Customer Reviews The North Face Women's Borealis

I bought the black/jaiden green color. It looked beautiful in the picture, but once I saw it in person, I was disappointed. The jaiden green was waaaay too bold when seen in person. Unfortunately I will be returning it for a different color.

Too small to hold textbooks for college classes. Tips over forward due to design of front, Difficult to access items inside, feels like it would need a lot of breaking in. Looks great, beautiful colors - I got the dark grey with purple accents. Feels great on your back, but is that because it holds less? If you only have to bring notebooks and folders or a thin text for one or two classes at a time, it will be great. Mine has to go back for something with a bit more capacity.

I like this backpack, it's weightless when I put it on but the opening is so narrow. Whenever I try to put my textbooks or laptop inside I have to take everything out and rearrange it. Its hard to barely fit a three subject notebook, a small text book and my laptop in side, I don't know how i feel about this backpack. I wish there was a bigger gallon for womens fit.

So when I received this backpack it did not look like the picture online. I bought the colour in Moonlight Ivory/Miami Orange, and the organizer pocket was not in fact, orange, it was gray. Also, something not pointed out is that the laptop sleeve, though padded, does not reach the bottom of the backpack. It is suspended leaving an inch of unusable space at the bottom corner of the backpack. Another feature that North Face should have added was to make the padding removable. Because the padding isn't removable but rather sewn in, there is very little room to fit my notebooks and textbooks. Although this guarantees the laptop having space, it is obvious that the sleeve is designed for Macs, not bulkier laptops like a Dell. My school Dell laptop stretches the fabric of the sleeve. Also, the backpack is heavier than I anticipated, and although still very light, not as light as I would have liked. The front of the backpack slouches down in a very unattractive manner, giving the backpack a "beer belly" of sorts. Organizer pockets are nice, they fit everything I need but I feel like they should have been sewn with a little wiggle room, because when I put my Ti-84 calculator and math set in there the math set gets squished and everything feels tight. Organizer pocket has enough room to fit a whole notebook or a few novels. Overall for the money I feel like I could have gotten the Jester II and been much more satisfied. But since the return process for me is too complicated and school is almost starting I will be keeping this backpack and will try to learn to love it.

I ended up returning this backpack because it was too small for my needs. I take the train to work every day and I wanted a backpack that I could fit a change of shoes, my lunch box, umbrella, wallet, and my jacket. I could barely get that stuff to fit, so there was no way I could get my laptop in there. That being said, I liked everything else about it. It is cute, comfortable to wear, and has great pockets for organizing your smaller things like iPod, book, gum, etc.

Purchased on sale because it seemed to fit into what I wanted for a versatile backpack that could be used for some light day hiking and travel, but also be cute enough to tote around campus. Unfortunately, after using this on a short test hike this weekend, I realized how poorly suited it is to what I actually need it to do: (1) The water bottle pouches are very secure, but so high up that I literally have to take the backpack off to get my water bottle in/out of the pouch. Completely impractical for me because I want to easily drink water on the go - walking through the airport, on campus, or on a hike. Stems both from the water bottle pocket being tall and, because it is a hiking backpack meant to sit higher up on your frame for additional stability and less stress, the pocket "mouth" sits even higher. Furthermore, even without the shock cords tightening the pouch, the elastic is pretty strong. I was able to slide my 16oz bottle in and out with one hand, but my 32oz and 40oz Nalgene bottles would need both hands. (2) There are no pockets on the backpack straps or multiple loops for easy attachment points should I want to buy/make pockets. Women's clothing is notorious for not having enough pockets, so if I am hiking with pocketless shorts or walking around in a pocketless dress or slacks, I want a way to easily access my phone and small sundries (small snacks, keys, id card, passport, etc). As this backpack is currently designed, there's no easy access to pockets like that. Again, I have to take off the pack to awkwardly unzip the top pouch to grab any of those items. My current solution is to just wear another bag with this backpack. A cross-body purse or a waist fanny pack depending on the situation. Until I can figure out a way to modify the bag, I'll have to either hold my water bottle or plan on drinking only when I'm able to safely take off my backpack. But, if you don't want to access anything while wearing it, it is a good backpack. Looks like very solid construction, can accommodate larger water bottles although it requires more effort, and I do appreciate the built-in whistle and external shock cords for basic additional safety and storage. This might be a great bag for some, but it misses the mark for me. Unfortunately, I purchased it final sale so I will just keep experimenting with ways to make it work.

The smaller pockets have great organization. The main large pocket sucks. It's hard to fit items all the way to the bottom, making the backpack top heavy. The price doesn't match the design effort.

This bag is super cute, but when it comes to being functional it is not cute at all! The spacing in it is horrible, and it cannot hold a 2 inch binder with a few notebooks, while holding a Owala water bottle. Very disappointed.

I wound up returning this item for 2 reasons. 1- the bag did not have enough volume for all of the this college textbooks I need to fit. I am taking a class with several incredibly heavy books. It should be fine for a normal day bag, good for a K-12 student, but not if you have to carry more that a couple medium size books. 2- the padding in the straps was barely there. 12+ ago i had a backpack from this company that was incredible. It had a silicone grid style padding and the straps were all very supportive and it lasted a long time, until it was stolen from my car. The quality appears to not be the same. I will say that this bag was super cute and the hydration pocket was perfect for my laptop. The backing had a decently ergonomic structure, and the waist and chest straps were nice. It's an ok bag, but not if you need to carry excessive weight or have any shoulder pain issues because the shoulder straps are so poorly padded. I wish I would have gone to a store in person to look at it more closely before I purchased it.

I had a Borealis Backpack years ago, and I absolutely loved it! Eventually it was time to get a new backpack, and I saw this one. I liked it at first, then I noticed I felt pain on my left side whenever I use this backpack. The more I use it, the less I enjoy this version. I can't fit my laptop case inside the laptop pocket is another issue that bothers me. I like to use my case as a holder for my laptop.

This was bought to replace my old 2013 Borealis that I loved to its full death (insides peeling, handles breaking). I've used this for two workdays and I hate it. It's like NorthFace didn't consider any functionality of the product. I brought it to work with my normal: tampons, deodorant, ibuprofen, computer + charger, phone, badges, and a change of clothes for my workout. The extra pockets are such a bad design that I struggled to fit anything into the main compartment and ended up shoving everything in once I changed for my workout. I couldn't find anything in either of the smaller pockets because there wasn't room for my hand to fit. I'm so disappointed, because it was a gift, but delivered late, so it's too late now to even return. I just want the old design back.

It's beautiful, but way too small of a compartment to actually put items in like books for my daughter school.

The backpack was two toned with beige and a light green. Backpack was not exactly like the picture online. Returning the item.

too small for high school student without a locker. oddly big up top and small down bottom

Nice appearance, but quality was lacking. The shoulder anchor strap on the very first use. Compartments are a bit small if you need to carry much more than a laptop and a few folders. If carrying mulitple notebooks, or books etc, it is very tight and awkward.

Planned to use this as my daughter's high school book bag but it's simply too small. Doesn't stretch or have any give like my older Borealis. She can barely fit her essentials in there and no room for anything extra.

It's smaller compared to the regular Borealis backpack. So i'd say if you are not an adult this bad could work otherwise it feels a bit tight.

I loved this backpack. It can hold everything inside. But both of my outside mesh pockets have huge holes in them. I only carry my 32 oz water bottle. For the cost it should have better pockets.

Not very durable but I like the design

I should have returned this when I had the chance. I was too caught up in the hype of a brand name backpack. It is so bulky It falls over every time I place it down. It is so heavy all on its own. I absolutely hate it. It frustrates me so much. It can barely fit everything inside it because the front pockets invade the bigger one. I got it, because I have back problems and my other backpacks have exacerbated those issues, and this backpack is supposed to be good for support. This backpack feels like a straitjacket.

Super cute backpack. I use for working as a nurse as it has many functional pockets. Doesn't stand on its own which is quite annoying and tends to cause spills

My daughter got this backpack at the beginning of the school year (2020) and it is already falling apart!

The support piece in the back is way too stiff and uncomfortable. My daughter is a college student. She gave it a chance thinking it would loosen up with use and it never did. She inquired about returning and wasn't able to. Loved the look of the bag but gave up and purchased a Jansport for the second semester. . Sorry

It seems like a perfect bag. It's large. Stylish. Good design. But using it further, it doesn't stand on its own which is awkward. It has a weird shape. It doesn't have as much space as it seems. When the middle compartment becomes full, it takes up space in the main compartment and you can't put much in it. I can fit maybe one textbook in there. Not good for fitting a bunch of stuff. And it has been bad for traveling. It looses shape and becomes very stiff the more stuff you try to put in (even if it's not a lot). In a way, I guess it's good for a small amount of stuff but not anything longer than a day or a night.