Review: Bluesmart Smart Carry-On

Last year I pitched in for the Bluesmart Smart Carry-On on through Indiegogo.  When I first read about it, I was pretty excited and signed up pretty hastily.  I hit them up and requested a refund, but after some thinking it over, I decided to stick with my decision and try it out before making a change.  The scheduled date of was supposed to be in August, but that didn’t happen.  Instead I just got my suitcase Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  Here are some of my thoughts.

What is Bluesmart?

Bluesmart is a high-quality carry-on suitcase that you can control from your phone, like a boss. From the app you can lock and unlock it, weigh it, track its location, be notified if you are leaving it behind and find out more about your travel habits. You can also charge your phone 6 times over with a built-in battery. Isn’t that awesome?

My Experience

I’ve only really used a backpack for traveling, so I was pumped about getting this case to do some traveling with as it has some pretty cool features.  This has a built in scale, a 10,000 mAh battery pack to charge your USB devices, a GPS so it doesn’t get lost (only if you’re on Bluetooth though), a digitally controlled lock, and trip data tracking (not on Android).  Yes, you don’t need this carry-on, but it is pretty cool.

Since I only have a backpack that I used for six months of backpacking around the South Pacific, it tends to be my go to travel bag and I tend to fill it when I go.  I figured getting a carry on suit case would make me minimize what I brought.

So spending $265 (I was a backer on Indigogo), I thought this was a good deal, however, since I don’t need a number of the features, it is a bit too costly for me to keep it.

For more info, and a review that better covers this bag, go to thepointsguy.com.

After I read their review, and after feeling out the bag and going over the features, I realize this isn’t the bag for me.

For what I spent, I could get a more portable travel USB batter, a hard shell suitcase that is lighter and has a bit more room, and a GPS tag I could attach to my bag in case it gets lost.  Sure, this means I have to manually turn a key to lock my bag, and I don’t have a handle that tells me my bags weight, but I think I can get through my travels without these things.

After I got it the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I played with it a bit realized that I would be better off trying to sell the bag.  I put it on eBay, and today sold it for the current retail price of $399.  Woohoo, I made a profit!  Hopefully the next person who gets this bag will fall in love.