The Wallet Shoppe
Looking for a smart wallet like the Ekster Parliament? Don’t know what the heck a smart wallet is but too embarrassed to ask? And what’s an ejector wallet, that sounds a little James Bond-ish? No worries - we’ve got you covered.
Two of Ekster’s best-known wallets are the leather Parliament and the all-metal Aluminum Cardholder. Both eject your cards with a button push, both take Ekster’s tracker card, both block RFID. The choice comes down to the leather wrap, the extra storage, and how much you want in your pocket. (Ekster now sells them as the Ekster Wallet and the Ekster Cardholder, with separate Pro versions.)
Background
First a little background. Men and women have been losing their wallets (and valuables) for as long as they’ve been carrying them around in their back pocket. Security is obviously the biggest concern, but it’s also a real nuisance. Sure, you can cancel your cards and order a new license (sometimes you even have to go in and have the picture taken again), and the cash we carry is usually minimal. But it’s a real hassle to do all of that, then navigate the next 10 days without your stuff.
The solution? The smart wallet. A small Bluetooth tracker card sits inside the wallet and pairs with an app, so a misplaced wallet can call back to you instead of disappearing.
What is a Smart Wallet?
Smart wallets pair with a phone app through a tracker that uses Bluetooth and, depending on the version, Apple’s Find My or Google’s Find Hub network. We like the card approach because you can take it out and put it in (say) your luggage if you want to track something else for a while.
Founded in 2015 by two friends from Amsterdam plus a Kickstarter veteran, Ekster was one of the pioneers in the smart wallet space. They were tired of the endless line of boring options in the EDC wallet space, and wanted to fix two problems at once: the bulky wallet and the lost wallet. The wallet had to be slim, high quality and look awesome.
If you’re cross-shopping, Bellroy takes a leather-first design approach with room for a separately bought tracker card, and the Ridge goes full metal minimalist and can also carry a slim tracker.
Parliament — full-grain leather over an aluminum chassis. Extra leather pockets and folded-cash storage around a smaller ejector compartment.
Aluminum Cardholder — all-metal slim wallet. Holds 4–6 cards in the ejector depending on thickness, with additional storage under the backplate. No bifold.
Review of the Ekster Wallets
Both wallets share Ekster’s core mechanism: a push-button ejector that fans your cards out in a stair-step so you can pick the one you want. From there they diverge in material, capacity, and presence in your pocket. We’ll look at both across the four things we think matter most in a new wallet: Size, Durability, Aesthetics and Function.
Size
Parliament — the leather wrap adds pockets and folded-cash storage around the ejector, so it holds more cards in total than fit in the mechanism itself.
Aluminum Cardholder — Ekster’s standard Cardholder manual lists 4.1 × 2.3 × 0.29 inches, with up to six non-embossed cards or four embossed cards in the ejector. Extra cards go under the backplate, where you remove them by hand.
Either way, we’re talking just slightly larger than a standard credit card. The Aluminum skips the leather bifold, which is its main appeal for front-pocket carry, though loading the backplate with extra cards and bills adds thickness.
Bottom line: Aluminum wins on the simpler pocket profile. If you need the extra leather pockets, the Parliament gives you somewhere to put those cards.
Durability: Parliament
These Ekster wallets are well made. I’m not saying they’re family heirlooms or anything like that. Quite honestly, do you have a nice pair of jeans or shoes that you’ve had for 15-20 years? We didn’t think so. A nice wallet is very similar.
We like Ekster because the focus is obviously on the quick-release mechanism, but they don’t skimp on their leather. The Parliament’s full-grain leather is European-tanned and wraps around an aluminum core, and in our experience it ages well: it will scuff, soften and develop a nice patina over time.
Durability: Aluminum Cardholder
The Aluminum Cardholder is exactly what it says: an aluminum shell around the ejector mechanism. The metal shell is rigid, but it can still scratch or dent, and the ejector is a moving part. The trade is no patina, no story over time.
Bottom line: Leather develops patina; aluminum just picks up scratches. Pick the look you prefer.
Aesthetics
The Parliament reads as a leather wallet with a clever mechanism inside. From the outside, most people can’t tell it’s a smart wallet at all. The original leather colors included browns, black, green, and blue, showing off the leather without shouting.
The Aluminum reads as engineering. The brushed metal frame is honest about being a metal wallet, with finishes ranging from dark colors to brushed metal. The selection changes by model. It’s the wallet that signals “I think about my carry.”
These are two different aesthetic statements. A Parliament looks at home on a leather desk; an Aluminum looks at home next to your AirPods.
Bottom line: We like the Parliament here, but not by much. Leather for traditional taste, aluminum for modern; both are easy on the eyes.
Function
This is where the wallets are most similar.
Ejector Mechanism
What the Ekster is all about (other than being a smart wallet) is fast access to your cards. With the click of a tab/button/lever (we’re not sure what we want to call it), your cards shoot out stacked like a pyramid, so you can pick the one you need. Pull it, push the rest back.
The catch on both: embossed cards take more room than flat ones. Ekster’s standard Cardholder takes up to four embossed or six non-embossed cards in the ejector. Stuff in more and it jams. And only the cards inside the metal chamber pop up (and get the RFID shielding).
Cash Storage
Both wallets have strap-based folded-cash storage, and we love, love, love the cash strap. Fold a few bills, slip them under the strap, done. It’s great for the occasional bill or business card, less so if you carry a wad of cash every day.
On the Parliament, the cash sits tucked inside the leather bifold instead of strapped to the outside. That protects the cash, keeps the strap from snagging on your pocket, and is a real convenience if you’re ever carrying more than two or three bills.
Bottom line: Same mechanism, but the Parliament adds bifold storage that the Aluminum lacks.
Leather vs Aluminum
Get the Parliament if: you want extra cards in leather pockets, you like leather wallets, you carry cash often enough that the bifold matters, or you want a wallet that develops character over years.
Get the Aluminum Cardholder if: you want the slimmest possible front-pocket wallet, your daily cards fit in the ejector, you almost never carry cash, or you’d rather your wallet match your phone aesthetic than your shoes.
Our Choice
Drum roll please! We prefer the Parliament. It has a little more capacity and we like the tucked-away cash strap. But we’ll be the first to admit it’s a close-run thing, and anyone obsessed with having the most-minimal-possible wallet should go for the Aluminum.
Where’s My Wallet? Ekster’s Tracker Card
This is why we’re here, right? Tracking is what makes either of these a “smart” wallet, and it’s a separate purchase. The Tracker Card is a credit-card-shaped tracker that slips into either wallet, to make it that much more unlosable (is that even a word?).
Ekster’s current Tracker Card charges wirelessly and pairs with Apple Find My or Google Find Hub, one network at a time. (The original card was solar-powered and made with Chipolo, so older cards charge differently.)
It isn’t GPS. Once you’re out of Bluetooth range, any nearby phone on the same network can pick up the card’s signal and pass its location back to you, privately. The person whose phone did it never knows. They’re just doing a good deed by being part of the network.
If you think it’s nearby, you can make the card ring. On the original card that wasn’t as loud as we’d hoped, but it was in line with other trackers like the Tile.
Ekster’s page gives conflicting IP67/IP68 water-resistance ratings in different sections, so treat it as water resistant, not waterproof. A little rain won’t hurt, but stay out of the pool.
Bonus Video
FAQ
Is the Ekster Senate still available?
The Senate was the Parliament’s card-case sibling, with the cash strap on the outside. Ekster still has its support manual online, but the current range is sold as the Ekster Wallet and Ekster Cardholder, so ask Ekster if you want that exact model.
Where are Ekster wallets made?
Ekster was founded in Amsterdam and is based in the Netherlands. Where a particular wallet was made is on its country-of-origin label.
Do Ekster wallets break easily?
The ejector has moving parts that can jam or fail, and the usual cause is forcing too many cards in. Card thickness matters as much as the count.
Do Ekster wallets need to be charged?
The wallets themselves, no. The optional Tracker Card does. The current version charges wirelessly; the original was solar-powered.
Can Ekster wallets get wet?
Keep the leather version dry. The tracker card is water resistant, not waterproof: a little rain won’t hurt, but stay out of the pool…
How long does an Ekster wallet last?
Owner experiences vary: one Ekster owner reports smooth, reliable ejection over several years, while others report broken mechanisms or leather separating from the core. Overloading it and pocket lint in the mechanism are the usual culprits.
Cross-shopping the ejector-mechanism category? See how Ekster stacks up directly against Ridge and Bellroy. If you want to keep the ejector mechanism, compare Ekster vs. Secrid for differences in card loading, cash storage, and access.
We hope this Ekster review was helpful! The Ekster is a great option, but it’s not the only one out there. Check out our best wallet trackers for more.
Post cover image provided by Ekster Press Kit.
