AKEENi XSTO minimalist wallet review – I found my new favorite wallet!

REVIEW – I rarely use cash anymore, so all I need is a thin minimalist wallet that can hold my most used credit cards. For the last 4 years, I’ve been using the Identity Card Wallet, which is no longer being made or sold. The one I have now is still perfectly usable, but I enjoy trying other wallets and the newest one I’ve been testing has become my new favorite wallet! It’s the AKEENi XSTO wallet. Let’s find out why I’m switching.

What is it?

The AKEENi XSTO is a minimalist wallet made of aluminum that is available in versions that can hold 4, 6, 8, or 10 cards along with some cash and even a few business cards.

What’s in the box?

• XSTO wallet

Optional upgrades:

• Spring upgrade
• Business card cover
• Cover plate
• Phone mount

Design and features

The XSTO is available in a variety of colors and you also have the option to customize it with words and/or artwork like you see above with The Gadgeteer logo. I’ll talk more about that later.

The feel of the main shell of the wallet is very sturdy. It has a matte texture which means that it won’t show fingerprints or grease marks if you handle it with dirty hands.

The wallet is designed like the letter C so that the curved edges of the C hold your plastic credit cards while the bottom tray (back of the C) can hold some folded currency. In the image above, the wallet is empty except for some business cards sticking out from the back slot.

In the image above, you can see the Spring Plate. The one in the image is an optional upgrade because it has a cool etched design. There are other designs to choose from, or you can just stick with the default plate which is plain.

I was sent the 4 card version of the XSTO minimalist wallet. Credit cards slide into the wallet and snap securely in place where they are held there by friction. It’s easy to use your thumb to slide the cards to the left or right so that you can retrieve the desired card.

You can also see that there are some folded bills below the credit cards. The curve of the back of the wallet creates a tray for folded cash, receipts, etc. While I was testing the 4 card version of the XSTO, I stored 5 folded bills in the tray. I usually carry a few bills with me separate from my wallet, so having everything together is a real plus in my opinion.

Compared to other minimalist wallets that I’ve reviewed, the design of the XSTO is the quickest and easiest when it comes to grabbing the card you need.

Flip the wallet over and you can access the hidden business card compartment. Check out that awesome Gadgeteer logo too!

Just use your thumb to slide the business card cover upwards which causes the business cards to slide up too. You can then grab the card you need before sliding all of them back down into place.

In addition to carrying the XSTO wallet in your pocket, bag, or purse, you can also attach it to the back of your phone with the universal phone mount.

The phone mount is a plastic card that sticks to the back of your phone or phone case to provide an attachment point for the XSTO to lock into.

Customization

In addition to picking out a Spring Plate for the bottom interior of the XSTO wallet, you can also customize the exterior with artwork or text. I decided to go with The Gadgeteer logo.

The artwork or text will be etched into the aluminum and will show up as white. This is an awesome way to customize your wallet, but the process of adding custom artwork could be improved. They don’t currently offer a way to proof what you’ll end up with. So in my case, the logo was not in the correct orientation with respect to the XSTO logo. When I look at the Gadgeteer logo, the XSTO logo is upside down and visa versa. I think this happened because when the customization editor uses the black version of wallet by default and the XSTO logo is so dark, that I didn’t even notice the orientation. If you decide to buy this wallet and customize it, make sure that you change the color in the customization editor so you’ll have WYSIWYG.

This “defect” doesn’t cause me to dislike the XSTO wallet, but it is a little disappointing that it wasn’t noticed before shipping. 🙁

See it in action

What I like

• Securely holds multiple plastic credit cards
• Cards are easy to remove and reinsert
• Holds currency
• Holds business cards
• Can be customized

What I’d change

• Need to offer proofing for custom logo/artwork orders

Final thoughts

I’ve been using an Identify wallet for years because I love the minimalist size of it. The only downside is that sometimes I can’t get enough traction on the top card to slide it out of the wallet. I don’t have this problem with the XSTO wallet. I also like that I can carry cash in the XSTO wallet. It also doesn’t hurt that it has my logo on it which is obviously cool. If you’re looking for a new minimalist wallet, I highly recommend that you check out the AKEENi XSTO.

Price: $62 – $68 depending on capacity, $15 for customization, optional upgrades are $3 – $6 each
Where to buy: AKEENi
Source: The sample for this review was provided by AKEENi.