What’s in my bag? Phil’s daily carry in 2023

Now we’re allowed out of our houses again and it’s I’ve done a what’s in my kit post, here’s the update. Those of you who’ve read the last few will notice a couple of differences in what I’m carrying…

The bag hasn’t changed: I sill use the OnePlus Travel Backpack

It’s still sufficient for my needs for both work and personal life. I love that the laptop is sectioned away from other items, protected by padding and that there are still a number of pockets for other needs and other items I carry, like a portable battery, charging cables, and space to slip devices into.

My Laptop: I’m back on Windows

Late last year, JB Hi-Fi had a deal on the Surface Laptop 4 with Ryzen 5 and 16GB of RAM that I couldn’t resist. So I’m back on Windows for a while at least…

The physical size is about the same as my previous Macbook, slightly lighter, the screen is gorgeous and has enough grunt to meet my day to day needs. There was definitely a bit of a workflow adjustment coming from Mac OS to Windows and readjusting to some of the apps, but that was to be expected.

The other consideration that I always make with laptop purchases is noise and battery. Both of which have been smashed out of the part with the Surface Laptop, an SSD means that there’s lower chance of disk failure, less power use and less heat resulting in the fans rarely kicking in.

Audio is important to me

I tend to find that devices that stand the test of time in my carry bag are well-regarded. This isn’t the first time that the Bose QC45 are listed as my daily carry headphones.

Given the development of audio equipment, they’re not the best in terms of noise cancelling; but they’re up there. They’ve got great battery life, they’ve got really nice audio delivery and they’ve got plenty of padding; combined with the lightweight design, makes them remarkably comfortable. Lately, I’ve done a bit more travel and that all makes for a really good experience.

I also tend to carry a set of earbuds for lightweight, easy access and quick setup if I need to make some calls or just want to listen to some music and shut out the rest of the office. At the moment, this change between the Nothing Ear (stick) and the Huawei FreeBuds 5i depending on what’s charged at the time. Both have pretty solid sound, good battery life and good microphones for calls.

My Tab S4 is overdue for replacement…

Old Faithful is still with me, and despite the fact it’s way past its used-by date I’m still carrying this most days. Last year, I said it still does what I need but it’s now a bit too slow and lacking a bit of functionality.

I’m holding off for the Tab S9 range to see if that ticks the boxes I need, otherwise, I may well end up with an iPad; something I’ve threatened in the past but I keep getting won back by a great option in the Android space.

Typically I’ll produce a bit of the content you see on Ausdroid with my tablet, the convenience of the size and reduced weight over a laptop is appealing. I also watch a lot of streaming media: YouTube, Twitch, Netflix and Kayo are the main ones, but that’s not the limit of course.

I carry two, sometimes three phones

The same stand now as it did last time I wrote up my daily carry. I carry at least two phones almost every day and the reasons haven’t changed…

I’m not going to carry my work phone out of hours and, while dual SIM is great, I just don’t want work calls when I’m spending time with my family. Added to this is the convenience of having a couple of cameras and the ability to stream content on a second device while you’re doing more productive things on your primary device.

So there’s little surprise to the fact that one of my daily carry phones is the Pixel 7 Pro, right? It’s the latest and greatest that Google has to offer, the Pixel 7 Pro. There’s just hasn’t been anything that’s outdone it for functionality and value since its release late last year. I’d still love faster charging and I’m not sure why that didn’t happen with the Pixel 7, I’m holding out hope that the Pixel 8 will have something akin to SUPERVOOC charging built-in.

The second phone being carried is my the iPhone 14 Pro I’ve recently reviewed. This has become a backup device for me quickly, simply put because it’s a really good phone. There’s so much to like about it and the only real detractors are personal preference (it doesn’t have USB-C) and the way I’ve learned to use notifications not lining up with the way iOS presents them.

Other necessities

About this time last year, my previous tech bag was falling apart, so I invested in a new one from Alpaka Gear. It’s not the first time we’ve taken a look at their gear and, I personally, I don’t hesitate to recommend them because it’s quality gear and it’s pretty affordable.

I’m still carrying a number of charging cables (including a lightning cable for now…), a Belkin BoostCharge 30W GaN charger and a portable battery. With the combination of cables and power sources, I’m pretty well set to go at least 36 hours without needing access to a wall plug, or to keep everything charged on the move.

Because a lot of my data lives on my NAS and in the cloud, I’m generally not one to store heaps of data on my laptop or tablet on the move. That being said, though if I’m not going to be home for a couple of days; I’ll often use my portable drive to backup data like photos and videos I’ve taken.

The Sandisk Extreme Pro V2 is still ticking all the boxes I need on a daily basis. It’s taken quite a beating over the last couple of years and it just keeps on going.

I’m really happy to say that I haven’t slipped back into old habits and carrying more than I need to each day. It’s really easy to start carrying stuff “just in case” when in reality, you’re not likely to need it.

When it comes to daily carry, what do you have in your kit that you couldn’t be without?