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- The Travando Slyde stands out as the best value-oriented pop-up wallet, with premium features at a low price point.
- It really only struggles in two ways, which cause it to be a bit more difficult to sift through your cards at a moment’s notice.
- If this is the right wallet for you, you can get it right here (Paid Link).
This is the Travando Slyde, a minimalist pop-up wallet that aims to unseat wallets two to three times its price, and after the brand gave it to me around a year ago, I’ve had a chance to put it through its paces and compare it to those other wallets, and it’s time to share my findings, because yes, it is better than most pop up wallets on the market today, but it isn’t perfect by any means.
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What is the Travando Slyde Wallet?
- An incredible price to quality ratio
- One of the best sounding wallets I have used
- All-metal construction
- Fantastic capacity
- No rubber stoppers for cards to stay in place
- Multiple steps to get your cards back in to the wallet
This is a wallet that capitalizes on the pop-up wallets that companies like Groove and Ekster have created, but at a budget price point. However, that budget price point doesn’t mean it doesn’t have features.
It utilizes a rotating, magnetized door that keeps the cards in even when you shake or drop the wallet, the ejector mechanism is all-metal (which isn’t common, by the way, even in premium priced ejector wallets), and you can choose from two configurations, a 5-6 card version, or an 8-9 card version, with mine being the smaller capacity option.
On the exterior, you’ll find a money clip on the back and on the front a Travando logo (Paid Link) that doubles as a friction point to push the front plate downward, which then fans your cards out.
The front and rear cards can then be removed and replaced, and you remove the rest of the cards from the wallet to get to the middle cards. The cash clip on the back can handle a couple of extra cards and a decent amount of cash as well.
So, what do I like about the wallet?
1. This wallet sounds incredible.
First up is the sound of the wallet. Every time you use the wallet, it’s an event. With the metal ejector mechanism paired with the click of the door actuating, the sound of metal on metal is just awesome, leaving you wanting to use it constantly just to play around with it.
2. The all-metal build is rare, especially in a budget wallet.
Next up is its all-metal build. There are many, many pop-up ejector wallets on the market, and very, very few are all-metal, especially with the ejector mechanism. In fact, I can only think of two wallets right now that offer this, and both are twice or three times the price of this one. This means it’ll last, the plastic doesn’t break, and you can be sure this stays in your collection far longer than the plastic alternatives. That said, I have started to see some wear and knicks in the finish.
3. The slider ejector is unique in a bland world.
Finally, I’m actually a big fan of the sliding plate as the ejector. Most cardholders like this one use push buttons, which can be nice, but if you are looking for a unique take on these wallets, this plate is satisfying and fun to use. The only other brand I’ve seen that uses something similar is Groove with their wallets.
So what do I not like about the Travando Slyde?
1. It has a two-step process for putting the cards back in
First up is the door. Sure, the door is actually really cool, not only for its sound and ability to keep the cards from falling out, but because it makes dropping the cards down into the wallet a two-step process. Instead of just pushing the cards down into the wallet, you have to do a half step close to let the cards drop down, and then another half step to close the door. If you try to do it in one fell swoop, the door catches on the cards on the way down.
2. I wish it had rubber stoppers
The other thing I’m not a fan of is the lack of a rubber stopper on the interior of the wallet. Most other pop-up wallets have rubber stoppers on the left and right of the wallet, which keep the cards in place (which is why a door isn’t super common). Sure, the door does this for you, but it also means the cards don’t stay in place, so you can’t push cards down to easily access the middle cards like you can with, say, an Ekster. Instead, if you release the mechanism, the cards drop down as well, not allowing you to sort through them.
Who is this minimalist wallet for?
Alright, so who is the Travando Slyde for then (Paid Link)? It’s for the person who’s shopping on a budget but wants premium features, specifically a metal ejector mechanism. I can’t think of a better value proposition in the pop-up wallet market than this one, and it’s my go-to when someone wants something in this price bracket.
You’ll just have to overcome the few annoyances that I mentioned earlier.
Where should you get the wallet?
- An incredible price to quality ratio
- One of the best sounding wallets I have used
- All-metal construction
- Fantastic capacity
- No rubber stoppers for cards to stay in place
- Multiple steps to get your cards back in to the wallet
