Customer Reviews The North Face Women's Borealis

So small! Besides that, the string that is stitched through the front broke after 3 weeks of school. So did 4 others that my friends had. All purchased directly from North Face website. 2 black, 2 light grey, 1 pattern. Do not get this! Unfortunately, I paid full price trusting the brand name. I was wrong!

I was so excited to get a new Northface backpack last Christmas after wearing out my old one. I use this bag for coaching and it fits next to nothing. It constantly tips over and has an awkward shape.

I had an older model of the Borealis before and decided to get another one because I had liked the quality. This version of the backpack is MUCH worse. The shape when filled is extremely awkward and top-heavy and looks weird when it's on. It is also not able to stand up when placed on the ground. The size is very small compared to previous models. The pockets are smaller, the backpack itself is narrower, and the side pouches barely fit a 24 oz water bottle. This is not a useful backpack for anyone who might need it for school (will not fit books + laptop).

I just hate this bag; it is very uncomfortable. The shoulder strap hurts. It gave me bruises on my shoulder. Also it is kind of unbalanced.

I read the reviews on this book bag but still bought it at full price. Looks like pretty good quality but unusable. My 6th grader can't fit her school supplies in it and I can't use it for work because it's so compact it's hard to find anything. Trying to sell it online now since already wrote her name in it and too late to return. Don't buy this if you want a normal usable book bag. Maybe if you are carrying and laptop and a SLIM folder ONLY it would work but just doesn't work for any one in my household. Major buyers regret.

My daughter purchased this for college, using the money gifted to her for graduation. It was my insistence that she purchase from a good quality outdoor lifestyle brand that would be durable and last her all 4 years. She received this backpack before school started, but it was not until the tags were off and she stuffed it with all her needed items that she discovered what a horrible design it is. The front pocket is on the top (not the bottom like about 95% of all backpacks), so not only is it difficult to get things out of the middle compartment, it also looks absolutely, embarrassingly ridiculous with a giant lump at the top when you wear it! Too late to return because of the return policy, and sooo incredibly disappointed in North Face after all of the purchases I have made with them over the years! I wish I would have had her just get another cheap Addidas or Nike backpack, or the lululemon one she really wanted!

This bag is extremely small I have been buying the north face borelies for years upgraded this year and they made it more than 50% smaller. It's a great backpack but it can only fit one computer 2 notebooks and some folders and it's full. What's the point of a book bag that can't fit anything? And it's a lot more uncomfortable on the back than the last one. I want to love this bag but north facea bc went too far in the future people still carry books. I'll probably have to buy a new one in a year or two now.

I purchased this brand of backpack in 2019 (Borealis) and recently got caught in some rain that completely destroyed everything in my bag, including my $1200 laptop. Don't purchase if a college student.

Don't buy this it's overpriced and the bungees broke my first week of having it. It's also super small!!!

The bungee cord on the zipper broke the first week of school, and it wasn't even overstuffed. If the cord falls out there's no way to use the zipper! And I have to pay for return shipping when it's less than 30 days old. Ridiculous. Plus it's really small for books and no room for a computer. Absolutely Disappointed.

I bought this for grad school because the reviews looked good at the time, and it was a terrible mistake. My shoulders are KILLING me after one day of use, and I was barely carrying anything because the bag is so small! I'm so upset that I didn't test it out when I first ordered it because now I can't return or exchange. I would not recommend this bag to anyone!

I usually love everything North Face but we bought this online for my daughter for school and it is so tight, you can't hardly fit any books/binders in it. And the section to put your chrome book is also super tight and the back is so hard and not comfortable. Very disappointed. It is made well but not user friendly at all.

My daughter can only fit one big binder in this backpack. She can not put her lunchbox in it and her chromebook with case will not fit either. Feels like it has a hard board in the back too that isn't removable.

This didn't last past getting it out of the bag. The strap across the front tore almost immediately, was never loaded or carried anywhere!

I selected the black with pink Borealis backpack online and the up until the time of purchase the photo was a black backpack with pink string. When I received the emailed order confirmation it a completely different bag in the photo (the tropical print) and the Live chat says that orders cannot be cancelled.

I have used NF bags since I was in sixth grade. I recently just graduated HS. I was due for a new backpack bc I had been using the same borealis since freshman year so purchased another borealis at the beginning of my senior year. To my surprise, I hated it and resorted to using my old one (that is still in amazing condition). The water bottle pockets are made from a weird plasticity material, instead of a mesh, that doesn't stretch so it makes it near impossible to fit larger water bottles in. The middle pocket is not a full length pocket and only goes down half way. Because of this, the things I have stored in there would always fall out when I opened the backpack. It would also leave a huge bulge at the top of the backpack and just look really weird and uneven. It would make it hard to get things from the large pocket because all of the things from the middle pocket were just stuck at the top. So you basically had to take everything out of your bag to get to one thing. This made the bag MUCH smaller than my older style bag. I am so upset NF changed the design of their bags. I LOVE the old style bags and it's so upsetting to me that the new style bags have given me this much of a problem. I am now looking for a backpack to start college and I dont know where to start.

I'm an avid Northface backpack collector, and I hate the new bags with a passion. I don't know what they did to the straps on the newer backpacks, but they're so uncomfortable and cheap-feeling. I had to go back to my 2018 Borealis because I just hate the design of the new one. It's a lot smaller, made with cheaper fabric, and the straps are so low-quality, that I returned it despite it being a gift. The straps dig into your shoulders and the main compartment is so small. Please bring back the 2018/2019 design, because this one is just not it.

I like the look of this backpack, but everything else about it is honestly SO disappointing. I had a North Face backpack in college (Jester) and loved it so I wanted to try this. It is basically completely useless because it doesn't expand enough to actually fit anything useful inside of it. You can fit a laptop in it, and anything else will pretty much max it out. Plus, if you add more to it, the items will sit towards the top (the top expands more than the bottom), making the whole thing top-heavy. You can't set it down without it falling over, and it feels like you're carrying 30 pounds even if you're only carrying 10. The first and only time I tried to travel with this backpack, the person next to me even commented about how poorly designed the backpack seemed to be as she watched me struggle both trying to get a pair of headphones out and then back into it. It's unfortunately fit for the garbage and I've lost my trust in North Face backpacks!

Zipper tie broke after 1 week. For the price of this that shouldn't happen.

I purchased this for my daughter in September for school, less than 2 months of use, the elastic loop on the zipper broke off. I contacted the customer service, and no help... They want me to send the bag back for evaluation if it's cover under the warranty. Who knows how long it will take to get it replaced or not. Can't you just look at the pictures and let me know?or just send me the broken part replacement. This is our second backpacks, the first one is worn out in the corners in less than a year and now this... I would NOT buy from the NorthFace backpack again.

It is the smallest backpack ever!! My daughter has always used the jester and wanted something a little bigger for high school. We are Looking for a new backpack

I really loved this backpack because of the attractive style and all the compartments. However, I've only been using this backpack for 4 weeks, and the strap stitching already came undone. They will only give me a discount on a new bag, or I have to wait 4 to 8 weeks to mail it in for a warranty claim and have it repaired. Being a graduate student, it is not possible for me to go without a backpack for 4-8 weeks, and graduate students do not have as much funds because of school/internship and not being able to get many work hours. So, paying almost full price for a new bag is not practical. I am very disappointed in the lack of options and the quality of the bag for the price.

Very cute in looks but highly disappointed in the quality, size & structure!

i use my backpack at school, i like the space and white color on the inside but i hate the new cup holders on the side. the whole reason i bought a new backpack was for new cup holders because my other ones ripped but these new cup holders made from the backpack material dont stretch at all whatsoever nor fit my hydroflask or any water bottle larger than your standard plastic water bottle. not to mention it took a week longer than it said it would come in to come in. i had to start school without it and then move all my things into it.

Please bring back the old design. What IS this. I just want the other design back, why did you get rid of it.