KNOMO Warwick briefcase review: not any old bag

I’m a sucker for luxury. Fine cars, shiny shoes, drinks that don’t burn as they trickle down my throat, that sort of thing. So KNOMO’s ultra-luxurious Warwick briefcase, essentially the greatest laptop bag ever made, is right up my gold-coated ally. For £285 (US$371) though, it’s not priced for everyone. For those who can afford it, the KNOMO Warwick is an absolute must have.

Devil may care

I had an excellent, but very worn out satchel. It’s print was fun, and the bag was nigh-on indestructible. It took a stray bullet for goodness sakes. Or that could have been a cigarette burn… it was a crazy night. But I quickly lost interest in my trusted laptop carrier when the Warwick arrived on my desk.

The first thing you notice is the leather — how supple and warm it is when you pinch it together. This is smooth, full-grain cow leather so vegans need not apply. This is a man’s satchel, or a very masculine womans’ at the least. It stinks of class, practically drips with it. Next up are the zips. This is no ordinary nickle-and-dime store zip. No, this is a zip that is made to last tens of thousands of uses and it functions as if it were greased by the butter of angels. The zip pull is steady, thick and always unzips the compartments with a graceful ease.

It’s a laptop bag first though, designer attaché second. Inside the Warwick is a padded interior, painted in the colour of a setting sun. It’s a sturdy scotch-guarded interior then, and your MacBook (you do have a MacBook, don’t you?) will be safe and secure inside. The Warwick is also slightly shockproof, as I accidentally found out when I let go of it during my morning rush to work.

Compartment crazy

There are a lot of storage options inside the Warwick. A front section without pockets or distractions that will fit any laptop under 15-inches, a back section with pockets for business cards, condoms, fake passports and so on as well as inner zip hidden within the fabric. On the back and front of the Warwick are even more options for the storage hungry traveller. The magnetised front which is laptop-safe, neatly opens to reveal two pockets, one sans-zip. The rear-facing pockets are also zip-free, so are ideal for newspapers, magazines, ironed-out sheets of gold and so on. The inner-most compartment inside the rear pockets even unzips for some reason. If anyone can figure out why, please let me know.

A heavy burden to bear

So far, you’ve heard me gush nothing but praise on the KNOMO Warwick, but it has a fatal flaw that my older, far cheaper laptop bag didn’t posses. Namely that it’s one of the heaviest laptop bags on this green earth. It’s 1.7Kg heavy, which is close to the weight of most laptops. Pile in the charger, iPads, a phone plus other extras and you’ve got yourself an exceptionally heavy carryall. Luckily, the shoulder strap is as strong as a car seatbelt so even the heaviest of loads are supported in safety. It’s plenty to carry around though and when I flip the bag around and inspect it, it’s hard to tell exactly why it is so heavy. The cost of quality is both exorbitant and weighty

Buy it if you can

The KNOMO Warwick is an exceptional laptop bag that is too heavy, and too expensive for everyone but the insanely wealthy. But don’t let that stop you from getting one. What you are purchasing here is the Lamborghini of laptop bags, an F1 star that is miles ahead of the competition. Save your pennies and post a picture of the Warwick on your fridge door while softly chanting this mantra: “One day, you’ll be mine.”

Verdict: KNOMO’s Warwick laptop bag is rugged, beautifully designed and utterly desirable. It’s too costly though, but no one ever seems to complain when gadget makers force us to purchase a slightly upgraded device year after year. It’s an investment, and I highly recommend it.

Score: 9/10

Purchase KNOMO’s Warwick directly from the official site. Thanks to Core.co.za for supplying us with the Warwick for review.