Customer Reviews The North Face Borealis

Backpack doesn't stand alone. The straps are uncomfortable. I do like the color and space. I wish North Face would bring the heckler backpack back.

I have the old version of borealis that I purchased about 3-4 years ago and the design is much better because there's more room. I don't like how this new version is. The separate pocket for laptop is useless and takes too much space.

This backpack was purchased less than 5 months ago. It already has rips in both cup holders, the borealis embroided word is coming undone. There is not a lot of room and in order to make the backpack not fold in, I have to stuff books in there, which adds a lot of weight, it also doesn't stand up alone. These same problems have occurred with about 5 of my other friends. I do not recommend this backpack, it was a waste of money.

I love the look of the backpack but it has terrible quality and is not very attractive when you put items in the backpack.

I had the Borealis backpack from 2014, and it lasted five years, until finally wearing out. I loved that backpack, and decided to replace it with the recent, updated version, but the design has been altered. The front pocket makes the backpack very top-heavy, causing it to fall over when it's sitting on the ground, or opening the larger pocket completely when trying to take out supplies. The design is not practical, and is frustrating when I'm in a hurry, or just trying to get a couple things out of the backpack. I'm extremely disappointed, as I was excited for this backpack to last another 5+ years. I do love the colors, though. I use it for classes, but it seems like it would be great for adventures as well.

Bought this backpack for my 12yr old daughter. She uses it everyday for school, and always packs a hydro-flask. Holes wore in the water bottle pockets in first 20 days of use. The material NorthFace uses for the water bottle pockets is thin and non-durable. Many water bottles these days are metal and quickly wear through the thin material. My daughter said once holes appeared in her pockets, she started to observe the NorthFace backpacks her friends have and noticed many of them all have holes in the same place on the water bottle pockets. It's a flawed design.

I ordered this backpack because my friends swore by it and said it was really great for walking around campus with all of our books and laptops for class. But then again, I didn't think of how it would fit on a girl who is considered as plus size while my friends are the typical small girls. For my bigger girls out there, I don't recommend this backpack for you, the straps are too short for a long torso and they dug into my collarbones and shoulders. The weight was also not distributed well throughout the backpack and made my back feel like it was on fire after carrying it around all day. The straps overall were too small and the "for a woman" design is aimed towards smaller girls that this backpack can fit on their frame.

As a graduate student I knew that I wanted a backpack that fit all of my books, a computer, lunch and water bottle. I normally buy a Patagonia but I heard a north face back is just as durable. The bag does fit most of what I need though it take a while to organize it right however the side pocket quality is horrible. I carry a Hydroflask water bottle and within the first two months the mesh has medium size tears already. It looks tattered and worn out just after 2momths! I am very disappointed in the product. I will switching back to Patagonia.

It's a good backpack but it's more orange than pink. I wouldn't really call it coral lol.

The backpack was literally black and blue. Didn't look grey at all!

This was an impulse purchase a year ago after falling in love with the Black Melange color in-store, eyeballing the features, and trying it on. The first two hold up: it is still very beautiful, and the pockets are plentiful all with a durable build. I used it for travel to Egypt/Tanzania/safari. What I dislike so much about it is its shape! The pockets in the front compartment are great in theory, but when actually utilized and filled up, you realize that the depth of that compartment is shallow and so bulks up the upper half of the backpack. So when the main compartment is also reasonably filled up, and you try to sit the bag upright, that top front compartment weighs it down forward. In order to attempt to even this out, you really have to fill up the very bottom of the main compartment (aka shove them deep down in there lol), but that makes those items so difficult to access. The straps as well are problematic. They are so incredibly stiff! You try putting it on, but the shape of the pack forces you to wear it high on the back like the model in the picture, so you need to tighten straps once it's on. If your pack is quite full and heavy, and you try to take it off without loosening the straps first, you will struggle, and maybe even hurt yourself like I have... bruising and scraping my arm. Also, it keeps this shape conforming to your back bc there is apparently a sheet of metal in there, which explains why it's such a heavy backpack for its size when empty. The straps were stiff when I tried in the store, but assumed they would break in a bit - never did. Overall truly hate but cannot return. For the money spent, I do still try to use, but only if I know I'm not going to be actively taking it on and off.

I was very excited to buy a new backpack for school and I have had good experiences with North Face stores before but when I ordered the backpack online it came in and looked nothing like the advertised picture.

i use it for college. i'm a commuter so it comes in handy.

the backpack shipped fast; however, was disappointed that the backpack had stains and was not true to color. returned it a little over a week ago and still haven't been credited.

It's a very pretty design and good quality material, but it falls flat on its face and cannot stand up, the big and small pockets are way so tight I can barely get my folders out no matter where I put them, and the back straps are very rough and uncomfortable and they scrape my skin whenever I put my backpack on. It's a nice backpack and I was excited when I got it, but for such an expensive product I was very disappointed by how extremely inconvenient it is to use.

I bought this backpack in October (2018) and use it daily, to carry whatever I need that day. I am not doing anything special just walking to about 10 minutes in the morning and at the end of the day. However, the side pockets, for water bottles, is already breaking and these are huge holes. Soon I won't be able to carry my water bottles. Additionally, it's pretty tall for a women's backpack. I'm average height, 5"3' and it's so tall with the laptop pocket that I find it digging into the back of my neck. I am really disappointed that I paid so much for a backpack and can't even make it to year. Please don't waste your money.

My daughter bought this for herself before her junior year of high school. She used it a month or so then the strap started pulling away from the bag. Went through TNF's horrible warranty process (mail it in and hope you hear back from TNF) and it took forever to hear back. They "repaired" it and returned it a couple months later. She stared using it again and it did it again. They should've just replaced it in the first place.

I am a high school student and use this as my everyday backpack. I love the design, it's super cute and really comfortable. It fits all of my books perfectly, and I love all the compartments. However, I have had an issue with the durability of this product. Within the first 2 weeks after purchase during my first days at school the side pockets began to snag, and eventually rip. The only things I would ever put in the side pockets were small plastic waterbottles, and wore out very quickly. There is now a very large hole on one of the pockets and it prevents me from being able to hold a water bottle in it without having it fall out. I haven't even had this backpack for a year, and I'm disappointed that it hasn't held up since I think it's really comfortable and practical.

The features section states a "Fleece Lined 15" Laptop Sleeve" ...but there's no fleece lining except the external electronics pouch. Otherwise the bag is great, just don't expect a supersoft fleece sleeve for your laptop. Disappointing, to say the least. But, still a good backpack. Use mine for work travel.

The second pocket that is supposed to hold gear only goes half way. It then throws the whole backpack off balance, so it doesn't stand up straight by itself. It falls over!! Also in the msin pocket, the zippers always fall below the buckles at the bottom of either side and get stuck. When ever I unzip my backpack, I have to undo the buckles, zip it up, buckle the buckles.

i'm so upset. the backpack i ordered looks NOTHING like the one i received. i was very excited to get it and i'm so disappointed. it's good quality and whatever but the color isn't what i hoped. personally it's ugly

Not practical. Worst backpack we have. High Sierra and Jasnport much better student backpacks. Back padding makes it heavy and stiff and inside spaces are too narrow.

I have purchased North Face backpacks in the past (I still have one that I use frequently), so when I saw the Borealis backpack I was excited to order this bag. When it arrived I was even more excited.....it looks even better in person than it does online. It's a beautiful backpack loaded with features and I can tell it will be very durable. SO, why the two stars? Well, the backpack won't "stand up".....when you set the bottom down on the floor or another surface it slides forward and falls over. I initially noticed that the second zippered compartment (meant to hold pens and gear) only goes halfway down the length of the pack, so when you actually use it, it weights it funny and makes the bag lopsided (the pocket also bulges out and makes the front of the bag look strange if you put items in it like a pencil case). I thought that maybe if I filled the third compartment of the bag completely (the compartment between the computer sleeve and the pocket for holding pens and things) it would flatten out the bottom of the bag so that it would stand up when you set it down......well, it didn't work. The rigid back of the pack (which is very comfortable to wear) sticks out just a little further than the rest of the bottom of the pack. This also does not allow for it to sit flat. IT"S SUPER ANNOYING! In addiction to being irritating, it often makes your backpack on obstacle that blocks aisles in classrooms since it won't snug up to the desk and instead slides forward and falls in the floor. I haven't had the pack long enough for it to get dirty, but I can imagine that with it always lying on the floor the front of the pack (the part people see when you wear it) will become filthy (rather than the bottom of the pack touching the floor like typical backpacks). Even worse.....I purchased a Women's Recon backpack for my daughter at the same time and it does the same thing (it bothers her & the people who sit near her)!!!

I received the backup and I really liked the design from the outside but I noticed that the backpack was already quite heavy on it's own. I use it for school so I carry lots of textbooks which only makes the already heavy backpack heavier. I also didn't like the fact that the second pocket apart from the large main one doesn't even go down all the way down, the pocket only goes half way down and doesn't reach the bottom of the backpack and due to that there isn't much space to put things besides some pencils and maybe a small book.

There are two different types of Borealis backpacks. This one is without a laptop sleeve and really frustrates because how can a laptop bag not have a laptop sleeve? It looks stylish from outside though and another concern is the straps are extremely stiff - it digs into the shoulders and is rough. I really wanted to keep this bag but I might return it.