You know that I love luggage that indulges my Type A behaviors. It always goes back to Ebags with this, after their motherlode rolling duffel and their professional slim bag. I can’t wait to share this Ebags Fortis Pro review with you! I’ve been rotating between my Delsey (which I love but is on its last legs) and my Away which I love but is not expandable so I can’t take it on many trips. Let’s check out this new luggage!
Ebags Fortis Pro Review
This is Ebags newest, smartest luggage, the Fortis Pro. It’s a re-make upgrade of the Ebags Fortis. It’s a polycarb shell and they say it’s nearly unbreakable and unscuffable. I’ve never cared about scuffs but making sure it doesn’t crack is important when you travel often. It’s light and affordable. It’s also “smart” in a whole new way that I haven’t seen on another luggage brand, with a USB port but you use your own charger. There are four spinner wheels (I wouldn’t get a piece of luggage without spinners these days) as well as a TSA combination lock. As a bonus, it has built-in packing cubes and a laundry bag. This bag is expandable by 1.5 inches.
Click here to read more about this luggage on the EBags website.
Specs:
Price: $199.99 (on sale now for $139)
Height: 22 inches (22 x 14 x 9)
Weight: 7 pounds 12 ounces
Colors: Red, Blue, Silver, Black with a raised ribbed mirror finish
I’m loving those specs! Let’s break it down with photos! This bag is all about keeping things separate and organized. First, it’s split into two sides. The left you can see has a zipper section. The right, instead of just having clips there are two large packing cubes you can fill and then snap together. Additionally, on the right in the base, you can see a divider. That can be moved (there is velcro) to make those sections any size that you want.
Right there, we have FIVE pockets without even using packing cubes. In fact, this is a crazy thing to say – but you don’t even need packing cubes if you use this bag! Shocking, I know.
As you can see even after adding all this, I had all that stuff next to the bag in the photo above to add. That was no biggie, I just added the bigger pieces into the right side spaces then all those smaller things went into the packing cubes. With all this, there was still space and I hadn’t even expanded it yet.
This is the best part! Many high-end smart luggage now has USB chargers built-in with batteries. So many airlines make you remove these and the rules are hard to stay up to date with. In fact, one brand I loved in the past, Raden, used to have thousands of people on their waiting list for their smart luggage but they went out of business because of airlines restrictions.
Ebags has a clever new solution which is that they just have the USB port there and built-in cord (that black cord is built in). You just plug in your OWN portable charger and put it in that little zippered pocket. I love this because you’ll be taking one on your travels anyway – so this way it’s just one charger you have. If you used luggage with one already you’d have that weight plus that added weight of your own portable charger so you just cut like 1.5 pounds of your weight!
A little bonus that I love is that one of the two packing cubes is netted while the other is a matte case like a makeup case. It’s so cute and great for your toiletries! You could even use this for when you have a wet bikini you want to keep away from the rest of the items in your luggage.
When it’s all done just zip it up and plug in your phone when you need to. You just then use your own phone charger, kindle, or tablet from the outside to charge up your devices.
Overall, I’m highly impressed with this bag. I have used Ebags for years but it’s been duffels, backpacks, packing cubes, and organizers as they’d always made well-organized luggage. I wasn’t ever interested in an actual hard-side luggage from them because there wasn’t anything that unique about it in terms of the organization that set it apart – and it wasn’t as cute as it’s competitors.
But this new piece of luggage breaks all that up. It’s (truly) the most organized carry-on luggage that I own now. It’s cute, simple, and has a sleek design. I love that it looks so techy with the ribbed mirrored shell. The USB is very clever and it’s just 7 pounds. Not to mention it’s got an additional 1.5 inches you can expand to. It’s 22 inches tall, so really can fit quite a lot.
I give this bag a 10/10! Click here to buy this luggage.
I do have the Fortis 30 inch, but that is not the new pro style. I am crossing my fingers they come out with the larger sizes of this bag! PS: in case you ever wondered what my childhood bedroom looked like, this is it! haha!
Pin this Ebags Fortis Pro review for later:
Hey – just preordered this bag and had a quick question – are those integrated packing cubes removable?
Kevin, great! They are not removable. They are sewn in. But, when not in use (filled up) they lay totally flat and act as a pressure to hold down what is below when you pull it tight so are still really helpful just for that
Ah, thanks for the quick response – darn. I just noticed the Fortis Pro is a full pound and a half heavier than the ‘regular’ Fortis (7 lb 12 oz vs 6 lb 7 oz) which matters a lot to me since I frequently fly budget airlines, so the extra pound from the divider and two packing cubes is a bummer. Did you weigh your bag/is it actually 7 lb 12 oz?
Kevin,
Haven’t weighed it, although it’s packed now as I head to airport in the AM. It feels very light to me but that’s because my Delsey 19″ is a touch heavier, so this one seems biggers and lighter. I haven’t used the original fortis so not sure what adds on that pound. I don’t think the packing cubes as they are really very thin material, but maybe the pocket area where the smart tech goes?
Thank you for this enthusiastic and thorough review. This helped me decide. I saw a Delsey Helium Aero for much cheaper (same 22x14x9 carry-on size, which is what I need), but opted to go with the Fortis, figuring that five or ten years down the road, I won’t miss the price difference I paid but might well regret not having stepped into what I consider a better bag. I noticed that the extension handle is on the outside of the bag, so I am hoping that translates to a little more room inside the bag around the rails. I also liked the approach to internal organization on the eBag (dividers, built-in cubes) and of course the usb/powerbank attachment. The Helium was in a store and black was the only color, which starts to look like every other bag on the carousel (I anticipate there will be times I cannot use the overhead such as smaller commuters and also as a standby traveler that often happens I get a seat but no overhead room for my bag. The color of the Helium (I ordered the ocean blue (teal) Fortis) and the lifetime warranty by eBags sealed the deal – as well as this review.