GROOVE Wallet is okay, but I've got something better!
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- Опубликовано: 4 авг 2024
- We review the Groove Wallet from Groove Life. A result of a Kickstarter campaign, it provides a new take on pop up or box wallets like the Ekster or SECRID. But it has a usability flaw that is pretty annoying which a competitor solved (Ogon Slider) with little effort and for half the price.
WATCH THIS NEXT!
NOMAD Bifold, Card Plus and Card wallets - • NOMAD, NOMAD, NOMAD ne...
TIMESTAMPS:
Intro - 0:00
Unboxing - 0:18
Feature Review - 1:51
Measurement & Weight - 2:20
Card & Cash Insertion Test - 2:36
Review Details - 2:55
Price - 4:40
Ogon Slider wallet - 5:16
Final Score - 6:03
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![The most original MODERN wallet I've ever seen, BUT it's not perfect.[GIVEAWAY]](/img/1.gif)
Thank you so much for posting this. Was waiting patiently for your Groove Life review!
Great and in depth review as always. I appreciate the details you go into as well as well as your honesty and fairness. It's what makes the channel stand out.
I dont think I ever cared about the packaging of how products come in until I started watching your reviews! Great work! Excited to see all sorts of different wallets!
Why do you care?
I actually like the fact you have to add pressure to slide it up. If it’s in my pocket and I’m working I don’t need the slightest movement of me moving around or up and down and all of my cards come out into my pocket. I think they thought that feature through and I like it.
For "picky" I read ,"thorough" - if "thorough" has ever strayed into "picky" its because a wallet has perhaps needed a second look (such as with the i-clip and its plastic construction turning out to be the reason it functions so well). I've seen a gazillion wallet reviews and none are even close to as thorough, balanced and informative as yours, Mark - long live pickiness!
Thanks Mike!!
Mine had a adhesive silicone piece to place on the front bottom for grip
These are the reviews we need more of. Little nit picking is what people need to hear about
Great video glad I watched it! I've been thinking about upgrading from the ridge but in order to upgrade I need to find something better first lol I think I like the groove life better but the Ogon is great to, is the part you put your thumb on to slide made of plastic or is it aluminum like the groove life?
Thanks for the review Mark. I agree that a thumb slot especially on a smooth surface would round this wallet off and increase its usability. On another note do you perhaps have the Danny Boy by Black Stag leather in your inventory? Wouldn't mind a review 😀
Great review Mark! Got the kickstarter too. Had same usability concerns as you. I wish they’d have used that front plate for something to not only help with grip but additional space for cards and keep money clip. Thinking of maybe adding a stick on wallet sleeve maybe 🤔??
BTW, The magnetization is for the tiny screws for accessories.
Thanks Ryan, I didn't read that anywhere about the magnetization, but makes sense.
I threw a stick on MagSafe adapter on mine. Helps with grip and I can attach it to my phone when I need extra pocket space!
Loving your pickiness. Almost bought the groove wallet. You saved me at least $25 and the design is better too on the ogon. Again, loving your pickiness. Stay picky. Fantastic review.
I got the Kickstarter and had the same usability issues. I wish they'd out more thought into it and embossed designs on the front so that your thumb has something to catch onto. I emailed and asked if I can glue a military badge I earned to customize and see if I can fix the grip issue. Hopefully they'll authorizes this and let me keep the warranty.
Hey Mark, thank you for feeding my wallet addiction! A question. You always fold your diverse collection of bills in fourths, rather than thirds. The bills when folded in thirds are thinner than the fourths and allows one to get a bill or two more in some (or most) wallets. Is there a specific reason for folding bills in fourths rather than thirds? Love my Lost Dutchman wallet! Bought it right after the review. Thanks again! P.S. you have excellent taste in watches!
I like this one but I’m curious if all thicknesses of card will come out as smoothly. My drivers license is pretty thin and health insurance card is flimsy. Will they not pop up?
Could the additional pressure be useful to prevent accidental opening?
I agree with you. As soon as you said that about sliding it up was hard to do, I said to myself it needs a thumb groove. And than wamm! , you bring 1 out with 1
Love me Groove Wallet - I kickstarted it as well. But if I had one major change, it would be to add that tooth or thumb plate on the smooth side. 90% of the time it isn't an issue for me, but if my fingers are wet, or if I'm sweating a lot it becomes an issue where I can't get the full extension out and the instant nature of the wallet being ready for use is compromised. I've got mine configured with the extra sleeve and not the money clip so it sits on the thicker side of it's design, but I does give me everything I need and still maintains a pretty slim profile.
Hey Mark, could you review the Oliver co premium compact wallet. It looks great but interested in your thoughts
Is the Orgon wallet aircraft aluminum and does it have a 94 year warranty?! How is the quality of them both besides a finger slot to push the cards out? Being harder to open up the wallet imo is better because my kids won’t easily open it up and also won’t open in your pocket etc…
Makes me think of their... No, it was grip6? That their wallet had a revision or two. So maybe groove will add a texture later?
Curious if that would change your opinion that much though. Or still not worth the price (it's not for me, personally)
Interesting design. I see how the slide mechanism brings the cards out, but how easy is it to retrieve a specific card once the cards are exposed?
I love this question, hoping someone answers
What happened to the add on strap on feature?... How does it feel? What about the quality of the leather?
Just received my groove wallet. Not sure if it came with it on the kick starter but they included a piece of what looks like of adhesive tape that helps with the slick finish for a better grip while activating the wallet.
I've been hearing that, I'm glad it's an option now. The Kickstarter didn't come with one.
How does it feel in the front pocket?
Does the sliding panel on the wallet have any wiggle?
It's funny, I found this video because I was wanting to see if other people had the same problem with not being able to open it because it's too slippery. After watching your video, I got my dental tool and scraped some grooves in the thumb area in all directions and it works great. The metal is easy to scratch. The Ogon wallets are tempting, but I'm going go see how it goes with the Groove Life now that it slides easily.
Groove had a lot of feedback from this that now they include a grippy adhesive dot you can place on the wallet to provide that capability.
@@walletopia I’m surprised they don’t just etch some roughness into it. It works really well.
The leather attachment is now called groove wallet go, and uses microsuction, instead of being screwed on.
Would LOVE a review of the new go wallet attachment to see how durable the suction is, compared to the screwed on brackets.
I bought the Groovelife and returned it because of how hard it was to use the slider. It's a very cool concept but way too expensive for what is essentially a basic cardholder with no room for expansion. I didn't know the leather sleeve was an option when I bought it, would have been nice to try that out and see if it made it feel like I was getting my money's worth. Instead I put that same amount of money toward an Ekster Senate wallet and key organizer. Haven't recieved them yet, but looks like a much more adaptable wallet, with the easy slide-on convenience pocket and room for anything else in between the main wallet and the sleeve.
How is the Ekster holding up I’ve been wanting to get one just not sure it will hold up long enough
@@opdabber_3138 Well it's only been a few months, but it's held up just fine. I had a problem with my button sticking since Day 1. I had to organize my cards in a specific way to get it to work right, but I did get it figured out. Seems to be my insurance card being a little too flimsy that messes everything up. Not a huge deal, it's a great wallet. Worth the investment.
Wouldn't you want it to be hard to get cards out or else it will activate when in your pocket?
@@HeNnEsSy_HiCcUpS If they made it out of a less slick material or added some kind of hand or thumb grip the design would be perfect. When I had it I usually needed two hands to open it. One to hold it down and the other to slide it open. Otherwise trying to slide it open just slid the whole thing around in my hand.
Oh, I love the groove. 😍
ÖGON wallet also have the card lock? Makes more sense from a lot of points of view.
i got mine and a small rectangular rubber stick on piece was included to add more grip when sliding up the cover. you don't have to use it if you don't want to. but that also got me thinking about one of those rubber card holders you can buy and stick onto the back of your phone case to hold a couple of cards. i got one of those and stuck it on the top plate. now i have better grip as well as space for 2 additional cards outside the box. i use this "stick on" wallet for supermarket loyalty cards.
Good for them for listening to customers! I was one of the Kickstarter folks and we didn't get a rubber stickie.
I would love to see your Groove wallet. You have any pics?
Hey Mark, review of Open Sea Leather minis coming soon?
I'm liking it, sadly the alternative, while cheaper, has no option for a money clip or elastic band
One thing is that it seemed pretty easy for you to slide when the wallet had no cards on it, does it become harder to slide when cards are inserted?
Wish it was available for purchase again
Great observation and yes, it's when it has cards in it that it takes greater force. When empty, it's easy and smooth.
Can you compare it to the ridge wallet ?
Thanks for the review Sir!
This is not picky of you. That is 100% correct. There is a RUclips series of a kitchen gadget designer reviewing kitchen gadgets (that he didn't design). He has this "usability test" where he oils a bit his non-dimonant hand and uses the product with that hand. A good one-handed design remains fully functional, that's obviously not going to be the case with this wallet. That has changed my perspective on designs.
I will check it out
@@walletopia The videos are under the Epicurious channel and the designer's name is Dan Formosa!
I can see the groove life deployment being a bit of an annoyance, especially while rainy/sweaty hands but it does add to the sleeekness. It would be nice if there were some sort of jimping/indentations on the slider plate though. Could add a strip of grip tape or something with some texture but that would detract from the overall aesthetic I feel.
The alternative wallet seems like it did good on fixing the fault of the groove wallet but does it feel similar in touch and sound while using it? I feel the groove life wallet (with the price tag) probably has a more premium feel but it's all subjective at the end of the day. Love the vids!
Do you recommend this over the Ekster?
Waiting for ogon slider review to be done by you🙏🏼.
Love this wallet
The Ogon does not have the lock clip on the left side top of wallet case. Ogon looks like a knock off product. To each their own.
I got mine through kickstarter. I thought the same thing about sliding it. There’s barely any grip! Other than that I love it.
I disagree. I just got the Ogon wallet due to the Groove wallet currently sold out. The Ogon slide wallet has a major design flaw that I can't overlook. On top of it feeling incredibly cheap (expected from a 40 dollar wallet), the mechanism that holds the cards in is completely compromised. One shake with the open side faced down causes all the cards to fall out. This issue becomes even more pronounced if you have metal cards.
Great insight! I neglected to do the shake test!
That's odd. My GL wallet package contained a very low profile thumb grip that can be added anywhere and a template to place it easily...
I like the Secrid Mini.. works for me.
About the grip issue - a backer named Kane on KS commented, "Took mine to the laser etcher here at work and etched 5 lines on the face for a better grip. Works flawlessly".
So apparently, laser etching/engraving can work if you already got the wallet. 🙂
Edit: Mine arrived today. Turned out much better than I expected after all these grip reviews. Though that may be because I use it with four cads (two flat and two with raised numbers) instead of the maximum six.
for 100.00 you shouldn't have to modify it. low value high margins product for the company's owners
I completely agree. Interestingly though, I received my wallet expecting the grip would be terrible and it turned out just fine as it is. I have five cards in it, two of them are embossed, and I can still use the thing one-handed without much effort. This puts GL higher than that ugly Ogon in my book. YMMV.
Use a small piece of grip tape right about the area where your thumb will go it doesn't affect anything except gives you better traction. I use it on a lot of my little wallets because of the size of my hands it's hard to hold a small wallet like that. Without the fact that they are normally pretty slippery. The grip tape or you could use like pistol grip tape whatever you want to use for it just cut you out a piece and any shape you want and you're good to go and it does not affect going in and out of your pocket
skate board tape
My Ekster wallet lasted about a year. Looks amazing. Even the company logo etching looks like the day I got it. Indestructible. The mechanism stopped working bc it’s made of plastic. Just like this one. So the one thing you absolutely need to work…doesn’t.
My Easter wallet didn’t even last a year, was a shame I really liked it to but the trigger on it failed about 5 months of use and not even heavy use
One of the main reasons I went with the Ridge. Mechanical designs, no matter how cool, will fail. At least the elastic on the Ridge can be replaced cheaply. Plus it’s more expandable.
@@Oxichor yep. I went back to the nomadic wallet. Simple, gets it done. The elastic wears out after a year or two- they cost less than $20
It’s expensive since it’s made in the US, Tenn to be exact. Anything made in the USA will cost more but it’s backed with a 94 warranty and has quality.
It’s actually made in China.
You figured since it was made in the USA it would be cheaper. I still understand that concept.
If there was a way to put the leather addon in the front, that would solve the issue with ejecting the cards without applying too much pressure
That was my thought from the beginning. The design wouldn't have been impacted much, but the aesthetics is nice.
The leather add-on was originally going to be attached with 3M (I think pre-installed but wouldn't be hard to remove it and move it to the front), but backers did NOT like that, so they ended up changing to the screw-on design. Kind of a double-edged sword. Attaching with 3M is kinda tacky/cheap, but allows to attach to the front if you want. Attaching with screws is more premium, but obviously doesn't allow you to move it.
A small piece of grip tape would work perfect. I have it on a couple of my small wallets just for gripping purposes with my big hands
I could see the easy opening working against you though. For instance, it activates while pulling from your pocket when you don't want it to.
Agreed that’s the first thing I noticed I didn’t like , no grip
I'm a little late to this but Groove life has a fix for the issue, the wallet comes with a stick on rubber grip (maybe 1/2 in wide by 3/4 in long) that you can stick anywhere and a card with it you lay in the front to help place the grip. I also found to push a different way makes it loads easier, instead of the middle and allot of pressure move your thumb to the bottom edge and push lightly up.. it takes some practice to learn to have that placement in your hands but I haven't had to put the rubber grip on at all. I will be getting my buddy to laser etch a awesome design on it later. But I think the slick design like that was made for that, you can even get your own vinyl decal and just make it your own it's a blank slate which most wallets don't offer
Thanks for the tip, it works, but it requires the use of two hands. I'm hoping to find the stick on or some other way to make the surface resistant enough to use just one hand.
@@frankfrancais8262 Look up textured vinyl I used a forged carbon vinyl that has a good texture to it that worked well
I put a Sticker on mine and I have zero problems. Any sticker should do.
Good adaptation! I fail at the MacGyver test on everything.
Wait you liv3 in india?
You don't need to fold the Cash more than once. I use mine folding once and yes it hangs over the end a tiny bit but you can hold more cash folding once. Never had an issue pushing the slide up.
Sound and thickness of the Ogon is definitely worse. Groove wallet issue is easy to fix with tape. $100 is too much, but I guess that's to cover lifetime warranty which I'm guessing will happen with that plastic bit. I'd be in on the Groove Wallet at $60.
Guys it actually has a grip sticker and I’ve had mine groove wallet for more than 8 months. Been beat and in harsh places and trust me the grip and all is still flawless. I love my wallet and it’s life warranty. I’ve had the entire wallet replaced with the sleeve at no charge. And they all come with the grip sticker… again the sticker has never came off and still standing strong been in dirty and mud even wet and still going strong .
They started including the grippy sticker after the initial reviews came out. It’s been good to see as an option.
The reason why the bottom is magnetic is because when it slides down the magnet holds it
Damn i liked that extra hook that holds the cards in. But im not liking the fact it doesnt open too well
think it should of been a few mm wider to allow bills to be folded once and covered by the "wallet" instead of needing to fold twice
2:50 I don’t like the sharp edges on the money clip. That’ll either sink into my thigh, or slowly destroy my trouser fabric, depending on which side it’s facing.
Pointy bits always have a way of attacking clothing.
yep, gonna go with the grove after watching this.
I have the groove wallet, and it came with a sticker that had texture on it so it would be easier to slide. Idk if this info helps anyone, but it's just a comment lol
can you remove money clip?
Yes, you can. It's screwed to the bottom.
i put a dime size piece of skate board tape on mine for grip
Groove wallet comes with adhesive stickers that solves the usability issue. So its not really an issue
Still to this day nothing is even in the same league as a Ridge wallet or a knockoff version. Best wallet ever made hands down!
Aviator disagrees.
I'm sure you know by now, but they now include a grip tape sticker & template to install it if you so desire. I like it, but it's certainly overpriced. Although It should be the last wallet you'll ever purchase with a 94 year warranty.
Yes they do! The feedback was deafening to them. I’m happy they provide the option now.
What templates?
Fantom s vs fantom x please
In your opinion!
Great concept. But too much for having separate components. And no thumb groove.
I prefer the sleek design of the groove life wallet.. the other one looks like an old external hard drive..
You didnt even add cards to the second wallet for us to see how works…
yeah definitely a design flaw for not having any texture or area to push the plate forward.
U.K. cash is slippery enough, I don’t need a wallet like it as well 😂 I’d be dropping everything. Haha
Well I don't think you did a very good review considering that in the metal box with the groove wallet is a thumb-sized grip pad with a template to put it on in the center and to keep it looking straight in the box so yes the groove wallet is much better and the only flaw you pointed out was never a flaw because that already had a fix for it in the box with the wallet
It was added after the reviews on it.
@@walletopia oh ok
Just take a small adhesive Velcro and stick one half on the plate
Soon after the Kickstarter deliveries, they began including a grippy dot you can place on the wallet.
I will stick with My Trayvax Contour Wallet
Ogun just needs to put a money clip and they've won.
I think the magnet holds the thing closed. 🤦♂️🙄
You don’t need the money clip when using the leather wallet accessory.
Who is copying who?
I spoke to the owner of Groove and he walked me through the timeline of what happened. Ogon copied Groove, looked at their patent and rushed the wallet you see to market. And you're right, the magnet is what pulls the slider back, my miss.
If your card is metal, the magnet doesn't work too well. I ended up putting the metal card in the sleeve pocket and magnet now works well.
Not being to picky as that's what happens and you have to push cards back down all the time as with the other one you showed its priced right I find 99 to much
too
Could just add a piece of grip tape to it
You gotta fold your money twice, so you have to flash your cash...and just ask a guy with one of these to show you a photo of their kids or the receipt for that item you may have to return. It's junk. Nothing beats a regular wallet. The leather wallet didn't need improving.
Could make it cheaper by not spending so much on packaging which goes straight into the rubbish bin.
Groove life wallet is not hard to slide at all.
Nothing beats a good old leather wallet. So a big no for me . Only one i can pick is secrid mini wallet
Get some man hands 😂 I’m a blue collar worker and my hands are strong enough to open it💀😂
Guilty! I've spent my career in high tech and healthcare. 😀
So it’s like having two iPhones in my pockets
You really can't think of a reason there's a magnet
It just sounds like you're trying to find things to complain about but that's just how I see it, things are priced at different prices for specific reasons, I did notice that I hear more movement when you open the cheaper wallet than the groove wallet or maybe somebody put more time into developing the groove wallet then the other wallet that you reviewed but it really does sound like you're just trying to find things to complain about
To an extent, I do try and find things that are wrong. This is driven from the comments from viewers for years and what I know they're looking for and what bothers them whether it's quality, performance or usability issues. I try to balance that with the good in the wallet to give credit where credit is due, but do so in full transparency of how the wallet presents itself.
It’s really not that big of a deal just add a sticker that has some texture to it and away you go, seriously people make bigger deals out of things when there’s simple solutions people just need to use their brains more often
So, after a few months after this video I've come back to leave my own personal opinion. The knock-off version of the GrooveLife wallet is awful. Genuinely just awful.
The GrooveLife Wallet is great. The only con is how expensive it is. I do think you're paying mostly for that 99 year warranty & the fact that this is 100% made in America.
GrooveLife all the way.
Thanks for the return and report, I'm always interested to hear experiences of others.
@@walletopia Absolutely.
Call me old fashioned but these metal wallets do nothing for me.
one handed card payment when riding motorcycles no need to take off gloves
Then dont get one
@@okinawanah3463 DUDE. Where is your name from?! Its from a video game isnt it?
@@jonnyboy9213it’s from an island in Japan
It's too noisy. Ekster is still the best.
Really a 6 minute video just to say nothing. “Stick around till the end of the video “ why ? Just get on with it dude
The groove looks better.