trezor one review

Trezor One Vs. Trezor Model T – Is One A Clear Winner? (2020)

In this article, we are going to unravel the differences between the Trezor One Vs. Trezor Model T. I have been personally using each of these devices for years. The Trezor One first made it’s debut in August 2014 and was the first commerical hardware wallet out on the market. It paved the way for many competitors and started a revolution with a mission of keeping your private keys safe and completely offline in your control.

The Trezor Model T was unveiled in 2018 after years of development and tweaking. I was a reseller at the time and I received one of the first batch of devices to test out and even actually did a tear down and compared the internals and was very interested to see the differences between the two devices. Before that occurred, I tested it with many different coins and was a very pleasant experience.

They have even added a large number of “Native” apps (or coins) that were supported with their web-based wallet, and they will continue to do so for years to come. But does that make the Trezor One irrelevant now? Stay tuned for the whole article to find out!

 

First Look And Unboxing

 

Trezor One Vs. Trezor Model T

The Trezor One is a very simple device and yet, the complexity comes in it’s security packaging. Let me explain. The device is in the shape of a small plastic trapezoid with 2 mechanical buttons and a small OLED screen. When you first receive the device, it comes in a small plastic box and you will see that it has 2 holographic anti-tampering stickers on the box covering the seals. One is on the top and one is on the bottom.

This was put in place to not only show if the box has been tampered with, but also has some visual clues that reveal it’s authenticity. This was put in place as a preventative measure and to avoid supply chain attacks. Additionally, it has some vert strong adhesive glue that is designed to destroy the box in it’t opening.

This self-destructive box again is a secondary security measure designed to reveal if the box has been tampered with it’s journey from the manufacturer to the end user. In my opinion, it’s very simple, yet clever solution, as MIM attacks and supply chain attacks are a very real threat.

The Trezor Model T, however decided to go with a much simpler box design that does not include these contraptions. Why? Well, they decided that evidence of tampering really only matters on the device itself, so they forewent the process of securely packaging the device. Instead, they decided to put a very adhesive and protective seal on the device itself over the USB-C port.

The one downfall of this design, is that it when you unbox it and peel off this protective seal, it leaves a very sticky and noticeable sticky residue that is VERY difficult to take off. And as the device is plastic, it cannot be removed or scraped off, as it will completely scratch the device. I touched on this on my dedicated review of the Trezor Model T that I wrote HERE.

 

Trezor One Vs. Trezor Model T: Supported Coins

 

This in my opinion is the large differentiator between these two devices and the distinction will ultimately sway most of you in deciding which device you should buy. Both coins have a lot of the same coin support, at least in terms of the larger cap coins and what is supported in third-party wallets, such as MyEtherWallet or Mycelium.

I will note the primary difference here is noted in the available “Native Apps”. What are Native Apps? These are the wallets built directly into the web application that Trezor has built to manage your coins directly on your platform. They are very easy to use, manage, and view in a very easy manner. This is NOT the case when you deal with certain coins that are only supported with 3rd party integrations. As a result, they are fundamentally better for the end user.

I am going to list a handful of what I consider the notable coins that are supported by these native apps and differences. I will not overlap these and point out some coins that are only supported by the Trezor Model T, and NOT supported on the Trezor One. Note this below:

Trezor One Supported Coins:

Dash (DASH)

Digibyte (DGB)

Vertcoin (VTC)

Namecoin (NMC)

Dogecoin (DOGE)

 

Trezor Model T Supported Coins:

Ripple (XRP)

Ethereum (ETH)

Chainlink (LINK)

Holochain (HOT)

USDcoin (USDC) *Stable Coin*

This is just a brief example of some popular coins that are supported on each wallet natively using Trezor’s web app. Ther are some additional coins that are supported on the Trezor Model T through 3rd party wallets that will not work with Trezor One, such as Tezos (XTZ) and Monero (XMR).

This is important to know, as there are over 1,000 ERC-20 tokens that are expanding into native app support by Trezor Model T, that is not going to be supported by Trezor One, however, using some 3rd party wallets, will still support them, if you’re so inclined.

 

Trezor Security

 

I will briefly touch on this here as most of this was gone over in depth in my Trezor One Review. As mentioned above, the physical security measures and differences are pointed out in its physicality of it’s packaging, but I will point out that there is one feature that I particularly like that is available on the Trezor Model T.

Both have an option to set a “passphrase” or a 25th seed word when accessing your account. This means that if/when you have to use your recovery seed to restore your device, you not only need the 24 seed words in the correct order, but you will need to enter in the custom passphrase in order to fully restore your wallet.

Here is the main difference on the Trezor Model T. Because the device has a touch screen, both the PIN and the custom passphrase (if you enable it) will be entered in on the device itself, and not the web app. Why is this important? Well, in the event that your web app is compromised or you have a key logger on your computer, you have a separation from your device and what you enter on the web app to unlock or access your device.

The Trezor One requires you enter in your PIN on the web application with a number grid, since it does not have a physical touch screen that allows you to enter it in on the device. Pretty cool if you ask me.

 

Trezor Prices

 

The Trezor Prices are pretty significant in terms of the difference between the Trezor One and the Trezor Model T. As we’ve discussed above some of the differences of coins that are supported and the overall design, the prices are pretty notable as these devices cover a lot of the same ground. The current prices are listed below as of this writing:

 

Trezor One – 69 Euros or Approx. $78.00 USD

Trezor Model T – 149 Euros or Approx. $169.00 USD

 

This means that for the almost the same level or security you can get the original hardware wallet, the Trezor One for $91 less than the upgraded model. However, you have a lot more room to grow in terms of coins and token supported natively on the Trezor Model T, which means it will be more “future proof” and more expandable than the original.

Setup And Recovery Seed Differences

The primary differences in the two devices is fairly straightforward. The Trezor One includes a 24-word seed phrase when setting up and backing up your device. The Trezor Model T includes a 12 word seed phrase when you receive the device and that limitation is indicated on the included recovery seed cards in the box.

Why did they make this difference? Whether you choose a 12, 18, or 24 word seed phrase, it ultimately includes the same level of security. Additionally, since the Trezor Model T includes the option to set a custom passphrase you can enable on the device in addition to requiring the PIN, they felt that it was extra secure that way, although it’s optional.

 

Trezor Vs. Ledger Vs. KeepKey

 

The highest end device of these 3 is going to go to the Trezor Model T. Not because of the price tag, but because of the extra security features and the vast coin support that is way ahead of the competition currently. The Ledger Nano X is on par with this and even allows you to manage your device via bluetooth and can hold up to 100 apps directly on one device, which has it’s own edge over the rest.

The KeepKey is one of the oldest devices, but it is the “nicest” in terms of it’s physical presentation as it’s a very solid and sleek device that just “feels” premium. Additionally, it is going to release their new platform very soon that integrates directly with native coin support and non-custodial trading directly on the hardware wallet, that makes it probably the safest trading experience I have seen yet. I have tested this platform and have a detailed review of it HERE.

Additionally, if you want more details on the key differences of these devices, I will link that specific article here that I wrote entitled “KeepKey Vs. Trezor Vs. Ledger – Which One Should I Buy? (2019)“.

 

Conclusion

 

So which one is better? Well, to be honest there is no clear cut answer and it varies for each person. Here’s how I would put it to you. Are you going to be getting more and more into crypto and expanding into more altcoins as time goes on? If so, go with the Trezor Model T. If you are simplistic and you just want to “HODL” Bitcoin, Ethereum, and maybe a few other larger cap coins for a long period of time? Then Just got with the Trezor One.

The truth is, both will continually receive security and firmware upgrades as time goes on and will be very usable for years to come. In this professional’s opinion, it really comes down to any specific coins you want native support for (VERY IMPORTANT) and if you plan on expanding. You can’t go wrong with either one, as they have stood the test of time and I’ve used both for various coins over the years and I’ve seen the positive changes in both devices. Click the links below to buy The Trezor One and The Trezor Model T below directly from their website!

 

***CLICK HERE TO BUY THE TREZOR ONE WALLET***

 

***CLICK HERE TO BUY THE TREZOR MODEL T WALLET***

 

What do you think? Would you choose the Trezor One Or Model T? Which one do you use? Sound off below!

 

Cheers,

 

The Crypto Renegade

 

NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. This adds no cost to you but it helps me focus on giving as much value as possible in every single post by being compensated for recommending products that help people succeed.

KeepKey Vs. Trezor Vs. Ledger: Which One Should I Buy? (2020)

In this review, I will go over all 3 primary hardware wallets and see the show down of KeepKey Vs. Trezor Vs. Ledger. People always ask me when they realize they need to start taking their private key security seriously is “Which hardware wallet should I buy?“ This questions has been presented to me hundreds, if not thousands of time, and there is no one real “clear” answer.

It ultimately depends on which coins you want to store and how you want to access them. Do you plan on trading your coins often? Are you simply just trying to “buy and hold” for several months and several years, like a set and forget situation? Are you planning on using the wallet to “bake” or use to contribute to the blockchain on proof-of-stake (POS) networks?

While these are all valid questions, I personally have all 3 wallets and use them regularly. Why? Well, aside from being in the industry, and needing to stay up to date on these devices and their features and capabilities, the main reason is to diversify. What do I mean by this?

Well, if you have (or plan to have) significant holdings, it is smart not to have all of your coins or private keys on one wallet, just in case. Now I’ve created a free e-book that explains how to avoid this which you can get for free HERE, but ultimately if you are in the market for a wallet for the first time, I will tell you the wallet I like to use the best right now in May of 2019.

 

KeepKey VS. Trezor VS. Ledger

 

Stay tuned below for the final result, but I go over some pros and cons of each device below. They all are very secure and safe to use, but it really just comes down to preference and really how often you decide to interact with the device. Let’s get right to it!

 

#1 TREZOR

There are two versions of Trezor: Trezor One and Trezor Model T. The former is the entry level device that came out 2013 and has since received regular firmware upgrades enhancing it’s security and adding new software support for native and 3rd party applications for new coins. In 2018, they released their 2nd-gen product called the “Model T“.

The latter is a larger device with touch screen and is operated by a “Beta” wallet that supports over 1,000 coins between it’s native applications and 3rd party integration. Most recently, they added NATIVE support (which is a huge upgrade in my opinion) for Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC). This means it is connected to its unique application that was custom designed by Trezor to manage your ETH accounts directly in the app. Previously, any ETH or ERC-20 based token required to use a 3rd party wallet, which was annoying and cumbersome.

I understand there is a lot of development work that goes into creating and managing any native app, but Ledger and Trezor already had native support for this, (as they should) considering it’s been in the top 3 coins by market cap consistently for years.

Trezor Model T however, is a massive upgrade and adds not only native support for multiple coins, but has added security in the form of a PIN entered in on the touch screen of the device instead of the web app used on the web application. This upgraded device was used for several new features including a password manager and multiple additional security options and ease of use for recovery options on the device itself. Very powerful.  Below is the overall feeling I have about the device(s) and the overall team behind them. 3 best cryptocurrency cold storage solutions

Bottomline: They have upgraded some basic functionality, which is good, and to their credit they have added support for some coins that really need it, such as Monero and Tether. This is of course when their team collaborates and helps build a supported wallet to tie into their code base. They have been building a foundation for the future and that is going to work in their favor as soon as each coin’s respective development team decides to catch up.

 

Newest Notable Coins Added:

-Binance Coin (BNB)    

-Monero (XMR)

-Cardano (ADA)

-Ravencoin (RVN)

-Tether (USDT) *Stable coin*

 

 

#2 KEEPKEY

keepkey

Keepkey has always been a favorite of mine, as it’s a solid design and very sleek and stable frame that just feels good when you hold it in your hands. Now let’s get into the nitty-gritty. For years, Keepkey only supported: Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Namecoin, Dogecoin, and Dash.

For a hardware wallet that needs to compete in this market place, that needed a serious upgrade. Luckily, they have been making some AMAZING changes and not only added a ton of ERC-20 Support, but more importantly, they are revamping their entire platform to have one fluid, seamless application that integrates all of their core services (See my previous post for details on this).

This is extremely powerful, and a decision that I believe will catapult them ahead of the competition. They are currently in a closed beta, and it is expected that they will be releasing this later in 2019. Stay tuned for news on this.

Bottomline: Keep an eye out for the newest upgrades and the new platform that is coming soon. I hope to gain access to the private beta soon, and if given access, I will ask permission to write a review for your guys. *UPDATE* I have gained access to the beta and have tested it thoroughly, please see below.

 

Newest Notable Coins Added:

-Basic Attention Token (BAT)

-DigixDAO (DGD)

-Augur (REP)

-Polymath (POLY)

-TrueUSD (TUSD) *Stable coin*

 

#3 LEDGER

Ledger is considered “The most recommended hardware wallet” on the market. The simple reason for this is because it’s cheap (low barrier to entry) and they have been working on upgrading their infrastructure and recently released Ledger Live, which is their new desktop (and iOS) application for managing all of your coins. This is much better than their previous solution of using a chrome extension to access the UI, but Ledger Live is not without it’s quirks.

Overall, the UI is pretty clean and is pretty straight forward in terms of first time setup and detects your device when it’s plugged into the USB port and asks you to authenticate to view the app. The one thing most people don’t understand is the Ledger Nano S has very little RAM, so even though they advertise that it supports over 1,100 coins, you can only have approximately 3 or 4 coin apps installed at once on your device.

You will want to make sure you choose your coins wisely and perhaps get multiple devices if you want to diversify and/or use a 3rd party wallet as mentioned above to manage more coins on the same device.

This however, does not apply to the new Ledger Nano X. In addition to the new design and being able to manage this wirelessly via bluetooth, you can manage your coins anywhere on an iPhone or Android effortlessly. You also can support up to 10x the amount of apps or “coins” to be supported on the same device at once. This is huge if you want to diversify and be able to hold more than 3 or 4 at a time. The device is approximately $119 right now and it should be available to the public within the next 7 days. Very exciting.

Bottomline: It’s not perfect, but it has made some good improvements over the last year and is continually updating it’s coin support. I will list below some of the coins that are supported on Ledger currently that are not yet available on other platforms, which brings it’s edge.

I will say the best advantage (for me, anyways) that Ledger has going for itself right now is the fact you can “bake” Tezos on your hardware wallet directly, and no other hardware wallet on the market currently supports that. As a firm believer in that project and the fact I can participate in the network, while keeping my private keys offline is a HUGE plus.

 

Newest Notable Coins Added:

-Ripple (XRP)

-EOS (EOS)    

-Tezos (XTZ)

-QTUM (QTUM)

-USD Coin (USDC) *Stable coin*

 

KEEPKEY VS. TREZOR VS. LEDGER CONCLUSION: WHICH ONE SHOULD YOU BUY?

 

As I mentioned above, there is no definitive “correct” answer, as each person’s needs may differ. Now that I have that disclaimer out of the way, I will provide my personal recommendation if you are a first time hardware wallet buyer and you only need one to start out with. I will say this was NOT an easy decision, but here is what I would recommend to my mother or personal friend who is looking to secure their cryptocurrency in an easy to use way. I would recommend getting a KEEPKEY. KeepKey Vs. Trezor Vs. Ledger

Why is this my answer? Well, as I updated above, I was invited to participate in their private beta (In depth review on that coming shortly) and I was blown away. ShapeShift (the company that bought KeepKey) has revamped their entire interface. This is extremely noteworthy because before, you had to download multiple applications, and chrome extensions to manage your private keys and it was not the best user experience. This has all changed.

Their new platform that will be coming out very soon and is by far the easiest to use and best hardware wallet experience I have seen yet. Not only can you easily trade coins while keeping your private keys on the device the entire time, managing your portfolio has never been easier. At the time of this writing, it is only $79, and while it is not the cheapest device, it is certainly the highest quality, and best user experience I have seen yet on their new platform.

As far I know, they have plenty of new coins and features in the pipeline, and it is so easy to use, even my grandma could use it and wouldn’t have to explain much. It really is the first plug and play hardware wallet experience I have used (and I’ve used them all). Again, it’s hard to give visualization of my experience, but with my upcoming review, you will see some screenshots and see what I’m talking about.

Overall, it has proven to be the easiest way (so far) to manage my funds safely, and the ONLY way to trade assets without handing my private keys over to an exchange or any other type of wallet or custodian. I highly recommend this hardware wallet if you are making your first purchase and trust me, you won’t regret it.

 

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE KEEPKEY HARDWARE WALLET DIRECTLY FROM THEIR WEBSITE!

 

What do you think? Would you have chosen something different? Please let me know below in the comments!

 

Cheers,

 

The Crypto Renegade

 

NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. This adds no cost to you but it helps me focus on giving as much value as possible in every single post by being compensated for recommending products that help people succeed.

Trezor One Review: Is The Original Still The Best?

In this article, I will dive deep in the Trezor One Review: Is the original still the best? Trezor One is the original hardware wallet. What does that mean exactly? This was the first physical manifestation of the “hardware wallet” for bitcoin offline security and was introduced to us from Satoshi Labs in 2014. This device is a small, trapezoid shaped device with a small OLED screen and 2 mechanical buttons which are used for confirming or denying transactions.

is there a hardware wallet that can store all the top cryptocurrencies?

This is also used for generating your recovery seed during your first time setup, but we will address that a little later. This concept when it arrived in 2014, served a HUGE need in the market as at the time, most people mainly used a paper wallet for protecting their private keys and keeping them offline. This is still used today, but is used as a one way method, and is not ideal for making transactions or managing your portfolio. Not to mention, if anyone got a hold of that piece of paper, they could easily scan the QR code and steal your coins.

 

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

 

The Trezor One comes with: 2 recovery seed cards, a lanyard/wrist loop, 4 stickers, USB cable, and the device itself. The device is very small and has two mechanical buttons on the front of the device below the screen. It is powered on only when connected to a computer.

When you setup and initialize the device for the first time, you need to visit wallet.trezor.io on your chrome browser and click on “Trezor One”. This will pop up a screen where it show the security tabs on the box for you to inspect the device, before opening the box. This box is self destructive and is meant to have clear visibility to see if it’s been tampered with in any way.

Once you have done this, you will finally be prompted to “Continue To Wallet”. This is where the “bridge” comes in. What’s the bridge you ask? This is a small file download that is required for you to download and install to manage your device. It connects the web application to the device itself and validates the firmware.

 

WHAT COINS ARE SUPPORTED ON TREZOR ONE?

Image result for trezor one coins supported

As of this writing, there are approximately 9 native applications that can be used directly in the web app, and about 1,000 coins supported via 3rd party wallets like Mycelium and MyEtherWallet. The native apps that Trezor One supports is as follows:

-Bitcoin (BTC)

-Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

-Litecoin (LTC)

-Dash (DASH)

-Zcash (ZEC)

-Doge Coin (DOGE)

-Bitcoin Gold (BTG)

-Digibyte (DGB)

-Vertcoin (VTC)

 

The list of all the other coins that are supported on the Trezor Model T or 3rd Party Wallets can be found here – https://trezor.io/coins/

To me, this is the weakest point of this wallet is the native application support. They have invested a lot of time and developer resources to developing their “Beta” wallet, which is currently only supporting the Trezor Model T, which is Trezor’s 2nd generation device. In my opinion, the Trezor One is a decent entry level device, but I would not expect a growth of new coins being supported in the future.

The current price for this device is 69 EUR, which is approx $77 USD at the time of this writing.

 

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE TREZOR ONE FROM TREZOR’S OFFICIAL SITE

 

HOW TO SET UP THE DEVICE: FIRMWARE PROCESS

When the device is first shipped, it comes with NO firmware currently installed. This is a unique security measure that Satoshi Labs has employed to ensure that no MIM attacks or corrupt firmware was planted in the device during transit. When you setup the device and install the bridge, it will check the device is genuine and runs a check to insure the firmware (signed by Satoshi Labs) can properly be installed.

This process is seamless and once it’s installed, it will prompt you to create a 4-8 digit PIN that is shown on the device in random way using what’s known as an RNG (Random Number Generator).

Next, you will setup the 24 word recovery seed phrase which will walk you through each word (in order) shown on the device screen and will prompt you to write it down on the provided seed cards in the box. Once you write it down, it will walk you through confirming, and then it will test you and ask you, for instance…”What is word #17?”. You will then be required to choose the correct word. Once this is completed on 4 random words, you can confirm and the device will be initialized and ready to use  the web application and make your first transaction.

 

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE TREZOR ONE FROM TREZOR’S OFFICIAL SITE

 

TREZOR SECURITY

What’s really unique about Trezor’s design is that there is no “username” or “password” for accessing the device. If someone walks up to your computer and see’s the dashboard, nothing can be done without physical access to the device to authorize a transaction.

In addition to the above, you can setup an optional “passphrase” or a 25th seed word so that if for any reason someone has access to your recovery seed, they still cannot steal your coins unless they also have your passphrase as well. If you decide to use this, DO NOT write it down anywhere and memorize this particular passphrase for extra protection. Image result for trezor one firmware

They also use a process to validate firmware and authenticate your device where you private keys are stored called “Secure Boot MCU”. This process requires the bridge to verify that your device is genuine and signed by Satoshi Labs. This is unique and offers a security check every time you boot up the device to ensure you are properly connected to the correct location when accessing the web app. If something goes array, your device will throw an error warning and let you know not to trust the device if for any reason the bridge cannot connect to the proper web app.

 

TREZOR VS. LEDGER (MY EXPERIENCE)

The two devices that I find are most used, especially for people who are new to hardware wallets, is the Trezor One or the Ledger Nano S. Let me first say they are both fantastic devices and serve a similar purpose. First off, they are both considered entry level devices and are built for the user that is not looking to store a lot of coins at once using the apps they each provide.

For instance, if you only want to store only Bitcoin and Ethereum, both devices would work, but only Ledger would have both of those work using native apps. Here are some questions you will want to ask yourself when deciding,

 

What coins am I planning to store on the hardware wallet?

What is my budget for getting started?

Do I plan to use any 3rd party wallets or just the basic apps that come with the device?

 

In terms of trust and reputation, I would lean towards the Trezor One, as it’s tried and true and is the original hardware wallet. The web app it uses can also be accessed from any computer, whereas the Ledger Nano S would require to download a desktop application to use it.

Final Thoughts On Both: Unless you plan on storing Ripple (XRP) or Tezos (XTZ), I would go with Trezor, as it’s easier to use on any computer, even if that computer is infected with malware, safely.

 

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE TREZOR ONE FROM TREZOR’S OFFICIAL SITE

 

CONCLUSION: BOTTOMLINE

 

PROS:

Trezor One has a clean and functional web app that allows for customization and password management in the web app for all passwords to be encrypted from any other site as well.

– The device is cheap and really easy to setup. This is perfect if you plan on using the device on multiple computers or if you plan to use it for travel or you plan to use public computers.

– Has the extra security feature for the “Passphrase” which is a unique security measure that is not employed with the Ledger Nano S.

– The screen is large enough to display the full address when verifying and confirming transactions, unlike the Ledger Nano S.

 

CONS:

 

– Does not support some popular coins like Ripple (XRP) or Tezos (XTZ). It also does not use a native application for primary coins, like Ethereum (ETH).

– Is not the cheapest entry level device. You can still get a Ledger Nano S for only $59 if you’re getting started and you are very price conscious.

-You will need to upgrade to the Trezor Model T if you plan to use a lot of the newer coins that are being rolled out or coins that previously did not have hardware wallet support.

 

CLICK HERE TO BUY THE TREZOR ONE FROM TREZOR’S OFFICIAL SITE

 

What do you think? Is there a better wallet you recommend for people getting started? Let me know in the comments below!

Cheers,

 

The Crypto Renegade

 

NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. This adds no cost to you but it helps me focus on giving as much value as possible in every single post by being compensated for recommending products that help people succeed.

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