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Sena Cases Isa Crossbody Leather Hand Bag for smartphones review

Because my days have no set format, I don’t like relying on a single gear bag.  Some days I need a laptop or my 12.9″ iPad Pro, so I need a big bag.  Other days, I’m just running a few errands, so I only want to carry some keys and a wallet, but I still want a small bag to hold them since my clothing never seems to have useable pockets.  The Isa Crossbody Leather Hand Bag for smartphones from Sena Cases seems like a great bag for my errands days, and I was happy to be selected when Sena offered one to The Gadgeteer for our review.

What is it?

The Isa Crossbody bag is not a fitted case; it is a universal phone bag, and it has extra room inside to hold a small EDC kit in addition to a phone.  It holds everything I need for most of my days when I’m just going out to do some errands or go shopping.

Specs

The Isa Crossbody is about 8″ long,  4.5″ tall, and 2.5″ deep (empty).  It has a strap that’s about 5/8″ wide and adjusts from 48″ to 52″ long.  It’s designed as a crossbody bag, so the strap is longer, but you could carry it on your shoulder at the shorter length if you don’t mind carrying it low.

The bag is available in black or red leather.  I asked for the red, of course!

Design and features

The lead picture is a photo of my actual bag, but I thought I’d also include the one from Sena’s website so you can see the strap adjustment buckle.  They more artfully staged the Isa than I was able to do.  You can see the small, round metal Sena badge at the top center.  This was the only branding on the bag’s leather exterior.  You can also see the gold-toned metal hardware and zippers.

The leather on the front of the bag has been quilted into an attractive small grid design.  There is no external pocket on the front of the bag.

The zipper pull tabs are made of metal, as well, and they are very thick.  So thick, in fact, that they can get stuck in strange positions that make it hard to operate the zipper sometimes.  It’s impossible to see in this image, but the zipper pull tabs are branded with the Sena name.

The back of the bag has no quilting.  There is an open pocket that covers most of the back.

The bag has two separate zippered compartments.  The front compartment has a sewn-in sleeve that holds a phone with up to a 5.5″ screen.

It easily held my iPhone 7 Plus in its thin, clear Spigen case.  I stored my Vera Bradley zippered card case and a folding Kent comb in the rest of the front zippered compartment.

The back compartment has a little zippered pocket on the back wall; it’s unzipped in this image.  There’s also a leather badge imprinted with the Sena name on the back wall, but it can’t been easily seen in this image.  The red line visible just under the interior zipper is the top of the badge.

I packed most of my stuff in this back compartment.  I have my iPod touch in a clear Spigen case in the zippered pocket.  I have three car fobs in cases, a Bic 4-in-1 pen/pencil, and a small LED flashlight with a Swiss Army knife attached in this pocket.  And the compartment actually zips!

Here’s a look at everything, except the iPhone 7 Plus, that I carry in the Isa Crossbody.  (I used the iPhone to take this photo.)

Granted, the bag was a bit cramped, but I could leave behind the fobs for my husband’s car (red leather case) and my daughter’s car (small oval, blue leather case) and have room for other stuff.  Truth is, I never remember to pick up the fob for the other car if I’m going to to be using someone else’s car, so I’d rather just carry all three fobs.  I’m glad the Isa allows me to carry them all.

I like the Isa Crossbody universal smartphone bag.  If I get a new phone, I won’t have to worry if it will fit in the Isa, because I can just leave it out of that phone sleeve if I need to.  I like that I can segregate my stuff to keep the keys away from the phone screen, and I like that I can fit what I consider to be my minimal EDC items in the bag and zip it all up securely.  I like that it’s a crossbody bag, because that leaves my hands free, and I don’t have to worry that I’ll set my bag down to look at something then walk off without it.  I think Sena has a winner with this well-constructed, reasonably-priced, attractive phone bag!

What I like

  • Great size for a phone, keys, and wallet
  • Beautiful leather, design, and construction
  • Adjustable strap so you can carry it on your shoulder or wear crossbody
  • Interior zipper pocket and two main zippered compartments help organize contents

What needs to be improved

  • Zipper pull tabs are thick and can get stuck in a position that makes it harder to pull open the zipper

Final thoughts

The Sena Cases Isa Crossbody Leather Hand Bag for smartphones is an attractive, well-made bag that’s perfectly sized for a minimal carry kit when you want to travel light.

Price: $129.95
Where to buy: Sena Cases
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Sena Cases.

Toffee Commuter Satchel review

I’m a huge fan of backpacks and bags of all kinds, and one of my favorite bags with a shoulder strap is the Mission Rucksack by Toffee. I loved bringing that on the plane, but I have started using my iPad less and less, and I usually just bring my MacBook Pro on trips now. Toffee’s new Commuter Satchel is made for a 13 or 15-inch laptop, so I was excited to be able to try it out and see how it compared to the previous Toffee bag I loved.

My old Toffee bag still looks great after over three years, and that is with trips locally and across the country on a plane. The Commuter Satchel is made of the same tough waxed canvas, leather trim, and a similar design, but the satchel has a few very nice modifications that was happy to see.

The shoulder strap is sturdy and durable, with an adjustable canvas pad. This definitely helped keep the shoulder strap from digging into my shoulder, and was necessary with the extra weight a larger bag can carry. I consider myself an average height for a woman, and it fit me with about six inches of strap that could be extended.

Other than fitting my MacBook, the design change I liked best was having a magnetic clasp to keep the flap held down. It is so much easier to get in and out of the satchel compared to the old bag, which used buckles that you had to manually adjust. Of course, it is easier to accidentally open the flap now as well, but I would prefer that to the buckles.

The backside of the satchel has a zippered compartment, which I used mainly for my phone and smaller items that could easily fall out of the main area of the satchel. The zippers are sturdy, well made, and easy to use, and there was room for my Kindle or 8-inch tablet if I had wanted.


When you open the front flap, you’ll find two small pouches, a large pouch with a sleeve for a 13″ laptop, and another zippered compartment. There is plenty of space inside for a MacBook, iPad Air, and one or two magazines. I could fit a Kindle and an 8-inch tablet within the smaller pouches, and with the flap closed, I never worried about them falling out. The full dimensions of the satchel are approximately 14.1″ x 10.6″ x 2.3″.


The satchel is just big enough that I can toss a sketchbook in with some colored pencils as well as my MacBook, or perhaps a drawing tablet and MacBook if I wanted to go out of the house to do a bit of art. The inside is nice and padded, especially around the laptop compartment, and you can snap the compartment closed to keep your laptop from moving around too much. Even with the padding, it’s big enough to be versatile to use, but small enough that you won’t be filling it up and hurting your shoulder with the weight of the bag.

I used the inner zippered pocket to hold coins, cash, and my wallet. Since tossing my crossbody purse into the bag would have taken up room, I just moved everything into the satchel and used it as if it were an EDC bag. It definitely worked very well, as I loved the look and feel of this bag.


Overall, I really liked the Commuter Satchel by Toffee. The look, feel, and usability of this bag is great, and I can carry my MacBook around without being paranoid that it will be damaged. If I find myself carrying around an EDC bag regularly, this would be my go-to bag. Since I know the quality is top notch, I would not hesitate to recommend the Commuter Satchel to anyone looking for a solid laptop bag for their every day needs.

Source: The sample used in this review was provided by Toffee. Please visit their website for more information.

 

Product Information

Price: $154.50
Manufacturer: Toffee
Pros:
  • Sturdy and well made
  • Laptop compartment very padded
  • Looks very stylish
Cons:
  • None

Filed in categories: Bags, Reviews

Tagged:

Toffee Commuter Satchel review originally appeared on on March 16, 2017 at 8:13 am.

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