INTRODUCTION

Over the years, we have evaluated numerous camera bags. If you’ve read any previous posts, you’ll know we are huge fans of Peak Design products. We use their Peak Design Everyday Sling 10L (read our review) and Peak Design Everyday Tote 15L (read our review) for our daily use and travel photography. These premium quality bags perfectly suit our needs as we have minimized the items we carry.

In general, we prefer sling bags over backpacks. However, since there are two of us, using these bags is more convenient. Nevertheless, if you’re not a minimalist photographer, they may not meet your needs and you should look for something bigger.

If you are a minimalist photographer who shoots travel, street, or even astrophotography, you should consider using a sling bag. They are less cumbersome, and a lot quicker to use in the field than a backpack. However, your decision should be based on how much equipment you carry in the field. If you are a photographer that likes to carry 5 or 6 lenses then a sling bag is not for you.

Sling bags come in various sizes, typically 3L, 6L, and 10L. While a 12L sling would be ideal, the weight starts becoming burdensome when carried over one shoulder. Helen uses the Peak Design Everyday Tote 15L V2 as a sling bag, but she never fills it to capacity, so it remains comfortable to carry.

We recently discovered the Bagsmart range, which offers a wide variety of generic bags and a small selection for photographers. The Soar 6L Camera Sling Bag caught our attention, especially due to its price of USD$66.00. We didn’t have very high expectations for the sling bag at that price, but as the saying goes, “You can never judge a book by its cover.” Surprisingly, the Bagsmart Soar 6L Sling bag is quite good and, in our opinion, better than a bag we reviewed that cost twice as much (not mentioning any names ). This bag has been primarily designed for the minimalist photographer and non-photographers. If you want to venture out with more than a few lenses this probably is not the bag for you.

If, by the end of this post, you decide to purchase, please use the BUY HERE link at the bottom of the post and enter the Wide10 discount code at checkout for an additional 10% off.

Disclaimer:  This review is unbiased. As Professional Photographers, we would never recommend a product unless we have used the product ourselves. We always strive to give you our honest opinion to help you make the best choice. We received the product compliments of Bagsmart, but we were not paid for this review; however, we may receive commissions on links in this post.

BAG EXTERIOR

The Bagsmart Soar 6L Camera Sling Bag is remarkable for its compactness. When empty, it compresses to about 4cm, making it ideal for those who want to use a sling bag for their day-to-day activities. For those wanting to use a combination of a sling bag and backpack camera bag, the sling can also be easily packed into luggage if needed. This is great for travel as you don’t always want to lug around all your gear in a backpack.

The exterior of the sling back is constructed with a soft, flexible, lightweight, and water-repellant material, although we very much doubt that the exterior is too water-repellant if used in torrential rain. We strongly suggest you purchase a small waterproof rain cover for the sling.

The front of the sling bag features a spacious front pocket that extends nearly the entire length of the bag. This pocket is well thought out. The access zipper is completely hidden and we did not initially discover it until we noticed a hidden zip-pull. This cavernous pocket would be ideal for items such as a a rain cover for the sling and possibly less frequently accessed items such as a passport, credit cards etc. Other than inside the bag this pocket is the most secure of the exterior pockets. Once the shoulder strap buckles are moved to the end of the shoulder strap it will make this pocket even more secure as it cinches the access to the zipper and makes it harder to access. Sliding the buckle slightly will give you free access to the zipper again. That is a great design idea and a real winner for us.

Just behind the hidden pocket is a zippered pocket that has been recessed, protecting the zipper from water ingress and making it less visible. The pocket is approximately 22cm wide, and the interior is spacious with an additional two pockets (they refer to these as slip pockets), which are not equally sized. These pockets would be ideal for holding accessories such as circular filters, blower brush, cleaning cloths, mobile phone,  etc.  

At the rear of the bag is yet another pocket although this pocket has a magnetic opening so would not be as secure as the previous 2 pockets and certainly not impervious to water. There are no further interior pockets and the only other feature inside is a lanyard for attaching keys. The pocket is deep and wide so it will hold quite a bit, however, keep in mind that this side of the bag is what will be facing your back so anything too bulking or sharp will make the bag uncomfortable to wear. Nevertheless, this is still a very handy pocket that will be useful for frequently accessed items.

We love exterior pockets in bags as you do not always want to be digging through the interior for the most frequented items that you need. In this regard, Bagsmart has really delivered practical solutions. 

The base of the sling bag features two adjustable straps designed to securely hold a small tripod, wet-weather jacket, jumper, or water bottle. While the base could accommodate a larger tripod, it would extend significantly on both sides of the bag. While we’re travelling, we carry a Peak Design Travel Tripod (read our review). This tripod seamlessly attaches to the base of the Soar bag. The straps are detachable on one end using easy-to-use hooks, ensuring effortless removal and attachment of secured items. When not being used the straps can be tightened to minimize their visibility.

The adjustable shoulder strap is adequately long but is not detachable from the sling bag. It is 32mm wide and appears to be of good quality. The shoulder pad is wide and can be removed by sepearting the velcro. It can slide along the strap making it easy to adjust for maximum comfort. The shoulder strap does, however, separate by using a single snap-clip which could turn the sling bag into a waist bum bag if desired.

Our only concern with the exterior of the sling bag is the hardware such as the quality of the buckles and zippers. The buckles seem to be constructed with hardened plastic rather than metal so we’re unsure whether these will be resilient enough over time. The zippers are not YKK zippers, which tend to be the standard on most quality bags these days so we’re unsure whether this will be an issue. Mind you, considering the cost of the bag, you get what you pay for. Personally, we think that they will be fine, however, if you are a heavy user, they may not go the distance. Bagsmart only offers a 30-day limited warranty covering manufacturer defects, which means you have 30 days after receiving your item to request a return or exchange.

The only other feature on the exterior is the waterproof dual-zippered entrance to the interior. The dual zippers have a rubber-enforced zipper-pull ensuring that the zipper-pull will stand the test of time. We love zipper entrances with dual zips as they make it so much easier to open and close the bag.

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BAG INTERIOR

All the magic happens on the exterior of this sling bag as the interior of the sling bag is surprisingly spacious but quite simple. There is a single divider that will hold a lens or two small lenses, however, this is not removable, but instead can neatly fold to the side of the interior if you are not using it.

One side of the interior features a large zipperless pocket that extends the entire length, perfect for holding additional accessories such as a camera strap or wrist strap that can be quickly accessed. The opposite side of the interior has a zippered pocket with three smaller pockets inside. These could be ideal for storing spare camera batteries, spare SD cards, a cable release, or any other accessories.

The only criticism we have about the interior is maybe the lack of padding, however, once the exterior pockets are used this will provide more protection to the interior’s contents. 

SPECIFICATIONS

Dimensions

Width: 12.2″ (31cm), Depth: 5.9″ (15cm), Height: 6.69″ (17cm), Base Length: 9.84″ (25cm)
Adjustable Shoulder Strap: 17.3″ ~ 41.73″ (44cm ~ 106cm). Weight – The weight of the sling bag is not mentioned on the Bagsmart product page but we have weighed it at 350g (0.77lbs).

COLOURS

The BagSmart Soar 6L Sling Bag is available in either Grey, Orange, Shadow, or Air Force Blue. The Shadow and Air Force Blue colourways are new additions and feature a different logo on the front of the bag. 

We were sent the orange colourway for the review. Hopefully the orange works with our fashion ensemble 😂

CONS

PRICING

THE FINAL WORD

The BagSmart Soar 6L Camera Sling Bag is an impressive sling bag for a great price. We were pleasantly surprised by the value it offers for such a reasonable cost. It features some excellent design elements, is lightweight, and is very comfortable to wear. While the sling may not accommodate a large amount of camera gear due to its 6L capacity, it is suitable for carrying a camera with a 24-70 lens attached and an additional lens (or two smaller prime lenses). The bag’s standout feature is its numerous storage pockets for accessories and personal items.

As mentioned in the introduction, this bag is primarily designed for the minimalist photographer and non-photographers. If you want a camera bag that can hold more than a few lenses, this probably is not the bag for you. 

As professional photographers for over 40 years, would we use the Bagsmart Soar 6L Camera Sling Bag? Damn right we would; however, only for days when we want to wander with a smaller kit than we would usually carry. For travelling, the Peak Design Everyday Sling 10L is still our go-to bag, but when we want a smaller bag, the Soar is the next best thing.

If you have any questions or comments about this product, we would love to hear from you in the comments section below.

RATED: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED