MEGATech Reviews: Caseco Fone Wallet Universal Smartphone Case

You’ve got your smartphone and you’ve got your wallet and never the ‘twain shall meet, right? I look forward to the day I can comfortably leave the house without my keys or wallet in tow, relying on my smartphone for all the functions those archaic relics of the past continue to serve today. What if we could combine at least two of those items together, if not functionally but in terms of having fewer things to forget. The Caseco Fone Wallet universal smartphone case aims to do just that.

A Smartphone Case and Wallet in One

The Caseco Fone Wallet is attempting to straddle that fine line between being as compact as portable and being reasonably functional. The design is universal, accompanying the overwhelming majority of smartphones on the market today. There’s a single slot along the left side of the wallet when opened to fit something like the ZTE Axon quite easily.

This is a phone with a 5.5-inch display and it fits snugly in the provided pocket. Get much larger than that and you’ll have a hard time shoehorning it in there. Get much smaller and the pouch might be a little too loose. Along the right side are four card slots to hold your credit cards, driver’s license and what-have-you. There’s also a full length slot for unfolded paper bills.

Form, Function and Fashion

In terms of quality of materials, Caseco did a good job with the Fone Wallet. Nowhere on the packaging (or on the website) does it say that this is genuine leather, so it’s likely safe to assume that it’s not real leather. At $20, that doesn’t sound all that surprising. It feels smooth in the hands and the convenient magnetic snap closure means you don’t have to mess with clumsy flaps. It just snaps shut perfectly on its own.

Unsurprisingly, although the Fone Wallet is being positioned as “slim and stylish,” it’s not the smallest thing in the world. You won’t be able to fit this (comfortably) in your pants pocket, though I suppose that was never really the point. It’s fine for the colder months when I’m wearing a jacket, but I’m not entirely sure where I’d put as I head out in shorts and a t-shirt.

For my part, the biggest issue is simply a matter of access. When you look at most other smartphone wallet cases, they let you see the phone either through a window on the front flap or right in the wallet when you open it up. In the case of the Fone Wallet, you need to remove the phone from its pocket first. What if all I want to do is check the time or to see if I have any notifications?

MEGATechie Fone Wallet Efficiency or MEGATechie Bulky Inconvenience?

Maybe I’m just not quite the target demographic for a case like this. The Fone Wallet is perfectly functional and accomplishes everything it sets out to accomplish in a reasonably fashionable and functional way, but the inability to see the phone without taking it out of its pocket is too big of a hurdle for me to overcome. Perhaps this is part of the price to be paid for being universal, as phone wallets with that visibility typically have to designed with a specific model in mind.

I like the magnetic closure and the quality materials. The affordable price point — the Caseco Fone Wallet retails for $19.99 in your choice of three colors: black, brown (as shown), and dark brown — is another plus. It’s just not for me. I guess I’ll keep carrying my smartphone and slim wallet separate for now.