Best Laptop Case for Travel: A Durable, Shockproof & Waterproof Laptop Sleeve

For digital nomads like us, our laptop is truly an ever-important piece of gear. It’s our livelihoods! To protect our laptop while traveling,  it’s crucial to get the best laptop case for travel possible.

Our adventures have taken us anywhere from the rainy mountains of northern Vietnam to the cold taiga of northern Mongolia, and, no matter where we go, our laptop joins us everywhere. Thus, our search for a powerful laptop case has been thorough and carefully considered. After all, the rigors of travel can offer up a variety of climates and events, and we need a the best shockproof laptop case up for the job!

We ultimately landed on the durablen Nacuwa laptop case.

Consider This Before Choosing a Travel Laptop Case

In today’s world of technologically-enabled travel, a world that has ushered in the possibility for digital nomadic lifestyles unfeasible until now, there’s little more important to a digital nomad on the go than a laptop. If you’re looking to invest in one for yourself. check out these top recommended laptops for digital nomads.

As travel bloggers, our livelihoods depend on that beacon of technological light provided to us by our laptop. For us, we use a MacBook Pro 13″, a laptop sized perfectly for the compact requirements of frequent travel.

A travel laptop case needs to be more than simply portable: for our purposes, a travel laptop case needs to be rugged enough to withstand dropping, bumping, dust, rain, and even cold and snow.

But at the same time, we didn’t want a laptop case that would be so heavy and firm that it would be a huge burden to bring around with us. We needed something that we could tuck into our bags and not think about it again, feeling assured that our laptop was safe inside it. That calls for a laptop case both strong and flexible!

YOU’LL LOVE | Best Budget Cameras for Traveling

Best Laptop Case for Travel

Oh boy, have we tried more than our share of cheap, flimsy travel laptop cases. Trust me; it’s not worth it. Cases without adequate protection didn’t cut it for our travel purposes, and I wouldn’t waste the money again on something that won’t last—the potential damage to our laptop is just too risky. So, we set out to find the best laptop case for travel that is, in fact, powerful enough.

We have discovered that the best laptop case for travel, for our needs, is the Nacuwa 13” hardshell waterproof case.

The Nacuwa case works perfectly for our 13” MacBook Pro, and we’d trust it to protect our laptop from a wide variety of travel issues, from the tropical storms of Vietnam’s Sapa rice terraces to subfreezing temperatures of the largest ice festival in the world in China.

When Nacuwa sent this case to us for review, we immediately fell in love with its rugged yet flexible exterior, its functionality as a mobile workspace, and its multiple layers of protection. And even better, it fits in our travel day bag.

When we keep our laptop in this case, we know that it’s going to be safe from any reasonable rigor of travel we can expect! The best part? The value. This laptop 13” hardshell waterproof case doesn’t break the bank, while still providing the rugged flexibility the best laptop case for travel should have.

READ MORE | Best Travel Drone Bag

Compact and Minimalist: Perfect for Travel

The perfect size for most Mac and Windows laptops 13” and under as well as tablets, the 13” Nacuwa hardshell case comes in at about 14″ by 10″ and less than 1.5” thick.

This travel laptop case manages to be firm and protective while not being too bulky to transport easily. Weighing just over a pound, this travel laptop case doesn’t weigh down our already heavy bags by much. During our five-month trek throughout Asia, our bags were full to capacity literally every single day. Our laptop would still be able to fit into our bags with this case without taking up too much room—an essential quality when looking for the best laptop sleeve for travel!

Military-Grade Protection

Why else do we consider the Nacuwa case the best laptop sleeve for travel? It’s got protection for days.

The rugged, military-grade outer shell of the Nacuwa case holds up well to scratches and other damage while also remaining pliable, making it the best shockproof laptop case we’ve used yet.

Flexible as can be while still maintaining its tough durability, this Nacuwa case is a gem in the realm of laptop protection. Better yet? The protection this case provides isn’t limited to this outermost layer. One of our top reasons for labelling the Nacuwa case as the best laptop case for travel is its remarkable 4 layer shell for maximum protection!

CHECK OUT | Protecting our smartphones while traveling

4-Layer Shell For Maximum Protection

In addition to the rugged outer shell, this Nacuwa travel laptop case protects your precious laptop with four supreme additional layers.

The quad-layer protection of this best laptop case for travel includes crush-proof and shock-absorbing materials, as well as soft-touch and leather layers for even more security.

It’s easy to see why the Nacuwa laptop case takes the cake for the best laptop sleeve for travel, as it actively works to protect our laptop from all sorts of damage from the inside and outside.

Waterproof Coating

Anyone with a laptop knows how vulnerable they are to spills and other water damage. As the best laptop sleeve for travel, this Nacuwa case provides amazing water protection with its waterproof coating on the outermost layer. With this Nacuwa laptop case, we would feel our laptop is kept safe against a variety of weather conditions while traveling. In addition to being waterproof, the outer shell of our vote for the best laptop sleeve for travel also repels damaging and annoying dust.

Tough Lock Zipper

No flimsy zippers for the best laptop case for travel! The tough lock wrap-around zipper on this Nacuwa case forms a strong seal to lock our laptop up and protect it from the elements. Made of sturdy plastic, the zipper on the Nacuwa laptop sleeve will not rust, even in damp and humid climates. Unlike other travel laptop cases we’ve used in the past, this best laptop sleeve for travel fully encloses a laptop with a zipper-sealed seam for maximum protection. This feature is especially handy when traveling somewhere dusty, as it prevents sneaky dust from creeping into the laptop bag and onto (or into) the laptop.

Textured Grip

The textured, rugged outer layer of this Nacuwa case provides a slip-resistant grip. Dropping a laptop is one of the surest ways to damage it, so having anti-slip texturing greatly secures this case’s reputation as the best laptop sleeve for travel. Thanks to the non-slip grip of this travel laptop case, we could avoid a thousand potential laptop falls, even if one of us fell off of a reindeer in Mongolia or a camel in India! How’s that for the best laptop case for travel?!

Drop Protection

Dropping a laptop happens—especially if you’re constantly on the go.

The best laptop sleeve for travel will enlist some protective measures in the event that a drop does happen, even with the textured grip. If you still do manage to drop your laptop, this travel laptop case does its best to minimize damage from drops and falls. As well as being anti-slip and waterproof, the tough outer shell also provides shock and drop resistance, all thanks to its quad-layer protection. Even if it’s not dropped, the shock protection of this Nacuwa travel laptop case will still do loads to protect your laptop from constant shaking while traveling down bumpy roads, a feature we would appreciate more than anywhere else in Mongolia—a place in which we spent most of our time traveling over incredibly rocky and bumpy dirt roads, or sometimes not even over roads at all. It’s highly evident a lot of thought and care went into designing this laptop sleeve, making it the best laptop sleeve for travel!

WHY DON’T YOU | Learn a language for free on your phone

Use it as a Portable Workstation

Another useful feature that makes this one of the best laptop cases for travel: the case may also be used as a portable workstation. Opening up the laptop anywhere in the world is made easier than ever with the extra layers of protection as well as comfort that the case provides. This best laptop case for travel, perfectly sized to use as a workstation with our 13 inch MacBook Pro, feels much sturdier and secure than using the laptop on its own.

Extra Storage Capacity

While snugly fitting a 13” laptop, this travel laptop case by Nacuwa also has several handy pockets built inside to hold other gear. These pockets inside can fit external hard drives, a wireless mouse, SD cards, phones, cords, wall chargers, or any other travel tech gear. A charger for a MacBook Pro also fits comfortably inside this best laptop sleeve for travel. Best of all, anything inside the pockets also benefits from the multiple layers of protection this travel laptop case offers.

NEXT UP | 150 Best Travel Hashtags to Grow Your Instagram

All the benefits of this 13” Nacuwa hardshell travel laptop case make it one of the best laptop cases for travel. With quad-layer protection, this laptop sleeve works hard to keep our laptop safe from the elements and potential accidents that lurk everywhere while we’re traveling. Worrying about electronics while traveling sometimes proves to a big headache, but luckily we found the best laptop case for travel to ensure we have less to worry about, freeing our minds to focus on the exciting parts of our jobs!

Disclosure: This post is a collaboration with Nacuwa, but as always, all opinions are very much our own!

Like this post?

Share it on Pinterest by hovering over one of the pictures below and clicking the red “Pin It” button!

You Might Also Appreciate…

More Travel Gear Posts

• Best Budget Travel Cameras to Improve Your Travel Photography
• Travel Drone Tips: Flying a Drone in Cold Weather
• Traveling with a Drone: 8 ESSENTIAL Tips to Avoid Insanity
• Best Travel Drone Bag: Backpacking with a DJI Phantom
• An Essential Carry-On Packing List (+ the Things You CAN’T Take on a Plane)
• Travel in Style: The Best Travel Day Bag (& What to Pack in It)
• Anatomie: The Best Travel Outfits for Long Flights and an On-the-Go Lifestyle
• Survivor Filter Pro Review: How to Purify Water Anywhere in the World
• Protecting Our Smartphones While Traveling with ZAGG
• Cute, Comfy Women’s Shoes for Travel
• Stylish Men’s Travel Wear from Norway

Travel Tips

• TSA Rules You Need to Know: A Guide to TSA Carry-On Restrictions
• Travel Hack: Do a Cheap Flight Search Like a Pro
• What I’ve Learned from Traveling to 25 Countries
• Essential Winter Travel Packing List (For Subfreezing Temperatures!)
• 150 Best Travel Photography Hashtags 

More Travel Posts

• Coolest Things to Do in Harbin, China (Beyond the Harbin Ice Festival!)
• What to Do in Insadong, South Korea: A Seoul Travel Guide
• Everland Korea: A Day Trip to South Korea’s Largest Theme Park
• Best Things to Do in Iceland, According to Travel Bloggers
• Hidden Beach of Jeju Island: A Jeju Korea Travel Guide
• 15 Machu Picchu Pictures to Remind You How Badass It Is
• This China Ice City Will Blow Your Mind: The ULTIMATE Guide to Harbin Ice Festival
• Best Things to Do in Iceland, According to Travel Bloggers
• What to Do in Insadong, South Korea: A Seoul Travel Guide
• A Russian Church in China?! || A Guide to Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin, China
• Sagye Beach, South Korea: Best Beach in Jeju Island for a Mt. Sanbangsan View
• Mind-Blowing New Year’s Eve Sri Lanka Party in Mirissa Beach
• The Zesty Truth of Jeju Tangerine Picking: Jeju Island, South Korea
• Daedunsan Mountain & the Cloud Bridge: A South Korea Fall Colors Guide

Where would you use your travel laptop sleeve?

Share in a comment below!