Away finally did it. They just came out with a brand new collection of hybrid trunks. Honestly, it’s about time. It combines the best features of their aluminum bag plus their polycarbonate bag to create a unique hybrid. On the other hand, you might own a shameful amount of Béis products. You might have ten products that you have purchased and used and tested, and thought that was a lot. Well, guess what? Now you might have ten more.
It is high time that we update the review and review more new products. This is going to be brutally honest so that you know if it’s really worth it or not to buy these brands. We are going to look at the inside, the outside, weigh it, and measure it.
The Away Aluminum Edge Carry-On
This isn’t called the Away hybrid carry-on; this is actually called the Away Aluminum Edge Carry-On. What hybrid means is that it has a lot of the wonderful features that their aluminum bag has, such as the frame and the latches, and it’s zipperless, but it has a polycarbonate shell instead of an aluminum shell. That’s great for a couple of reasons. One, it’s going to be a little bit lighter weight. And two, it’s going to be a heck of a lot more durable because if you’ve ever seen an aluminum bag after a year or so of travel, it looks like garbage.
The outer shell, like I said, is polycarbonate. They made this a really beautiful texture, especially seeing it in person. They gave it a leather-inspired pebbled finish. I think it looks really nice. Of course, it does have their horizontal grooves that just scream “I have an Away bag.” On the top, you have these reinforced corners or bumpers, one in each corner. This is just going to give your bag extra protection.
The Frame and Latches
This luggage is zipperless. The latch is how you are going to open the bag. I really love zipperless luggage. You have extra security because you’ve got two different locks. You don’t have to worry if your zipper breaks. Zipperless luggage is going to give you a little more peace of mind.
These locks are actually recessed, which means they go into the bag, so they don’t really stick out too much, which is great when it comes to the size of the bag and great when it comes to durability. There are TSA locks on each one, and each one can do a different code.
Let’s talk about the frame because you can see this frame that goes down the middle and you’ve got the rivets. It has the aluminum frame and then you have this little stripe in the middle of it. And that is going to be your water-resistant gasket seal, which means it’s a little piece of rubber or silicone that helps close the luggage and really seal it to act as a barrier so nothing gets in. This is crucial if you are heading out on rugged trips like those found in The Clymb Adventures.
The biggest thing you’re going to notice with an aluminum frame is that it has no give whatsoever. It is rock hard. When you want to lock it, you just latch it. To me, it’s a lot easier than a zipper, especially if you overpack.
Weight and Dimensions
Any piece of luggage with aluminum details does weigh more than your average carry-on. If you are in the market for zipperless luggage, that’s just something you’re going to have to deal with. It says on the website that it weighs 10.1 lbs. It actually says 9.8 lbs when weighed. Is that lightweight? No. Is it lighter than some other bags? Yes.
It just under 22 inches tall, but the actual body of the suitcase itself is 20 inches. As for the width, you’re looking at just shy of 14 and a half.
The Béis Small Carry-On Roller
International carry-on bags are often smaller than the typical U.S. domestic carry-on bags. Béis’s response to this was to make a carry-on luggage that was smaller and more suitable for international travel: the Small Carry-On Roller. Besides their mini roller, this is the smallest roller bag that Béis offers.
The exterior dimensions of this bag are 21 by 13 by 9 inches on its own, without anything inside. This bag weighs 7.16 lbs. It has a polycarbonate shell with a vegan leather trim, and I find that this bag doesn’t really have as much give as, say, other bags, and it actually feels quite sturdy.
Design and Features
I absolutely love the design of this luggage. It has these paneled sections with a beautiful matte finish, which really gives it a polished, chic, feminine look. It has a double zipper with the Béis logo on the handles of the zippers. There is a built-in side-facing TSA combination lock. You could set your own code and it’s great for security.
There is a handle at the top and at the side. I love having both handles, having one at the top and one at the side, because it’s one of the easiest ways to pick up your bag and put it in the overhead bin. There is no handle underneath though.
The Weight Indicator
A unique feature of Béis luggage is that there is a weight indicator on the side. It’s a clear window that will turn red once the bag hits 50 lbs. 50 lbs is the standard limit for carry-on bags in the US. This is really great if you don’t have a luggage scale or you don’t want one, but you still want to keep track of how much your bag weighs to know whether you’re in that weight limit or not.
The Trolley Handle and Wheels
There is an extendable trolley handle at the top. I think it has to be one of the smoothest, most satisfying handle slides. One of my favorite things about this handle is that it is cushioned at the bottom. It is so soft and comfortable. I remember the first time that I used this bag, and I felt that cushion because I didn’t know it was there.
There are four 360-degree spin wheels. These are good for easy maneuvering in any direction. These wheels are Japanese Hinomoto Silent Run wheels. Apparently, they’re known for having a higher quality durability and for being really quiet and smooth.
Interior Organization: A Tale of Two Bags
Inside the Away
Let’s take a look at the interior of the Away bag. I’m so obsessed with the fact that it’s beige. It opens clamshell style, meaning you have packing space on both sides. You’ve got 4 and 1/2 inches on this side and 4 and 1/2 inches on this side.
You have a compression system. You do have two horizontal buckles, and that’s what’s going to compress this panel down. You do have a zippered mesh pocket here and a zippered mesh pocket here that’s a little bit larger. With this one, the handles don’t go all the way down. You do have all of this space right here. That’s kind of cool.
The latches are recessed into the bag. They’re actually on this side. It doesn’t really take up that much space at all. Not even an inch.
Inside the Béis
The Béis bag also has a clamshell opening so it opens flat, which makes it really easy to pack. On one side you have an open space with two compression straps. On this same side, you have a removable compression flap. It snaps onto the sides here and you can easily take it out if you don’t plan on using it.
It has the built-in wet bag, which I love for packing wet swimsuits—perhaps after a beach day mentioned in a Nassau Bahamas Travel Advisory—or muddy gear after hiking. I can just put it in this wet bag, and it will keep everything else in my bag dry. I also really like using this bottom non-wet bag pocket for like underwear and socks to keep them separate.
On the other side of the suitcase are two zippered pockets. One is more clear, so you could sort of make out what’s inside, and the other one is just a standard pocket. You can put small accessories in here. Along with the zippered pockets, there’s a larger zipped compartment underneath, and this is where I like to pack my shoes.
The Soft Bags: Weekenders and Everywhere Bags
The Away Everywhere Bag
In true Away fashion, the outside of this thing is pretty simple. We have their weatherproof nylon. This is water-resistant so water just kind of beads off. It has like a slick feeling to it. It also has like a little bit of a shine to it.
We also have leather accents all around. At the bottom, we have two little leather accents which give it kind of something to sit down on top of. We’ve also got these nice leather handles. Around the backside here, a luggage pass-through which is fairly simple. It works with a piece of rolling luggage from Away.
The outside of this is pretty simple otherwise. They have the weight for this as 2.75 lbs with this shoulder strap and then without it it’s 2.25 lbs. When it’s packed out, it kind of has this like rectangular shape to it which I think looks really nice.
The harness system is fairly simple. We have these two top leather carry handles. No padding or anything on these but I didn’t really find myself needing it. This carry strap is very very comfortable. It’s not overly thick like we’ve seen padding on other shoulder straps. It’s kind of nice to see that you can do a minimal strap padding like this and have it still be really comfortable.
We’ve got a front pocket that’s just very tiny. You can see that this zipper pull lays nice and flat which is nice because it stays tucked out of the way. The problem is I had a hard time grabbing it a lot. It’s only a little bit of extra space there. In here I can fit a regular iPhone 14 and then I have my wallet and then AirPods.
We also have this back laptop compartment. I really like this. Something we don’t see super often is a separate laptop compartment in like a duffel or a Weekender. This fits up to a 15-inch laptop. It is well padded down here. I never felt like the padding ends and there’ll be like a gap between where the padding ends and the seam.
When you open this bag you can see that it opens really, really, really wide. The danger with this is that it’s easy to overpack this and then realize that you can’t actually close it. It can get a little bit saggy.
The Béis Weekender Bag
The Béis Weekender bag has the viral bottom compartment, which is perfect for shoes. That’s what I usually use my bottom compartment for, is to keep shoes and other dirty things away, separate from my clothes and clean items. The back of the Weekender bag has this bonus pocket that unzips into a luggage trolley sleeve, so you can put it right on top of your suitcase in the airport hands-free.
The interior has tons of pockets, zipped pockets, open pockets, a padded laptop compartment, and of course, the famous Béis key leash, so you never lose your keys inside of this large bag. It truly is just a Weekender bag. It is also too large to use as a personal item in the airport. You’d have to use it as a carry-on.
The Convertible Mini Weekender
The Weekender bag that I would recommend for frequent flyers now is the Convertible Mini Weekender bag. It fits underneath the seat in front of you in a plane. So you can use it as a personal item. It has this convertible trolley sleeve that you can put on your luggage handle.
Another unique feature to the Convertible Mini Weekender bag is that this bottom compartment is convertible. You can completely zip this bottom compartment off. That way you can actually then use this bag more like a day bag on your trips. It has this mesh zipper to keep whatever you have packed in here nice and condensed down.
The Béis East to West Tote
The Béis East to West Tote also pleasantly surprised me. The interior has loads of pockets. It has a padded laptop compartment. It has two interior water bottle holders, which is really nice. This material is also water resistant which I was not expecting. I think it’s going to be a perfect beach bag this summer.
My favorite feature of this bag though is probably all of the straps. It comes with three different straps. You have your regular purse size straps. You also have the unattachable crossbody shoulder strap that’s padded. But the best part is the shorter handle. It has these shorter straps that makes it so easy to do that without dragging the large bag on the floor or against your legs.
The Accessories
Béis Packing Cubes
The Béis compression packing cubes did not disappoint. I’ve tried a lot of cheaper packing cube alternatives, and they work great, but these are definitely higher quality. You’re definitely getting what you pay for with these. I got a four-pack. It came with two larger compression packing cubes and two smaller ones.
They do have the compression zipper. They seem really durable and high quality, which would help keep your clothes compressed. They come with pre-made labels that are very Béis branded. It comes with a few blank labels, but it also has one that says like “wash me” or “the good stuff,” “proceed with caution,” “basics,” “night out,” “so fresh and so clean.”
The Luggage Covers
I bought the luggage covers for both my medium check-in bag as well as my carry-on roller. I always have hesitated buying luggage covers because if I’m buying cute luggage to show off in the airport, I don’t want to like cover it up. What I like about these Béis luggage covers is that they come in the same color as your suitcase.
They’re a really, really nice high quality neoprene material. They’re not plasticky like most luggage covers. The best part is that they’re made for the Béis luggage, meaning they have zippers and straps exactly where you need them.
The Béis Sweatshirt
I own the sweatshirt and I will say that this was a very, very pleasant surprise. It’s high quality. My favorite part is that it’s anti-theft, which obviously is perfect for travelers. The pockets actually zip shut. It’s almost like a kangaroo pouch where the pockets come into the front, but they’re accessible on the sides and they’re zipped.
These pockets are directly under my armpits. So, when my arms are down, they’re covered. You do not have access to the zipper if my arms are down covering it, which I think is genius. One of the pockets does have a key leash.
The Micro Weekender Charm
This is the micro Weekender charm. This might be the cutest thing that I own. Who doesn’t love a miniature version of anything that they love? It is a literal miniature version of the viral Béis Weekender bag in bag charm form. It is actually practical because it’s pretty large. It zips open and you can fit your AirPods case. You could fit a chapstick. You could fit a little hand sanitizer in it.
The Specs Sheet: Béis vs. Away
| Feature | Away Aluminum Edge Carry-On | Béis Small Carry-On Roller |
| Price | $425 | $248 |
| Weight | 9.8 lbs | 7.16 lbs |
| Material | Polycarbonate & Aluminum | Polycarbonate & Vegan Leather |
| Dimensions | 22″ x 14.5″ x 9″ | 21″ x 13″ x 9″ |
| Lock Type | Dual TSA Latches (Zipperless) | Built-in TSA Lock (Zippered) |
| Wheels | 360° Spinner | Japanese Hinomoto Silent Run |
| Handle | Leather (Top/Side) | Cushioned Trolley Handle |
| Capacity | 35 L | Small (International Standard) |
| Unique Feature | Water-resistant Gasket Seal | Weight Indicator (Red at 50lbs) |
Final Thoughts
The Béis Small Carry-On Roller is priced at $248 and it comes in seven colors. The price does seem fair to me when you compare it to similar hardshell luggages within that size range. It is absolutely a great size for international travel and it is compliant with most international airlines. It is a tad bit on the smaller side. If you are someone who does like to pack light, who is particular about what they bring, I do think that this is the ideal bag for you.
The Away Aluminum Edge Carry-On is $425. It’s not the most expensive hybrid bag, but it’s certainly not the cheapest. Away has free shipping, 100-day returns, and a lifetime warranty. I personally really like it. I think I might like it better than my other hybrids. The biggest thing is going to be the weight because it is a little bit heavier.
If you are looking for something weatherproof, perhaps for a trip described in The Brutal Truth About Alaska Cruises, the Away Everywhere Bag and the gasket seal on the Aluminum Edge trunk offer great protection.
Béis feels very adult. The Béis product team thinks of everything. From the weight indicator to the anti-theft sweatshirt, they have really unique features. Away has come a long way with their bags and have really made some great changes when it comes to their durability.
Ultimately, both are strong contenders. It just depends on if you want the robust, zipperless security of Away or the organized, thoughtful features of Béis. Use the link in the description if you are going to buy anything.