Let’s open up the Ekster Senate wallet. This is a slim wallet. As we open this up we notice that, it’s a beautiful steel blue color and it comes with an extra band. I don’t think this is extra as another option to slim down your carry even more. The packaging is great, very precise and a good gift presentation.
Let’s talk about the quality. The company offers a 30 day money back guarantee. And a 12 month warranty, it’s made from top grain leather sourced in Europe, it’s very thin leather which is required to properly wrap over the card slider box. And the leather is, chrome tanned from what I can tell, but the smell is so neutral it’s hard to tell for sure.
The card slider box is made from an impact resistant plastic, which ensure it will provide protection if dropped or something heavy rests on it. The trigger and internal mechanism are also made from plastic. As with anything mechanical there are chances for mishap.
Cards can get stuck, oversized cards won’t fit and embossed cards (the one’s with raised numbers pressed into the plastic) reduce the number you can carry in the slider box. But the card slider system trigger is the most straightforward of all the other card slider systems I’ve seen and so I suspect it will have fewer problems.
(if you want to see all the features and how many cards and cash it can hold, please watch the video)
All that said, there is a cool factor to this in a compact footprint. When cards are in the box, it has a rubber friction insert that prevents cards from coming out due to force and provides a smoother extraction instead of launching the cards out when the trigger is pressed.
As you saw you can get 6 cards in the slider. The cards we used were not embossed. With the extended band feature, it can accept an additional 7 to 10 cards and we were able ot put a full 10 slips of cash into the strap. That’s the difference of what the company provides between the card band extension and using just the cash band. Overall, it looks like it can hold between 6 to 16 cards depending on the configuration.
Usability is excellent because access to your cards are quick and precise. And the cash placement on the outside here is immediate.
The wallet measures 4.1” tall, 2 ½” wide and .59” thin, which makes this not much thicker than a lot of other wallets.
The perception is that the card slider system is clever and quick, and they’ve built up a good brand around this concept. The company also have trackable versions of the Senate wallet.
We did a prior review of the Ekster Parliament, bifold wallet so go take a look. A comparison between the Parliament and Senate helps provide a decision path on which one to purchase.
Finally, let’s get into the ratings, for quality we’re going to give it a 4, for pricing a 2, for features we’re going to give it a 4. Usability is a 4, and perception is a 4, which leaves us with a final score of 4 out of 5.
The Senate is a slim leather cardholder with quick card access and a removable cash strap.
