Making a name for itself for its range of novel, condensed, but highly featured cases, bags and accessories – booq’s Taipan superslim is one of its strongest products. The Ferrari of laptop bags, the superslim somehow manages to deliver the svelteness of a tablet, or laptop sleeve – with the multiple bells, whistles, and pockets of a much larger bag.
Designed for the MacBook Pro – we tested out the 15-inch version and found that the bag takes a little getting used to. Our MacBook fitted into it with an almost impossible amount of snugness – which does make it feel much safe than other bags, which often leave these precious laptops to move around. Not the superslim. It also employs a plush lining that cushions the computer further. It’s not easy to get the laptop in and out – but it makes up for this by giving you peace of mind.
But to only use it to transport a laptop would be wasting those bells and whistles we mentioned earlier. The superslim contains an impossible amount of pockets and compartments to store further items. Office workers are going to struggle to get their lunchbox in there, but for a pure tech-focused offering, it couldn’t be much better. We stored a 7-inch tablet in the front compartment, which had its own nylon segment – perfect for this size, within a larger compartment. There’s also a zip on the back which you can fit larger devices, or maybe some folders or papers if that’s your bag.
At first, it’s tricky to get in – like with the main compartment, and once you start dropping laptop chargers into the mix it’s hard to manoeuvre – however, the superslim also includes a zip which runs all the way around the outside – undo this, and the bottom of the bag flays out slightly, giving just that extra bit of wriggle room to fit a little more into the front pockets. For extra safety, zip it up, for extra room, let it out.
In terms of design, the bag employs a monochromatic finish and a seatbelt-style nylon strap. The laptop can also easily be carried by comfortable, spherical handles. On the other hand, we found the strap a little difficult to work with at times. It’s easily adjustable, and comes with a removable, padded shoulder rest. However, we found this part not quite up to scratch design wise – the poppers that hold it on are spaced quite far apart, and the middle can open up quite wide, which can get a little uncomfortable when you throw it on in a rush and need to spend some time adjusting it. Also, it’s pretty loose, and can’t be securely fastened. This is great when the bag is full and you want it to work with your own movement, but we found that it also involved a lot of messing about when you first put the bag on. Sometimes, we found a comfortable position for the shoulder pad, and wished it would stay put for when we next used the bag.
But really, these are minor issues and the strap is sturdy and can also be removed. Elsewhere, little add-ons really takes this bag to the next level. There’s a smaller pocket where you can store your iPhone, or other mobile device, and this pocket also has a dust remover cloth attached to it so you can easily clean off smartphone or tablet screens.
The bag also includes booq’s Terralinq lost-and-found service included. This is in the form of a serial number, which can be identified to help recover a lost bag. Overall, the Taipan superslim is a solid bag that balances equipment safety with design flexibility – something few laptop bag-makers can achieve. The Taipan superslim is one of the strongest elements of the booq line, and well worth giving a try.
The Taipan superslim is priced from $80 / €70 and available in 13 and 15-inch editions. The bag can be ordered via the booq website.