One Sentence Verdict: One of the best travel bags you can buy, especially if you haul a lot of gadgets around with you.I'm going to start off by stating the obvious: this is a BIG bag. All 40L bags are large, but the Nomatic's square design makes it feel particularly bulky compared to other options. There won't be a huge difference between 40L options when fully packed, but the rectangular shape combined with the somewhat rigid sides means that you can't expect this bag ever to feel anything other than bulky, even when you pack light.Is that a problem? Eh, it depends. It's hard to imagine wanting to haul something like this around as a commuter bag, which means the Nomatic 40L isn't really suitable for dual use. You aren't going to want to come home from a trip and carry this bag with you to work every day. It just doesn't really suit that purpose and, unlike some other large travel bags, doesn't have any features that will allow you to compress it down into something more manageable.That said, nothing I've typed so far should matter to you if you're primarily looking for a travel bag. As a travel bag, this backpack is great. The rectangular shape that makes it feel so bulky also means that the primary storage volume is incredibly easy to use. The top and bottom pockets obviously intrude on this area, but it's a mistake to think of these as separate storage spaces. Instead, they work best as a way to separate and organize the main storage or to provide quick access to certain items. We use the shoe pocket for storing underwear/socks and the water bottle pocket as a toiletry storage area. Works great.Overall, organization is this bag's true strong suit, especially if you like to travel with gadgets. Most travel bags assume that you're mostly going to be packing the main area with clothes, and you might get room for a laptop and some pockets to organize small items. The Nomatic 40L integrates electronic space into the main bag compartment, with pockets that will comfortably fit both a 15" laptop and a 12" tablet without breaking a sweat. Using these pockets doesn't meaningfully intrude on the main storage area.You also get an organizational pocket that spans the entire side of the bag, with tons of internal organization for cables, chargers, etc. The space in this pocket is fairly generous and you can jam it full of stuff without intruding on the main compartment, although the bag will certainly bulge out on the side. This pocket is probably one of the bigger "make or break" features on the bag. If you carry a lot of small gadget bits and bobs, you're going to like this pocket a lot. If not, you might want a bag with a more traditional storage area. The opposite side also features two storage pockets, but there's not much to say about them. They're extra space that won't meaningfully intrude on the main area, but they don't offer any interesting features or extra organization possibilities.The overall quality of the bag is good to great. Materials differ across sections, but it's genuinely water resistant and feels like a premium product, although possibly a little shy of the quality you might expect at this MSRP. I would rate the quality as "okay" at full price and "great" at the sale prices that typically come along. The zippers are unbranded, but feel smooth and strong, plus there's a lifetime warranty. I like my YKK zippers, but I feel fine about the unbranded ones on this bag. Design is obviously subjective, but nothing about the bag looks or feels cheap. Comfort is also "okay," but it's good enough for getting through airports or walking through a city to a hotel. I wouldn't want to wear this bag all day long, but I don't want to wear any stuffed 40L bag all day long. That's just the nature of the beast.So all of this is a long-winded way of saying that I like this bag. A lot. It'll take a week's worth of vacation supplies without a problem if you're a minimal packer, and it'll handle 4-5 days worth of stuff if you're a weird packrat like me. My primary usage is 3-4 day business trips where I pack more clothes than I need, a 15" laptop, an 11" tablet, a Steam Deck, a bunch of dumb charging nonsense, and even some small board games when I'm not traveling alone. This bag swallows all that stuff without complaint, usually with a sizable amount of extra room to spare. The best part is that it does all that while staying relatively organized and neat, and looking good to boot.