Away's new carry-on has a wheel brake. That's the most useful luggage idea in years.

Luggage launches tend to be about looks: a new colour, a new texture, a collaboration with someone famous. So it’s refreshing to see an update that is almost entirely about the ten minutes before and after a flight that nobody photographs.

NBC Select’s October roundup of new products reports that Away’s iconic luggage “just got an upgrade.” The Series 3 update adds “a built-in wheel brake that keeps your suitcase in place,” “a dedicated pocket for your Bluetooth tracker,” a hook on the handle for an extra bag, a handle that locks at any height, outward-opening sides and a compression system. NBC lists it at $378. The features apply to both the classic Series 3 and the expandable Flex 3 styles.

The brake is the headline

Anyone who has stood on a train platform, a sloping jet bridge or a bus with a four-wheel spinner knows the problem: spinners roll beautifully, which means they roll away. The usual fix is to tilt the case onto two wheels or wedge it against your leg. A brake sounds trivial until you’ve needed one, and then it sounds obvious.

What we like about it is that it addresses a flaw created by an earlier improvement. Spinner wheels made cases easier to push and harder to park. A brake is the honest follow-up.

The tracker pocket is a quiet admission

A pocket cut for a Bluetooth tracker is a small design choice with a big subtext: airlines lose bags, and travellers have decided to find them themselves. Building a home for the tracker, rather than leaving you to tape one inside a lining, treats that habit as normal. It is.

The handle hook is the same kind of thinking. Most people carry a second item — a tote, a coffee, a coat — and most handles give that item nowhere to go.

Where we’d push back

$378 is a lot for a carry-on, and these are refinements rather than a reinvention. If you already own a hard-shell case that rolls well and hasn’t broken, nothing here justifies replacing it. The brake and the pocket are reasons to choose this case over a rival at the same price, not reasons to retire a working one.

It is also worth saying that a handle that “locks at any height” is a comfort feature for tall and short travellers alike, and that outward-opening sides and compression are useful mainly to people who overpack. In other words, most of us.

The takeaway

The luggage industry spent a decade competing on polycarbonate colours. Competing on the brake, the hook and the tracker pocket is better for travellers, and it’s the kind of update we’d like to see copied. If you’re in the market for a carry-on this season, these are the features to check for — whichever brand you end up buying.