Most people don’t spend too much time deciding which laptop bag to buy for school. They usually buy the cheapest one on the shelf and hope it’ll hold up. Then a few weeks into the semester, the laptop has an unexplained ding, the strap seams start to give, the main zipper won’t close, and the side pocket has already stretched out and no longer keeps the water bottle secure.
Something you use every day deserves more than an afterthought, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune on a backpack that’ll last. Back-to-school season is when well-built bags, ones that’ll easily last you until you graduate, show up at prices that make sense. To take some of the guesswork out of it, I’ve picked three options at different prices that’ll get the job done.
JanSport Big Student
For a lot of students, a backpack needs to hold everything they own for the day and survive the walk between classes. The JanSport Big Student does exactly that, and it does it for just $62.
The 34-liter main body fits a 15-inch laptop, textbooks, a lunch bag, and gym clothes with room to spare, and a mesh side pocket holds a standard water bottle. Two main compartments split the heavy stuff between them, so nothing gets crushed at the bottom. A front utility pocket with a built-in organizer plus two smaller stash pockets take care of the little things. Pens, chargers, IDs, and keys all get their own spot instead of floating around loose.
The 600D recycled polyester shell shrugs off years of daily wear, the S-curve shoulder straps and padded back panel keep heavier loads more comfortable to carry, and JanSport backs the whole bag with a lifetime warranty. That’s a real safety net at this price.
The one spot where JanSport cut corners is the laptop sleeve. It fits a 15-inch notebook, but the padding is thin, so a cheap cushioned sleeve is worth adding if you want real protection.
The backpack is available in a wide range of colors, and while the sticker price is $62, it frequently drops to around $40 during back-to-school sales. For students who want to spend under $50 once and forget about it, this is the answer.
Herschel Heritage 24L
The Herschel Heritage 24L is the pick for students who want a backpack they’ll actually want to keep using after graduation. Between the signature diamond patch on the front, the striped fabric liner, and the clean silhouette, it’s built to look just as good in a coffee shop or on a weekend trip as it does in a lecture hall.
And Herschel bags earn their price with real long-term durability. I’ve owned a Herschel Little America for over eight years, and it still shows no real signs of wear, which gives me every reason to believe the Heritage will hold up just as well.
At 24 liters, the bag offers enough room for up to a16-inch laptop, a couple of notebooks, and everyday essentials, though a full semester’s worth of textbooks and gym clothes will push it.
The single main compartment houses a padded floating sleeve that keeps your laptop off the bottom of the bag, and the rest of the organization comes from an expandable side water bottle pocket, a side storage sleeve for quick-reach items, and a zippered front pocket with an organizer and a key clip. EVA-padded shoulder straps make it comfortable to carry, and Herschel covers the bag with a limited lifetime warranty against defects.
The Heritage runs $90 at MSRP, though it regularly drops closer to $50. Buy this one if you want a bag that’ll outlast your student ID and still look good doing it.
Fjallraven Raven 28
There’s a reason the Fjallraven Raven 28 costs more than the other two options. It’s built like an outdoor bar, not a school bag. The G-1000 Heavy Duty Eco fabric, a blend of recycled polyester and organic cotton, is designed to handle years of daily community and the occasional weekend hike without showing wear. You can even wax it with Greenland Wax to boost water resistance, which is not something the other two picks offer.
I’ve had a thrifted Fjallraven Kanken backpack for six years now, and while it looks old, there are no tears or holes in the fabric and the zippers still work fine. My three-year-old Kanken Hip Pack has held up just as well. Fjallraven’s material quality is the real deal, and there’s no reason to think the Raven 28 won’t hold up the same way.
At 28 liters, the Raven strikes a middle ground on capacity. It has plenty of room for a full class load without turning into a bulky commuter bag. The dedicated 15-inch laptop compartment sits separately from the main pocket, so your machine isn’t sharing space with anything that could scratch or dent it.
Organization is where the Raven really shines. A large main compartment with an inside zippered security pocket handles the bulk of what you’re carrying, a zippered front pocket with mesh organizers keeps small stuff sorted, a fleece-lined top pocket gives sunglasses and a phone their own soft home, and two open side pockets hold water bottles.
The Raven 28 is priced at $130, but regularly drops to around $90. If you want the same quality but don’t want to spend as much, the Raven 20 is a great alternative, though it’s a bit smaller. Buy this one if you want your backpack to look at home on a hiking trail, a train platform, and a lecture hall in the same day.
Any one of these three will get you through school without becoming a mid-semester problem. Which one you pick comes down to whether you want the cheapest option that just works, the one that looks good doing it, or the one built to still be around ten years from now.
