(if you want to see all the features and how many cards and cash it can hold, please watch the video)
If you haven’t seen the lineup of Distil Union’s Wallets, then you’re really missing out. We have the Wally Micro 4.0 and the Wally Sleeve on the desk today. And if you like small minimalist type wallets, then keep reading!
Feature wise, the Micro has one card slot, being held together by elastic that wraps around the front, with a capacity up to 10. It has a pull strap to get the cards out. The cash strap itself is the elastic that goes around the front where you’d fold cash twice or in thirds and slip it under to hold it in place.
Let’s move on to the Sleeve. The Sleeve has one card slot in the middle with a capacity of up to 7 cards. It also has a pull strap. But it’s an elastic one that pulls it back, so you don’t have to push a card in to reset the pull strap.
If we go to the front, then we have a cash slot, where cash folded twice can be placed or additional cards. By way of measurements, the Micro 4.0 x 3.5 x 2.1”, the Sleeve is 3.9 x 2.9 x 0.2” with the Micro weighing 14 grams, and the Sleeve at 23 grams. Both are designed in the United States and are made in China. Full grain veg tan leather, sewing is good, and is reasonable for mass production wallets. And you do have good reinforcement where the cards fold out for greater access to cards. While the pull strap can reset itself on the Micro when reinserting cards, on the Sleeve, it’s elastic. Basically as you’re pulling your cards out, it’ll snap back into place. Many people complain because it is true that if the elastic ever breaks, then the wallet loses a major feature. Usability is where it all gets very real.
The Micro is very simple to use, meant to be a card wallet. It can also accommodate business cards and insurance cards. It’s very small in the palm of your hand, making it a great minimalist wallet to carry. Unlike the classic version of this available from Distil Union, which had square corners at the top of the wallet. This one has rounded corners. And so, you can actually see the both corners of the cards, so it doesn’t cover all the cards completely nor do the cards really hit the bottom of this wallet. They get fairly close but not completely down. From an aesthetic perspective, it’s not great. And there have been plenty of reports that the elastic is not the strongest and has a tendency to become loose over time. Another concern is that the pull strap has ridges on it. Which is fine from a tactile perspective, but there have been reports that the bottom of the cards become delaminated because of the pulling up of the cards, where the ridges then rub on the bottom of the cards.
The Sleeve does not have that elastic strap going around the wallet for cash. It actually has a slot where you can put cash or more cards, protected. And the majority of cards are enclosed in the top slot. The top uses Distil’s FlexLock. It consists of metal bands, secured on both sides that provide resistance when squeezing to open the top. Once released it snaps back in place, which keeps the top reasonably closed.
If you don’t want to use the retractable pull strap, you can also open the front by pulling down the front or back, which provides reasonable access. And of course we have the pull strap, which has a magnetic closure on the pull head, which secures to the wallet, preventing the head of the wallet from flopping around when not in use, very much like the Wally 5.0 wallet, one of my favorites.
Both come with a one year warranty in the event something goes wrong. If you really want to see the pinnacle of Distil Union’s wallet designs, then watch the Wally 5.0 review.
Now onto the final score. For the Micro 4.0, quality of 4, price at 3, features a 3, usability a 3, and perception of 4. Very good wallet overall. It has some issues with usability, a little bit with the elastic strap, but nothing too significant, which gives us a final score of 35 out of 50. If we look at the Wally Sleeve, quality of 4, price at 3, features a 3, usability a 4, and perception a 4. I like the usability a little bit more due to the security of your cards, which gives us a final score of 3.7 out of 5.
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