Best Travel & Laptop Backpacks: How to Choose

The short answer: there is no single best backpack — there’s the best one for the job. Decide three things first: the laptop size it has to carry, the capacity in litres you need, and whether it has to fit under the plane seat. Then compare only the bags that pass all three.

Laptop backpacks are sold by the screen size their sleeve fits, measured diagonally in inches — common sizes are 14.1", 15.6" and 17.3". Check your laptop’s screen size (it’s in the model specs) and choose a sleeve at least that big — a bigger sleeve holds a smaller laptop, but not the other way round. Samsonite’s Guardit 3.0, for example, is listed in both 15.6" and 17.3" versions.

If a listing doesn’t state a laptop size, don’t assume one — check the product details before you buy.

Litres tell you how much a bag holds, not whether an airline will accept it. Two bags with the same capacity can have very different shapes — which is why the next step matters for travel.

A backpack can travel as your underseat bag or personal item or as your overhead bag, and the limits are different:

Two cabin backpacks we list state their full dimensions, so we can check them side by side:

• American Tourister Puffypop — 40 × 25 × 20 cm, 21 L. Lining up each side against the limit, it’s within Jetstar’s 2027 underseat bag, Virgin’s personal item and Qantas’ underseat bag.
• American Tourister Take2Cabin — 45 × 36 × 20 cm, 38 L. At 36 cm on its middle side it’s too big for Virgin’s personal item (33 cm) and Qantas’ underseat bag (34 cm), but it fits within the 56 × 36 × 23 cm overhead limit. Its name says it’s made to easyJet’s cabin format.

Packed bags bulge, so leave yourself some margin — and for weights and the full rules, see our carry-on limits guide.

For longer trips, look at travel-specific designs: a travel backpack like Samsonite’s Detour, a convertible backpack/duffel, or a rolling backpack on wheels. If you’re taking it on board, check the stated dimensions against the overhead limit above.

Outdoor brands list their packs by litres: 16–30 L day packs for walks and day trips, and 35 L and up for longer hikes. High Sierra’s Pathway hiking packs run from 45 L to 70 L — built for the trail, and generally too large to take into the cabin.

As an overhead bag, up to 56 × 36 × 23 cm on Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin. As an underseat bag or personal item it must be smaller — for example 45 × 33 × 20 cm on Virgin.

One whose sleeve is at least your laptop’s screen size. Check the size in your laptop’s specs; a 17" laptop needs a 17.3" sleeve.

Litres don’t decide it — dimensions do. Cabin backpacks we list range from about 21 L to 38 L; check each one’s stated size against your airline’s limit.