great, looking, functional and sturdy, but not without flaws
First-off, I just want to make it abundantly clear this looks every bit as great as you could hope, right down to the smallest details. It's clearly also well-made from good-quality materials and built to last. While it might be classed as a "mini" backpack, there's plenty of space inside too, with the additional pockets and fluff kept to a practical minimum in order to maximise overall capacity. The soft, adjustable straps also mean you can comfortably wear it with quite a bit of weight so long as you set it up right (though of course far less than more general-use backpacks.)
Now, the flaws, and they're unfortunately worth serious consideration. I love this, but some people the downsides could be deal-breakers:
- the stiffness of the material and overall sturdiness of the hardware means that it can be difficult and even painful to retrieve larger objects from within, with the zipper routinely biting into my hand and forcing me to drop what I was reaching for.
- the zipper pulls don't really lock, so you can't leave anything sticking out the top, not even a charging or headphones cable, without risk of them sliding open.
- the wings are pretty much impossible to adjust without a hand reach in on the inside and brace the press-studs. Others have pointed out that they come undone too easily, and while I did have this happen once during my test, I was able to avoid it happening again by being mindful what I brushed past. Setting them in the folded position rather than the raised position also effectively prevented this for me, as even a glancing impact with an obstacle failed to cause unbuttoning, but YMMV.
All in all, well worth the money, with all the quality and stunning looks any long-time buyer will have come to expect from Restyle (5 stars) but not without some of the flaws their experimental approach is prone to (-1 star.)