A few months ago, we wrote a story alerting you to a pretty nifty kickstarter iPhone wallet called “Wally”. Well, if you were one of the lucky few who backed the first round, odds are you have already received it, or are about to receive it in the next few days. Exciting right? Well, we thought so too. As it turns out we were able to get out hands on one of the first run units, have given it a few good days of testing, and are ready to share our thoughts.
What exactly is a “Wally” you ask? It’s a fine italian leather wallet made to stick to the back of your iPhone. Basically keeping all of your important cards close at hand, pretty much negating the need for carrying a separate wallet. It’s a pretty cool concept, but in practice, how would it hold up?
Over the past few days, I have been putting my “cowboy brown” Wally to the test. For the sake of testing, I have been carrying an ID, two credit cards, and a $20 bill, mimicking the maximum suggested capacity of the wallet from the manufacturer. Having already been using a minimalist wallet with my iPhone for quite some time, I was expecting that this wouldn’t be a problem. However, I have a two extra cards that I need with me all the time, and while I could “stretch” the leather a bit and make it work, for the sake of testing I just carried them loose.
So, the burning question. How was it? Lets break it down to the nitty gritty.
The Good:
- The wallet is absolutely stunning to look at.
- The level of craftsmanship is superb.
- It holds exactly what it says it does
- Cards come forth nice and easy with the pull of the red tab
The Bad:
- While it does hold exactly what it claims, if I put any less in it, I found it hard to keep things in the pocket
- The card pocket sticks protrudes from the back of my iPhone like the belly of a distended gorilla.
The Ugly:
- The “suction material” doesn’t stick to the glass portions of the phone as well as it should. I found it starting to peel up almost as soon as I started using it.
- Because of its size and design, it makes for a rather uncomfortable bulge in your pocket rather then just laying flat.
While I really wanted to love this case, it has unfortunately failed to impress and has been repackaged and thrown in “the drawer of old cases” to be forgotten. While the idea was good on paper, and some might not mind their iPhone having nothing short something resembling Quasimodo’s hump back, it just doesn’t work for me.
In short, boys and girls… skip it.
That being said, the people at ditilUnion will be happy to sell you one, if you so desire, after their kickstarter orders are filled. Check back with them for more information when the time comes if you deicide you want one.
