Lo & Sons Hanover Deluxe 2 review

Lo & Sons Hanover Deluxe 2 two minute review

The Lo & Sons Hanover Deluxe 2 is one of the best backpacks we've used this year and quickly became our go-to, day-to-day bag as we returned to the office in last few weeks.

With all of the tech we've had to move back and forth recently on a 40-minute subway commute, we needed something with ample capacity and comfort. Honestly, we were surprised to find that the Hanover Deluxe 2 was that bag.

To look at it, the Hanover Deluxe 2 seems like a backpack for serious people carrying serious things that is more style than substance. 

It only comes in black and deep navy, so it's not trying to be funky or kitsch, and is probably the kind of backpack that would tut-tut at some brightly-colored new-money upstart on the train if it could.

Unlike an old-money aristocrat, though, the Hanover Deluxe 2 doesn't shy away from doing some heavy lifting. 

It definitely doesn't look like the kind of backpack that you can squeeze a desk full of tech gear into, but it is surprisingly spacious with a 25.8L capacity. It also has an ample number of pockets and dividers to make organizing your stuff a breeze.

It has a separate laptop compartment at back that can fit your standard 15.6-inch laptop comfortably. 

If you've got a heftier 17-inch laptop like the Gigabyte Aero 17 (2021) or Dell XPS 17 (2021) or even a MacBook Pro 16-inch (2021), the back pocket isn't going to hold it neatly, if at all. 

There is still room in the main compartment to accommodate larger laptops though and you can even make creative use of the foam insert to separate things so that it's almost like having a second laptop compartment. 

Trust us, we carried a few of them around that way. We aren't kidding when we say it's a surprisingly versatile backpack.

The side pockets are wide and deep, and easily fit a coffee mug, U-lock, or water bottle. And, if you need a little extra room, a zipper along the side expands its capacity to make it even more functional.

The front pocket has some smaller mesh organization pockets as well, and it even includes a key leash which made fishing out our smaller work keys a snap.

The zipper pulls have a very cool woven elastic through the zipper that makes them much more accessible when opening and closing pockets from different angles. 

This is something we very much appreciated as we dug around looking for our tablet while standing against the wall of a moving subway car.

Like a lot of Lo & Sons products, the Hanover Deluxe 2 is a premium item, no question. It retails for $248 – though occasionally you can find it on sale for around $150 on the Lo & Sons site – and it's only available in the US at this time.

You will definitely feel every dollar spent in the quality of this bag, though, making this possibly the best backpack for those who want to step up their style with a more premium commuter bag while keeping things classy and timeless.

If that's you, then the Lo & Sons Hanover Deluxe 2 should definitely be at the top of your list – just be prepared to make the investment.

Buy it if...

Don't buy if...

• Check out the best camera bags of 2021