About Matein
Matein was founded in May 2014 in Denver, Colorado, by co-founders Mike and Tom after a lost passport on a trip convinced them to design their own anti-theft travel backpack. The brand's name comes from Tom's response to the idea: "Mate, I'm in!" The lineup has since grown to cover laptop backpacks, travel and wheeled bags, insulated lunch backpacks, and school bags, and the company reports having sold more than a million backpacks worldwide. Matein now operates internationally under DIGAO INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, headquartered in Hong Kong.
In our own testing, Matein's Travel Laptop Backpack stands out for review depth: more than 114,000 verified Amazon ratings at a 4.7-star average, the largest validated review pool of any work backpack we cover. It pairs a water-resistant polyester shell with a built-in USB charging port and a back-panel anti-theft pocket, and at roughly 1.5 pounds it's the lightest bag in our review lineup — the kind of accumulated buyer validation that is hard to manufacture at that scale.
Brand website: matein.com
What Matein makes
Matein's range runs wider than the products we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
Laptop backpacks
anti-theft, water-resistant backpacks with a padded laptop sleeve and built-in USB charging port — featured on DeskRated
Travel & wheeled backpacks
large-capacity and rolling designs built for extended trips and airport travel
Lunch backpacks
insulated food compartments paired with a laptop-capacity main compartment
School & campus backpacks
student-oriented designs balancing style with daily organization
Messenger & sling bags
shoulder-worn alternatives carrying over the USB charging port and anti-theft pocket
Tote bags
insulated lunch-compartment totes as an alternative to a backpack silhouette
Why we recognized Matein
The DeskRated Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose products consistently stand out in our hands-on category reviews. Matein earned it on the strength of the products below, evaluated the same way every product on this site is: bought, used at a real desk, and judged on merit.
Matein products we rated highly
Matein Travel Laptop Backpack
With more than 114,000 verified Amazon reviews at 4.7 stars, this is the most-reviewed work backpack in our roundup and one of our top picks for commuters carrying a 13 to 15.6-inch laptop. Its water-resistant polyester shell, built-in USB charging port, and back-panel anti-theft pocket cover the core commuter checklist at roughly 1.5 pounds, the lightest bag we tested in this category.
Read the 7 Best Backpacks for Work in 2026 guide →What earned Matein the recognition
- More than 114,000 verified Amazon ratings at a 4.7-star average on the Travel Laptop Backpack alone, the deepest review base of any work backpack in our coverage.
- A built-in USB charging port and a back-panel anti-theft pocket bring features more commonly found on bags two to three times the price into an accessible everyday backpack.
- At approximately 1.5 pounds empty, it's the lightest work backpack in our lineup, a real difference for commuters who walk significant distances between transit and office.
- Founded in 2014 in Denver, Colorado, on a single practical problem, a lost passport on the road, and grown into a catalogue spanning laptop, travel, lunch, and school backpacks with more than a million units sold.
- Water-resistant polyester construction and a dedicated padded laptop sleeve deliver the essential daily-commute checklist without adding weight or cost.