination lock that matches your bag color exactly. Either they really want to make sure that you can secure your items, look put together, or a bit of both.
The bag even comes with a tidy laundry bag which you didn’t know you needed, but once you have it you will not go back.
The last included accessory is a black leather luggage tag. Here is one area of the market where there seems to be no innovation to traditional luggage but in lieu of a remarkable approach to something as simple as an identification label, Away has provided a quality leather luggage tag in a traditional design.
