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Review: Acer Nitro XV271 Z 27″ Gaming Monitor

Posted in Products with tags on December 20, 2021 by itnerd

During my Desk Setup review, I noted that I was looking for a new monitor. The challenge that I had was that my 16″ MacBook Pro had a display that was so good, it destroyed almost any other external monitor that is currently available including Apple’s infamous Pro Display XDR which is their $5000 USD monitor that you have to spend an extra $1000 USD on top of that to get a stand that should really come with the monitor. So as a result, I made a conscious decision balance what features that were important to me with price. So the feature set that I settled on was:

  • 120 Hz or higher refresh rate. Because once you experience 120 Hz like I have on my 16″ MacBook Pro, you’ll never go back to 60 Hz.
  • HDR support
  • 24″ – 27″ widescreen
  • Full HD (1080p) resolution

So one trip to my local computer store and some consultation, I was able to put my money down on the Acer Nitro XV271 Z 27″ Gaming Monitor.

This is a 27″ full HD monitor that supports a refresh rate of 280 Hz which is insane. But on top of that it satisfies all the things that I was looking for in a monitor. But adds a few extras such as:

  • Support for AMD FreeSync Premium
  • 1 ms response time
  • Built In Speakers

Let’s start with the design. I really like the fact that it is not like other gaming monitors with lots of flashing lights, or having over the top graphics. It’s understated which means that it fits into more environments than a typical gaming monitor would. I also like the fact that top, left and right bezels are slim. That fits in with my MacBook Pro which has very slim bezels. Then there’s the stand:

The entire stand swivels so that you can get the right position that works for you. I should also mention that the monitor adjust up and down and tilts as well to aid in that. Though in my case, to get it to where I wanted it, I still had to use the monitor stand that you see in this picture. Finally, if you want to run the monitor in portrait mode, you can do that by rotating the monitor into that position.

One thing that I appreciated is that the back of the stand has a clip that allows you to make your cables neat and tidy.

On the right side are all the controls for the monitor. Including a handy joystick that makes it easy to navigate through menus and to make quick changes.

Overall, the build quality is great. It doesn’t feel cheap in any way.

From an input perspective, you get DisplayPort, HDMI, and audio out. And what’s cool is that you get both the DisplayPort and HDMI cables in the box. Though I will admit that I used my own HDMI cable because I wanted a shorter one to make cable management on my desk neater. I also used a much longer power cable to accommodate my FlexiSpot Electric Height Adjustable Standing Desk as that raises and lowers.

For my use case, I plugged it into my 16″ MacBook Pro via HDMI and turned on HDR support for the monitor as well as enabling it on the MacBook Pro. I also set the refresh rate to 120 Hz so that it matched the MacBook Pro’s display. I then ran it for a couple of days to get my impressions. The net result what that I was impressed to a point. Here’s the highlights:

  • I will get the speakers out of the way first. They sound flat with very little if any definition to any audio that you wish to play through them. In short, they won’t impress anyone. Acer might have been better off leaving them out of this monitor.
  • The display is rated for HDR400 which means the maximum brightness that it will display while running HDR content is 400 nits. While that’s not competitive with OLED screens or mini LED screens like the one in the 16″ MacBook Pro, it actually doesn’t do a bad job of displaying HDR content. So if you want to consume HDR media, or have better visuals for games, this monitor is capable of doing just that. Having said that, this monitor lacks P3 wide color gamut support which would really help with HDR content. Instead it has BT.709 color gamut support which has a slightly narrower range of color reproduction.
  • Like most IPS panels, it offers good viewing angles, but at the cost of a mediocre contrast ratio. Which is less than ideal for dark room viewing. 
  • It has an excellent low input lag and outstanding response time, resulting in clear motion, and there is very little motion blur.
  • I did not notice any flickering during testing and it was very easy to look at. I am assuming that this is due to a blue light filter that this monitor has as part of the deal.
  • Often in large monitors that do full HD, pixel density is lacking. What I mean is that text for example doesn’t look as sharp as it should. In the case of this Acer, it has decent pixel density as I did a number of articles and this review on that monitor and I didn’t have any complaints.
  • From the “edge case” department, I did notice that this monitor supports Apple’s True Tone feature. The net result is that the color temperature of the Acer monitor was almost exactly the same as the built in display of the MacBook Pro. Though I will note that it is driven by the ambient light sensor in the MacBook Pro. Which implies that If I use the MacBook Pro in clamshell mode with an external keyboard connected to this Acer monitor, I will lose this feature.
  • The anti-glare coating works really well in my environment.

The only thing that I didn’t try was gaming as I am not a gamer. Which is ironic given that this is a gaming monitor. But the main reason why I didn’t bother testing this is that any game that I have been known to play is on the Steam platform and the Steam client is still an Intel App. Which means that due to the emulation required to have it work on my M1 Pro based MacBook Pro, any game I play wouldn’t really push the monitor to its limits so that I can get an idea of what it is like as a gaming monitor. I may do a follow up on this if games start to appear that are native to Apple Silicon. But you don’t buy Macs to play games on, and game makers tend to ignore the Mac platform, so I am not holding my breath on that front.

The price that I paid for this monitor was $329 CDN. Given the feature set and nothing to really complain about other than the quality of the speakers, that’s a fair price. And it works in my use case. Thus my recommendation is simple. If you ignore the gaming monitor part, this is a monitor that is worth looking at if you need a monitor that has good viewing angles, some degree of HDR support, and a high refresh rate, and you don’t want to spend four digits on. Just ignore the speakers and you’ll be good to go.

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My Desk Setup – The 2021 Edition

Posted in Products with tags , , , , , , , , on December 17, 2021 by itnerd

Last week, I reviewed the FlexiSpot Electric Height Adjustable Standing Desk which is a great desk and a serious upgrade to my work from home game. Now I’ve fully set up my desk and I want to show you what that looks like as it really helps me to be productive:

I’m going to start with the FlexiSpot Electric Height Adjustable Standing Desk. I was able to dial in my ideal position so that I can work in comfort with ease. I highly recommend this desk for that reason alone. But if you want more reasons, I would suggest reading my review on the desk. Let’s go underneath the desk.

With the exception of the desk which is plugged straight into the wall, all the electronics are powered from the APC BackUPS 600. In my condo, I have UPS units all over to protect my various electronics as a UPS or Uninterruptible Power Supply will keep your gear running if there is a blackout thanks to the built in battery. Plus it will protect you from power surges and sags thanks to said battery. It also has a USB-A cable that connects to your computer so that if the UPS needs to shut down your computer due to a power event, it can use that cable to send that command to your computer. I highly recommend these to any computer users to make sure that their equipment is protected from any electrical issues.

I have a monitor on my desk which is the Dell E2210Hc monitor. It’s ten years old but still works fine as it does 1920×1080 resolution without a problem. I do plan on upgrading this monitor at some point. But I want to find a monitor that matches the quality of the display on my 16″ MacBook Pro as that display destroys pretty much any monitor including Apple’s own Pro Display XDR. The monitor sits on top of an old Fellowes monitor stand that I am experimenting with and may remove at some point.

The monitor and the UPS connect to my 16″ MacBook Pro via the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter from Apple. This adapter has a USB-C port, USB-A port, and a HDMI port. So I plugged the monitor into the HDMI port and the UPS into the USB-A port. Then I just plug it into my Mac via a single USB-C cable. It’s a simple solution and works for me. On the other side, I have the USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable that is plugged into the Apple 140W power adapter to keep the MacBook Pro charged.

In front of the monitor is the InvisQi wireless charger that is placed under the desk so that I can charge my iPhone 12 Pro or AirPods Pro. Beside it an Asus mousepad that I got at an Asus event along with a Logitech V470 Bluetooth mouse. It’s a simple mouse powered by two AA batteries that works well for me.

One thing that I needed is storage for things like cables, portable hard drives, tools and the like. That’s where these multi-coloured slide out bins from Really Useful Boxes which I got at Staples comes in. They allow me to keep my stuff such as cables and tools organized so that I can find it when I need it with ease.

Below that, I have a old Rubbermaid clear storage bin which holds more cables. And at the bottom is a Gry Mattr Three Drawer Cabinet that I got at Staples. This holds my files, pens, and assorted stuff. It also can be locked which is a big plus for me.

You’ll also note that I have the usual pens, pencil, stapler, and a cordless phone on my desk. Because people still call me even in 2021.

That’s my desk setup for 2021. In 2022, I can see myself doing a monitor upgrade like I mentioned earlier. And I may alter how that monitor sits on the desk. But what do you think? Do you think I am missing any anything that would up my desk setup game? Please leave a comment and let me know.

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Review: FlexiSpot Electric Height Adjustable Standing Desk EC1-V2-42″ W

Posted in Products on December 9, 2021 by itnerd

For the last two years of the pandemic, my wife has been on my case about having a proper desk that is ergonomic to work from. Now I do have a desk, but it is an ergonomic nightmare. And seeing as I use a laptop, I felt that I can work from anywhere in our condo even if that meant that I wasn’t in the best ergonomic position. But I think I have changed my mind on that thanks to the folks at FlexiSpot who sent me one of their Electric Height Adjustable Standing Desks. Model EC1-V2-42″ W in black to be precise. The whole idea behind these desks is that because you can adjust the height of the desk to where you need it to be, it is more ergonomically correct, and you can avoid things like back issues as a result.

Now the desk comes disassembled in a well designed box that is meant to keep the desk safe during transport.

I have to applaud FlexiSpot for this as they clearly took the time and effort to make sure that your desk is well protected during transport. And it comes with most of the tools that you need along with the screws nicely labeled in this bag:

Missing is a Phillips screwdriver or power driver which you will need later in the assembly process.

Now moving it around and assembling it is best done by two people. So my advice to you would be to find a friend to help you if order one of these. The other thing is that you should set aside 90 minutes of your time to assemble this desk.

Speaking of the assembly, let me walk you through assembling this desk which I did with the assistance of my wife:

First we assembled the legs, put the crossbeam on to connect the legs, and the transmission rod which allows the desk to move up and down.

Then it’s time to add the support arms. My wife and I didn’t pay attention to the diagram in the manual and put these on backwards. So don’t be us and make sure that you put these on right.

You then need to assemble the desk top which is dead easy as it slides together using three wooden pegs.

Here’s where things get interesting. You have to flip the legs and everything attached to them onto the desk top. Then you need a power driver or a lot of muscle to screw in the 12 screws that hold everything together. You also get to screw in the switch that moves the desk up and down. Not to mention that you have to wire everything together. Finally, you have to put the guard that protects the moving parts.

At that point you’re done and this is the finished product.

The end product is very solid and feels like a quality product. The desk is 42″ x 24″ and can have a minimum height of 28″, or raised to a height of 47.6″ as pictured here:

So for me the minimum height is the perfect height for me to sit at, and at something just below the maximum height, I can stand and still work which is perfect for achieving my stand goal on my Apple Watch. What that means is that the desk will have no issues accommodating a person on the taller side. My wife who is 5′ 6″ also tried this desk, and she could find positions on both ends of the spectrum that worked for her as well as well. The bottom line is that regardless of your size, if you combine this desk with a quality office chair, you can dial in a position that works well for you to do your job and not have back issues or any other ergonomic related issues. On top of that, you can raise the desk up so that you can stand up and keep working. One other point is that the raising and lowering of the desk is rated at 50 db or less which is fairly quiet. Testing it with my Apple Watch I can confirm that this claim is accurate.

Here’s a couple of other things that I would like to point out:

The desk can be raised and lowered with these simple controls on the right side of the desk.

There are two holes for cable management. One in each back corner of the desk.

Because the FlexiSpot desk has no storage, I’m going to have to get some other items to fully utilize it. So expect to see a follow up in about a week where I will show you my desk setup. But in the here and now, I have to say that this desk will seriously up your work from home game. Or if you have returned to the office, it will take your office game to the next level. It retails for $449.99 CAD but it is currently on sale for $389.99 CAD. It’s well worth the time to have a look at this desk as it’s a top shelf product.

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Review: Ember Mug 2

Posted in Products with tags on November 30, 2021 by itnerd

App controlled devices are everywhere. But an app controlled coffee mug is kind of different. The coffee mug in question is the Ember Mug 2:

Here’s the deal. This mug will keep your hot beverage of choice warm. If you’re using the mug alone, it will keep your beverage warm for up to 1.5 hours because of the built in battery. If you use the included charging coaster you can keep your beverage warm all day. All of this can be controlled by an app that is available for iOS and Android. So how well does this work? Let’s find out. Starting with what’s in the box:

Open the box and you see the mug right at the top of the box. It’s made of stainless steel coated with FDA food-grade ceramic. It also comes in two colours. Black and white as well as metallic colours at a higher price.

Underneath the mug is the charging coaster.

Underneath that is the power adapter for the charging coaster.

Finally you get the usual documentation, including this:

In an Apple like move, you get some stickers to let the world know that you have an Ember Mug.

The Ember Mug 2 that I got holds 10 fluid ounces (there is a 14 fluid ounce version available as well as a 12 fluid ounce travel mug). Out of interest, I decided to compare this in terms of weight to a “regular” mug that holds a similar amount of liquid. Here’s what I came up with:

  • Regular Mug: 333 grams
  • Ember Mug: 412 grams

So the Ember Mug 2. is marginally heavier. Presumably because of the battery. While it does feel heavier, it isn’t a deal breaker in my mind as it really doesn’t affect how the mug is used.

Setting it up is easy, I plugged the coaster into the wall and placed the Ember Mug 2 on it. I then installed the Ember app on my iPhone 12 Pro which then after pairing it via pressing and holding the power button on the bottom of the mug for 5 seconds prompted me to update the firmware. Once that was done, I noted that it was at 27% of a charge. So I let it charge while I did some work. Once charged, I got my wife to roast and grind a coffee for me. Yes, my wife and I take our coffee so seriously that we have the gear to roast and grind our own coffee so that we can have the best quality coffee possible. Then we do the pour over method using a reusable filter to get the perfect cup of coffee:

The water was boiled to 96 degrees celsius which is clearly too hot to drink. Fortunately, the Ember Mug can help you with that as it you can pick the hot beverage that you are drinking via the app and keep it at that temperature:

You’ll also note that there’s a tea timer that will allow you to properly steep your tea. Nice touch! Plus you can add your own presets between 50 degree celsius and 62.5 degree celsius.

Once the beverage reaches the desired temperature, you’ll get a notification on your phone.

I can verify that sipping coffee over a two hour period and using a thermometer to check the temperature, it was half a degree off the stated temperature in the app. That’s perfectly acceptable to me. And the taste of the coffee remained constant because of the fact that it was always at that temperature. Thus if you take your coffee or tea seriously, this mug will help you to up your game.

When it comes to cleaning, you need to hand wash it and make sure that the bottom is dry as that’s where it charges from. After all, electricity and water don’t mix.

Other observations include the following:

The app had a recipe section. But these five recipes are the only ones that are available at present. Hopefully more recipes are added over time.

There’s an LED light that you can alter the colour so that if you have multiple Ember Mugs, you can tell them apart. I set mine to blue. In case you are wondering where the LED is, here’s a picture:

Finally, you can also control the mug from your Apple Watch which is handy if that is your preference. Alternately, the Ember Mug 2 is fully functional without the Ember App. In this case, it will maintain a default temperature of 57 degrees celsius if that is your preference.

So what’s the downsides of the Ember Mug 2? The only thing that I can see is the price. At $99.95 USD for the 10 fluid ounce version, it’s a big price tag to have the perfect cup of coffee or tea. And the prices only go up from there for the larger or travel versions, not to mention the metallic colours. But the flip side to that is that if you take your coffee seriously, which my wife and I do, the Ember Mug 2 may be be worth it to you as from what I can tell it works exactly the way the company says it does and the result is good coffee as nothing good happens in the world unless you have good coffee.

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Review: JBL Go 2

Posted in Products with tags on November 29, 2021 by itnerd

Regardless of how good your laptop or phone speakers are, there are times where you need a speaker that gives you more sound that those can provide. Or you need a more robust speaker for going to the beach with. JBL has you covered on that front with their Go 2 speaker:

Here’s what you get in the box:

Besides the speaker, you get a USB-A to micro USB cable. Which in the age of USB-C is a #Fail. And the usual documentation that nobody will read. The speaker itself has these controls and connections:

There is a very thick rubber flap that covers these ports:

You get a micro USB connector and a 3.5mm input.

You get controls on the other side of the speaker including power and volume. The speaker is pretty compact and is easy to carry. It takes up little room in a backpack, laptop bag or purse.

The Go 2 supports Bluetooth 4.1 and have a battery life of 5 hours and takes 2.5 hours to charge. The speaker is IPX7 waterproof which means taking it to the pool or the beach is not an issue as it means it can be fully submersed in 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes.

The question is, how does it sound? To find out, I paired it to my 16″ MacBook Pro and played one of my audio torture test playlists that I use when I evaluate car audio systems. Paring it is dead easy as I was able to turn the speaker on and have it pop up in the Bluetooth menu of my MacBook Pro. Once paired, there’s a white light that goes from flashing to solid as well as some sounds that you hear when it is powered up and it is paired. Once I did that, I had to hurriedly turn down the volume as the Go 2 is loud. It also has a surprising amount of bass, though you’re not going to shake windows with this speaker. Even at full volume. Beyond that, the sound is pretty good and I suspect that you will have no complaints. And just in the interest of pushing the envelope a bit, I played a couple of videos and found zero issues in terms of having the audio synced with the video. It also performs reasonably well as a speakerphone as there’s a built-in microphone. But I am not sure that I would use this in a noisy environment as background sound was picked up and was audible on my test calls.

My verdict is that the JBL Go 2 is a speaker that will provide you with decent sound at a decent price. Which is $35 USD as I type this. Though mine is black, there are a number of colours available. One thing that I should point out is the Go 3 is now available from JBL so you might want to either look at that, or look for the best deal on the Go 2 that you can find. Regardless, the Go 2 is worth a listen to if you are in the market for a portable Bluetooth speaker that is waterproof.

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Two Week Challenge: Ekster Aluminum Cardholder – My Final Thoughts

Posted in Products with tags on November 27, 2021 by itnerd

I’ve come to the end of my two week challenge of using this super slim Ekster Aluminum Cardholder. In the first part of this challenge, I was able to get all the cards that I need into it. And I think that’s due to the fact that a lot of cards these days are digital (as in they are on your phone for example) rather than physical. That highlights that you don’t really need to have a big wallet to carry your stuff along. And related to that, I found that the stuff like parking receipts don’t collect inside my wallet. That’s a good thing as well.

In the second part of this challenge, I decided to use the Ekster Tracker Card. I think the concept is solid because it is thin, recharges the internal battery via light, and gives me a decent shot at finding this cardholder if I lose it. My only suggestion is that Ekster, or more accurately Chipolo who makes the tech behind this card have a version that works with Apple’s Find My network. Seeing as I have a few AirTags in use, it would be nice to not have to run an another app to keep track of the cardholder. And I am sure that other Apple users would appreciate it.

Related to this, a reader who owns a Ekster Cardholder emailed me with his hack to use an AirTag. He uses this AirTag holder for dog/cat collars on his cardholder. He claimed that it doesn’t add that much bulk and is secure. So for giggles, I ordered one.

The AirTag added some amount of bulk, especially in my pocket. But it’s a kludge and not a solution as the whole point of having this cardholder is to keep the bulk to a minimun. Though I can see someone in the iOS ecosystem deciding to use this method as they really want to have this cardholder and an AirTag.

Here’s the bottom line. The Ekster Aluminum Cardholder really slims down your pocket and almost feels like it’s not there. While the camo design doesn’t match the matte black/carbon fibre vibe that I tend to use with my gear, I am absolutely going to make this part of my everyday carry. If you want to slim down your wallet, this is absolutely the way to go. If Ekster comes out with a Find My compatible Tracker Card, it would be perfect. But even without that, I would highly recommend the Ekster Aluminum Cardholder without question.

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Follow Up Review: AirPods Pro With MagSafe Case

Posted in Products with tags on November 24, 2021 by itnerd

After reviewing the AirPods Pro With MagSafe Case, I have found a few observations that I’d like to share, as well as a feature that I didn’t cover in my original review.

The first observation is that when I used these to watch some YouTube videos using my 16″ MacBook Pro, I noticed that the spatial audio was live. When I turned my head away from the screen, the AirPods Pro would trick my brain into thinking that the audio was coming from the left or the right. It’s kind of cool. While I might not leverage this feature every day, I may use the free trial of Apple Music that came with the AirPods Pro to try some tracks with Dolby Atmos and spatial audio just to see how good this feature really is.

The second observation is with this case, I found this case to be insanely slippery. Especially if your hands have moisture on them. My concern is that if they slip out of my hands, the case will crack or scratch. Thus I was forced to get this case to protect the case and give it some extra grip. Apple might be well served to come up with a case that didn’t have this issue.

Then there’s a fit. I spent this week trying all the sets of ear tips that come with the AirPods Pro and settled on the large ones. This was a good combination of comfort and having them stay in my ears. In my case, the medium ear tips were not snug enough, and the small ones were way too loose. I would suggest that anyone who buys these spend some time to find the ear tips that works best for them. One other thing on this front. Removing them will scare the crap out of you as you really have to pull on them to remove them. But once you do this a couple of times, you’ll have no issue going forward.

Finally there’s transparency mode. I have to admit, it’s kind of freaky how good it is. And compared to the wireless earbuds that I used as a comparison as it has a similar feature, it crushed those rather easily as it sounded really natural. So this in my mind push the AirPods Pro further ahead.

The bottom line is that the AirPods Pro is still a good pair of wireless earbuds. They’re expensive, but given the features that they come with, the sound quality, and how well they work with the Apple ecosystem, they are worth it.

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Review: Spigen Rugged Armor AirPods Pro Case

Posted in Products with tags on November 23, 2021 by itnerd

I’ve had my AirPods Pro with MagSafe case for just under a week. And the number one complaint that I had since reviewing it is the case is super slippery. In fact, when I handed the AirPods Pro in the case to her to look it, it slipped out of her hand. Thus the possibility that the case would scratch or crack would be on the table. That told me that I had to put a case on the case to stop that from happening. That sounds counterintuitive. But there is an active market for AirPods and AirPods Pro cases. In my case, I chose the Spigen Rugged Armor AirPods Pro case.

It comes in three colours. Matte Black, Charcoal Grey, and Military Green. Each with a hint of carbon fibre. The Matte Black was the one for me. Here’s what you get in the box:

You get the top and lower half of this case, a piece of adhesive, a carabiner, and instructions that you won’t read as it’s pretty clear how to put them together. Before I do that, let me highlight something on the upper half of the case:

It has adhesive installed on it as I have to assume, opening and closing the case will be enough to have the upper half fly off the case if this adhesive wasn’t there. I didn’t use the optional adhesive for the lower half because it was quite snug fitting. Two minutes later, this was the result.

It’s made of thermoplastic polyurethane and has a rubber feel to it. So you’re not going to drop these. And if you do drop them, it will absorb the shock of hitting the ground. The only downside is that it does pick up dust as you can see here. It’s also doesn’t add any amount of bulk to the AirPods Pro. Which means that it can still live in your pockets just fine.

On the back you can see that it has a duplicate reset/pairing button on the back. And you will note that this case doesn’t cover the AirPods Pro case 100%. But there’s no way it could as it would not be able to hinge open. This shot also highlights the carbon fibre look that this case has.

Finally, you’ll note that this case doesn’t interfere with wireless charging as I tested that with this wireless charger. You can also see the slot for the Lightning port at the bottom if you want to plug a cable and charge that way. One thing that I will note is that the light on the front of the case can be hard to see at certain angles.

Do I have any gripes about this case? No. It does everything that I need a case for AirPods Pro to do without adding a lot of bulk. But at the same time adding a bit of style. I consider this worthy choice for those who want to protect their rather expensive AirPods Pro. I got these on Amazon for $22.99 CDN, which is a good price for the level of protection that this case provides.

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Two Week Challenge: Ekster Aluminum Cardholder – One Week In

Posted in Products with tags on November 20, 2021 by itnerd

So I am one week into my challenge to use the Ekster Aluminum Cardholder which I have previously reviewed here as my daily wallet. Last week I figured out how to get all my cards into it and discovered that I was able to get everything that I actually used into this cardholder. I also found that it was much thinner than what I was used to carrying in terms of a wallet.This is a win for me as I never realized how bulky my wallet was because I was so used to it.

Now one question that I got over the last week was how do I carry cash? I have to admit that since the start of the pandemic, I rarely carry cash. But here’s how I do it with this cardholder:

I don’t think I will be carrying a lot of cash. But fitting 3 or 4 folded up bills doesn’t seem to be a problem.

One other thing that I did this week is that I pulled the trigger in terms of using the Ekster Tracker Card.

Here’s a look at the card by itself:

It’s powered by powered by Chipolo technology and it replaces the AirTag that was in my previous wallet. Setting it up amounted to downloading the Chipolo app for iOS and pairing it by pressing the button on the card. That’s the Ekster logo in the middle of the card. It’s thin and doesn’t take up a lot of real estate. And it will give me a shot at finding my wallet should I lose it. My one suggestion for Ekster would be to have a version of this tracker card that integrates with the Find My app on iOS. I say that because I have been transitioning to using AirTags which uses the Find My app on Apple products, and it would be nice if I don’t have to run one more app to keep track of my items. There’s also the fact that Chipolo has done exactly this with one of their products, so I assume that it must be possible with this card. Plus Ekster does make a fair amount of gear for Apple users. So it would be a natural fit in my mind.

Any complaints or grips? Not really at this point. Though I have to admit that I miss the ability to put things like parking receipts and the like in my wallet. But the flip side of that is it means that the wallet no longer becomes a black hole for stuff that stays in there for months for no good reason. So by having this cardholder, I am forcing myself to become more disciplined about what I keep and what I throw away.

I have one more week to go in this challenge and so far it’s been pretty positive thus far. I’ll report back in one week’s time with my final thoughts and if I will keep this cardholder as my daily driver. Stay tuned for that,.

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Two Week Challenge: Ekster Aluminum Cardholder

Posted in Products with tags on November 14, 2021 by itnerd

Back in May, I had the chance to review the Ekster Aluminum Cardholder. The thing was that my wife took it off my hands and I never saw it again. So it was really great that Ekster sent me another one. And I decided to do something really different which is to challenge myself to replace my current wallet that I highlighted in my EDC write up for two weeks.

Let’s have a look at the cardholder.

It’s a camo color which isn’t usually my thing as I like black or dark coloured things. But I can still make this work as it’s not over the top in any way. In my case, I have following in the cardholder:

Inner slot:

  • Two credit cards
  • A debit card proximity card
  • A CAA card
  • A Presto card

On the back:

  • A proximity building entry card

On the outer slot:

  • My drivers license
  • My OHIP card
  • Two supplemental insurance cards

I had to leave out of two cards from this cardholder. But it wasn’t an issue for me. One was my Aeroplan card as that’s replicated in Apple Wallet. The other thing was a Kernel’s rewards card which I no longer use. Getting all my stuff into it from my normal wallet was my main concern.

The other thing that I had to ditch was my Apple AirTag which was in my old wallet. I could replace it with Ekster’s Tracker Card though. The tracker card is powered by powered by Chipolo technology and is recharged by sunlight. It takes 3 hours of charge and lasts 2-3 months on a charge. That allows you to find the wallet via Bluetooth LE 4.0 from up to 200 feet away. Using the Chipolo app you can ring the tracker card so that you can play a game of “Marco Polo” to find it, or see it’s last location that it was near your phone if you do lose it. I don’t presently have it on my wallet. But I may add it later as it doesn’t add too much to the cardholder.

Speaking of thickness, here’s a couple of shots of the cardholder next to my old wallet:

The Ekster Cardholder has way less bulk and is much slimmer than my wallet. Granted there’s nothing in the wallet. But even empty there’s a significant difference. And that’s a difference that I can feel in my pocket as I sometimes have to check to see if it’s there. Plus I can see scenarios where I can carry this cardholder because of the size. For example, when I cross country ski, or go out on my bike where a normal wallet was way too bulky to carry. Even just having it in my pocket is great as I barely notice it.

Over the next two weeks, I will be using the cardholder full time and I will see if this could be a great replacement for a regular wallet. To be honest, I am not sure what to expect from this challenge. But it will be interesting to find out. Stay tuned.

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