tomtoc Light-T12 Electronic Accessory Pouch M Review

The tomtoc Light-T12 Electronic Accessory Pouch M is a budget-friendly tech pouch with a more tasteful (and expensive) look than its price tag. Does it just look good, or will it perform as well as the higher-end gear that it’s mimicking? Let’s dive in and find out!

External Components

The pouch is crafted from nylon and polyester. The shell has proven durable enough, but it feels cheap and plasticy. The water resistance has held up well, but we’re not convinced that this will last in the long term. That said, so far, so good.

The zippers are from SAB, which isn’t a brand that we’re familiar with. They resemble YKK zippers, but they don’t feel as durable. They operate fairly smoothly, but the PU coating on the zipper track occasionally causes the zipper to get caught. Similar to the materials, we can’t necessarily vouch that these will last long term, but we haven’t had any issues so far.

The zipper pulls are a thin paracord material with a knot on the end and heat-shrunk plastic. They’re lightweight and quiet, which we like. We prefer the zipper pulls to the zippers themselves, as they provide a somewhat smooth experience when the PU coating doesn’t hinder the zipper’s operation.

The tomtoc logo on the front is sleek and professional-looking. It reminds us of Bellroy gear that we’ve seen in the last year or two, and, generally, this style has become more popular in that time frame. It isn’t too large or boisterous, and the pouch looks good.

There’s a flat handle on the backside of the pouch that lacks padding or aeration. It stays out of the way and is handy when you’re carrying it from one place to the next, whether you’re at the coffee shop, in the airport, or in your apartment.

There’s a loop on the side that is a little more comfortable to carry the pouch with, though you have less control over where it goes, as it’ll dangle when you use this. Generally, we use the loop to grab it out of the bag and the handle on the back for a secure way to carry the bag in use.

There isn’t much going on externally on this pouch, though we appreciate the simplicity of the design and the added texture and look of the ripstop colorway.

Inside The Pouch

Inside, the design is simple too. There are two compartments—a smaller one up front and a larger, deeper main compartment.

The front pocket has three small stretchy pockets. They’re crafted from a mesh-like material that has gained popularity in recent years, although this version isn’t as stretchy as others we’ve seen. This limits the amount of gear you can fit inside the pocket, but makes it firmer. In practice, we stowed dongles, cables, and tech accessories here.

There’s a fair amount of extra space in this compartment, though it works better for flat gear, as there isn’t much depth.

The main compartment has more organization. On the front side, there’s a large pocket that works well for stowing long, flat items, such as a battery bank. Additionally, you can stow items with some depth here, like a mouse. There’s a zippered pocket on the inside portion of this pocket, which creates a secure place to store small gear you don’t want bouncing around inside this compartment. The zipper is from YKK, which is odd, as the external one is an off-brand. Generally, we’d prefer to see a brand we trust on the external zipper rather than on the inside, but we haven’t had any issues with either so far.

On the backside of this compartment, there’s one large and one medium pocket. They’re stretchy, so you can stuff items inside if need be.

There’s a lot of extra space inside this compartment, allowing you to stow more gear here. From headphones and a battery bank to a point-and-shoot camera to an Instax Mini, you can get creative with what you stow here. The space isn’t limitless, but the tech pouch is large enough to fit a small kit. Because of its size, it can fit inside a larger sling or your daypack without monopolizing all the space.

Generally, this pouch feels cheap, but it is cheap, so we can’t really fault it for that. We have appreciated some tomtoc gear for punching above its weight in the past, but this feels like it’s pretty on par for the price and capabilities that it offers. This pouch is exactly what it’s advertised as, and we’re here for it!