Filofax Adelphi Slimline Review

I've read a handful of reviews / comments on the Adelphi family, and their responses have been mixed: some love them and some.. not so much. But I couldn't quite find a review covering every aspect of the organisers that I wanted to know about (perhaps because it's a discontinued model now?), so I hope I can give some insights into the Slimline version first, then the A5 in another blog post seeing I managed to get my hands on them recently.

So first up: Slimline Adelphi in Black

I must admit, I contemplated a while before getting this Filofax. I was worried that the rings would be too small to hold... anything. Besides, I was thinking: I didn't really bond with the Compact Pennybridge (which had bigger rings), so why bother with even smaller rings? But then I realised that the lack of bonding was really due to the fact that the Pennybridge wasn't leather... because the rings did manage to work for me in the end... (oops). So I took the chance and got myself my first Slimline.

And here she is:

Unboxing Adelphi

Thickness

Back

Front

The feel of the Adelphi was just lovely. I now understand why some bloggers love touching it over and over again, because really, the diamond shaped pattern of it makes it feel really nice to the touch. It also gives the organiser that extra feminine touch.

On the inside:

Inside of the Adelphi Slimline

6 card slots and a full length pocket available on the front cover

Tiny tiny pen loop!

The organiser couldn't stay flat the first time around, but I'm pretty sure that with some training, it will be able to do so.

The two main problems I had with the Adelphi were:
1- The card slots - the initial attempt to slot my cards into the card slots were... a mission. Some pockets were held together by thread (which needed a craft knife to be unleashed) and some still had remnants of glue sticking the pockets together, which was a little bit of a disappointment. But after forcing my cards into each and every card slot, they seem to be working fine
2- The pen loop - I honestly do not know if the pen loop was meant to be used or just placed for show, because I know that without even trying, none of my pens will fit through it. Hell, even some of my pen clips couldn't go through the entire way. Safe to say, I won't be using their pen loop.

And despite what many people were saying about the pocket flap, I just couldn't see the problem with it. It didn't make the organiser that much bulkier. However, I did learn why the buttoned clasp was a bit of a hindrance after I slotted some cards into the card slots hidden behind the flap, as once the cards were in, giving that extra thickness to it, having the button clasped created a small bulge in the organiser... But to be honest, I think I'll still be able to live with that...

The rings were fine to me, with no obvious gaps, but look just how tiny they are!:

Now to the back of the Adelphi:

The back of the organiser just had one simple vertical slot with the useless pen loop.

Without inserts

Overall, I actually quite liked this organiser and I couldn't wait to fill it up. I was surprised to see that the inserts that were given in the organiser (which included the 2014 week on two pages, note papers, addresses and A-Z tabs. It didn't come with dividers!) could all fit snugly into the 13mm rings while still being able to turn. It was a little bit more challenging than having 23mm of course, but it wasn't too hard that they would tear the papers. I did, however, minimised the amount of pages in the organiser and just included the necessities of my month to view (from May to Decemeber), week to view (from May to Decemebr) and expenses, and my go-to organiser is now thin, light and contains everything I need.

I will do a review on the A5 Adelphi in the days to come, but for now, here's a comparison of the Slimline to the A5 Adelphi:

A5 Adelphi vs. Slimline Adelphi

And that's the Slimline Adelphi!