Ekster® Reviews 

I love this wallet because it really made it a lot easier to carry a smaller wallet with the same amount of cards. I'd never previously owned a wallet with the slide-up mechanism to access the main card compartment, but now that I have used it, I would never want to go back! Another perk is the leather is soft and attractive. I personally love the blue and brown options.

My first experience with Ekster (Kickstarter, gen 1.0 Parliament) was a good one. The company made an effort to keep their supporters up to date with updates in the early stages of development. Given the amount of attention which was given to all aspects of the product (even the choice of leather to use), I was looking forward to the moment where I would be receiving my Parliament. Unfortunately when the product arrived, I noticed that the cardholder mechanism wasn't as good as I expected it to be. Shaking the wallet while holding the wallet with the cardholder opening downwards would case cards to slide from the cardholder mechanism. The issue was addressed to Ekster and a replacement wallet was sent. A Secrid wallet with the same set of cards passed this test without any problem. Secrid can even hold the card in position if just one card has been inserted.

The second wallet had the same issue, to a lesser extend. But I still had to worry about my cards. I took it for granted and learned to live with it - which was a serious mistake.

After 18 months of normal use - five cards in the cardholder - and inserting cards with care, I could not remove the cards anymore with the normal mechanism. The only way of removing the cards was to share the wallet cardholder opening down. The (in my opinion) design flaw, at least got me my cards back. Together with the cards, a small piece of plastic dropped out as well. And it proved to be an essential piece for the cardholder mechanism.

The issue was addressed to Ekster. Unfortunately Ekster did not cooperate at all in the first place as there's only a one year warranty for this product. When I pointed out that the warranty in Europe should be two years for any product purchased through the Internet, they pointed out that the malfunction should have been addressed in the first 6 months after purchase of the product offering me a 10% discount coupon. Hey - didn't I point out already after one month that their cardholder mechanism was not as flawless as they claimed? After a few e-mails back and forth, they would give 20% discount for a new Parliament.

Ok - so I used the product for 18 months. The product has lost 80% of it's value (or 90% - Ekster's earlier offer). Simple maths, the life expectancy of this product is 22 (resp. 20) months. Pretty bad for a +100 euro wallet.

Oh wait, there is more - but that is a Secrid :-) It holds your cards in position even if you insert just one card. It can hold up to six cards (ok - I reckon the gen 2.0 version of Ekster can do that as well). They offer two years of standard warranty which can be extended to three years after product registration. And the best, it is only 50 euros. Ok - no fancy connection to your phone - well, you can alway glue a tracker in the wallet.

It was quit an experience from being a supported of the company towards the hangover when you reach out to them for support.

My Ekster wallet broke after only a few months of active use and I was offered no help in how to mend the mechanism holding the cards, because warranty was no longer viable, accordind to the email I received. So, between the lines they said thanks for the money and f...k off. Sincerely, couldn’t recommend it to anyone. Anymore.

Very good wallet replacement. Since I replaced my big wallet in my backpocket I don't have backpain anymore! Ekster is slim and sleek enough for my front pockets. The leather feels nice, the card mechanism works very great. The money strap is tight, it is a quality product.

Ordered the wallet, took a little longer then expected to arrive. The leather is of good quality. It stretches well when you fit cards in the pockets. The slide card mechanism slides the cards in and out smoothly without any doubt that it works properly or breaking (4 cards). The leather does scratch easily especially when you accidently slip your finger nail off the cards when you're pulling them pushing them in. It broke my record in the amount of time it takes to pull out a credit card and put it back in the wallet. It's almost fun.

Overall this is a very good wallet due to the soft and sturdinees quality. I choose this over the famous Ridge wallet (I own) who is also a tough competitor wallet in the market right now.

Senate 2.0 - definitely lightweight and super compact. However, it only fits a disappointing 4 embossed cards in the RFID slot. The "cash band" is holding the rest of my essential cards like my health insurance card and my Driver's License. I'm glad the band strap is very flexible but stiff. The card release lever works and the cards do fan out like they should. I just wished the lever was made with better material than flimsy plastic. Given this is the 2.0 it is revised so it's slimmer and the spring mechanism inside is supposedly improved however, it still makes this cheap plastic clicking noise. The cards also no longer falls out when shaking the wallet upside down, so that's an improvement. All in all if I had to grade it, I'd give it a solid 8/10. Improvements could be made with the man-made leather material and the card release mechanism. The wallet feels good, but I can tell it is made of cheaper materials. I will try living with this for a little bit to see how it lasts or how worn it gets with use.

I can understand everyone's frustration on how long the wallet took to ship. However, I had been emailing them throughout the entire ordeal and they have constantly replied back with reassurances and updates to make sure that I have not been ripped off.
I have received my wallet a couple days ago, and I can honestly say its worth the wait. The quality is perfect and the mechanism is solid. Furthermore the size is so small that I find myself checking my pockets because I don't feel the bulk of my previous bi-fold wallet.
For everyone that's having a lot of trouble with the shipping, I encourage you to wait and be patient. If the assurance is correct and the wallets shouldn't have problems with being held in customs, I'm sure that the next orders will deliver smoothly.

I eventually (after three weeks) received the product. Communication during this period was non-existent after being sporadic, saying that I should bear with them as they are a "startup"!
When I eventually got the product I was totally disappointed. The slider mechanism holds a maximum of four cards ONLY. In total within the wallet I can "squeeze" a total of seven cards but the wallet wont close it hangs open.
The band to hold cash is pointless although GBP is larger than average I tried some USD I had to see if they fit as per the promotional picture, they do not the band is actually 7mm too narrow for dollars!
With these issues I therefore requested a return here's their response:
"First of all, we apologise for the late reply.
Unfortunately, you cannot return your wallet. We only refund or exchange our products if they have a manufacturing defect. Please, review our refund & exchanges policy.
Regarding your issue with the cards, the Parliment wallet's mechanism was designed to hold up to 6 unembossed cards. Please please keep in mind that the embossed cards are thicker, so it will take up more space, so we recommend you to try different combinations/orders of embossed/unembossed cards.
Kind regards,
Ekster"

I bought intially as their strap line is "If you are not happy, we are not happy."
I would also like to know who uses unembossed credit cards!!
Make your own mind up