The world’s opening up slowly but surely, which means people are starting to travel for their dream vacations. When traveling, you’ll always want your most important items with you personally at all times, which means you’ll need to have a carry-on luggage bag with you.
Traveling bags need to be tough and secure, because luggage handlers are not very gentle some of the time. Luckily, you won’t have to worry about that, since your carry-on luggage will be with you the whole trip. But you still need to make sure it’s tough and secure.
Calpak, or California Pak, was founded in 1989, making Calpak a veteran in the travel luggage industry. Though they may be considered a little young compared to Samsonite or RIMOWA, Calpak still stands as a great travelling brand among the giants.
Monos however, is even younger, having just been founded in 2018. Although they are pretty green in the travel luggage industry, Monos has made strides and gotten positive reviews for almost all of their products, making them a little giant in the industry.
So which brand offers the best carry-on luggage bag you need for travels? Let’s figure that out.
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What Can You Expect From Each Brand?
Both brands offer an assortment of clothing, accessories, bags, and of course, luggage bags. While Calpak and Monos have great other products, that will be for another time. For now, we will be focusing on the carry-on luggage bags both brands have in store.
Calpak offers the Ambeur Carry-On Luggage bag, which is their most reviewed item according to their official website. Weighting 6 lbs, this lightweight carry-on sports a 21″ x 14″ x 9″ exterior dimension, with the materials being polycarbonate & ABS.
Monos has an assortment of sizes for their carry-on luggage, but we’ll just stick to the standard Carry-On Luggage bag. The luggage bag weighs 7 lbs with an 22″ × 14″ × 9″ exterior. The material for Monos’ luggage bag exterior is an aerospace-grade, water-resistant, German polycarbonate hard shell, making this luggage bag both fashionable and space ready.
Side-By-Side Comparison – Calpak VS Monos
Comparing two luggage bags can be difficult, as at a first glance, it wouldn’t exactly matter. They both serve the same purpose, right? That mindset shouldn’t be followed, as you can make lots of mistakes with important purchases such as these.
That’s why, for a better comparison to both luggage bags, we will be using a table to show the differences between the two:
| Calpak VS Monos: Luggage |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Ambeur Carry-On | Carry-On |
| Material | Polycarbonate & ABS | Aerospace-grade, water-resistant, German polycarbonate hard shell |
| Colors | 4 colors | 8 standard colors, 2 limited edition colors |
| Sizes | One size only | Carry-On, Carry-On Plus, Carry-On Pro, Carry-On Pro Plus |
| Weight | 6 lbs | 7 lbs |
| Dimensions | 21″ x 14″ x 9″ | 22″ × 14″ × 9″ |
| TSA Approved Lock | Yes | Yes |
| Shop Luggage: |
From the table comparison alone, they look a bit similar to each other. But the in-depth review of each product will bring out the pros and cons of each product.
Calpak Ambeur Carry-On Luggage Review
The Ambeur Carry-On Luggage Bag isn’t actually some sort of special, limited-edition item. The Ambeur is actually just Calpak’s collection of products. But it is the most reviewed luggage bag on Calpak’s website, and for good reason.
The polycarbonate & ABS material of the bag offers a sturdy and strong protection against outside forces. Due to its materials, the Ambeur Carry-On Luggage Bag is only 6 lbs. Obviously heavier if you have things in it.
The bag sports a 21″ x 14″ x 9″ dimension, but don’t let that turn you away if it seems a little small, as the luggage bag is capable of expanding up to 2 more additional inches. Its wheels allow a smooth experience with its carbon steel spinner wheels.
This carry-on bag offers 4 beautiful colors: Gold, Silver, Rose Gold, and Black, so you can pick one that matches with your aesthetic. The best part about this bag, however, is that it features a TSA approved lock, making the TSA inspections less of a hassle.
The Ambeur Carry-On Luggage Bag is great, and no wonder its there most reviewed luggage bag on their website. I mean, a TSA approved lock? I really need that for future travels. But it’s not great solely on that feature.
It’s compact, strong, and beautiful to look at regardless of color: the signs of a great luggage bag.
Here are the pros and cons to the Ambeur Carry-On:
PROS
- Expandable by 2 inches
- Lightweight
- TSA approved lock
CONS
- Slightly smaller
- Less color options
Monos’ Carry-On Luggage Review
Monos’ Carry-On Luggage Bag is already amazing. Why? Because Monos offers other sizes for their Carry-On bags. We’ve got the standard Carry-On, then we have the Carry-On Plus, the Carry-On Pro, then the Carry-On Pro Plus.
Ignoring the fact that the sizes sound like phone models, optional carry-on luggage size is such a win for Monos. They are selling carry-on luggage bags that are bigger than the usual luggage bag, but still small enough to be classified as a carry-on, allowing for more space and more items to be kept inside.
Not to mention that the material these bags are made of are aerospace-grade. Aerospace. The same stuff they use for space. These bags are made of the same stuff they use for anything space related. Not to mention that these bags come in 8 standards colors, plus 2 limited edition colors.
The bag offers a TSA approved lock, wheels that can move silently, as well as sporting a 22″ × 14″ × 9″ dimension.
Combine that, along with the material of the bag, it explains why this weighs 7 lbs, just 1 lbs heavier than the Ambeur Carry-On.
This luggage bag should be purchased by anyone as soon as they can if they plan on going on a trip. The size options alone is a big seller.
With that said, let’s look at the pros and cons for the Carry-On from Monos:
PROS
- Silent wheels
- Different sizes
- Great materials
- Great color variety
CONS
- 1 lbs heavier
Head-To-Head Comparison
Both brands have great products. Their luggage bags are great in their own ways. But, if there is still a sense of unsureness in you in which brand seems to be better, the next part will hopefully make more sense.
Calpak VS Monos – Which Brand To Go With?
While Monos is fairly new to the scene, it would be a lie to say that they’re not ready to take on giants like Calpak. Monos has great ideas, and those ideas seem to be helping this young company in catching up with the big names.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Calpak should be worried. They are veterans in the industry. And judging by their current line-up and luggage, they seem to know what they’re doing. Some would say that’s due to their years in the industry, and they won’t be wrong.
Competition is great. It allows competitors to improve their products to match the others, help catch them up to their level. Competition is not inherently negative; it can be positive. Monos is proof of that.
A young company is already being compared to big names, showing their passion and motivation in the industry. Thus, this makes companies like Calpak innovate more to stay ahead of the game, which in turn makes Monos innovate to catch up.
That being said, at the moment our recommendation for the perfect trip “buddy” is Monos. This is purely our opinion, but you seem to get a better value deal overall with Monos.
The Verdict: Last Words & Luggage Nowadays
Luggage brands have had a rough couple of years thanks to the pandemic. For the first year, travel was restricted to other countries.
But now that things are lightening up, luggage brands such as Calpak and Monos can thrive once again.Now is the perfect time to innovate for all luggage brands, seeing as how things might not go back to the way they used to, and we will have to adjust to this new normal.
Anyways, people have a greater assortment of options to choose from from luggage. Whether it be Away, Monos, Calpak, or others. For now, the first place goes to Monos for us.
You can also check out our head-to-head between Away and Monos, the two leading luggage brands.
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