Raden suitcase review: Sensible high-tech luggage

A good suitcase can be the difference between a peaceful, trouble-free trip and a challenging one. Which is why it's surprising there are still so few good-quality bags out there.

I'm old enough to have lived through a time when suitcases didn't have wheels. In fact, some of my earliest travel memories are of my parents lugging around huge unwieldy bags with handles on the top.

Since then luggage has moved on significantly. First wheels were introduced to the thin base of suitcases, then bag designers realised that it would make sense to flip cases on their side to make them more stable. They also came up with the idea of adding extending handles to the top of the case.

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But those innovations were introduced a good couple of decades ago and in the intervening years there has been little development in luggage.

Enter Raden, a US start-up which aims to bring together the "world's best materials" with the latest technology to "elevate your travel experience".

To test out the brand's claims, The Week Portfolio put a Raden bag through its paces on a trip to Zurich earlier this month.

So how did it perform?

Technology

One of the most interesting aspects of Raden bags is the technology each one includes. The company's 33-year-old CEO Josh Udashkin told Portfolio that he designed his bags after identifying three key "pain points" in the airline travel experience.

The first of these is trying to get your luggage to the right weight before you reach the airport. The second is running out of power on your mobile devices (especially on long-haul flights). And the third is reclaiming your baggage at the other end – it's almost always a bun-fight.

To address the first of these problems, all Raden bags include an integrated scale, which tells you the weight of your bag before you reach check in.

Second, each bag also includes an on-board 7,800 mAH battery with two USB ports so you can charge your phone or laptop while you're on the road.

Finally, Raden offers a Bluetooth proximity sensor so you can stand back from the carousel and get an alert when your bag is approaching.

All of the cases' features can be operated from your smartphone. Download an app, sync with your bag and away you go.

On my trip to Zurich, the most useful feature was unquestionably the extra power. My boarding pass was on my phone rather than a paper ticket so it was reassuring to know that even if my battery ran out on the way to the airport, I'd be able to recharge and get through customs (always a stressful part of the journey). The battery should offer enough juice for you to recharge an average smart phone four times before it goes dead.

This was a work trip that involved plenty of phone use and my mobile did run out of juice before I made it to my hotel. Being able to plug it into the suitcase was very handy.

As I was only away for two nights, I was travelling light and was confident that I would be under the required weight, but I tried the scales anyway and they worked exactly as intended. You place your case on the ground and press the equalise button on your app – then after a second or two, lift the bag by the handle and it shows you an accurate weight on your phone. Neat.

Because I was travelling with hand luggage only, I didn't need to fight my way to the front of the carousel, but when I tried out the proximity alert, it did its job. When your bag is outside Bluetooth range, the location indicator on your phone reads "unavailable". As the bag comes into range (around 100 feet from you or so) this switches to say "far" and when it gets within five feet, it changes again to read "near". Another neat feature.

Materials and other features

Raden cases have a pleasing, minimalist aesthetic and look as if they were designed by Apple. The shell is a rugged polycarbonate and the case comes in two sizes, the A22 (which I tested) is 22 x 14 x 9 inches and weighs 3.8kg. The larger A28 is 28 x 21 x 13 inches and weighs 5.9kg.

The bags are fitted with rain-resistant zips and have a dual-extension aluminium handle and four spinner wheels. They also come in ten different colours. Mine was a gunmetal grey and did attract some marks during the journey, but I expect that from my suitcases as I tend to bash them about a bit.

Both the large and small versions of the case have a manual exterior zipper lock with a three digit code. Udashkin says that he decided on a manual lock because electronic ones are prone to failure.

One nice feature of the bags is that the battery is removable, so you can take it out if you need space more than you need the battery supply. Or you can take it with you if you need a spare battery for your phone while you are on the move in your destination city.

Raden bags are elegantly designed, and rather than trying to do a lot of things, they simply do a couple rather well. They also look right at home in a luxurious suite in the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich – behold:

The Raden A22 is available for £250 from Selfridges. The larger A28 costs £340. The pair together, known as the A50 package, cost £510 at Net-A-Porter.

Raden.com