High-end iPad bag: Booq Cobra Courier XS review
Booq's compact leather and nylon shoulder bag has excellent iPad protection and enough pockets to be practical, plus it just looks good.
- Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
Carrying an iPad a year ago involved searching for the perfect bag, and the problem back in 2012 was that many bag makers hadn't figured out the iPad yet. Flash forward to mid-2011, and the iPad 2 and original iPad feel nearly ubiquitous--so, too, do iPad bags. Finding one that matches the iPad's sleek styling is a harder challenge, and one the
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The Booq Cobra Courier XS feels in some ways like a microminiaturized version of the Booq Boa Squeeze, a backpack we loved back in 2009. The Squeeze managed to be thin and small and yet pack lots of pockets with plenty of padding. Similarly, the over-the-shoulder Courier XS is a tightly built little black bag made out of ballistic nylon and topped with Nappa leather, with a thick rubber bottom underneath.
The leather, nylon, chrome slots where the seatbelt-strap nylon wraps around and underneath the bag, and rugged gridded rubber bottom combine to make a bag with lots of shades and patterns of black. It's the perfect quasi-executive bag to take out to an interview or business dinner or meet up at a bar with, but it's also functional enough to be a good commuting bag. It's smaller than a standard messenger bag, but it doesn't cross over into any absurd territory. It's a few inches longer and wider than the iPad itself.
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