It took me many years to realize that having good luggage can make your traveling experience a lot smoother. I used to load up whatever bags I had at home, putting too much weight on my back, with chaos in my main case as clothes mixed with electronics, books and essential documents.
Of course, I could have just bought a standard item of luggage for the first time to organize myself, but why would I when there's smart luggage available now instead? The best smart luggage helps you keep track of where your bag is and are (most importantly) easy to use and move around.
Some have built-in batteries for making sure your devices are topped up and can integrate with Apple's Find My network. The smart luggage label is liberally applied to almost anything (thanks, marketing departments), so the definition I'm working to is a case or bag which comes with electronics or designs to enable tracking and charging.
So, before heading out your travels, don't be like me; find a case that'll make your life easier at the airport, keeping your phone and other devices charged, and helping track your luggage's location should it go AWOL during your trip.
The best smart luggage available right now
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Best smart luggage overall
If you have an iPhone and want to track the location of your luggage, the Samsara Tag Smart Carry On is the case to choose. It has a premium, durable design, but aside from the quality of the luggage itself, the most useful feature is the dedicated AirTag housing.
It doesn't come with an AirTag, so you'll need to buy one of them yourself, but then you link it to your iCloud account, pop it in the holder just behind the handle, and the design keeps it locked in place. Then, whenever it's within range of an iPhone, you'll see it's current location.
The case has a distinctive flat top, that the company imagines can double as a portable working space for when you're on the go or waiting to board. It's a four-wheeled case, and those can rotate 360 degrees for full flexibility.
This edition is the standard 37L size, but there's also the Grand Carry On that'll cost you slightly more but increases the internal capacity to 43.5L.
Best value smart luggage
I need to clear something up about the Hotel Collection Carry-On Luggage right away; the company says that the case comes with a "GPS tracker" but it really comes with a tracker that connects to Apple's Find My network.
Given that both can track location, the distinction isn't immediately clear. But a GPS tracker would have access to a satellite for location tracking, whereas Apple's Find My features only work if the tracker is near an iPhone.
In practice, this wouldn't make much difference, but if your case becomes stranded somewhere remote, you won't be able to find it as you would if this was really a GPS tracker. However, descriptions aside, this is an excellent case for another reason.
It has a built-in digital scale to weigh the case. This is handy if your at home, but essential if you're on a trip and have added items to your case and need to check if you're still within the limits.
There's also a portable charger stored between the handles that you can use to top up your devices in a pinch. But the sizing means you can't just add any charger in there — it needs to be one that fits the exact cut out sizing.
Best smart luggage for durability
Arlo Skye's The Frame Carry-On takes a slightly different approach to charging. Instead of a USB port on the exterior of the case with battery inside, there's a cut-out between the handles which stores a portable battery with 18W USB-C and USB-A ports, with support for QuickCharge 3.0.
This makes it a breeze to remove when you need to check the bag, reduce the weight or top up the battery, but does mean that you can't use your own power bank — you need the exact size to fit this specific case.
In the short term, this isn't an issue, but may be inconvenient when the battery eventually needs replacing. But given that most batteries can withstand many, many recharge cycles before degrading, and unless you travel frequently, this likely won't be an issue.
The case is a little heavier than others in this list (8.1 lbs) but is also slightly larger inside (40L). Partly, that's due to the design; a polycarbonate shell with aluminum frame to improve durability. And there's no zipper to contend with — just two three-digit, TSA-compliant clasp locks.
How to choose the best smart luggage
Firstly, and I know this might seem obvious but it's not always easy to see past all the extra features, your luggage needs to carry everything you need, move around easily and comply with your airline's regulations. There's no point being able to charge your phone at the airport if you can't take the case onto the plane.
Four wheels is typically better than two, but you also pay more for doubling the wheels, so choose what'll work for your budget. You can still easily wheel your case on two, but four gives extra flexibility and means you can quickly move the case out of the way to fit around crowds or tight spaces.
The luggage material matters too; soft cases are generally fine so long as you don't plan to carry anything fragile. Hard shell luggage is better for that, and is a good option for checked luggage or long-haul flights, where the bag has increased likelihood of getting knocked about as it gets processed.
With general luggage considerations out of the way, next on the list is which smart features are most important to you. Chargers can be extremely useful in a pinch, but depending on how you travel, they might not be as big a help as you'd imagine.
For one, you can't place batteries in checked luggage that'll go in the hold. So you need to remove those before you send your case away with the airline. If it's an integrated battery you can't get out, that'll be a problem. Plus, batteries are pretty heavy (or, at least, they can be for high capacity ones).
And for shorter haul flights at large airports, there are typically mains ports for you to plug chargers into and you can find these on many planes now too. So consider whether this is what you really need before making a decision.
For location-tracking baggage, you have two choices to make; built-in or compartment, and iPhone or Android. Built-in devices are convenient, but then you have no freedom over which service to use (often meaning subscription fees to the provider).
Meanwhile, if the luggage is designed around Apple's Find My network (or uses an AirTag), then it's really only helpful to you if you use an iPhone. Likewise, features designed for Google's Find Device platform will only work on an Android phone.
