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As a cashless society inches ever closer, a slim wallet becomes all you need. Top Grain Leather Wallet
A good one will also be comfortable in your pocket and bring you some pleasure—or maybe even a compliment—every time you take it out.
We tested more than two dozen slim wallets to find our eight favorite leather and non-leather bifolds, synthetic or Tyvek bifolds, and leather and non-leather card holders in a variety of styles.
If you carry a wallet in your pants, consider a slim wallet (either a bifold or a card holder) over a more traditional thick wallet.
A slim wallet makes your silhouette look less lumpy and bulky, whether you tuck it in your front pocket or back pocket. If you carry eight or fewer cards, plus some cash, and would like to fit your wallet in a pocket rather than a fanny pack, a messenger bag, or a handbag, try one of these.
This beautifully simple leather bifold is a straightforward and—more important—functional wallet that’s not as expensive as it looks and feels.
The Leatherology Thin Bifold Wallet is the platonic ideal of the leather wallet. It doesn’t have any gimmicks such as technically advanced materials or innovative pockets—it’s basically what older generations might think of when they hear “slim leather wallet.”
It’s very thin and subtle. It has a low profile (a little less than 0.75 inch when filled with six cards), and it’s devoid of any logos beyond the debossed Leatherology name on the interior.
It feels high-quality. It’s made of extremely supple full-grain leather—which has been processed less and is higher quality than cheaper, corrected-grain leathers—and the stitching along the outside edges is tight and precise, especially compared with the widely spaced and somewhat amateurish stitches we saw on wallets from Phil’s Wallets and Thirteen50.
It’s a pleasure to use. Cards slide in and out with ease, but the slots aren’t so wide that you might worry about them slipping out. You could easily fit eight cards in the Leatherology wallet (six in the slots, plus two in the extra interior pockets).
It’s customizable. Leatherology also offers a personalized monogram option for up to four characters (in any of three sizes, two fonts, and four colors) on either the exterior or interior of the wallet. (We didn’t try it, though.)
Thickness when filled with six cards and two bills: 0.71 inch
Card slots (not including cash pocket): six
Colors: black onyx, cognac, brown, and navy blue; premium versions come in ebony, espresso, black oil, and mahogany
Made of a stretching material that securely holds your cards while allowing you to pull them out easily, this wallet makes a strong case for innovative materials beyond leather. But we wish it came in more patterns.
The Slimfold Micro Soft Shell Wallet is made of a waterproof soft-shell material from the Gore company (the brand behind Gore-Tex) that’s almost as thin as a piece of paper but durable and stretchy.
It holds a lot. This wallet sports three card sleeves and has two additional hidden pockets behind the cash sleeve, which in our testing comfortably held up to three cards each. It handily accommodated 13 cards without becoming uncomfortably snug.
It’s under warranty and waterproof. We tested Slimfold’s claim that the material is waterproof by spilling some water on it; the water did indeed bead on top and leave the interior dry. We also love the extremely generous five-year warranty.
You have the option of RFID. The Slimfold Micro Soft Shell in black is available both with and without RFID protection, an extra feature meant to help shield the wallet from being “skimmed” by hackers. We don’t think RFID offers any substantive safety or improvements over going without, but for $4 more, it won’t cause you any harm if you opt to have it. At this writing, all other available colors of this wallet automatically include RFID protection.
Thickness when filled with six cards and two bills: 0.55 inch
Card slots (not including cash pocket): three
Colors: black, black/gray, black/orange, black/red, gray/orange, navy/orange, orange/gray
If you’re looking for something less traditional, this wallet is truly thinner than any other bifold we found, though its lack of a bill compartment may take getting used to.
The Dun Wallet is billed as the world’s thinnest wallet. Though we’re not able to verify that claim, it certainly is the thinnest wallet that we tested.
It’s extremely thin. The whole wallet is barely thicker than half an inch when full, and unlike traditional bifolds, it lacks a cash sleeve, so it has no extra layer of leather—just a triangular piece of leather overlaying the card slot that you’re meant to slide your bills through.
It’s cool-looking. The Dun Wallet certainly has some wow factor, and not in an obnoxious way—it’s discreet enough to look like a regular wallet, but if someone were to examine it closely, they would notice that it definitely isn’t one.
Thickness when filled with six cards and two bills: 0.59 inch
Card slots (not including cash pocket): four
Colors: black/gold, black/silver, brown/gold, brown/silver, black edition (with RFID protection only)
A slim leather bifold wallet that also happens to be cheap is practically a unicorn, but Allett cleverly uses leather only on the exterior to keep this wallet affordable.
The Allett Sport Wallet Leather Edition is a great leather wallet that’s actually affordable, a bit unusual-looking, and capable of stowing a tiny pen in a pinch.
It has leather only on the exterior. While Allett uses soft leather outside, inside it uses a moisture-wicking nylon. The wallet has just two card pockets, both of which are lined with rubber for maximum grip; Allett claims that you can fit five in each, for a total of 10 cards.
It’s surprisingly small. For a leather bifold, this wallet is extremely compact—not just thin but also both shorter and narrower than the Leatherology wallet (and shorter than the Dun wallet).
Thickness when filled with six cards and two bills: 0.59 inch
Card slots (not including cash pocket): two
Colors: merlot, navy, black, chocolate brown, hazel brown
These Tyvek wallets, especially in the eye-popping patterns, have an understated charm that’s more classic than corny.
The Slimfold Micro Tyvek Wallet is a great choice if you want a truly compact Tyvek wallet with a vibrantly sophisticated design—and you don’t mind having to replace it annually.
It’s terrific looking. I’ve been carrying this Slimfold wallet almost every day since working on this guide. The prints are beautiful and vibrant, and we’re particularly enamored of the repeating Monyou wave (a traditional Japanese pattern) and cubic looks, which are far more sophisticated than the patterns generally found on Tyvek wallets.
It holds a bunch of cards. The wallet is a delight to use, as cards slide easily into any slot. We could easily slip five cards into the left slot and two cards each into the two on the right—with each of the back hidden pockets holding three cards, the wallet can accommodate 15 cards easily.
It has RFID protection. This feature may not be truly necessary, though, because we don’t think RFID protection offers any substantive safety or improvements.
Thickness when filled with six cards and two bills: 0.4 inch
Card slots (not including cash pocket): five
Colors: Monyou/flower, orange, blue, white
Warranty: None, as the wallet will eventually wear to the point of needing to be discarded, but you can earn a $5 credit on your next Slimfold purchase. When your old wallet wears out, buy a new Slimfold Micro Tyvek or Micro Soft Shell wallet on the Slimfold site, and once the receipt for the new wallet comes in, reply via email requesting your refund. When Slimfold confirms your order history, you get five bucks back.
If the Slimfold Tyvek wallets are handsome, the Mighty Wallet ones are just fun—a slew of patterns make it easy to choose something delightful(ly weird), and they’re a joy to use.
If you’re looking for a more durable Tyvek wallet with fun designs that keep the tongue firmly in cheek, consider a Mighty Wallet.
You get lots of slots. With two expandable card pockets, two cash pockets, and two hidden pockets along the edges of the wallet, the Mighty Wallet isn’t short on storage. Cards fit neatly and snugly in the pockets, though we wish the wallet offered a few more interior slot options.
It offers cheeky designs. The Mighty Wallet comes in a plethora of fun designs, and that’s where it really shines: You can get one that looks like an airmail envelope (a nod to the material that’s usually used for such shipments), a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or even a New York City subway map—you’ll find nearly 40 designs in all. They’re not entirely to everyone’s taste, but even if you’re looking for something simple, the Mighty Wallet line has it.
Thickness when filled with six cards and two bills: 0.59 inch
Card slots (not including cash pocket): four
This tasteful card holder has everything you could want—nice leather, four slots, a cash pocket—and nothing you don’t.
If you’re interested in quiet elegance, get the simple Leatherology Slim Card Case, which is made of surprisingly supple leather.
It’s made of beautiful leather. As with Leatherology’s bifold wallet, the leather on this card case feels extremely smooth and especially buttery, which makes sense considering this card holder’s premium price.
It’s monogrammable. For an extra $10, you can personalize the card case with a monogram of one to four letters.
It offers 10 colors to choose from. While most of them are fairly traditional, if you’re looking for something a bit more arresting, the mustard-hued “camel” shade is especially handsome.
Thickness when filled with four cards and one bill: 0.55 inch
Card slots (not including cash pocket): four
Colors: black onyx, cognac, brown, navy blue, camel, scarlet, blue, lilac, river, olive, fig
If you want an extra-thin wallet, this case is truly skinny, measuring under half an inch even when fully stuffed. It’s colorful, too.
The Herschel Charlie Wallet, with its eye-catching contrast and youthful material, is the card holder we’d get for a cool cousin in college. It’s an extremely thin card holder that comes in a slew of zippy colors.
The construction is high-quality. The stitching is tight and uniform, and we love that it doesn’t haphazardly run into the edge of the case.
It comes in fun colors. The polyester wallet is available in six energetic designs—we appreciate the contrasting color panels in particular—that make it something you’re likely to enjoy using every day.
It’s easy to use. We recommend this card holder’s reflective polyester over the more common fabric-style polyester we found on other wallets because cards fit into this case snugly without being overly tight. We wouldn’t try to stick more than the recommended four cards into the slots, though, as this polyester doesn’t have much give.
Thickness when filled with four cards and one bill: 0.43 inch
Card slots (not including cash pocket): four
I’ve worked as a magazine editor since 2007, often specializing in men’s style. Before starting my current role at Wirecutter, I was deputy editor at New York magazine’s The Strategist, where I often wrote about things to buy your boyfriend, tote bags, and other fashion phenomena. I’ve also personally been an owner of slim wallets for more than a decade, particularly card holders.
We consulted other slim wallet guides and forums to select our list of 46 bifold wallets and 32 card holders. From there, we culled the list by setting parameters around what most people would reasonably want to pay for a wallet (between $50 and $100 for a leather bifold and up to $50 for a leather card case), after which we eliminated options that deviated too far from the basic slim wallet, either with uncomfortable materials such as metal or with complicated folding patterns.
We then tested 16 bifolds and 10 card holders to determine the very best slim wallets for most people. Our main criterion was aesthetic: Was this a wallet you’d be happy and even proud to carry around? (Unattractive wallets need not apply.)
From there, the most important factor for us to assess was ease of use. Did cards slide in and out easily? Did the material have some give? We opted for wallets that were comfortable to have in your pocket and easy to get cards in and out of from day one.
We also set the wallets in our back pockets and sat on them to determine their comfort.
And of course, we measured their dimensions and considered how many cards they could store.
RFID-blocking wallets block out radio-frequency identification, which in theory digital pickpockets can use to steal the data on your credit cards and carry out identity theft.
Although it’s certainly possible for thieves to swipe information this way, there has never been a documented case of its happening in the real world. Experts at the Identity Theft Resource Center and others note that there are far easier ways for thieves to steal identifying information, most often en masse online.
So although RFID-blocking wallets serve a purpose, we didn’t consider the technology worth the additional cost, especially when enclosing your cards in a piece of aluminum foil can achieve the same results as using an RFID-blocking wallet. But at the same time, we didn’t consider its presence to be enough of a detriment for us to dismiss any of our picks.
The majority of credit cards in the US don’t have RFID chips, and we weren’t able to find any credible reports of actual RFID identity or credit card theft.
The Big Skinny Mini Skinny Card Holder was a bit of an aesthetic letdown (the thumb slot bordered on just plain unattractive), and while the slots for cards worked fine, the giant logo and overall cheap appearance of the wallet caused us to nix it from our list.
Our testers were enamored of the Chester Mox Slim Wallet, but although this card case is definitely stunning, it’s not particularly functional. With only two card slots in this slim wallet, the testing we did with four cards caused it to pucker badly.
The Kisetsu Haru Wallet had an interesting vertical orientation, but somehow that made the sliding of credit cards trickier to negotiate. Although we liked the burnished quality of the leather, the thumb holes gave the wallet a somewhat cheap look and feel that undermined its sophistication.
We wanted to like the Matt & Nat Rubben as a vegan-leather pick, but the wallet was just far too unwieldy and thick. It barely folded closed even without any cards or cash, and it was a beast at 4.5 inches long, making it hard for us to justify a recommendation.
A number of readers asked about the Nomatic Wallet card holder, but we didn’t test it because we skipped wallets with moving parts, which the pull tab on this wallet definitely qualifies as.
The beautiful designs of Paperwallet made it a strong contender, though we had to angle our cards in exactly the right directions to fit them into the pockets, whereas the other Tyvek wallets we tried were much more forgiving. Wirecutter staff members who own Paperwallets note that the lack of stitching causes the slots to loosen over time, as well.
The Supervek Superwallet was a nice enough Tyvek choice, but its slots for cards were a bit too wide to make us feel like our credit cards and ID would be entirely secure. We did like the variety of tasteful exterior options, though, particularly the Japanese motifs.
Though the Tanner Goods Journeyman was gorgeous, it was also practically impossible to use. There are people who enjoy devoting time to breaking in leather pieces and “working” them loose, but we’re not those people, and we certainly can’t recommend a wallet that’ll be great … in a few years.
We were intrigued by the price and the lifetime guarantee of the Thirteen50 Natural Minimalist Wallet, but the fact that the slots were far too tight to fit our cards easily, and the fact that the leather was so tough, made it impossible to recommend.
This article was edited by Jennifer Hunter.
A minimalist wallet is a thin and lightweight way to keep a couple of important identification cards and a few bucks on you at all times. A slimmer wallet may also be helpful if you’re concerned about misaligning your hips while seated with a large lump in your back pocket—that can cause back pain.
The smallest bifold we recommend is the Slimfold Micro Tyvek Wallet, which measures 2.8 by 3.8 inches and is 0.4 inch thick. The smallest card holder we recommend is the Leatherology Slim Card Case, which measures 2.75 by 4.12 inches and is 0.55 inch thick.
The thickest wallet we recommend is 0.71 inch, and we recommend staying under three-quarters of an inch thick with four cards stashed in the wallet. We recommend storing a thicker wallet in a fanny pack or a messenger bag rather than in a pocket.
Keep your wallet in your front pocket. After performing research on back stress and the sciatic nerve, Stuart McGill, professor of spine biomechanics at University of Waterloo, discovered that sitting on a large wallet can compress joints and muscles and put more stress on the spine.
Jason Chen is a deputy editor overseeing Wirecutter's tech and electronic sections as well as photo and video. Previously, he held editorial positions at GQ, Details, and Departures and was most recently deputy editor at New York Magazine’s The Strategist. He has learned never to go jogging without his phone and probably drinks too much green tea.
Thin Leather Wallet Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time).