ASUS publishes two different laptop-size figures for this bag and both are genuine. The Tech Specs table lists compatibility as 17 inch and 18 inch; the marketing copy says “room for up to a 17 inch notebook”. The figure that actually decides fit is the published laptop compartment: 41.5 x 29.3 x 2.6 cm. Note the 26 mm depth — that is tight for a thick gaming laptop, so measure yours rather than relying on the inch rating. Several distributors title this bag as an 18 inch product; ASUS’s own headline is 17 inch.

Water-repellent is not waterproof. ASUS says water-repellent leatherette, water-repellent polyurethane and water-repellent zippers, and publishes no rating and no test standard. Listings describing this bag as waterproof are overstating what ASUS claims. No rain cover is included.

The 22 litre figure comes from ASUS marketing copy, not from the Tech Specs table. We publish it because ASUS states it, but it is worth knowing it is not a spec-sheet value.

What ASUS does not publish: an RFID-blocking pocket, a waist or hip belt, the fabric denier, laptop-compartment padding thickness, a maximum supported laptop weight, or a cable-routing port. A top carry strap appears in ASUS page copy but not in the Tech Specs table, so we flag it as low confidence rather than stating it plainly.

Do not confuse the BP2701 with the Ranger Gaming Backpack 16. They are different chassis from different generations — and counter-intuitively the 16, internally BP2501, is the newer product, announced in February 2024. Specifications are not interchangeable.

✓ Carrying a 17 inch gaming laptop together with its peripherals rather than just the machine

✓ LAN events and travel — a full-size keyboard, mouse, mouse pad, headset and charger all have places to go

✓ Anyone who wants a tablet compartment as well as a laptop compartment

✓ Commuters who cycle or walk at night — the reflective surfaces are functional as well as decorative

✓ Travellers using the luggage strap to park the pack on a suitcase handle

Gaming backpacks are often just large backpacks in aggressive colours. The BP2701 earns the label differently: ASUS has counted and published the storage, and the count is the specification. Ten interior pockets and compartments plus three exterior, with three of them sized specifically for a cable, a power bank and a mouse. ASUS states outright that there is room for a full-size keyboard, a mouse and mouse pad, a headset and a charger. If you have ever tried to move a desk setup to a friend’s house or a LAN event in a normal rucksack, that is the difference this bag is selling.

The 22 litres is generous for the footprint, and at 0.93 kg the pack itself is light for its size — ASUS tags it Lightweight in its own feature list. The three meshed back pads matter more than they sound once the bag is loaded with a 17 inch machine and hardware; a flat foam back panel against a full pack in a Cyprus summer is genuinely unpleasant.

Two numbers need care. First, the laptop compartment is 41.5 x 29.3 x 2.6 cm. Twenty-six millimetres is not much depth for a gaming laptop with a real cooling stack, and inch ratings will not tell you whether yours fits. Measure. Second, ASUS publishes both 17 and 18 inch compatibility in the spec table while its own marketing says 17. Several distributors have picked the 18 and run with it. We have published both and told you which is which.

The water story is straightforward and modest: repellent leatherette, repellent PU, repellent zippers, no rating, no rain cover. Treating the zips as well as the fabric is more thorough than most, but this is protection from a shower, not from a downpour, and eBay listings calling it waterproof are simply wrong.

On the design: the slash panels and the holographic ROG logo are the visual signature, and if you would rather have something with the cyber-script print, ASUS sells exactly the same bag as the Cybertext Edition in grey. We have compared the two specification sheets field by field — dimensions, laptop compartment, capacity, material, pocket layout, straps and box contents are identical. The only published differences are colour, the added cybertext lettering and 50 grams of weight. Choose on looks, not on capability.

One last thing worth knowing when comparing across the range: the ROG Ranger Gaming Backpack 16 is newer than this one despite the lower internal model number, and it is a different bag — smaller, heavier, no published tablet compartment, reflective straps instead of reflective panels. Do not read the numbering as a generation order.

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