SECRID Cardslide review

Here at Slim Wallet Junkie, we've been long time admirers of the SECRID Cardprotector (see our Cardprotector video review), being sold on its slim profile, beautiful design, great protection against RFID and bending, alongside its mesmerizing slide mechanism which with a swipe of a lever fans the cards out for easy access. It has long been the most popular product in our online wallet store. We consistently get back great reviews of the Cardprotector and there is only ever one negative bit of feedback we hear, and that is "it's great, but there's nowhere to store my cash". 

Now SECRID has come up with a solution to that problem by introducing the SECRID Cardslide. Here's our review, or scroll down to the bottom for our video review of the SECRID Cardslide.

OVERVIEW

The idea of the SECRID Cardslide is to build upon the great success of the Cardprotector, but add extra storage space for those who love the idea and design, but need something a little bit more to carry all their daily accessories. As such, the Cardslide has at its core the original Cardprotector, but adds to it a plastic, sliding compartment, attached by a high quality elastic band. 

This allows for extra storage in a couple of different ways. All kinds of items such as coins, keys, notes, photos, tickets and so on can be kept in the slide compartment, and once closed are completely secure. Notes or other small paper items can also be tucked into the elastic band on the other side, as utilised in many modern, slim wallets, such as the SolidDesigns SLIM or Sapling Wallet. 

Material

The Cardslide is made up of the original Cardprotector, which is Solid Aluminium, then a plastic slide case, attached by durable elastic. All these materials are top quality and so gives the Cardslide a solid, durable feel whilst still remaining extremely light, at only 70 grams.

The first time we saw the Cardprotector, we were a little suspicious of the plastic used for the slide mechanism, and we gave it some grief thinking it might not last, however, after extended use by us (and many others have also reported this) it holds up completely fine, and our negativity was unwarranted. If we were being really picky, we would like to see something other than plastic being used for the mechanism, but that's a minor gripe against an otherwise top quality product.

Design

This is an area the Cardslide really excels in. SECRID won many awards for the design of their Cardprotector, including the prestigious Red Dot Design award. This focus on a well designed product continues with the Cardslide, and it will certainly turn heads when you get it out to pay. It is a totally unique concept that is pulled of stylishly, but more importantly, with practical ease of use in mind.

The Cardslide comes in 6 different colour options, all inspired by European cities in which SECRID is popular.

Capacity

The Cardprotector element of the wallet can hold up to 6 cards with easy sliding access (5 plain + 1 with embossed numbers, or 5 total cards with 2 Plain + 3 with embossed numbers). If more cards are needed, one or two could be stored in the slide compartment, or perhaps another one or two tucked inside the elastic band. Notes can likewise be stored either inside the slide compartment or tucked into the elastic.

The slide compartment is deep enough to fit a wide variety of items, so it is an extremely flexible storage option. Several things can be placed inside or just a few, without it affecting the way you use the wallet. In the see-through varieties, a photo can even be placed inside to give a personal touch to the wallet.

It should be noted that because the materials are plastic and aluminium, if you place just coins or a key into the compartment, you are going to experience a little rattling. Great for let people know just how rich you are... not. Fortunately, I haven't had this happening when it was just in my pocket walking around, but if you are pretty vigorous with handling, this will occur when you take it out or move it around. When there are a few notes or other soft items in the compartment as well, then this seems to sort this problem nicely and removes the unwelcome rattling. 

Durability

The cardprotector has proven extremely durable, and as we mentioned above our suspicions around the mechanism proved to be unfounded. The rest of the Cardslide is pretty simple, so there isn't too much scope for anything going wrong. The plastic seems sturdy and solid enough to not be of concern.

In our experience, elastic bands are usually the first element of a wallet to break or begin fraying, but the band used for the Cardslide looks very durable and it's clear they've used high quality materials here. During our use so far, we haven't seen any signs of fraying or poor quality.

Ease of use

The Cardslide isn't only easy to use, but is fun. That magical sliding mechanism never seems to get old, and is an excellent way of quick and easy access to cards. It can even be done with one hand, and returning a card to the wallet is as simple as sliding it back in. 

The additional compartment slides seamlessly to allow quick and simple access to its contents. The one gripe I have is that if you completely remove the compartment, it can be slightly tricky to get it back on. However, in fairness this isn't going to be anything you're ever going to want to really do in normal everyday use.

Size

Obviously the idea of the Cardslide is to add a little more room, so it was always going to be a slightly larger wallet than the original Cardprotector. However, we're very impressed at how slim it has remained even whilst adding some substantial extra storage. This just goes to show the thought that has been put into the design of the Cardslide by SECRID.

Coming in at just 68 x 104 x 17 mm (according to the SECRID website, I actually measured it at more like: 62 x 102 x 8 mm - not sure where the discrepancy has come from), this wallet packs a lot of features into a very respectable size. There is no getting away from the fact it is inevitably a little bulkier than the extremely low profile Cardprotector though, so if it is ultimate minimalism you are after, then stick with the Cardprotector. If you're more interested in high functionality whilst still maintaining a minimalist ideal though, then the Cardslide is a superb option.

RFID Protection

Yes. The Cardslide offers total RFID protection, and is one of the best examples of it we've seen. Cards are kept completely RFID safe within the Cardprotector, but are easily accessed for safe RFID/NFC usage.

Price

The SECRID Cardslide is available in our own online shop for just £34, with free postage (within UK & EU).  In our opinion that is a lot of bang for your buck. This is a real premium end, slim wallet with some excellent features, for half the price of one of your grandads bulky leather monstrosities. Naturally you would expect us to say this because we're selling it, but we only sell wallets in our shop that we personally like and would use.

Summary

The Cardslide takes the great basis of the Cardprotector and offers the extra storage space that many people have been asking for. It's not going to be for everyone, that's a given. Some will say it detracts from the ultra-slim, minimalist appeal of the Cardprotector. However, it is clear there is a significant number of people who like the idea of the Cardprotector, but demand a little more storage from their wallet. We think that the Cardslide has provided a superbs solution to this, adding extra space without sacrificing on style, and only a small increase in size. 

Well done SECRID, you've delivered again!

SECRID Cardslide Video Review