Customer Reviews The North Face Borealis Mini Backpack

The mini borealis is backpack is well made. However, the side pocket for a water bottle or umbrella is absolutely too small. I bought it for a trip to Alaska as a light daypack. Think I'll give it to my 2 year old granddaughter instead.

The description states the side pockets are for a water bottle / multi-use and a cellphone. The largest water bottle I've been able to fit is a mini 12oz bottle which is extremely uncommon. A full 16oz bottle will fit IF it is one of the cheap crinkly kind and not a more solid bottle. Extremely tight fit. The phone pocket will not fit many of your typical modern smart phones unless you take the case off, which nobody in their right mind would do given its outside of the bag exposed to the elements. This renders this pocket next to useless. Maybe a snack bar? This needs to be increased by 20% of it's size. Especially for the price.

While the bag looks great and has great functionality it's too small for my nice year old. Would have been a really useful bag for my daughter if it was little bigger

Super cute backpack. Great style and color. Unfortunately smaller than I thought it would be for what I wanted to use it for.

This is my work bag. I thought the bag would have been a little bigger. The side pockets aren't large enough to hold a water bottle, which sucks. It is as describedMini! I still use it, I just can't fit all my necessities in it. NorthFace, can we get a midsize bag with pockets and space for daily living/use.

Overall quality was fine. I returned this title pack because the description stated it had side water bottle pockets. Well, it has pockets but not even the tiny disposable water bottle would fit. The other side pocket is NOT meant as a water bottle pocket regardless of what is stated. Very disappointed in the false description as the size of the backpack itself was perfect.

I bought this to use at Disney world and it's way too small. Bare minimum I like to bring a small rain coat or umbrella, water bottle and a few snacks and this bag will not fit my needs. It's so cute I hope they come out with a "small" because a little larger would be great.

Good, small pack for day trips. Tablet pocket and pack need to be about 2-3" larger (height and width) to fit Letter-sized folders/items to be a great pack for small office trips or to transport folders/papers for work. Side pockets are good for 1/2L water bottles.

Good quality. Too small to use for most things.

I received this little backpack today and I love it! It’s comfy, perfect size for an everyday purse, and super cute. Unfortunately, the straps are sewn crooked and unevenly from the body of the bag to the strap padding. I may return this one and see if another one is better quality. Not a Zappos error, but certainly a quality control issue from TNF. Zappos is awesome, as usual!

Cute bag but too small for my 2nd grader. Not big enough to fit a standard size folder. Seems study though.

Super cute backpack. I really wanted to love this. Took it on a trip to Disney and learned that it was not for me. Main complaints are lack of a chest strap which eases shoulders and water bottle pocket is way too small. The pocket opposite the water bottle is so small there is nothing one could put in it. Sadly returned as it wasn't functional in spite of being very attractive.

This is a wee tiny backpack. The online pictures are deceiving. But it does work for just walking around town or maybe a nice hike in warm weather. If you like to carry around a lot of stuff for both of these activities then go for something bigger.

Just fyi, have trade in this one for a larger one

It might be suitable for kids, defectively not for adults.

Going to return this mini backpack that I bought in the Khaki Stone color. I thought the color looked more mustard yellow in-person than online. Will probably order it in the black.

I had a very similar backpack from the early 2000s that I LOVED. Sadly 20 year old backpacks don't hold up well. I bought the borealis thinking it was similar in size. We used it as a small diaper day for our toddler. So I thought I'd try this one. While it is very cute, it was too small for our needs. Also, the water bottles pockets, aren't really for reusable water bottles. One of the. Can only fit two fingers inside, and there isn't a lot of stretch to try to force one in. I think it would be a cute alternative to a shoulder purse.

I literally love this bag so much but the string broke off after only using it two or three times :(

The side bottle holder is much to small to hold a 16 oz bottle of water. I will have to see if I can make any adjustment by adding something to extend it.The size of the backpack is great.

The straps of the backpack are too small. I would not buy again. Need to return.

I loved my backpack! It carried everything I needed. After a few months of use, the strap completely ripped off and the top strap is now starting to rip too. Not great quality but sure is cute!

Not big enough to carry new gen ipad. It should be about 1 inch wider all around, and ipad would fit inside the slot.

I love the inner pockets to help you separate items. It has a great little pocket for your sunglasses. The strap is not well thought out. It is too short if you have a broad chest or breasts. It's great if you're a tiny person.

It looks cute, but it is impossible to carry a water bottle in its outside pocket which is a bummer during hiking or commute. Also I hope there are more pockets inside to keep small items separately.

The description claims there are 2 external water bottle pockets. There is only 1 pocket that could be called a water bottle pocket and it doesn't hold any of my water bottles. I will be sending this back.