Trezor Crypto Wallet Review

Many companies featured on Money advertise with us. Opinions are our own, but compensation and in-depth research may determine where and how companies appear. Learn more about how we make money.

https://money.com/trezor-crypto-wallet-review/

Money is not a client of any investment adviser featured on this page. The information provided on this page is for educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Money does not offer advisory services.

Cryptocurrency wallets are an essential part of participating in the Web3 ecosystem since they let you send, receive and store crypto assets. A crypto wallet is software or hardware that securely stores your currency and protects it from being lost or stolen.

Trezor is a maker of offline crypto hardware wallets, which offer solid security and all the basic functionalities you would expect. However, narrowing down the best crypto wallets can be subjective as it heavily depends on the use case, personal preferences and cost effectiveness.

In this review of Trezor crypto wallets, we closely examine the provider, and where it excels or falls short, to help you decide whether it’s the right digital asset storage product for you.

Zengo has had 0 wallets hacked since 2018

Powered by MPC cryptography

3-factor-authentication recovery model

Secure wallet recovery - never worry about losing your seed phrase again

24/7 live in-app support.

Trezor hard wallets use traditional seed phrase security — a staple in the crypto industry. A seed phrase is a passphrase represented as a random string of 12, 18 or 24 simple English words that the user can note (on paper) for future reference. This seed phrase gives users complete access to its associated crypto wallet.

Trezor’s higher-end Model T crypto wallet uses a new security standard — Shamir Backup — to bolster its seed phrase security and negate the two greatest risks users face with seed phrases: theft and destruction. This proprietary technology allows users to set multiple seed phrases and specify how many are required to access the wallet.

The result: an additional layer of security. Even if one of the seed phrases gets lost or stolen, the user can refer to other seed phrases to unlock their Trezor crypto hard wallet. This also makes it impossible for anyone who might have stolen a single seed phrase to open the wallet. This additional layer of security offered by the Shamir Backup sets the Trezor Model T apart from its competitors and helps counter many of the shortcomings of traditional seed phrase security.

Furthermore, Trezor wallets are "cold," which further bolsters their security. There are two types of crypto wallets: hot and cold. Hot wallets are generally app- or computer-based and must be connected to the internet to function as storage banks for your crypto. Conversely, cold wallets are offline storage devices protected against potential hacks and data leaks because they aren’t connected to the internet.

Trezor crypto wallets have a strong focus on security but offer basic features. If you’re looking to compare a Trezor wallet with other cold wallets, this section will help narrow your crypto wallet choices.

Trezor wallets — the Model One and Model T — come equipped with built-in controls to access your wallet. The Model T’s touch screen allows you to directly input your passphrase, while the Model One, which has a two-button pad, needs to be connected to the Trezor computer app to be unlocked.

The straightforward unlocking processes of the Trezor wallets give them a strong and secure feel. The screens on both wallets tell you what’s happening in the physical wallet itself so you’re not left guessing, as with some digital wallets.

Losing or having your seed phrase stolen is any crypto user’s worst nightmare. Anyone who’s found themselves asking, "Is crypto safe?," has likely heard a story of someone losing their wealth because of a misplaced seed phrase.

Shamir Backup, though only available with Trezor’s Model T, is a tremendous feature that can give users a convenient solution should the aforementioned worst-case scenario occur. By allowing you to generate multiple seed phrases, the wallet ensures that you won’t be locked out or get robbed because of losing, misplacing or having one seed phrase stolen.

Trezor wallets’ hardware and software are open source, meaning the company doesn’t keep any proprietary secrets about how Trezor devices are built or how they function. Therefore, developers can get a clear picture of the internal workings of these wallets, and if the company ever fails, your crypto will still be safe and accessible.

Trezor wallets are great for some requirements, but when it comes to others, there are a few caveats. The following section details some things you should know about these crypto wallets if you’re considering one.

Trezor wallets can be connected to Android smartphones using a USB cable but cannot link to iOS devices like iPhones. Furthermore, the Trezor Suite — an integrated crypto exchange comparison tool created that lets you buy, sell or exchange crypto by connecting with offers from trusted partner exchanges — only works with Chrome and Firefox browsers.

There are workarounds, and the Trezor Suite app has a Mac version. However, the lack of support for iOS devices and the Safari browser is something to consider if you’re an Apple user.

The lack of a smartphone app is another shortcoming in the convenience department for Trezor wallets, especially if you want to use your wallet on the go. Despite being compatible with Android phones, you still need to access the Trezor Suite from your smartphone’s internet browser — which must be Chrome or Firefox — to use the wallets.

One of Trezor's foremost strengths can also be seen as a weakness. The wallets boast a straightforward user interface and security, but their lack of features and upgrades can make them seem outdated.

The Trezor Model One, for example, still uses USB-A cable, a technology that's been around since 1996. You can purchase adaptor cables, like a USB-C, for the Model One. But its standard cord gives it an outdated feel.

Trezor offers two wallets: the stripped-down Trezor One and the high-end Trezor Model T. After closely examining both of these cold wallets, we’ve compiled their most important features, how they differ and what kind of use case each caters to.

The Trezor Model T is the company's top-of-the-line model with a 1.54-inch LCD touchscreen display, proprietary Shamir Backup and support for 1,456 crypto coins and tokens. The touchscreen lets you enter your private key and optional passphrase if you’ve set one for additional security. It’s also compatible with CoinJoin, an optional tool that helps make your bitcoin transactions anonymous.

The Model T is for users looking for higher functionality, security and convenience compared to Trezor’s more basic offering, the Model One. The Model T’s additional features come at a cost but significantly improve the user experience. The most important feature you get if you select the Model T is Shamir Backup, which is a definite game changer for security and accessibility.

The Trezor Model One is the company’s budget offering. It was also the first hardware crypto wallet on the market, debuting in 2014. Nonetheless, during our Trezor wallet review, we found that several firmware upgrades later, the Model One still gets quite a few important features right.

The Model One cold wallet has two clickable buttons and a small display screen. It needs to be connected to a computer or Android smartphone to enter the optional passphrase and access your holdings. It has seed phrase security and supports 1,289 crypto coins and tokens.

The Trezor Model One is an affordable option that gives users simple but reliable security in a small package. While it doesn’t have many of the features of its higher-end sibling, the Model T, this device is perfect for someone primarily looking for cold hardware crypto storage without the complications and cost of recent crypto wallets.

The Trezor Model T costs $219 on the company’s website, while the pocket-friendly Model One costs $69. The company doesn’t charge fees to send and receive crypto with either wallet. Both devices also allow you to create multiple separate wallets for each crypto you hold. Or, you can use either of them exclusively as a Trezor bitcoin wallet.

Trezor is part of SatoshiLabs Group, a technology company based in Prague, Czech Republic. Founded and led by tech and crypto enthusiasts, the company began with the idea of creating the world’s first crypto hardware wallet for secure and intuitive crypto storage solutions. Initial funding for the company came from pre-orders of SatoshiLabs’ first product, the Model One.

Since the inception of Trezor, the SatoshiLabs Group has grown to include other companies. Some of them include Invity, a crypto exchange platform; Tropic Square, a maker of secure and open-source chips for hardware security; and Vexl, a peer-to-peer bitcoin trading platform. Though SatoshiLabs Group has no big-name investors, the growth of its subsidiary companies in the crypto ecosystem hints at favorable financial stability.

We examined where you can buy a Trezor crypto wallet and how to get in touch with the company if needed. Despite being headquartered in Prague, the company has global reach.

Trezor wallets are available via their website, through numerous resellers and on Amazon.com, meaning you can buy a Trezor wallet in every country, though the price could include custom duties depending on the region you’re ordering from. Trezor Suite has a similarly broad footprint, and the browser and desktop apps are usable in most countries.

The best way to contact Trezor is through its online support center. There’s a virtual assistant who can help solve simple queries and raise a service ticket with the service team if your issue isn’t resolved. Trezor’s Facebook product page connects to the support center, so messaging the company through social media is also an option. Additionally, Trezor has a presence on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.

Remember that the Trezor service team will never ask you for sensitive information like your passphrase, PIN or seed phrase.

Trezor has received mostly positive user experience feedback. Online customer reviews specify how Trezor setup is easy, and how its use is intuitive. The company also offers detailed guides on seed phrase safety, which are helpful for beginners. However, the lack of iOS support and a lack of support for some alt coins continue to be pain points for users. The company does offer a list of supported coins and tokens for its cold wallets.

Both the Trezor Model One and Model T hold extremely strong customer ratings on the retail platforms selling them. Their ease of use and reliable security continue to be praised by users.

On some customer review forums, Trezor holds average ratings, mostly due to complaints against the company’s customer service. Slow response times and the inability to help users who have lost their crypto assets are repeated concerns. It’s worth noting that crypto wallets can sometimes fail, and in situations where the seed phrase is lost or stolen, there’s very little a company can do to remedy the situation.

We examined numerous metrics while compiling our Trezor wallet review. Trezor’s two crypto wallet options, the Model One and Model T, were studied separately and the company’s broader offerings were also considered. The factors we looked at to judge Trezor wallets included:

When considering Trezor crypto wallets, the phrase “old school” comes to mind, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. These hardware wallets offer no-nonsense security that is time-tested, dependable and trustworthy, so much so that their wallets — due to open-source design — can outlive the company that created it.

Trezor wallets may not have all the bells and whistles competitors offer nor the sleek interface of digital hot wallets. However, these hardware cold wallets focus more on covering every security risk so you don’t have to worry about your crypto assets getting lost or stolen. In our opinion, that’s the most important feature a crypto wallet can have.