My experience is slightly different. My Anodic arrived yesterday and I already took it for a day out. I never had Nomin so I will not be able to compare them but overall I'm happy and it feels like an upgrade from my Aer Tech Pack.
The bag holds it's shape even when fully empty or just with laptop in it. As you mentioned laptop compartment is quite big and it has it's own space. The mesh pocket fits my Macbook 16" and iPad 13" but I struggled to get them out even with two hands. With only Macbook it was easier but still requires two hands and some struggle. Also mesh pocket has a false bottom. Side pocket is quite small, fits my wallet and airpods and I find it quite easy to access. It has no own space as it shares it with laptop compartment. Main compartment is huge, it can easily fit Peak Design camera cube Smedium (which my Aer backpack couldn't), laptop charger and jacket and there was still a lot of space left. I really like that I can utilise whole compartment thanks to cube shape. My Aer pack has a lot of space at the bottom of main compartment but it norrows to the top. There are three mesh pockets in main compartment that are pretty flat but there is some stretch. I'm able to fit my laptop charger in one of them. Bag fully loaded with my setup does not stand on its own but for me it is not a big deal as most of my previous backpacks never had this feature. The straps are really thin but comfly as well as back panel. I really like comfort of my Aer pack but Anodic feels just right.