Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack review: luxury, leather storage that has its limits

Whenever I’m headed into the office, it’s rare that I’m seen without my best backpack. For me, a backpack offers the perfect balance of storage, style and comfort, so I’m constantly on the lookout for an option that gives me all three of these features.

I recently tried the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack and due to its flawless good looks, I was intrigued to see how it measured up in other departments. I’ve been using it for my weekly trips into the office – and this is how I got on.

Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack review: price and availability

The Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack is priced at £598 and available to buy at Harber London. It comes in black, tan and deep brown colours.

There are two options of the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack – one with a front Tech Dopp Kit insert and the other with a Nomad Insert. The latter changes the price of the backpack to £678, and this version is available to pre-order as of writing. I tried the black version of the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack with the Tech Dopp Kit insert.

Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack review: design and features

The Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack has plenty of storage with or without the Tech Dopp Kit insert, but I’ll start with the main bag for now. Made from premium full grain leather, the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack is accented with soft-woven cotton twill in the interior and other accents, like compression straps.

As a roll top backpack, the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack folds over itself and has a surprisingly long zip to protect the main interior, and has a military grade aluminium buckle that clips everything together. At the top of the backpack are inserts that clip together to cinch the bag but you can unclip these to increase the 15-litre capacity to 18-litres.

Inside the backpack are many compartments, including a padded laptop pocket and a built-in tablet pocket that can fit 16-inch laptops and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro respectively. On the outside are two water bottle pockets on either side of the bag, and there’s a trolley sleeve at the back to attach the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack to a suitcase.

The Tech Dopp Kit insert attaches to the front of the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack using modular front inserts. There are five poppers or inserts at the front for the Tech Dopp Kit to attach to, and they stay securely fastened while you’re on the move. It also has plenty of pockets inside it for smaller items that you need to grab quickly.

Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack review: performance

There is no doubt that the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack is luxurious. Not only does it look good, but the leather feels extremely high quality and during my testing, I didn’t experience any wear and tear with it – it still looks brand new. I found the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack to be quite comfortable to wear on my back even when at its heaviest, and it was easy to adjust and tighten the straps.

The accents of the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack are just as luxurious and the overall bag. I especially liked the military grade buckle at the front as I felt it gave the bag more appeal and something a bit extra to make it more than just a leather backpack. I did find the main zip to be overly and unnecessarily long, though as it flapped around and got in the way at times.

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The Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack has a great amount of compartments, although I do think it could be too many. The multiple sections within the bag were overcomplicated and made the bag feel a lot smaller. I often found it tricky to pack the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack, as putting in large items made the bag really struggle which I found surprising considering its maximum 18-litre capacity.

I was initially skeptical about the Tech Dopp Kit insert as I wasn’t convinced it would stay on properly. But I was proven wrong as the inserts or poppers clicked on quickly and stayed secure the entire time I tested the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack. There was definitely no budging there and it took quite a bit of force to remove the Tech Dopp Kit insert from the bag so rest assured, the front pouch won’t go anywhere.

When the Tech Dopp Kit insert was on, I enjoyed using it for my keys, office pass and other essentials, although I did think it made the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack a bit bulkier. Having said that, it’s best to keep the Tech Dopp Kit insert attached to the bag, as when you take it off, you have five large poppers on the front which looks a bit strange.

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Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack review: verdict

I enjoyed using the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack but definitely think there are some areas where it falls short. While the storage and pockets are well divided, it almost felt like too much and limited the size of the backpack for me. I also felt that a few aspects could be redesigned or improved, like the overly long zip and interior pockets.

But the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack definitely wins big points in the looks department. It’s stylish, high quality and made me feel very fancy when walking to and from the office. The exterior design was definitely well thought out, including the buckles, and I appreciated the strength and security of the inserts.

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Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack review: alternatives to consider

If you’re looking for another leather design, the Troubadour Apex Compact Backpack 3.0 fits the bill. It’s roughly the same size as the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack but it has a bigger interior space alongside its clever pockets and compartments.

Another great choice from Harber London is the Harber London Office Backpack. It’s made from full-grain leather and recycled plastic bottles, and it has a similar internal storage system. It’s also significantly cheaper than the Harber London Leather Roll Top Backpack at £319.