Comparison of Hardware Wallets | The Best against the Rest

We compare the two current market leaders against the new up-and-coming wallets offering different form factors, useability, and approaches towards the goal of ultimate security with accessibility!

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We explain what they are, how they work, and why you probably do want one!

Basic Comparison of the Five Hardware Wallets

Further information on each Wallet can be found below.

	Trezor Model T	Ledger Nano X	Safepal S1	Cool Wallet CoolPro	Ellipal Titan
Device Size
Platform	PC / Android	PC / iOS Android	Android / iOS	Android / iOS	Android / iOS
Secure chip	❌	✔	✔	✔	❌
Air gapped	❌	❌	✔	❌	✔
Wallet Integration	✔	✔	❌	❌	❌
Coins/tokens	1,200	1,500	30,000	10,000	10,000
Staking	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Manage/ Display NFTs	via 3rd party app only	Ethereum NFT’s only	Eth +BSC NFT’s	via 3rd party app only	via 3rd party app only

Having reviewed all of these hardware wallets see our conclusions below.

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Summary of our Results

The hardware wallet market is growing at a great pace with projects racing to build integrations with other wallets, directly to dApps, exchanges, market places etc

The trend appears to be towards wallet devices that connect with Android/iOS devices, such as Ellipal Titan, CoolWallet Pro, and the Safepal S1, leaving PC users with significantly less choice.

If you prefer to manage your crypto on a desktop then the Trezor and Ledger wallets are definitely worth a closer look.

A growing number of hardware wallets are being built with onboard cameras to facilitate QR code scanning and encrypted Bluetooth connectivity for managing wallets with mobile devices.

We are yet to see whether these features will become industry standard in the future but they seem the way to go.

If you already have Metamask or another software/browser wallet it will be disappointing to discover that the Ellipal Titan, CoolWallet Pro, and the Safepal S1 wallets do not currently integrate with other third-party wallets at all!

Again, Trezor and Ledger currently have the most to offer in terms of 3rd party wallet integration.

For users who would prefer to buy, sell, exchange, and stake crypto from directly within a completely air-gapped hard wallet, the Ellipal Titan is one of only a few wallets offering this capability.

The hardware wallet industry seems to be a bit behind when it comes to developing devices and apps that can natively display NFTs, which is surprising given the growth in the NFT market and the high value of the top NFT collections.

Now, more than ever NFT owners will be looking to move their NFTs off marketplaces and into secure wallets. Yet some would argue there is little point in having an NFT if you aren’t able to look at it!

It is worth mentioning that whichever hardware wallet you choose you are still ultimately responsible for storing your recovery seed phrase, pincode ( if your device has one), and passphrase for BIP39 enabled devices.

Without these, you will find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to recover your crypto but then that is actually the point! Nobody can access your crypto without them!

Trezor Wallets

Full Description

Trezor wallets are created and owned by SatoshiLabs, a pioneer in the crypto industry and currently based in the Czech Republic. They launched their first wallet the Trezor One in 2014 and followed this with the Model T in 2018.

Security & Vulnerabilities:

Both Trezor hardware wallets use a pin code system to access your crypto balance and authorize crypto transactions.

Open-source firmware system.

Trezor uses an open-source firmware system. This means that the code used inside the wallets is published and open for everyone to view and test. Should a vulnerability in the code be identified through hackathons or in the developer community it is possible for Trezor to act very quickly to understand and eliminate this vulnerability. Also, having open-source code means that the wallet developers cannot easily build in any sneaky back doors that may put your crypto at risk!

The Trezor open-source code currently powers more than 10 other hardware wallet brands which gives you an indication of how highly trusted it is in the industry.

Seed Phrase Recovery and Passphrase Protection

Trezor was the first to introduce seed phrase and passphrase protection, now widely used in all hardware wallets and most software wallets.

It also utilizes advanced security Bip-39 passphrase technology that allows you to create multiple separate wallets on your device by adding one extra word to your original Seed Phrase. This is a big advantage as you don’t need to keep all your crypto “in the same basket”(wallet)” and each of your wallets has the same high level of protection.

Built for Hacking Protection

The device operating system is programmed to erase its memory containing your private keys if the software part of the wallet is exposed to a software threat through some kind of hack or attack. ( If this happens you can simply reset your device, input your seed phrase and you are good to go)

The wallet device itself has been built to make it almost impossible to physically break into and still be able to gain access to your keys.

Trezor state that their hardware devices can be; “safely used in public places and on computers with malware, that you can confirm transactions on airplanes and they are unaffected by x-rays! “

Wallet Integration & Platforms Supported:

These third-party wallets let you connect your Trezor device and work with it. They do not hold any private keys. Instead, they display balances and help you to manage transactions.

Tresor is a market leader when it comes to integrating with other software wallets. The most popular of which are Electrum, Etherwall, Exodus, Metamask, Mycelium, My crypto, MyEtherWallet, Nano Wallet, and WallEth.

To see full details of wallet integration features using a really handy table see this link https://wiki.trezor.io/Apps#Third-party_cryptocurrency_wallets

The crypto exchanges Bitex, Bitstamp and Coinmate allow you a secure password-less login with a Trezor device.

Whichever, third party application you may choose to connect with, your private keys are always safely protected by your Trezor device.

Trezor devices are compatible with Pc’s and Smartphones. The supported operating systems are Windows 10, macOS 10.11 and higher, Linux and Android OS.

Coins supported

https://trezor.io/coins/

Trezor One:

Coins available through the Trezor Suite App: Bitcoin, Ether, Binancecoin, USD Tether, Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, USDC, Uniswap, Chainlink, AXS, Fantom, Decentraland, AAVE, DASH, YFI (see full list of coins available on the Trezor website)

Coins available through 3rd party Apps: Avalanche, Polygon, Stellar, Theta, Tezos, Monero, Harmony, MoonRiver and Clover. (see full list of coins available on the Trezor website)

Notable Exceptions:

Cardano (ADA) and Ripple (XRP) are not currently supported by this wallet.

Trezor Model T

Coins available through the Trezor Suite App: Bitcoin, Ether, Binancecoin, Ripple, USD Tether, Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, USDC, Uniswap, Chainlink, AXS, Fantom, Decentraland, AAVE, DASH, YFI(see full list of coins available on the Trezor website)

Coins available through 3rd party Apps: Avalanche, Cardano, Polygon, Stellar, Theta, Tezos, Monero, Harmony, MoonRiver and Clover.(see full list of coins available on the Trezor website)

NFT Support:

Displaying and managing NFT’s is not currently supported by the Trezor Suite App and it is not clear whether this is something they intend to add in the future.

You can still secure your NFT’s using your Trezor wallet but you will need a 3rd party app like Opensea or a software wallet like Metamask to view them. Currently only Ethereum ERC-20 NFT’s are supported by the Trezor wallet.

Staking:

Neither the Trezor One nor Trezor Model T support direct cold staking from the wallet which is disappointing.

However, you can stake your crypto through any of the compatible 3rd party software wallets like Exodus for example that supports Solana, Cosmos and Cadano staking.

Software / User interface:

Your Trezor wallet can be set up and managed via the Trezor Suite app that has both a browser-based or downloadable desktop version.

The app Dashboard allows you to track your portfolio, view transactions and account balances for each coin you hold, enable more coins on your wallet, manage your devices security settings and access relevant articles and news related to your wallet.

The Trezor Suite works with the Tor network increasing the anonymity and privacy of your transactions by hiding your IP address whilst you are online.

If you already have a compatible software wallet you may prefer to use its desktop interface to monitor your crypto and just use the Trezor Suite for device management only.

Devices:

The Trezor One is pretty small, it fits in your hand easily and you could carry it around in your pocket, not that you would!

The device has a bright 128×64 OLED screen that holds up to six lines of text. Two front buttons are used to confirm transactions on the device. The package also includes a USB Type Micro-B cable to connect to a computer or mobile phone.

The Trezor Model T is an upgrade of the Trezor One and offers a touchscreen interface, faster processor and advanced coin support.

Customer Support:

The customer support team is only accessible via Trezor social media pages and their help center email. There is no telephone or live chat customer support.