It's here finally. After 3 shipments, 2 misses and over 2 months of excellent customer support from MassDrop (God bless their reps, may their website grow like mad!), and a whole lot of waiting. The box detailing the color (Ninja Black) Reverse of the box, detailing some features - Lightweight - 24Gms - 1-8 cards and upto 15 currency notes - 1 SD and 2x MicroSD or MicroSim slots - Floats (with a pinch of salt, more on that later). Inside the box with inserts on the Wallet - The actual wallet with both inserts removed. Notice the plastic packaging? Yep, that's actually the flotation device (facepalm). You're supposed to shove it in the middle of your notes when putting them inside the wallet. I did try it, more on it later - The slot is designed to push the notes out of the center stowage area in case a note is too small and cannot be pulled by the edges. But to get to it, you'll have to pull out all your cards. Some more details on the inserts - And now for the actual wallet - Nice and chunky, it has a decent feel to it. Though the die edges can be clearly felt, nothing was too sharp or edgy to be a hindrance. It does feel like it can take a lot of abuse and weight. Adding the cards should make it stiffer, which should help with over all strength. Now for the loading test - Emptied my wallet and found the following items - Now to shove them all inside this - In go the cards first - Still within the limits and I think I can add one more card on one side. You gotta be careful while handling cards with raised lettering, since they'll rub against each other, or for that matter cards that have magnetic strips. Remember to keep them facing opposite to each other, so that the raised lettering slides in parallel to each other, and the magnetic strips are on opposite sides again. Now to insert the cash - It just sticks out enough for you to pull out the largest bill fold and the rest in turn. However once you get used to it, it's pretty convenient actually. Now the flotation device - kept the foam piece between the notes - And managed to shove it inside the wallet. It was a tight fit with just 3 notes, I'm sure 15 would be nearly impossible with this foam. No nice. I removed it right away. Doesn't matter if this does not float, this flotation device is kinda not working. They could've made the sides air tight, so that it would've floated on it's own, without requiring this piece of foam. I'm guessing it would work where cash is not used as frequently, or maybe just as a gimmick to add to the features. Now for the competition. My recent purchase, a Caterpillar Wallet - Note - Wallet on right is empty, and it's as thick as this one full. That's where the Ezgo really scores. However Wallet on right has provision for over 12 cards, with slots behind each insert. so that's 12 cards and 3 inserts, with one very important one; a mesh type to put photos in. Another important bit is the small pocket for keeping change in. But then again, it's just me that's old fashioned, most people don't bother about change or carry it in their regular pockets. The Ezgo in a direct size comparison - Conclusion - Ezgo wins for the compact design, ease of handling and robustness. Pros - - Slim design, easy to carry and pocket. - Unique slide out technique for cards and cash do make it a talking point at payment points - Provision for SD card is a plus, you can carry a 32-64GB one with you and carry a lot of info discreetly. - Provision for Micro-SD card or SIM is also a welcome change, great while traveling. Cons - - No provision for photos or change - complaint from the old fashioned . Not a biggie, can live without it. - Need to be careful with cards, sliding in and out can damage the edges, but then for the show, a little go is okay. - The flotation device is a gimmick, that's about it. Suggestions - - A slider on the side to push notes out would be nice. Something similar for change (loose coins) probably.
At about 1000 INR (on MD, it's around 1800 on the ezgo website), it's not bad at all. My Caterpillar in comparo was ~ 4000 INR
