The Bellroy Tech Kit Compact is the little brother of the Bellroy Tech Kit. More compact, this small pouch provides suitable space for your minimum tech kit needs. If you’re going for total preparedness, this is not the tech pouch you want. So is it too small to carry all you need?
(if you want to see all the features and how many cards and cash it can hold, please watch the video)
We have in this review the wee little brother of the Bellroy Tech Kit, the Bellroy Tech Kit Compact. Can a tech pouch be too small? Well, if you are trying to only carry one, then I would say yes, but at what point does small become too small?
The one reviewed is in the color bronze, but it also comes in midnight, which is black, navy, basalt, and limestone. It comes in a non-rigid but still molded state. It is designed in Australia and made in India or the Philippines. The manufacturing is split between these two countries for most of their products these days. Bellroy also has a three-year warranty on their products. This is not bad for a tech pouch at a cost of $55. Because it is compact, I had to reduce what I normally take in my pouch to make it work. It is water resistant, made from Baida woven fabric from recycled material. It feels and acts like the material used in the woven wallet series from Bellroy. I have been using this tech pouch for the past month and for my personal preferences, I have come to a few conclusions, which I will share at the end of this review.
From an appearance perspective, it has visible leather at three points, the branding on the front, the zipper end, and on the zip pull itself. The rest of this pouch is made from a soft shell, that, when opened, lays flat, which is quite convenient because it provides easy access to all its content as well as making it easy to put things back in. From an accommodation angle, I had to choose carefully where I put everything so it would fit most appropriately when closed because you can overbalance on a particular side. It involves a mesh that has a mild stretch to it and feels good, it is not rough, but it does have somewhat of a tooth to it. However, it does not close at the top, which is because you have got this lip from a slightly molded component that keeps things in and secures them from falling out. There is one thing, however, that I do not quite like, which is the pass-through at the bottom. It has a sew line that goes down and that passes through, which I am sure helps in puckering as well as providing a little more give, but if you put anything small over there, they are going to transfer back and forth through the bottom channel.
On the other side, we have four elastic strap areas to hold items, with two small ones on the outside and two offset ones on the interior. Nevertheless, putting things on the exterior straps can be difficult. I have a 5-in-1 adapter cable to charge my laptop, it has two USB-Cs on both ends, and a regular USB as well. Furthermore, it has an end with a lightning plug and if you flip it over, it works as a mini HDMI. I have small cables for my wireless headset and two little quick cables we have talked about before, both the CHAFON, another multi-adapter charger. I have my Apple watch charger which is very small and clever and plugs into the USB-C. Going back to the two major elastic bands, they can fit larger items.
What I miss overall is some kind of zippered pouch for all the little items. What I do keep in the small slot is my Gerber multi-tool that I really like because it provides me a very simple tool that I can carry anywhere and help me solve problems. This tech kit measures 6.69 x 5.12 x 2.6” and weighs 157 grams, or five and a half ounces empty.
The final score of the Bellroy tech kit compact is 4 for quality, I do question the longevity of the elastic pockets, but overall it is constructed very well. Price scores a 3, and I think it is fair. Features score a 3 because it is missing an enclosed space for smaller items, a zippered area, a secured magnet, or such things that would have made a great addition since we tend to carry small fiddly things in the attempt to reduce and simplify the items. Usability scores a 4 as it is easy to use once you understand what is available to you. With 4 for perception, this tech kit gets a final score of 37 out of 50.
