Having a good business card holder is a necessity to make a proper business introduction. While carrying a card loose in a pocket or wallet may at the onset seem sufficient, there are a number of drawbacks to this approach. The cards often become tattered and worn or dirtied in a pocket. This is unacceptable because a business card is a reminder of your first impression and should be presented to the business contact in pristine condition; an example of your own professionalism. Another downfall of a loose card is that it may become easily mixed with another person’s information. Having to sort through bunch of cards in front of a new contact is a bad first impression because 1) it distracts you from the conversation 2) It shows a lack of organization 3) it implies, by your collection of other cards, that the current contact is potentially not the most important meeting you are having. One option for carrying your cards is The Lioe Titan card holder. Read on to see what I think!
The Lioe Titan business card holder comes in a black box with an outer sleeve. The sleeve can be removed and the box offers a nice presentation for gift giving.
The first impression is that the holder is extremely well designed. There are many aluminum shell style wallets that imitate the style and design of Rimowa luggage but are flimsy sheets of aluminum that bend and dent with the slightest pressure. The Aluminum pieces used to fabricate the Titan are not stamped – they are machined – and they are at least 2 mm thick. Because the holder is made from Aluminum it is lightweight and only weighs 90 gram when empty. The case is 66 mm wide, 99 mm long and a little less than 9 mm tall.
There are lots of stylistic cues on the Titan that makes it an attractive and yet still functional gadget. The top has a truss pattern that the manufacturer says was inspired by the nose of the B-29 Superfortress but it reminds me more of The John Hancock Center. The sides and bottom are detailed with flutes which make it easy to hold, open and close.
The picture below is a view of the bottom when open. You can see here that all parts are bead blasted and anodized for a uniform gunmetal grey finish.
The sides have some flutes as well and an opening which shows the cap screw that keeps the top and bottom halves attached
The front is etched with the Lioe brand
The inside bottom edge has a 45 degree slope at the front which makes it easier to get cards out of the inside. In the picture below you can see a Western European sized business card fits within the 55 mm interior. Apparently, Egyptian cards can be up to 57 mm wide, but all other sizes should fit within this holder. Nine standard thickness cards will fit in the holder, or 2 embossed credit cards and 1 laser engraved card. Credit cards inside the case should be shielded from RFID since the metal enclosure acts as a Faraday Shield. If the case is open like below it may be possible to read the RFID information.
The Titan has press fit magnets in the base and a steel set screw in the top which acts as a magnetic closure. The closure is enough to keep the unit from opening during normal handling but will not keep it closed if it is jostled in a pocket or stored loosely in a bag.
One last thing I noticed is that the Titan can be bit loud when opening and closing. It registered 57 dB on Decibel X when measured about 3 feet away. That’s not really loud if your having a conversation, but will be noticeable if you are trying to keep quiet during a presentation. I made a movie demonstrating the noise below.
In conclusion, the Lioe Titan has plenty of style. The metal design and finish, construction and operating mechanism set it apart from other holders. The Aluminum parts are thick and resilient and will last a lot longer than a stamped sheet metal alternative. However, The closure may open unexpectedly and the operation of the holder may be a distraction if it is meant to be done discreetly during a meeting or presentation. Lastly, the Titan retails for $70, which is almost three times the cost of a hinged door design or leather folding design. If you’re looking for a conventional design to store business cards look elsewhere, but if you want a unique and durable holder the titan may be just what you’re looking for.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Lioe Designs. Visit their website for more information or to order.
Product Information
| Price: | $70 |
| Manufacturer: | Lioe Design |
| Requirements: |
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| Pros: |
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Filed in categories: Reviews
Tagged: Wallets
Lioe Titan business card holder review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 26, 2017 at 10:00 am.
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Inside of the keyboard box you’ll find the AG-109R wired keyboard, a keycap puller, driver CD, and an instruction manual. I downloaded the drivers for the keyboard online since I do not have a CD drive on my computer.
It was a joke that my previous keyboard was loud, but when I started typing on this one, I laughed because it was even louder! The OUTEMU Blue switches are known for being loud, but they are very responsive and have held up to daily use for the past three weeks without skipping a beat.
Overwatch was the main game that I tested all three devices on, and other than the clicking sound being louder, there was no difference between the quality between this keyboard and my previous one. Each keystroke was registered and multiple keys could be pressed with no problem at all. Comfort-wise, I wish that it had a wrist rest like my old one, but the keys themselves were comfortable to type on. There are non-skid pads on the bottom of the keyboard as well as two feet that adjust the angle of the keyboard. I loved the size of the keyboard, as it’s compact shape allowed me to have quite a bit more desk space compared to what I had before.
I enjoyed the color options on the keyboard, and for the first week I went through and switched up the presets to find out which I truly liked. In the end, I settled for one that had the WASD, Shift, Q, and E keys lit up a solid color, while the rest of the keyboard did a rainbow wave. When the keyboard was not used for a while, the lights would turn off to conserve power.
Lastly, we have the mouse pad. I had never seen a mouse pad that lit up before, and that is what really caught my eye with this whole set. Not only that, this is the first hard mouse pad that I have used, though I had seen them before. Just like with most soft mouse pads, this has rubber on the bottom to keep it from sliding around the desk.
If you want color, you will need to plug it into a USB port. That’s something to keep in mind if you have a computer with limited USB ports. There are no drivers for the mouse pad. You press the spot that looks like a fingerprint and it changes between several solid colors and a few rainbow variations. If you keep scrolling through the designs and you can also turn it completely off, which was necessary as it did not turn off when the computer did. The mouse and keyboard would, but for some reason, the mouse pad would not. Because of the lighting, there is a raised area on the top of the mouse pad that can be annoying if you catch your mouse cord on it.
The mouse pad itself worked very well. I am still up in the air about whether or not I prefer the soft or hard version of a mouse pad, but regardless of my preference, the pad worked just as good for gaming as the one I used before. I do wonder like I mentioned above if the rougher texture of the mouse pad would cause extra wear and tear on a mouse.
Overall, I enjoyed testing the ACGAM products, but I most likely will revert back to my previous keyboard and mouse pad. However, I do enjoy the mouse enough to keep using it for the time being. The RGB lighting matched my speakers pretty well on all the products, so that was neat, but it was not enough to topple my go-to keyboard that has lasted me for years. I would definitely recommend the G502 gaming mouse for a budget gamer. The keyboard is solid in quality and I would say it would be one to look at if you want to customize your RGB lighting experience. The mouse pad.. well, if you want to amuse your friends with color, maybe it is good, but in the end it just wasn’t for me.
