I give this bag 3.5 stars after a week long multi-city trip. There are a few good things and a few subpar things about this bag:

The good: durable material, comfortable strap (which is pretty easy to switch from left shoulder carry to right shoulder carry configuration), and the pass through holes work well for a phone charging cable plugged into a battery pack inside for easy charging, but it's hard to put a laptop in the back pocket with the cable running through as the pass through holes are not aligned. Lots of lash points are good for small carribeaners. Relatively roomy, but not too bulky, I was able to use this to carry a laptop***(see below caveats!), some small electronics (laptop charger, small external battery, some cables), a small water bottle, a coffee thermos, and a pair of large over ear headphones through the airport, but they had to be arranged just right to get an easy close (the shape of the main compartment means it tapers strongly toward the center, so taller items MUST be aligned vertically and in the very middle of the pocket - bulky items aligned horizontally across the bag impede with the center zipper closing). The easy way the main compartment opens made it easy to put this through security without it getting searched, just open the main zipper and everything inside is visible. Easy to wear in front even when full, so taking this an another large backpack is a good option for travel.

The bad: This bag DOES NOT fit a standard 13" laptop readily,…