Review: Ekster Parliament smart wallet
While we'd all like to believe that our smartphones are the most important item in our lives, our wallets are likely just as important. HTC and other manufacturers have been striving for years to improve our smartphone experience, but it's not often that we hear of a company working on wallet innovation.
Since most wallets don't offer any real functionality besides holding our cash, credit cards, and driver's license, Ekster saw the opportunity to build a new wallet with a hint of technology that makes it fun to use, more secure and impossible to lose.
The Ekster Parliament looks unassuming at first glance, the wallet has a few hidden tricks. The slim wallet is built with high-quality European leather, featuring an aluminum-protected card holder with RFID protection for 5 cards, an easy-access card slot on the back side, two additional card slots on the inside flap and an elastic cash holder. Ekster claims that the Parliament can hold a total of 9 cards plus cash, but in my experience, that number is limited to 6 or 7 cards and only a few cash bills if you want the flap to stay closed on its own.
Besides RFID protection, the main aluminum card holder also features a trigger at the bottom which pops the cards out for easy access. The mechanism works flawlessly, allowing you to easily view and remove the exact card you want in less a second.
The Ekster Parliament also has the option of coming with a digital tracker which will ensure that you never lose your wallet again. The custom-built tracking device uses TrackR technology and the tracker app to find your wallet's last location, just as long as another TrackR user has come within Bluetooth range of your Wallet. This is extremely helpful if you lose your wallet in a big city, but it also is handy if you accidentally dropped your wallet on a hike (as long as you had your phone with you). The Tracker app will pinpoint the wallet's last know location, allowing you to quickly return to the exact spot the wallet was lost.
As for the tracker itself, the internal battery has enough juice to keep the tracker powered for a full month. Once the battery is depleted, all you have to do is remove it from your wallet for it to charge since it features a small solar cell on the front which allows it to fully charge in just two hours.
It's not uncommon to spend $70-$100 on a high-quality wallet, so the Ekster Parliament's $79 starting point isn't outlandish. Adding the TrackR card dues bump the price up to $99 if you buy them together, but that's a lot less than $49 you'd pay if you bought the TrackR card on its own.
Tech enthusiast, Android user and founder of the first HTC blog – Nick Gray has been blogging about HTC phones before most people knew what a smartphone even was. Over the years Nick has owned and tested dozens HTC devices and is constantly flashing new ROMs to his Android phones.
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