When it comes to reviewing products, one of our guidelines is to review the product in everyday life and for a long enough time (usually a month) to make sure that it holds up. While it often means our product reviews can take some time to be released, it also means we have usually put the product through the wringer, and with the Razer Rogue Backpack V4 16″ version, that’s exactly what we did.
Since the first week of June, the Razer Rogue Backpack V4 has been with me as I have traveled to Summer Game Fest, TennoCon, and a few other preview events. It’s gone to a whole different country, been on 10 flights, and has been my faithful pillow waiting for my 5 a.m. boarding call. And the truth of it is, while it has some flaws, it’s going to take a lot to replace it.
Travel backpacks, especially those made by traditional gaming brands, aren’t really made for women who are five-foot-four. It’s been a struggle to find a commuter or travel backpack that keeps my laptop and recording equipment safe. Traditional travel bags are comfortable but aren’t made to lug around what I need when I travel as a media professional. And as for the gaming ones, well, despite my love of the Astro and Timbuk2 collaboration from years ago, this travel option often leaves me looking like a turtle, to say the least.
My go-to backpacks have usually been from North Face or Patagonia, backpacks designed to accommodate a lot of items, with a small profile. But they often lack the right spots for electronics and organization. I used the Astro x Timbuk2 collab bag for a few trips before ultimately retiring it for my husband to use, since he is about eight inches taller than me.
The Razer Rogue Backpack V4 16″ bag is perfect if you’re five-foot-four.
The other backpacks that I can’t remember the brand of, from media events, were all built for the big guys and were either hard to move through an airport with or didn’t fit under my airplane seat. And other bags still were just too much to handle as I had genuinely had a hard time adjusting to my torso length, which gave me a whole host of issues with my already bad back—shoutout to the girlies with a disc herniation or bulge in between their L4 and L5.
When it came to breaking down my time while breaking in the Razer Rogue Backpack V4, it had to pass more than a few tests. Size, capacity (this one can carry 24.5L), comfort, durability, and ease of use.
The backpack needed to fit and protect my electronics (Laptop, Kindle, external USB-C mics, and Kraken Kitty V3 headset) and have enough space for the travel essentials (one change of clothes, zip-up cord organizer, 7-day pill case4inch by 4 inch jewelry box), Nalgene 32-oz waterbottle, external battery pack, and a random assortment of things that stay in the backback even though I don’t use them all of the time (medicines, Commander Deck, notebook, pens). As you can tell, I am an overpacker and ultimately, the bag’s space is needed to keep up with me.
For the most part, I was able to fit everything into the backpack for all of my long travel days. Additionally, the outside pocket located just above the Velcro bottom was an easy storage solution for a small battery pack, glasses wipes, and gum, making it easier to access things I tend to need frequently in the airport. The padded laptop sleeve was more than perfect for my MacBook Neo, and the inner Velcro strap was the perfect way to store my overear headphones before making it through security without worrying about them getting lost or battered in the backpack itself.
The Razer Rogue Backpack V4 has more than enough space for any overpacker.
But with this overstuffed backpack, did I look like a turtle? Did I have back pain? The answer is no. The Razer Rogue Backpack V4 comes in two sizes, 16-inch and 18-inch. Working with the 16-inch was a dream when it came to packing. At the slightly smaller size, it also fit along my back about as neatly as you can with a universal design for general commuters.
Additionally, the buckles on the front straps were more than just for show and added the right amount of stability when I needed to carry the backpack and not just roll it around on my wheel-bag luggage. The most important thing, though, is that not once has the bag ever felt like it was going to knock things over or make me look like it’s too big for me. The smaller profile works perfectly to keep it beneath seats.
The only downside to the Razer Rogue Backpack V4 is that while the back storage compartment is wide open, making it perfect for stacking packing items, the front storage pocket offers depth without any real organization factor. This is the space I typically reserve for external hard drives, corded headphones for plane rides, pens, earbuds, wallet, and the other odds and ends you collect while traveling.
There was one zippered pocket and a couple of slots for pens, but by and large, if you packed the bag neatly after lugging it around a plane, everything would move, making it a bit of a mess. But that’s nothing repressing old make-up bags didn’t fix to keep everything organized.
The Razer Rogue Backpack V4 does have some faults, but nothing that can’t be adjusted for.
Additionally, the expandable water bottle spots on both sides of the Razer Rogue Backpack V4 fit both my 32-oz Nalgene bottle and my Stanley tumbler perfectly despite the obvious size difference between the two. One of the prior problems I had been trying to solve with a new bag was how frequently my Nalgene would just slip out of the elastic because its size had pushed it past the point of keeping it snug. The Razer Rogue Backpack V4’s side pockets, however, secured the bottle right up to the very top, making it the one packback that didn’t have me panicking to check for my bottle every 30 minutes.
On top of that, I like to use the water bottle spots as more storage, keeping the killer combo of my large external battery pack, hand sanitizer, nasal spray, and lotion all within arm’s reach whether I am walking through the airport or waiting in a seat. A small factor, but one that works perfectly for how I travel.
In line with the water bottles, Razer Rogue Backpack V4 also boasts itself as being tear- and water-resistant. While the material that gives the backpack this quality held up when it came to walking in the rain to an Uber, or when I spilled my beer on the plane because of, well, carbination, that material notably isn’t also on the sides of the bag behind the water bottle holders.
This means that if you lay the bag flat for a flight and haven’t made sure that your water bottle lid is secure, there is a very real chance that the contents may end up a little damp. While I escaped the worst of it thanks to needing to get water just 10 minutes into the flight, it is a failure point on the bag that can cause some contention given how the bag represents itself. Still, it doesn’t take away what the bag did protect my items from.
The Razer Rogue Backpack V4 is my new favorite travel bag.
The next spot on the checklist isn’t just about back support in regard to comfort; it’s about airflow. If you’ve ever had to run through the Atlanta airport to get your connecting flight from B to D gate, then you know just how sweaty you can get. Add in how many airports make you wait outside in the sun (looking at you LA and San Francisco), and airflow becomes a big concern for longevity.
To that effect, the Razer Rogue Backpack V4 sports soft but supportive padding with a ventilated mesh back panel that allows air to pass through more easily. While it isn’t the solution to all of your commuting woes, it’s a great attempt that is worth discussing, especially because it doesn’t sacrifice support to give it to you.
My one and only giant pet peeve with the Razer Rogue Backpack V4 that I mention every time I get frustrated about it is the trolley sleeve. A necessary feature for any commuter or bag you’ll be traveling with, the one on the Razer Rogue Backpack V4 has virtually no stretch, making it difficult to quickly slide or lift off a wheel-bag handle. It may have the “travel-ready” feature, but it’s given me more of a headache coming up to TSA or putting up my bags on the plane than any other backpack I’ve had.
So yeah, the Razer Rogue Backpack V4 isn’t perfect. But with bags needing to adapt for different bodies, lifestyles, and travel needs, I don’t expect any backpack to be. That said, the Razer Rogue Backpack V4 is the closest I have gotten to my perfect bag in quite some time. It’s replaced all of its predecessors for my travels, and I think that makes it the best travel bag I’ve used in a very, very long time.
The Razer Rogue Backpack V4 is available online from Razer and Amazon now for $109.99.