EKSTER PARLIAMENT REVIEW: THE SOLAR POWERED TRACKER WALLET
The transition to digital payments is also accelerating in world. There are more and more contexts in which to pay by credit card , or directly with smartphones and smartwatches. The government is also pushing towards the gradual abandonment of cash and coins, by encouraging the use of credit cards and ATMs, for example with the recent Christmas cashback initiative .techsupportreviews
A consequence of this process is that we have to carry more
and more cards with us: from the ATM to the credit card, passing through the
tax code and identity card, we need to have a special space to store them in
the wallet in an orderly way and that allows to recover them quickly. From
these needs Ekster Parliament was born, a wallet different from the usual and
equipped with an interesting accessory, a solar-powered card that allows
location in case of loss.
Excellent materials and an effective card storage system
Ekster Parliament is a different wallet than usual, in fact
we are in front of a card holder, given its structure. For its creation ,
excellent quality leather was used , very soft to the touch and with well-made
seams. The dimensions are smaller than those of classic wallets, however this
does not mean that it is more practical to carry. Its rigid structure and
thickness make it uncomfortable to carry in the back pocket of your trousers,
the Parliament should be placed in the inside pocket of a jacket, or in the
front pocket of jeans, in this way once seated you do not feel discomfort.
On the outside there is a first card slot, which must be
used with the optional Tracker Card .
Once opened, there are two card slots on the left side and
an elastic strip on the right, designed to hold the bills in place, which must
be folded to stay in place. A rigid structure then allows you to insert several
cards into the appropriate slot.
The extraction takes place via a button at the bottom of the
wallet . To allow the mechanism to work smoothly, we recommend not placing more
than six cards in this space, there are more but in this way they are not separated
well during ejection and it is more difficult to locate the desired card.
The merits of this Ekster Parliament are evident, the small
size and the ease of card retrieval are its strong points, if you use digital
payments often it is really convenient. Obviously there are limits, in Italy it
is not always possible to use the card, let's think for example of bars: once
you have paid for a coffee with banknotes it is not possible to put away any
change coins. In a world with fully digital payments this Ekster Parliament
would be perfect, but in the real world, a space for coins is unfortunately
still needed.
The tracking system
Ekster has created an accessory called Tracker Card, which
goes into the external pocket. Contrary to what 1 might think it is not a real
GPS , its use would not have allowed the promised 2-3 months of autonomy. How
then does this system work? The Tracker Card is based on the Chipolo system ,
just install the dedicated application on your smartphone and associate the
Tracker to your account. Once this is done, the two devices communicate through
the Bluetooth 4.0 standard and can thus find each other. Just a tap on the
application to make the card play, which in turn is equipped with a button.
Once pressed, the phone also emits a sound. This way, in case you lose either
of them, you can easily find them.
This system works at short range , 60 meters from spec, and
becomes useful if you immediately notice that you have lost one of the two
devices. In case you lose your wallet in an unknown area, the application
records the place where the connection with the smartphone has been lost,
already giving a valuable indication of where to look for it.
In the event of theft, on the other hand, the card must be
reported as lost via the app and relying on the Chipolo community: if the
device of another member intercepts the signal from the Tracker Card, an
anonymous notice is sent indicating the place where it can be found. A system
that is not 100% effective but which can still prove to be very useful in case
of loss of the wallet.
The card also offers other features, the most important
being the warning in case of loss . If the phone goes out of range of the card,
it sends a notification to the smartphone, a useful option, for example, to not
forget your wallet when you leave the house. In short, the card is an
interesting accessory that can be useful on several occasions,the choice not to
use a real GPS is correct because it would have required continuous recharges.
Thanks to the small solar panel installed on the card, three hours in the sun
are enough to have 2-3 months of autonomy and a useful function that is always
active.