Here Are 3 of the Best Hard-Shell Suitcases From Our Tests—Including Picks Under $200.
You can spend over $1,000 on a carry-on spinner, but our tests find that high-quality bags can be snagged for a fraction of that price.
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In the past two years, we’ve rated more than a dozen hard-shell carry-ons, ranging in price from under $100 to over $1,000, and what our rigorous testing has proved, time and again, is that you don’t have to spend a fortune to get a sturdy piece of luggage.
Our most recent evaluation included six hard-shell models from popular brands like Herschel, July Luggage, Rimowa, and Tumi. But only one impressed our testers enough to earn a spot on CR’s recommended list. Two others from a previous batch also made the cut, including a bargain winner costing less than $75 and a long-standing favorite for well under $200.
Best Hard-Shell Carry-on Luggage
Here are the three highest-performing hard-shell models in our ratings. While most are slightly bigger than the standard 22x14x9 inches requirement for carry-on luggage, they should fit in most domestic bins. To learn more about what to look for when you’re shopping, check out our luggage buying guide and our survey-based ratings of carry-on luggage brands, checked luggage brands, and luggage retailers.
Why Choose a Hard-Shell Suitcase?
Hard-shell luggage has grown in popularity in recent years, thanks in part to marketing by premium brands such as Away and Rimowa. Typically made of high-tech plastic, the bags are a good option for protecting valuables. Some models expand in the middle like soft-sided luggage, offering added flexibility when you need more space.
As a group, the hard-shell carry-on bags we tested performed capably, with nearly every bag getting a very good Overall Score. But they differ in how easy they are to open, pack, close, and maneuver, and in how well they withstand our rigorous simulations of the wear and abuse a travel bag must endure.
“You’re going to be pulling the luggage, picking it up, going up and down curbs,” Regan says. “You want it to not only serve in its intended use but also survive if it has to be checked—or you have to sit on it during a long layover.”
As a whole, hard-shell luggage is pretty durable. However, the models we tested didn’t score as high as soft-shell cases in our carrying and pulling evaluation. Soft shells also tend to have exterior pockets, which are great for easy access to valuables. Still, you may want to buy hard-shell luggage if you often travel with breakable items like glass. It can also offer better security than soft-sided baggage because it’s somewhat harder to rip open. Soft shells are less likely to have integrated locks in their design, though more manufacturers are adding this feature.
If you’re still not sure which way to go, check our article on choosing between hard-shell and soft-sided luggage.
We’ve also evaluated soft-sided weekender bags and travel backpacks.
Meeting Airlines’ Carry-On Requirements
All of the bags in our tests were identified as “carry-ons” by the manufacturer or specified in their names that they’re less than 22 inches tall. But don’t assume that they meet the 22x14x9 inches carry-on dimensions of the strictest U.S. domestic carriers. According to the manufacturers’ listed measurements, not all bags in our ratings fall within that limit.
If you’re traveling internationally, there’s even less room to play with. Make sure your bag is less than 21.7 inches tall, including the stowed handle and wheels.
The suitcases we tested from Away, Briggs & Riley, Calpak, Herschel, and July are likely to pass muster regardless of the carrier you fly on. Those from Monos and Tumi are aptly sized for domestic carriers. The Amazon Basics model comes very close to the dimensions allowed by U.S.-based airlines.
Photo: Consumer Reports Photo: Consumer Reports
How CR Tests Hard-Shell Luggage
In Consumer Reports’ tests, we put small, hard-shell carry-on bags—basic models—from numerous brands through 31 evaluations of use, durability, ergonomics, safety, and other aspects of ownership.
@consumerreports We really put 12 luggage options through their paces 💪🧳. Read more at cr.org/carryonluggage #traveltiktok #luggage #traveltok #carryon
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To gauge durability, we fill each bag with fabric until its total weight is almost 18 pounds, then wheel it along an obstacle-studded conveyor belt for the equivalent of 30-plus miles. We have a machine lift those loaded bags by the handle 5,000 times. We drop the bags more than 3 feet onto hard flooring after storing them at summer and winter temperatures, conditions that are potentially tough on hard plastic. We leave the bags, zipped, in a sprinkler-simulated downpour to see what seeps through the zipper fabric. We inflate a large air bladder inside to check how the seams hold up. We load almost 225 pounds on top and to the side to gauge each bag’s resilience should it end up at the bottom of a cargo pile. And we swing a nasty-looking 17-pound pointed metal hammer twice at each carry-on to see what would happen if, say, the bag accidentally fell from a plane’s overhead compartment onto an armrest.
Photo: Consumer Reports Photo: Consumer Reports
We don’t fixate on the bags’ strength alone. We also consider ergonomics: how convenient each hard-shell carry-on is to open, pack, and close, and how well various pockets, flaps, closures, and locks work. We examine how easy it is for men and women of different sizes to grab handles and straps, and to carry and pull the cases. We check how stable each bag is when rolled or pulled up steps and over sidewalks, curbs, cobblestones, and dirt roads. Some of the hard-shell carry-on luggage models in our tests have the ability to expand in the middle using designs involving zippers and rip-stop fabric; we check how much roomier those bags become when expanded.
We also evaluate manufacturing quality, volume claims, and safety.
