Review: WaterField Shinjuku iPad Case

June 17, 2024Last Updated: June 17, 2024

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I am often miserable on bag size. Part of me always wanted to go further, just in case. But I end up with handbags and backpacks that feel too bulky to carry every day. If I choose the smaller one it usually is also small enough to fit everything I needed and ended up overstuffed. The item I often carry with me that seems to complicate this problem is the 11-inch iPad Pro. It’s light but sturdy and when carried in the small bags, it feels like you’re carrying a wooden plank against your feet. Smaller bags can also be too narrow, making it cramped to hold any other items you want to carry. WaterField’s Shinjuku Messenger aims to solve some of these problems with an iPad-specific design.

Carry it every day

Out of the box, it seemed too small. There’s no way this could fit my iPad, water bottle, charger, and other things comfortably. It looks like it’s going to be one of those little messengers that can’t do that.

Until I started putting things inside. The iPad fits easily into the padded tablet pocket, a narrow water bottle fits comfortably at the bottom of the main pocket. The other inward-facing pockets are roomy and opened up a bit when I placed my charger, wallet, a pair of headphones, and a sunglasses case. There’s enough room for everything, and the bag isn’t even full. Its outer shape still feels soft and supple, not tight and full to the brim like an overloaded messenger feels. Flip open the lid, everything is in sight and everything is accessible without moving anything—a must for any bag as far as I’m concerned.

Brown canvas bag on one side with flap opening at the top to reveal an interior filled with books, portable cups, tablets and more

Worn on my body, it doesn’t even look like a handbag. Even when fully loaded, it looks smaller—more like a wallet or just a small crossbody bag to hold your phone and a few other items. I also noticed how evenly the weight was distributed. The straps attach to the bag at a slight angle, rather than being sewn straight up and down; it’s just the right amount of direction so the bag falls nicely on your body no matter where you wear it—hips, lower back, front, across the chest, hanging over one shoulder. It’s the quiet, intuitive design that tells you this bag was designed by people who knew what they were doing.

Adjusting the strap is also easy as you can lengthen or shorten it without removing it. The strap itself is woven thickly, almost like a car seat belt. It’s a bit thinner than the straps on other WaterField bags I’ve used, and the edges are a bit stiff and can rub uncomfortably against your neck, although like other WaterField straps, they have The body will soften over time.

The top cover is closed with a magnet. It’s strong and flexible but not so strong that you have to fight it. However, like all magnetic locks, I worry about their durability over time. I have a few other WaterField bags that I tested and the magnetic closure is still strong on those bags, but I’ve lost a lot of them due to wear and tear of the magnetic closures rubbing themselves off the fabric so I didn’t trust it. I didn’t notice any unusual wear on the canvas where the magnet was placed during testing, which is always a good sign.

The interior is bright orange with a graphic pattern. That’s one of the things I love most about WaterField Designs. I’ve grown to dislike bags with dark interiors; it’s easy to lose everything in the dark. In contrast to bright colors, I can always spot a missing hair tie.

Top view of the canvas bag with the front flap pulled back to reveal the orange interior and a tablet pocket

Canvas, but different

I tested the black canvas version with leather accents on the lid. I’m a bit wary of its material texture; Canvas can peel and scratch easily, or become waterlogged at the mere sight of a rain cloud. WaterField ensures that this picture is very different. It’s a material called X11 Cotton from X-Pac, a company spun out of Dimension-Polyant, a manufacturer of high-performance sailcloth. According to X-Pac, the material is a specially treated canvas fabric with an inner layer of fibers woven in a diamond pattern to enhance durability and weight distribution, and it is also water resistant. That waterproofing is achieved through a PFAS-free DWR coating. X-Pac makes other DWR materials that use PFAS, but I have confirmed with WaterField and X-Pac that X11 Cotton is PFAS-free.