(if you want to see all the features and how many cards and cash it can hold, please watch the video)
Today I am going to take you through my long-term carry experience with the Ekster 3.0 Parliament Wallet. This is their third generation of this wallet, and I carried it for three weeks, including some air travel to Hawaii. Before we get into my general likes, assessments, and dislikes, let’s do a quick review of the features. With all of the Parliaments, they don’t have any features on the front. On the back, they have a card slot. When we open this up, there are two card slots on the left hand side, and there is a cash strap. I don’t carry much cash so I used it for additional cards. Of course, the main feature of Ekster Wallets is the card box they have. This has five cards in it, because I did carry one that was embossed. The functionality was awesome. It gave me everything I needed.
For my general assessments, it performed as I would have expected, and there was nothing I found annoying about it. And sometimes I get annoyed by wallets. Like the previous versions of Ekster’s box wallets, this one has improvements. What I did like is that the box itself is stronger, and is made out of fully anodized aluminum. It provides greater confidence that it wouldn’t break or collapse, because one of the issues is that this box, let’s say if you put it in your back pocket, could have a potential to collapse and break. The trigger mechanism is constructed from a single piece of material that makes it much more smooth, and it had less clinking when pushing the button. The new inner coating of the box provides a smoother extraction, and the cards come out a bit further, which makes it more accessible. This does have RFID. With the single piece of material that makes up the trigger mechanism, it takes very little effort. There are a number of wallets out there that have a trigger mechanism, where the fulcrum action is really difficult to get past. And this is very smooth and very nice. What is also nice is that it pushes the cards out further, so there is greater exposure of the card, and there is greater separation between the cards so you have the ability to pull them out, find the one you want and pull it out. Then, of course, you can push it really hard, and it’s not going to eject them across the table. Of course, they will come out a little, but there is a friction strap in here that prevents it. It also comes with a solar powered tracker card in the back. This is a much thinner version of the 2.0 version, and is solar powered. It is powered by Chipolo, by way of technology. And with three hours of sun in a charge, it will last for up to two months. The trick is to remember when you need to recharge it. I never had an issue with it, although it did provide a bit of a bulk in the back. But again, if you don’t want to lose your wallet, this is a good choice. It has all kinds of features to it, where you can ring your wallet from your phone, and of course has worldwide tracking on it.
Now for my likes, it is very easy to load. I had a mix of embossed and non-embossed cards, and never had an issue with the cards being problematic. You will be able to either put them in quickly or extract them, and I could mix them up as I was going along, pull a card from the front, and put it in the back. Card extraction and mixed insertion was very flawless. The leather performed nicely, and you can tell it really conformed to the back, as I had the tracker card, as well as an access card in here. The leather really conformed to it nicely. This is a nice Juniper green. I really like this color. It didn’t scratch which you typically find with a lot of leather wallets, and performed really well. The box itself is thinner. It’s only 0.3 inches, and it felt smaller in my pocket than the previous generation, even Senate, let alone the Parliament, for being a bi-fold with a top on it. Since I don’t carry a lot of cash, I was able to use the internal strap for additional card storage, which I liked, and I was able to use the backstrap, which is non-RFID, for an access card, which I could use.
Now for my dislikes. While the tracker did get thinner, it still has a large impact on the wallet as a whole. It really should be something you are sold on before you get, because you will notice the bulk until you forget about it. But still, you are carrying a box in your pocket, albeit smaller. That is really a personal preference, as it really won’t completely conform like leather wallets do to your pocket because it’s a piece of metal. Other than that, it performed as I expected, and I was really pleased with this, no issues whatsoever. It was a nice wallet, easy to use, nice materials, and a big improvement over the 2.0 version.
A premium leather smart wallet, perfect for slim storage and quick card access. The built-in aluminum cardholder fans out your cards at the click of a button and protects them against skimming. Holds 1-12 cards and bills.
