Reviewing the Hard Graft Phone Fold Wallet Plus
For about the last five years, my wallet’s been a big Lakeland travel wallet. It was designed to carry a passport and boarding cards, not for everyday use, but I used it everyday. It was big enough to hold all my stuff; credit cards, plenty of cash and the pile of train tickets and receipts that I collect when I’m out and about. When I say it was big, I mean big. I couldn’t mistake when I had it in my pocket and I could easily dig into my bag to find it in my bag without looking. I loved it and was very upset when it was lost.
On the way back from holiday in France this summer, my big old favourite wallet was dropped at a toll booth. Although by an amazing stroke of luck I got it back a few hours later, it had been shredded by truck tyres and I knew I needed a replacement.
As Lakeland no longer offered my old wallet, I turned to Hard Graft, my favourite brand for Mac, iPad and iPhone cases. I already have one of their Phone Fold (Heritage) cases and I’d met Hard Graft’s James and Monica for a beer only a few weeks before. We’d talked about phone cases and wallets, about how the Phone Fold isn’t roomy enough for more than two credit cards and a few notes, and how they should make a larger version more like my old Lakeland.
After losing my Lakeland, I noticed they’d added that bigger Phone Fold Wallet Plus, so I ordered one, in Heritage brown leather, for £90.00 plus shipping.
Phone Fold Plus
On the outside the Phone Fold Wallet Plus is made of the same soft leather, that develops a beautiful patina over time as you hold it. On the inside it has thick, grey wool felt and softer black leather for the card pockets. When you open it you can see the untreated back of the leather cover and that too looks better over time. There’s no doubt that Hard Graft deserve their reputation for quality materials. The Phone Fold Wallet Plus looks fabulous and feels even better. (Yes, I know that’s a cliché.)
The Phone Fold Wallet Plus is a little over an inch taller and an inch wider than a standard Phone Fold.
Inside there are two large pockets for notes, receipts and, of course, you could fill one of them with your phone. More about that later. The pockets are even big enough to fit my Cross pen, also replaced after that incident on the French motorway.
On both sides of the wallet there are slots for four credit cards. With my driving license and a few other cards, I usually carry a little more than eight cards, so I’m glad you can double up in some pockets as long as you don’t take these cards out regularly. Plus, if you’re like me and you often carry a lot of train tickets, you can stuff six tickets into one of those slots.
This is where I ran into my first problem with the Phone Fold Wallet Plus.
When I’m out and about, particularly when I’m travelling around London, I often put my (London Underground) tickets horizontally into those big outer pockets, so that they stick out just enough so that I don’t have to go hunting for them at ticket gates.
This is where the width of the Phone Fold Wallet Plus lets it down. It’s about a centimetre too narrow on each side, so closing the wallet bends any tickets you store horizontally. Several times over the last few weeks I’ve had trouble on the Tube due to the magnetic strip on the back of my ticket being bent and broken in the wallet. Increasing the width of the Phone Fold Wallet Plus by a centimetre would solve this problem, and it would let me carry one of those small Field Notes Brand books in a pocket too, without making the wallet too big to fit comfortably in a pocket.
I’ve carried my iPhone 4S in the regular size Phone Fold for a couple of years now, so I’m not looking to carry my credit cards, money and phone all in the same wallet, especially after what happened in France.
This is just as well because, I’m sorry to say, I wouldn’t trust my phone’s safety to the Phone Fold Wallet Plus.
I’m not sure how the taller iPhone 5, or even a larger size Android phone would fare in a Phone Fold Wallet Plus, but those big pockets are just too big for a 3.5" iPhone. Whereas the regular Phone Fold fits the iPhone perfectly, holding it safe even when you drop it — as I’ve done several times when getting out of my car — the phone rattles around inside the Phone Fold Wallet Plus’ pockets. As there’s nothing to hold the phone inside — and most remiss of all there’s no catch to close the wallet — your phone can slip out all too easily.
I’m sorry to say that, as beautiful as this wallet is, this makes the Phone Fold Wallet Plus unsuitable as a case to carry an expensive smartphone.
Hard Graft could improve the phone’s security in several ways, perhaps by adding an elasticated inner ‘pocket’ to the phone compartment. That could be made tight enough to hold the phone securely in place.
The biggest omission is perhaps the most surprising. Whereas the regular size Phone Fold has a strong snap fastener (press stud), it’s missing from the Phone Fold Wallet Plus. In fact there’s nothing to keep the wallet closed, making it even more likely that your phone will slip out if you hold it wrong. It’s possible that Hard Graft omitted a fastener as it might get in the way of, or limit the number of, card slots, but I can’t help thinking that there must be a way to keep the Phone Fold Wallet Plus closed and its contents safe inside.
Summary
The Phone Fold Wallet Plus is a beautiful wallet and Hard Graft again deserve their reputation for using quality materials. The design is pretty near perfect too. And that’s the problem. When I pay £90.00 for something that’s handmade like the Phone Fold Wallet Plus, I expect it to be perfect. But the Phone Fold Wallet Plus is let down by the details; its slightly ‘off’ size that creases travel tickets and the lack of security that means that I can’t trust it to carry my phone. If you’re looking for a Hard Graft phone case, stick with the regular size Phone Fold. I can’t recommend the Phone Fold Wallet Plus.
- Build quality: 5/5
- Design quality: 3/5