Aluminium Memory/SIM Card Holder > Reviews > Credit card-sized storage for memory and sim cards

Author's product rating:   

Ease of Use	Very Easy
Quality	Excellent
Durability	Excellent
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Lightweight, slim, beautiful design, great value for money
Disadvantages:	possibly bend cards if stored for long periods of time (untested)

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I previously carried a small USB key on my keyring as my portable memory solution. But I found that more and more, I was having to transfer information from either a PDA or digital camera, and a USB key just didn't work for this.

So I found the solution in the SanDisk SD Plus memory card - it is the size of a normal SD memory card, but also folds in half to reveal a USB adapter which can be plugged into any USB port. Brilliant solution, except that they aren't very sturdy. I was worried about the card breaking in my wallet, so I needed something to protect it.

This is where the Aluminium Memory Card Holder from Proporta comes in. It is the same length and width as a standard credit card (85mm x 54mm), and is only 4mm thick (about as thick as 3 credit cards sitting on top of each other). It is very light as well, weighing in at only 14 grams. It can hold three cards, whether they be SD cards, mobile phone sim cards.

The holder won't fit into one of the slots in a wallet for a credit card unless it is a fairly large slot. I have a tri-fold wallet, and have the holder 'standing on end' in the back compartment for the notes. It works very well there: easily accessible and doesn't get caught up with the coins.

The holder itself is a black plastic on one side where you insert/remove the cards, and a matt-finish brushed aluminium on the other side. There is a small proporta logo stamped into the bottom right hand corner of the aluminium. The aluminium side looks like it could be from a business card holder - very elegent and minimalist. The brushed finished is good because the inevitable scratches won't show up on it too badly. The black plastic is also of a matt finish. There is further branding on this side, with 'proporta.com' written in a grey font. I was a bit disappointed by this branding, it seems a bit garish for what is otherwise a beautifully understated piece of gear.

To use the holder, you simply slide the card into the slot from the non-round end. to extract the card, just push it out from the round end. The cards are held pretty firmly in place, and they sit flush with the surface of the card, so they don't add any extra thickness to the card. The card is on a slight slope though, so I don't know if you stored a card in there for an extended period of time whether the card would have a bend in it.

I was particularly pleased in how snug the fit of the sim cards were. I am a frequent traveller, and have three different sim cards and change them quite a bit, depending on which country I am in. Rather than having the sim cards floating around in the coin section of my wallet, they are now safely store in the holder, ready to be snapped out and put in the phone after landing.

Overall, I'm very happy with the cardholder. It does exactly what I want it to, and for £5 + shipping, it is great value.