review

Nayo Rover Review Backpack With Rear Compartment And Hidden Pockets

Thursday, April 01, 2021

The back is supported by incredibly powerful muscles with the spine itself, being able to support up to 8 times your body weight. Knowing this fact does put into content why some people around the world have instinctively figured out to carry loads on their heads, which in itself is remarkable because of the coordination and balancing required. Even carrying loads on the back like a baby or a backpack makes super sense since it's more comfortable and lets your hands be free.

The Nayo Smart Rover backpack has 6 external zip compartments, including a rear-facing panel compartment with a U-shape zip that opens up half way down the bag via two metal slider pull tabs. Inside the rear panel compartment, there is one large sleeve pouch and smaller sleeve pouch (for a tablet) that measures 19cm high and 19cm wide. 

The larger pouch spans the width and height of the bag (27cm wide and 46cm high) and integrates overlapping elastic bands to secure a laptop. The elastic bands have been sewn inside the pouch itself, which measures 32cm high, to accommodate smaller laptops too.

Both sleeve the laptop and tablet compartments are padded and run all the way down to the bottom. The larger pouch has bottom padding while the smaller pouch doesn't. Ideally, it's preferable to have the laptop compartment suspended a couple of inches above the bottom of the bag, which would keep the laptop more secure when dropping the backpack on its base.

Just above the rear compartment zip, there is a thick top grab handle, measuring 16cm long, 4cm wide and 1.5cm thick. The grab handle has closed-cell foam padding so, it has springiness to it. The underside of the grab handle is covered with mesh, which minimizes sweatiness on the hand. The top handle has a TPU accent, as well as a plastic D ring on either side.

Right opposite the top grab handle, there is another main compartment, which is built-in the middle front of the backpack. This compartment has a U shape opening too, and the same metal dual slider pull tab combination, although the zip runs almost down to the base of the bag, allowing you to gain access just like a front panel loading suitcase. The metal pull tab is built-into the slider and has a small sliver, that you could potentially use to pass through a thin wire security lock.
The middle front compartment has the most volume capacity and has a depth of up to 9cm. Inside this compartment, you will find a small zip concealing the male USB-A cable (40cm long) that connects up to the external female USB-A port.
There is a larger zip pouch that measures 12cm high and 16cm wide, as well as 6 open pouch pockets, two of which are made of mesh, measuring 11cm high and 13cm high. The pouches right above the mesh pouches measure 18cm high. The other pouches located on the other side measure 14cm wide and 22cm high. Each corner of the middle front compartment is padded with 12mm thick EVA padding.

Front facing the Nayo Smart Rover backpack, you will find three zips, one of which is located vertically, while the other two zips are perched on the front top of the bag. The vertical zip gives access to a compartment that measures 27cm wide and 27cm high, although the zip opening is just 19cm wide.

The top, front facing zip compartment with a D-shape opening opens up into a large compartment, which measures 28cm wide and 46cm high so, it spans the entire height of the backpack, down the bottom. Inside this compartment, there is a detachable plastic keyring and 4 open pouches, two of which have see through mesh. These mesh pockets measure 12cm high and 13.5cm wide. The other pouches measure 18cm high and 13.5cm wide.
The third front facing compartment is built-in on top of the D-shape compartment and, it's more of a secret pocket because of the concealed zip. This compartment measures 11cm wide and 24cm long and, it's perfect as a quick stash pocket.
The last external zip pocket is located on the rear panel of the backpack, it's the rear secret compartment, which is the most secure compartment because it is protected by your lower backside. This compartment opens up via a single metal slider and it's perfect for storing a smartphone because it's fully padded. It measures 30cm long and 15cm high.
Just above the secret compartment, there is a 20cm long webbing strap sewn from side to side and, it's designed as a "passthrough sleeve" to store the backpack securely onto the handle bars of a rolling suitcase.

Just above the trolley passthrough sleeve, there are is split padding on either side to cushion the upper back and help dissipate sweatiness. The S-shaped shoulder straps measure 41cm long, 7cm wide and 0.5cm thick; hence they are thinly padded, although the foam padding is made of closed-cell. In terms of fit, the Nayo Smart Rover is a tall backpack so, it will fit best if your torso is over 40cm long. The shoulder straps provide decent cushioning, even with heavy loads, and they are wide apart to prevent rubbing against the neck. The Rover backpack can store as much as the Almighty backpack (30 liters) and can expand outward up to 20cm. 
The Rover shoulder straps integrate a small zip pocket, a compass and a height adjustable chest strap, which has a ladderlock fastening design similar to the Exp Backpack. The width of the chest strap can also be enlarged or shortened. The VTX buckles and ladderlocks on the Nayo Smart Rover backpack are made of hard plastic. The stitching throughout the backpack feels durable, especially the top of the shoulder straps, which are sewn under a thick piece of webbing strap with long cross stitching.

Towards the side, there is a slimline pocket large enough to store a narrow water bottle or a small travel tripod. The polyester outershell of the Rover backpack has been covered (including the zip seams) with Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) but the underside hasn't been coated; hence a single TPU coating. The rear panel of the Rover hasn't got any coating either, although the vast majority of backpacks don't. 
Most standard backpacks can't be 100% waterproof in the truest sense because they can't be completely dipped under water like a dry bag can. The Rover backpack has a similar waterproofing performance to a rain cover, which partially covers the front of the backpack.
The lining inside is light blue and non-coated but, it's made with durable 230 denier polyester. total weight of the Rover backpack is 1.1kg. You can buy the Nayo Rover backpack from Nayo Smart website. If you're looking for a smaller pack with similar capabilities as the Rover pack, check out the Defensor backpack.

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