Filofax Domino A5 size | Hot Pink Patent color – A Review

I absolutely LOVE this planner! I was trying to see if this size would be too big, but it is perfect. Even good enough for my bag- which is always tote size.

Traveling with the A5

I know that the majority of people in the planner community feel that this is not travel friendly. I suppose that depends on how you travel, the way you pack your planner and what else is in your bag. For me, I work from home and for my husband- which is the building next door to our house. So traveling with it in my bag is not so much a problem.

The other thing- my bag is huge. I carry a Gucci diaper bag most of the time and the smallest handbag of mine is still a great size – Michael Kors Grayson- which is about the same size as a Louis Vuitton Speedy 30. Those bags have depth. I have placed diaper bag essentials inside as well as this A5 planner and it all fit well with room for more stuff.

Now- does it make my bag heavy? Somewhat. But I am sort of used to it from always carrying a Macbook Pro all of the time. If you know that you only carry a small amount of stuff in your bag, then get this planner in the personal size. If you need the A5 size for home or work and its too big for your bag- keep it on your desk. For me, I travel with it everywhere I go because I am pretty much working everywhere I go.

On to the Design

I was going against the color I got because it seems so much NEON hot pink in most of the videos I have seen on Youtube. However, I had recently purchased a Kikki K personal size planner in mint and I didn’t want the same color in the Filofax Domino – so I went with the hot pink. When I got it in the mail, I was thinking OMG this is so fabulous. I am a pink girl…most of the time. It is so pretty and shiny. Did I say it was fabulous?

It fits a ton of things in there. I use it for work. However, I am also able to fit my blogging inserts, my home and to-do list inserts as well as different weekly, daily, monthly and yearly inserts. I like the band closure instead of a snap. It is also very friendly to my ton of paperclips everywhere. Lastly, it lays flat and is easy to write in.

The Downside

Only a few but I want to mention them in case anyone else had the same things happen as I did or feel the same as I do.

1. I hate the pen insert. You can NOT get any type of pen in there unless it is super skinny and has no rubber. Most of my pens are huge and have rubber. The stretchy fabric of the pen holder makes it almost impossible to insert a pen with one hand. I have to use one hand to insert the pen- granted it has no rubber grib on that pen and then use the other hand to keep the pen insert open. That is super annoying.

On my Kikki K planner, you can glide almost any pen in there with one hand. The pen insert is sturdier, although the Filofax insert is bigger. But, what’s the purpose of a bigger pen insert if you can’t fit those super huge rubber grip fantastic pens in there buddy. So for me, that was a downer.

2. I am sort of down about the actual rings. One the first time opening the rings, two of them seem to not want to lock all of the way closed again. I find that every once in a while I have to force them to clamp. This especially happens whenever I place my laminate inserts in. So for whatever reason, my rings seem a little default”y”…if that is even a word… But nevertheless, I have not had any paper slide out so it’s not a huge problem- and I don’t overstuff the A5 anyway. I do wish the rings where a bit more proper.

3. I knew this going in- so this is not really a negative but a suggestion. I wish the Domino style planner did have the extra pockets or at least a zipper on it. For work planning, I would love to have a zipper or upward pocket so that my things do not go sliding out. I do however love the back of the planner. You can put a pad in the top or what I do is place my weekly spiral planner in the backside pocket. Now you have lots of extra room for anything you want.

Do I recommend this planner?

Yes, I do. It is a great beginner planner for anyone thinking about organizing. It is a great college planner due to its style and color appeal. It is still a great work planner- depending on where you work. I work for myself and my hubby so I can have whatever color I want. Would I bring this into the doctor’s office or a law firm meeting with a potential client…probably not. IT can be heavy if you plan on traveling or carrying in your handbag- so people recommend it for a desk planner. I however, love to travel with it and actually have been using it more than my Kikki K personal size. I do think that I use it more because you can fit more into it than you can with a traditional snap closure and so this is probably why I am using it more than my Kikki K. Actually, that and the fact that you can write bigger in an A5 size both are reasons why I really prefer the Domino right now.

I love my Kikki K for other reasons and still use it but the Domino in the A5 is a great planner and size for people needing more space on a budget in fun colors. The Domino is also available is less crazy colors without the Patent fabric, but those colors didn’t peak my interest.

Scale of 1-10, I give the Filofax A5 Domino planner a 8.5. Fix the rings, change the direction of the pocket in the front flap and give me a better pen holder- you can get a 10+. 🙂

Cheers.