I am a sucker for Ekster products. Quite simply they work and I will either default to them or come back to them when I have tried other options. An example is this:
This is the Ekster Cardholder Pro for MagSafe. And its reason for existence is to act as a wallet that I can slap onto my iPhone and take it with me on a bike ride or a cross country ski. It’s a pretty simile device that claims to hold 7 cards. Though through an add on that Ekster also sells it can be expanded to 17 cards. Frankly I have to assume that they mean 7 un-embossed cards as I have an embossed card (aka raised letters or numbers) which limited me to five cards. Since five cards was what I needed, it was fine for me. But it may not be fine for you. So buyer beware.
It has MagSafe magnets on both sides. But only one side can be used to attach the wallet to the phone as the magnets have different polarities. That I have to assume is for any accessories like a tracking card not to mention anything like cash clips or ten card expansions. It it made of 100% recycled aluminum and the mechanism that ejects the cards like this….:
…Can be cleaned and repaired. Those are quality of life things that matter to me. I got it in matte black because matte black is my thing. But it comes in many other colours.
As an aside, this works for Android users as well as Ekster also has stickers for Android as well as a tracking card for Android.
Now for the magnets. It was decently strong when used with my case. But it was a tad stronger with a naked iPhone. That means that your mileage may vary when it comes to magnet strength.
Now over the second half of this review which is the Ekster Tracker Card for MagSafe.
This is a thin tracker card that has Apple Find My compatibility via Bluetooth. Or put another way, if you want to treat it like an AirTag which means that you are using the Ultra Wideband functionality, this card won’t do it. But in my experiments, I found that the best shot of finding the card was if it was stationary. It can’t be constantly tracked if it is moving. But it is still trackable. It’s not a loud when it comes to generating an audible signal versus some other cards that I tried which are louder, but I had no issue hearing it. That said, I do wish it was louder so that there were no issues hearing it. Also, it only comes in black FYI.
When it comes to the MagSafe part, this is where it shines. The MagSafe connection to the Ekster wallet was extremely strong and wasn’t coming off unless you wanted to take it off. Or put another way, it would not come off in causal contact. It clearly was designed to not be flush with the Ekster wallet so that removal is easier. But part of me would have liked to see it flush to make it even harder to remove than it already is. But I can see why Ekster did that. Thus I am fine with it. And it fits my use case perfectly. Which is to toss it into my cycling jersey and go with my iPhone. Or to keep it in my pants pocket separate from my iPhone. Another thing to note is that there are MagSafe magnets on only one side which is the side that doesn’t say “Ekster.”
One thing that really needs to happen is that some sort of instructions need to be placed in the box. I say that because finding out how this card was charged required a search of the Internet which is a #fail. For the record, if you are using a MagSafe charger you put the side that says “Ekster” on the charger until it magnetically connects. You should see a really small white light start to blink. It is charged when the light goes to steady. All of this assumes that the card is paired with an iPhone. A charge lasts about five months which I have not tested, but I have not seen anything to the contrary. And I would suggest charging it before the first use to get the best results with it.
The only downside to this combo is the price. The wallet was $159 CDN which is far from cheap. And it is $79 CDN for the tracking card which is also far from cheap. But having used Ekster products in the past, they do last so you only buy this cardholder once. That is a very big win as far as I am concerned.