The Ekster ‘smart wallet’ is powered by a solar panel but it’s not cheap, and it’s just a wallet 

The Ekster ‘smart wallet’ is powered by a solar panel so you don’t find yourself lurking near power sockets… But it’s not cheap, and really, it’s just a wallet

Ekster smart wallet                                                                    £119 selfridges.com

Rating:

I already live with the very real fear of my watch, headphones and book running out of batteries at any moment (just one of the many ‘improvements’ technology has brought to my life).

Practically everything you might carry on your person has slowly become ‘smart’. It was inevitable that someone would look at the wallet and think: ‘Right, your turn.’

But the Ekster ‘smart wallet’ does have a few surprises up its sleeve: like an eject button for your cards (less alarming than it sounds), and the fact that I can ask ‘Alexa, where did I leave my wallet?’ with some hope of an answer beyond polite computer bamboozlement.

The Ekster ‘smart wallet’ does have a few surprises up its sleeve: like an eject button for your cards (less alarming than it sounds)

The Ekster ‘smart wallet’ does have a few surprises up its sleeve: like an eject button for your cards (less alarming than it sounds)

The Ekster Smart Wallet originally came from a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, but the makers have had a couple of years to fine-tune the design, so it’s no gimmick.

It’s a good-looking leather wallet, as you’d expect for £119; the ‘smart’ bit is there’s a Bluetooth tracker card so you can see its last-known location on a map, or force it to make a noise if you’re nearby via the Ekster app.

It’s a good-looking leather wallet, as you’d expect for £119; the ‘smart’ bit is there’s a Bluetooth tracker card so you can see its last-known location on a map

It’s a good-looking leather wallet, as you’d expect for £119; the ‘smart’ bit is there’s a Bluetooth tracker card so you can see its last-known location on a map

You can even turn the tables and make your phone ring by pressing a button on the tracker, in case you’ve lost that. If you’ve lost both, well, you’re out of luck.

Cleverly, it’s powered by a solar panel (three hours of sunlight gets you two months of wallet-tracking), so you don’t find yourself nervously lurking near power sockets.

But it’s not cheap. And really, it’s just a wallet. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk