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I have no doubt that in the past, metal wallets would have never been considered a viable option. Whether it be because leather had more give or because it was easier to make. However, with the growth in popularity of minimalist wallets, that is perfectly suited to the metal form factor.
I’ve had a chance to test tons of different wallets, with plenty of them being made out of metal! In this article, I’m going to tell you ever metal wallet that you should consider (ranked by my favorite up top).
Quick note: All of the wallets on this list except the Ridge Aluminum were gifted to me by the brand, however all opinions are my own.
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1. Double Oak Essentials Founder’s Edition
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- The cardholder is removable from the wallet.
- The top-grain leather feels awesome.
- The cardholder mechanism is reliable and clicks.
- MagSafe compatible
- The gold color looks fantastic.
- Cards can get jammed in the cardholder.
- With the leather portion, it is quite thick
- Dimensions: 4.1" High by 2.7" Wide by .75" Deep
- RFID Blocking: Yes
- Card Capacity: 1 to 10
- Cash Organization: Yes
- Coin Storage: No
- Weight: Unknown
Yes, my favorite wallet on this list is a leather wallet, but hear me out! The Double Oak Founder’s Edition is a top-grain leather wallet, but it wraps itself around a Magsafe-compatible aluminum cardholder. This combination of the two gives you an amazingly flexible experience.
When you want a more classic feel, you can use the leather outer portion, and when you want a slimmer experience, you just pop the cardholder out, put it on the back of your phone, and you can take up to seven cards with you!
It should also be mentioned that this thing is incredibly high quality, great leather, a high-quality card holder with metal mechanisms, and more. All of that is for the price of many much lower-quality alternatives. Seriously, this is a good one that I thoroughly enjoyed using.
2. Ridge Aluminum Wallet
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- Easy access to your most-used cards
- It looks awesome
- Extremely durable
- You can't make it bloated.
- Compact sizing
- More difficult to access lesser-used cards
- It could hold a bit more cash.
- Dimensions: 0.24" by 3.39" by 2.13"
- RFID Blocking: Yes
- Card Capacity: 1 to 12
- Cash Organization: Strap or Money Clip
- Coin Storage: No (accessory available)
- Weight: 59 - 87 grams (depending on material)
The Aluminum (base version) of the Ridge Wallet was the wallet that started my fascination with metal (minimalist) wallets. This is also one of the first brands to really break into the market and show everyone that you can actually use a wallet that just might be better than your bifold or trifold.
This wallet’s shape is the same size as a credit card, and it utilizes a sandwich design (two plates and an elastic strap). You can put up to 12 cards in between those two plates, and your cash goes in either a money clip or a cash strap (whichever you choose).
While it can be a bit annoying to access many of your cards in this wallet, it is quite easy access to the two cards on the outside, and the cash itself. There of course are great ways to access the other cards, but you generally don’t need those quickly anyways.
3. Evermade Aviator Wallet
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- Extremely high quality
- Great card capacity
- Easy access to card with pull strap
- Comes with coin tray
- Fabric pull strap is loud in your pocket
- Dimensions: 0.41" by 2.12" by 3.37"
- RFID Blocking: Yes
- Card Capacity: Up to 20 Cards (Chosen at Purchase)
- Cash Organization: Cash Strap
- Coin Storage: Yes
- Weight: 42.4 grams
If you are one of those people that just isn’t quite willing to conform to the norm, and refuse to get a Ridge Wallet, or any of its copycats. Then you probably should get yourself this Aviator Wallet. It maintains a similar sandwhich design (two plates, and an elastic strap), however you push (or should I say pull) all of your cards out vertically via a pull strap.
While I have found the Ridge Wallet to be a bit easier to use overall, the Aviator tends to be of a bit higher quality and even comes with a coin tray. It also stands out as having a bit better build quality (in my opinion, at least).
Regardless, this is an extremely nice wallet that was built (and shipped) from Germany, and I thoroughly enjoyed using it.
4. Axwell Aluminum
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- Stronger magnets
- It's a Fantastic value
- The Bolt Blue color is intense.
- Very Easy to swap cash strap for money clip
- Aluminum material is obvious and feels great.
- Large card capacity
- Clean design with NO screws
- Somewhat difficult to access cards
- A less mature design
- The vibrant color makes it difficult to mix and match.
- Dimensions: 0.31" by 3.39" by 2.13"
- RFID Blocking: Yes
- Card Capacity: 1 to 12
- Cash Organization: Strap & Clip Included
- Coin Storage: No
- Weight: 74 grams
If you are looking for a fully customziable wallet, but wish it had the form factor of a Ridge Wallet, you’re in luck, as you likely are looking for htis one right here. This wallet carries similar specs to the afformentioned, with a capacity of 12 cards, and the choice between a cash strap and a money clip for the exterior.
However, the wallet has a leg up on the competition by offering magnetic plates that can be removed from either side of the wallet. This allows you to not only swap out your plates for different colors whenever you might want but also quickly swap out the cash strap and money clip at a moment’s notice (it comes with both in the package).
The Axwell Aluminum recently went through a bit of a revamp, which gave its magnetic plates around 50% more magnetism. This gave me a lot of additional confidence in making sure you don’t lose those plates, which, to me, was a huge upgrade.
5. Ekster Aluminum Cardholder
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- Fantastic card capacity
- Easy access to plenty of cards
- Great day-to-day usability
- Lots of color options available
- Only a 2-year warranty
- Fabric elastic band allows external cards to slide around
- Dimensions: 4.1" High by 2.3" Wide by .29" Deep
- RFID Blocking: Yes
- Card Capacity: 1 to 12
- Cash Organization: Strap
- Coin Storage: No
- Weight: 87 Grams
It’s difficult to make it through any list of minimalist wallets without mentioning Ekster! This is a massive company in this industry, and for good reason. They have a fantastic cardholder that ejects cards out the top of the wallet (much like the Double Oak at the top of this list) with a simple push of a button.
It builds on that great fucntionaly by including an expansion plate for the exterior, that can hold another six or so cards. On the other side of the wallet, is where you can insert a decent amount of cash.
The aluminum body is high quality and has been an impressively reliable wallet for me. However, the major downside to this one was that the aluminum started to show its age quickly. Little nicks and scratches started to show through the thin paint after only a week or two of usage. While this doesn’t affect its usability, it was unfortunate.
6. Groove Life Groove Wallet
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- Very high quality
- Simple internal mechanism
- Satisfying click when it is engaged
- Compact sizing
- Small Capacity
- Hard to get cards in and out of front pocket
- Metal can damage things in the pocket
- Dimensions: 3.89" High by 2.48" Wide by .27" Deep
- RFID Blocking: Yes
- Card Capacity: 1 to 9
- Cash Organization: Strap or Money Clip
- Coin Storage: No
- Weight: 98 Grams
The Groove Wallet is an impressive wallet! While I ran into the issue of it not being able to hold quite as many cards as I need (max real-life capacity of 7 cards), it holds up as being one of the highest-quality wallets I have reviewed.
By far, my favorite thing about the wallet is the card ejection motion. You just push upwards on the exterior plate of the wallet, and six cards are fanned out in front of you. It gives an awesome, satisfying click every time you do that and results in minutes of fun by just clicking the mechanism.
The wallet has proven to be incredibly reliable, and with the “Go” accessory, you are able to add on a cash strap, along with an additional card (which is how I got to seven cards).
7. Axwell Wallet Copper
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- Uses real plate of copper
- No visible screws
- Swappable face plates
- Both cash strap and money clip included
- Quite heavy
- Dimensions: 0.31" by 3.39" by 2.13"
- RFID Blocking: Yes
- Card Capacity: 1 to 12
- Cash Organization: Strap & Clip Included
- Coin Storage: No
- Weight: 152 grams
As I had talked about earlier, Axwell does an amazing job of creating a customizable wallet. However, they also are big fans of using REAL materials. For example, this Copper Wallet follows the same sandwich design (two plates of metal and an elastic strap), but instead of just using copper plating on aluminum, they used real copper.
While that added a large amount of heft to the wallet, it stands out as an impressive wallet for sure. It’s incredibly high quality and feels substantial in your hand, unlike any of the other wallets on this list.
