Make sure your luggage is a smart as the clothes contained within next time you check-in at the airport.

The luggage business has been trundling along for quite a while now, hasn’t it? In fact, 150 years ago, the whole thing was quite different. Going abroad required months of preparation, months of sea travel and a hugely expensive set of trunks, designed to act as portable wardrobes, to accompany you. Thank goodness that’s in the past.

In recent history, of course, we have seen bags become increasingly streamlined, lightweight, and functional, with a bevy of brand’s boasting various trademarked technologies and materials that, they say, will transform any trip into a total breeze. But still, we have never seen something quite like Raden, the New York-based luggage brand launched this year by Mr Josh Udashkin, which in its products combines an internet-of-things approach to technology with streamlined design, a focus on functionality and, crucially a rather attractive price point.

Spearheading a move towards “smart” luggage (the polar opposite of those clunky trunks of yore), Raden’s set of two cases, one for checking in and one for carrying on (available individually or as a set) are not only easy on the eye, ultralight and finished with a waterproof sealing, they’re packed with technological features of the kind that will genuinely help you as you wend on your merry way. Scroll down to discover three reasons why, for your next trip, a Raden case may well come in handy.

Nightmare scenario: 29 minutes before your flight is due to take off, you arrive panting at the check in desk, only to discover that your bags are 3kg over the limit. Cue a terrible scene, where you crack open your carefully packed suitcase on the floor and decide which particular items among your belongings you can bear to stuff into the bin and leave at home. Oh wait… there are no bins! Obviously this is the kind of mess you should avoid at all possible costs, and thankfully, Raden’s cases make it easy, with their in-built luggage weighing technology. In each case, the handle doubles up as a scale, so you can test the mass of your baggage simply by hefting them off the floor.

Often you have to get up early for flights, and spend much more time emailing, WhatsApping, Instagramming and YouTubing at the airport than you would in a normal day. This tends to mean that, on landing in your destination, your phone will be completely kaput, leaving you unable to find out (a) how to leave the airport (b) how to find your hotel or (c) how many likes you’ll get for the photo of the sunset you took out the plane window en route. Owners of Raden cases, however, have an advantage over the general population in that their luggage comes equipped with an integrated phone charger with two USB ports which, when fully charged itself, can recharge up to four phones to full battery.

It’s clear that people hate waiting for bags at the carousel, so much so that there’s an ever-increasing tendency on flights for passengers to bring truly giant “carry-on” bags with them to stash in the overhead lockers, much to the chagrin of those of us that read the rules on the website and kept our hand luggage to a reasonable set of dimensions (bitter experience speaking, there). But with Raden, the thumb-twiddling in the luggage collection area needn’t be so exasperating – thanks to the Bluetooth tracking device that is fitted in each Raden case, and the accompanying mobile app, it’s always easy to see where your bag is at any given moment. If it’s clearly not going to turn up for a while – or has ended up on its merry way to the other side of the globe) – you can nip off and get a snack (or begin to kick up a fuss at the info desk). If it’s arriving imminently, you will know exactly when to elbow your way to the front of the eager grannies leaning horizontally at the entrance hatch.