MATEIN Carry on Backpack (Extra-Large) Review

Reviewing the most popular Amazon products is always an interesting exercise for us. It’s a decent, if imperfect, reflection of what resonates with people when looking for specific products. Is it the price? The looks? The listed features? These are all valid aspects to consider whenever we browse.

This brings us to the MATEIN Carry on Backpack. With a list price of around $41 (discounted to $36 at the time of writing), the value alone is enough to make anyone stop scrolling and take a gander at what it has to offer. To be fair, it has a lot of features we typically see in pricier travel backpacks, such as compression straps, a luggage pass-through, and even an expansion zipper if you need more storage.

But there has to be a catch at that price, right? There’s only one way to find out: let’s dive in.

External Components

We’re testing the 40-liter XL version in this review, but the bag is also available in smaller 27-liter and larger 45-liter XXL sizes. Why did we go the middle route? Based on the measurements, this should be the biggest variant that’s still carry-on compliant. In fact, based on years of testing and using many travel backpacks, the MATEIN Carry-On is surprisingly compliant for a 40-liter bag. For context, our go-to bag for air travel, the Aer Travel Pack 3, is 35 liters, and its carry on compliance score isn’t as high as this bag despite having less volume.

So, how did MATEIN pull it off? From what we can see, the bag’s materials and construction play a part. The polyester fabric is fairly light, and there’s not a ton of structure to keep the bag from getting squished. In other words, there’s just not much “stuff” taking up the bag’s overall volume, so a lot of it counts as packable space instead.

As for durability, the good news is that there are no egregious loose threads, badly stitched or cut fabric, or other elements that feel like they’d fall off. The hardware (zippers and buckles) is unbranded, but they do their duties fairly smoothly and without issue. All of that said, there’s definitely an air of “good enough” quality surrounding the bag. Scuffs leave creases that almost seem permanent, the jangly noises of the zippers ring hollow, and the bag’s overall structure lacks beefiness. It’s good for now, but we wouldn’t count on this remaining intact for too long.

On the side and at the top are grab handles that are appropriately sized and padded for the bag’s 40-liter capacity. They are decently comfortable for quick grabs, especially since their undersides are layered with breathable mesh, and we find them useful for getting the bag in and out of tight spaces. However, at 40 liters, there comes a point where the backpack can simply get too heavy, so we wouldn’t count on these being a comfortable long-term means of carrying; you’ll have to defer to the harness system.

The harness system is relatively basic for a travel backpack of this size. The padding strikes us as thick but lacking the necessary stiffness and rigidity for a potentially heavy bag. Testing this back-to-back with Able Carry Max EDC really gave us a solid perspective of how thick but still soft and pliable shoulder straps should be. Unfortunately, the MATEIN Carry on’s straps feel almost insubstantial by comparison.

Case in point: check out how easily the entire back panel, with the same level of padding as the shoulder straps, gets lumpy. This is partly because of the compression straps, but more generally caused by the gear we’ve packed inside. To be clear, we’ve packed this bag the way we usually pack other travel backpacks we’ve tested, using packing cubes and other organizers to minimize the oddly shaped gear inside.

Onto the more positive aspects of the harness system—we are pleased to see that the shoulder straps can tuck away. You simply unhook their fasteners at the bottom, allowing you to stow them inside a zippered compartment at the top. This is a handy feature if you’re the type of traveler who’s really bothered when straps get caught on random fixtures. At the same time, there’s also a luggage pass-through should you wish to slot the bag onto your roller when traveling with one.

Fit Notes

Carrying comfort is not this bag’s strong suit for a handful of reasons. Yes, while it ticks a lot of the right boxes in terms of features, quality isn’t overcoming quantity here. For example, even though there is a sliding sternum strap, we still can’t quite get the bag forward or high enough to make it feel less saggy. That’s not to mention our earlier complaints about the bag’s general lightness and lack of structure.

The padding isn’t blunting the bag’s lumpiness, nor are there any underlying reinforcements to keep the bag uniformly shaped. The result is a carrying experience that reflects the budget price tag: acceptable if there are no alternatives. If there’s any consolation, there are a ton of colorway options to choose from, so the bag can at least look nice while you’re carrying it.

Inside The Backpack

At the front is a stylized diagonal front pocket for everyday carry items you might want to grab quickly. There are no additional pockets inside, so you can just throw in whatever gear you want without putting too much thought into organization. The main thing to keep in mind is—and this is really the overarching thing about this bag—whatever you pack inside imprints and can be obvious from the outside. Also worth noting is how this front pocket clashes with the compartment behind it.

The compartment features an admin panel filled with different pockets for organizing more gear. This includes a zippered back pocket, a zippered mesh pocket, pen slots, and liner pockets. However, most of the compartment’s space and pockets are concentrated too low around the bottom area, thus clashing with the front pocket’s capacity. As a result, despite having plenty of volume to work with, things start to feel crowded relatively fast once you start populating both this compartment and the front pocket. We’re not bag designers, but we really wish MATEIN utilized more of the compartment’s upper half to make packing a more balanced experience.

As an aside, we also resorted to storing our water bottle in this compartment since the bag lacks a dedicated pocket for that purpose. We really feel like that’s the one feature that’s sorely missing from this bag, even though there’s more than enough space to have one. Without one, you’ll have to get creative with how you store your drink, and putting it inside the front compartment was the way to go for us.

The main compartment features dual lockable zippers, and we recommend putting them along the top where you can easily grab them. Not only is this more comfortable to reach, but it’s also ideal if, like us, you pack your toiletry bag near the top of the main compartment. That said, overall accessibility is easy, with the compression straps overlapping the zipper track the only obstacle along the way.

Once you open the main compartment, you’re greeted with a fairly standard layout: a main bucket space on one side and a zippered mesh pocket under the lid. The latter is an ideal storage spot for smaller items and clothing, such as socks, gloves, and underwear. That said, just this mesh pocket probably won’t be enough to organize your clothing, so we still recommend packing cubes and other organizers. If you forgo using packing cubes, or they’re simply out of the budget (this is a budget travel backpack, after all), there is a built-in hold-down strap to fall back on.

In its compressed state, the base 40-liter capacity is so roomy that you can easily get two weeks’ worth of clothing inside. In our case, that includes a pair of running shoes, six shirts, a hoodie, and three pairs of pants. There is no laptop compartment or built-in sleeve, so you’ll also have to put your device here, just as we did. You can easily fit more pants, tops, or tech accessories if you swap out the shoes to really get comfy with that two-week goal. However, sacrificing the shoes might not even be necessary once you undo the expansion zipper.

It’s a single zipper running parallel to the main compartment’s dual ones, and it nets you about two inches of extra height around the sidewalls. With that much space, packing is much less about planning how to make everything fit and more of an exercise of actually getting everything inside. Why is that? Because of how floppy the bag’s entire structure is, we needed to keep propping the bag’s fabric and sides up whenever we put anything inside. It makes packing a bit tedious and really puts into perspective why pricier bags and brands put a greater emphasis on structure. It’s not just about making gear feel more premium; it also factors into convenience and overall functionality.