Quince vs. Samsonite Luggage: Which brand should you buy? [2026]

Quince offers minimalist, high-quality luggage with premium materials at direct-to-consumer prices, targeting style-conscious travelers who want a luxury feel without the high cost. In contrast, Samsonite is a long-established industry leader known for its exceptional durability, vast product selection, and global availability, appealing to frequent flyers who prioritize reliability and function.

Let's break down everything you need to know to choose the right luggage brand for your travels.

Quince: The Affordable Luxury Essential

Quince is a direct-to-consumer brand that has built a following by offering high-quality essentials - spanning from clothing to home goods - at transparent and accessible prices. Their luggage collection follows the same principle, providing travelers with sleek, modern suitcases made from premium materials. The target audience is the modern traveler who values minimalist aesthetics, smart design, and sustainability, all while sticking to a reasonable budget.

• Product mix: A focused collection of hard-shell carry-on and checked luggage in various sizes. The designs are clean and modern, often featuring full-grain leather details.
• Price point: Quince's luggage typically ranges from $150 to $300. This places them in an attractive position, offering features and material quality often found in much more expensive brands.
• Quality & Materials: Their suitcases feature lightweight polycarbonate hard shells that are designed to resist scratches, Japanese-crafted Hinomoto wheels for a smooth glide, and trolley handles for stability.
• Sustainability: The brand emphasizes eco-friendly sourcing and transparent manufacturing practices, making it a solid choice for environmentally-conscious shoppers.
• Return policy: Quince offers a generous 365-day return policy and a lifetime warranty on its hard-shell luggage, showcasing confidence in its durability.

Quince is an excellent choice for travelers seeking a stylish, high-performing suitcase that looks and feels expensive but comes at a strikingly fair price.

Shop Quince: quince.com

Samsonite: The Benchmark for Durability & Reliability

For over a century, Samsonite has been a dominant force in the travel industry, building a global reputation for producing tough, functional, and innovative luggage. Their customers range from leisure vacationers to road-warrior business travelers who need gear that can withstand the rigors of frequent use. Samsonite's core promise is long-lasting reliability, backed by decades of engineering and testing.

• Product mix: Samsonite offers an extensive catalog that includes hard-shell and soft-side luggage, garment bags, backpacks, and business cases. Their collections span multiple styles and sizes to fit virtually any travel need.
• Price point: The selection is broad, with entry-level collections starting around $100 and premium lines exceeding $500, ensuring there's an option for almost every budget.
• Quality & Materials: Known for resilience, Samsonite uses materials like durable polycarbonate, aluminum, and tough ballistic nylon. Many models feature reinforced corners, TSA-approved locks, and robust wheel systems built for heavy loads.
• Sales: Samsonite products are widely available at department stores and standalone luggage shops, and the brand frequently runs sales and promotions on its website, providing opportunities for significant savings.
• Return policy: Offers a standard return policy and a limited global warranty on its products, with a robust service network for repairs.

Samsonite is the go-to brand for travelers whose main concern is finding a durable, feature-rich suitcase from a trusted company with a proven track record.

Shop Samsonite: samsonite.com

Quince vs. Samsonite Comparison

Price Comparison

Quince occupies a specific niche, offering exceptional value in the $150-$300 range. For the price, you get premium features like Hinomoto wheels and polycarbonate shells that compete with brands that charge twice as much. Their pricing is straightforward, with no confusing sales cycles.

Samsonite covers a much wider financial spectrum. You can find budget-friendly soft-side carry-ons for just over $100 during a sale, while their high-end aluminum collections can cost over $500. This breadth means more choice, but the best value is often found during their frequent promotional events.

Quality & Materials

Quince focuses on lightweight, high-quality materials. Their polycarbonate shells are flexible and designed to resist cracking, while details like quiet-gliding wheels and sturdy handles contribute to a premium user experience. It's built for modern travel, where weight and maneuverability are key.

Samsonite's reputation is built on toughness. Their luggage, especially in the mid to high-end ranges, is engineered to endure rough handling. Materials like rugged ballistic nylon on their soft-side bags can take a beating, and their hard-shell cases often use proprietary blends designed for maximum impact resistance. Samsonite is engineered for longevity over many years of frequent travel.

Style & Aesthetic

Quince is the clear winner for shoppers who prefer a modern, minimalist look. The suitcases feature clean lines, a matte finish, and neutral, sophisticated colors like beige, light gray, and black. It's a chic, understated aesthetic that feels very current.

Samsonite offers a more varied, though generally more traditional, aesthetic. Their designs are practical and professional, often featuring textures, ridges, and a more functional appearance. While they have introduced more modern and colorful lines, the core brand DNA is less about fashion and more about function.

Capacity & Sizing

Both brands offer standard carry-on and checked luggage sizes that comply with most airline regulations. Quince maintains a relatively simple product lineup, offering the most popular sizes without overwhelming customers with choices.

Samsonite provides a massive range of options. They have different sizes for international versus domestic carry-ons, underseat bags, massive checked bags, and many models with expandable compartments. If you have very specific size or capacity needs, Samsonite's extensive catalog is more likely to have a perfect fit.

Sustainability & Ethics

Quince makes sustainability a core part of its brand identity. They are transparent about their manufacturing processes and actively use eco-friendly and recycled materials in their products. This makes them a strong choice for shoppers who prioritize environmental impact.

As a much larger, older company, Samsonite has taken steps toward sustainability, including creating collections from recycled materials. However, it's not as central to their brand message as it is for Quince. Their efforts are growing, but Quince leads in terms of focus and transparency.

Which One Should You Choose?

The right luggage depends entirely on your travel habits, budget, and personal style. Both brands offer fantastic products, but they serve different types of travelers.

Choose Quince if:

• You prioritize a sleek, minimalist, and modern aesthetic.
• You want the feel and quality of a luxury brand at a much lower price.
• You mainly travel for vacations or occasional business trips.
• Sustainability and brand transparency are important factors in your purchasing decisions.

Choose Samsonite if:

• Maximum durability and long-term reliability are your absolute top priorities.
• You are a frequent flyer who needs luggage that can withstand constant wear and tear.
• You want a huge selection of sizes, styles, and features to choose from.
• You prefer buying from an established brand with a global warranty and repair network.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Quince or Samsonite cheaper?

Samsonite has cheaper entry-level options, with sale prices often falling below $150. However, for a comparable level of quality and materials (like a full polycarbonate hard-shell and Hinomoto wheels), Quince provides better value in its $150-$300 price range.

Which brand is more durable?

Samsonite has a long-standing reputation for being one of the most durable luggage brands on the market, particularly its collections designed for frequent travelers. Quince luggage is very durable for its price point and typical use, but Samsonite's heavy-duty models are built to take more abuse.

Which luggage is lighter?

Quince generally focuses on building lightweight luggage by default, which is a major selling point of their collection. Samsonite offers many lightweight models, but because their product catalog is so vast, you have to pay closer attention to the specifications of the specific model line.

Which brand is better for business travel?

Samsonite leans toward business travel due to its reputation for toughness, professional aesthetics, and a wider range of specialty items like garment bags and wheeled laptop cases. However, Quince’s modern look is also perfectly suitable for business travel, especially for those in creative fields.

Does Quince luggage have a warranty?

Yes, Quince offers an impressive lifetime warranty on its hard-shell luggage, which covers any functional damage to the shell, wheels, handles, and zippers for the entire time you own it.

Can I find Samsonite luggage on sale?

Absolutely. It is almost always on sale at major department stores, outlet malls, and on the Samsonite website itself. It is rare to pay full retail price for a Samsonite bag.

Are both brands carry-on compliant?

Yes, both Quince and Samsonite offer carry-on models designed to meet the standard size restrictions of most major airlines (typically around 22 x 14 x 9 inches). Always double-check the exact dimensions with your airline before flying.

Where can I buy Quince luggage?

Quince luggage is sold exclusively through its brand website, quince.com. This direct-to-consumer model is what helps them keep their prices low by cutting out the retail middleman.