Bellroy Tokyo Tote (2nd Edition) Review

If we haven’t said it already, we’re saying it again: Totes should be appreciated for the simplicity of their design and the amount of gear they can haul. That being said, this hasn’t stopped brands from taking the humble concept of a tote and giving it their own spin—and why not? We’re all for improving good designs if it means better functionality and smarter travel, which brings us to the Bellroy Tokyo Tote (2nd Edition).

Bellroy loooooves the tote, as evidenced by their other tote-based gear, such as the Tokyo Wonder Tote, Market Tote, City Tote, Classic Tote, and Tokyo Totepack. So, what does this update to the Tokyo Tote bring to the table? Let’s find out!

External Components

The main material of choice here is a Bellroy staple: Baida nylon. It’s a fabric we’re familiar with, having tested plenty of Bellroy bags, and we’ve grown confident with it. As with the Oslo and Apex Backpack, the Tokyo Tote walked away from our two weeks of testing without any noteworthy damage. The fabric picked up some blemishes and wrinkles at most, though they’re all superficial. To be clear, it’s not as abrasion-resistant as ballistic nylon, but it’s more than sturdy enough if you’re just hauling gear to and from work, for example.

It’s worth noting that the fabric on Tokyo Tote’s sides and bottom is noticeably thicker than the rest. Bellroy doesn’t specify denier, but we can tell they’re heavier. This makes sense since these areas are the most likely to get bumped and scrap along, especially the bottom since that’s kissing the floor each time you put the Tokyo Tote down. Interestingly, there’s a slight difference between the shades of the lighter and heavier fabrics. We’re unsure if that’s intentional, but it’s hard to ignore once you notice it.

Nevertheless, the Tokyo Tote is easy on the eyes, which isn’t surprising since Bellroy usually nails their bags’ aesthetics. Still, we appreciate this tote’s old-school heritage vibe; it’s refreshing if you want something that still looks professional but not urbanized. The Baida nylon is largely responsible for this, with a similar look to canvas, albeit softer and more flexible. The leather accents, such as the logo and zipper pulls, add a nice touch of class to this as well.

The tote handles are made of slick nylon material and are folded and stitched over to make them thicker and feel beefier. It’s a design that avoids making the handles too cumbersome and complicated since carrying simplicity makes a tote a tote. That said, we find it hard to ignore the lack of padding or any form of cushioning once you’re actually carrying the Tokyo Tote, as we’ll find out in the next section.

The only “fancy” feature Bellroy implemented on these handles are rubberized strips underneath the apex. We very much appreciate these, as tote handles (especially the one on the outer edge) tend to slip off the shoulder. As an aside, it’s features like these that can make us feel noticed, almost like the brand knew we had these problems before.

Fit Notes

The rubberized strips really work, especially for those with sloping shoulders. The handles never slipped off during testing, which really helps when trying to do something else while you’re carrying the bag. We’d rather not have 100% of our brain power on our bag when we’re on vacation.

As we mentioned, the Tokyo Tote struggles with comfort since its handles lack cushioning. Though other totes have just as simple or even simpler handles, the Tokyo Tote’s 15-liter size and capacity for large gear means it can get heavy enough to make the handles dig into the shoulders. Fortunately, the sides remain flat enough that the Tokyo Tote rests comfortably against you, so you should at least get some support.

Despite the Tokyo Tote’s relatively large size, we are happy to report that it doesn’t scrape along the floor when we hold it by hand. That said, your mileage may vary depending on your height. If it does scrape, your only recourse is to carry the Tokyo Tote by the shoulder, as there are no attachment points for a shoulder strap. Some totes, like the ALPAKA Bravo Tote, offer that functionality, but not the Tokyo Tote.

Inside The Tote

The crease above the Bellroy logo feels a bit deceptive, considering the front zippered pocket only spans the length between the handles. Yep, this isn’t a full-width drop pocket; it’s a fairly narrow quick-stash pocket for everyday carry items.

However, it extends to the bottom of the tote, so it’s not exactly short on space despite the pocket’s narrow width. We fit a smartphone alongside a wallet, but you can easily throw a power bank in there, too, since there’s still a lot of leftover room. We would not put things that are smaller since digging those out of a deep pocket like this would be very tricky. There isn’t a divider or interior pocket inside for organizing gear—you’ll have to rely on the main compartment for that.

The main compartment closes with a zipper, and this is where our major gripes with the Tokyo Tote begin. See, one of the Tokyo Tote’s interior pockets fits a 13-inch laptop—this is a feature explicitly listed on Bellroy’s page. However, in most cases, the laptop juts out just enough to make it nearly impossible to get the zipper over. Furthermore, just having the Tokyo Tote’s interior fully packed out also prevents you from closing the zipper. Each side of the track gets pushed too far apart that you can’t even force the zipper down its length. So, unfortunately, the zipper was purposeless for most of our testing.

Technically, the sleeve can fit the 13-inch MacBook without obstructing the main compartment’s zipper. However, the rest of the gear we pack inside shifts the laptop up just enough for it to block it. Additionally, though the laptop sleeve has padding for protection, there’s no false bottom underneath it, causing the laptop to audibly hit the underlying surface whenever we insert it.

Across from the laptop sleeve are liner pockets. One snuggly fits a Kindle, while the other acts as a general dump pocket for other everyday carry items we didn’t already put in the exterior pocket. There’s also a built-in key leash, and—although we were initially skeptical of the clip’s rather sizable gap—it’s held onto the keys we’ve attached securely, not once letting go until we needed to.

As an aside, the size of these side pockets leaves no doubt that the Tokyo Tote is for hauling large gear. There’s even a lot of space left in the middle for a packing cube or two, so the Tokyo Tote is clearly a very capable everyday gear hauler—as totes usually are. Unfortunately, it’s just a bit jarring to have the main compartment’s zipper not ideally designed for that.