Trezor One – The golden affordable standard of hardware wallet

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This review aims to introduce Trezor One – “the original hardware wallet” – and to take a look at it from various points of view – design, security, user experience and affordability.

You decided to take full control of your cryptocurrency funds in a trustless way. This is a significant step towards becoming your own bank. By this time, you might have already decided that a hardware wallet is the right solution for you. The question that remains is “Which one?”

Trezor One

Trezor One: Cryptocurrency safety for everyone

Trezor One is a hardware cryptocurrency wallet. It is a single-purpose computer designed to do one thing – to keep your funds out of the reach of people trying to steal them. It is the size of a car key and connects to your computer via a USB cable.

Probably the most important feature of the device is that it keeps your private keys in an isolated environment, so even if you connect the device to an infected computer, your funds are not compromised.

Trezor Password Manager helps you manage your online credentials.

Trezor One, when compared to the premium Trezor Model T, is simpler and more affordable, but with the same level of security. It brings crypto safety the masses and it is also a suitable entry point for cryptocurrency beginners.

Trezor One supports major cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Zcash…) as well as hundreds of other altcoins.

First impressions: Unpacking

Trezor One comes in a clean-looking black package. The box is wrapped in a plastic foil and protected by tamper-evident holograms.

The box is glued together, so it is impossible to open without tearing the paper. It is essential to check if the package is not damaged and to return any suspicious-looking packages to the manufacturer immediately.

The box contains the device itself, a USB cable, a lanyard, a getting started guide, a recovery seed card (be sure to use it) and four stickers.

You might be surprised how the device is light and uncomplicated. Given its purpose, it is only logical that its design is as simple as possible – the simpler it is, the less weak spots it can have.

The device is made of light plastic. It has a small screen, two buttons and a USB port. Overall, the package is neatly organized and contains everything you need.

Trezor One

User interface: Smooth experience

The guide in the package tells you how to get your new Trezor initialized. The process is pretty straightforward, and the interface guides you through the whole process. The most important point is to write down your recovery seed and to store it in a safe place.

The recovery seed helps you to recover your funds in a different Trezor in case you lose or damage yours. However, it is also the key to your funds in case somebody steals it from you. It is recommended to store it on a piece of paper or a more durable material and keep it in a locked drawer that only you have access to. You should also enable PIN protection right from the beginning.

Trezor Wallet, the web interface, is designed well and is easy to use even for someone new to crypto. Make sure to switch to the right cryptocurrency. Otherwise, the user experience is very smooth and secure.

Trezor requires the user to confirm each outgoing transaction or address generation directly on the device. This means that you do not have to trust the computer you are connected to.

It is also possible to use Trezor with other third-party interfaces and services, such as Electrum. However, it is better to set up the device directly in Trezor Wallet.

Security: Approved by experts

Trezor is a community darling for having a reputation of a secure and transparent device. One of the strongest points of Trezor security is that everything, both hardware and firmware, is open-source and public on GitHub. The community and security experts were, therefore, able to audit the device and you can even build one yourself. Unlike some of the competing products, there is no secret black box.

The device is delivered empty with no pre-installed firmware – this is done during the set-up process. As mentioned above, it is PIN-protected and allows you to label your device and change its home screen to make it instantly recognizable, so that it cannot be replaced by a fake once you set it up.

As mentioned above, all the important settings, transaction signing and receiving address generation requires on-device confirmation. Private keys are kept in an isolated environment, so the chances of them being stolen without the user compromising the recovery seed are extremely low.

Trezor One

Summary: Affordable golden standard of hardware wallets

Trezor One delivers on all of its promises – it is easy to use, handy, simple and extremely secure. It supports hundreds of cryptocurrencies and has excellent UX. Its price has recently gone down, making it very competitive in the hardware wallets market. To sum up, Trezor is firmly established in the top tier of hardware wallets and is the golden standard of cryptocurrency security.

Top features:

  • Security
  • Affordable price
  • Intuitive usage
  • Support of major coins as well as hundreds of others

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