A company based in Czech Republic, Trezor is a major player in crypto currency sector. Since its inception in 2013, the company has come up with some innovative products that have disrupted the blockchain and crypto sector. The hardware wallets which are quite popular are made by a brand named SatoshiLabs. Its first hardware wallet, named Trezor One is still available and arrival of several rivals and a few successors has not stopped its production. As it is, Trezor One has a cult following in this sector and its blend of an affordable price tag and robust security features make the wallet a favorite with both beginners and seasoned crypto users and investors-across the world.
Now that a handful of hardware wallets are available and more are about to be unveiled, it is worth analyzing if the Trezor One is still worth buying or not!
- Design and build quality
Crypto hardware wallets are typically small and same is true about the Trezor One. It will fit inside most purses without a hitch. It is also lightweight at 12 grams and you may forget you are actually carrying the device. The included lanyard makes it portable.
The Trezor one is mostly made of plastic but it is built rugged. A small OLED display is there along with two buttons. The display is wide enough to accommodate enough characters which makes usage simpler. For connectivity, there is one micro USB port. No fancy wireless communication protocols are supported though.
- What’s in the box?
The Trezor one comes in a tamper proof box having holographic seal. Inside, sits the cellophane-wrapped device, a short micro-USB cable, user manual and lanyard. You also get 2 booklets to make the 24 word recovery seed.
- Ease of usage
Using the trezor one wallet is easy. Apart from the initial setup, direct interaction with the device will not be needed and most tasks are handled by the Trezor Bridge software. The 2 buttons can be used for tasks like payment address confirmation and login authorization. The nice thing is unlike rivals Ledger Nano X and S, setting up individual apps to store separate crypto coins is not required. The USB cable however is very short and can be tough to use in some scenarios.
- Initial setup
Before you can use a crypto hardware wallet for making transactions, it is necessary to run the initial setup. For Trezor One, this is simple and should not take more than 10 minutes-even if you are a beginner.
At first, you have to connect the wallet to your PC using the provided short USB cable. Then, download the Trezor Bridge application and install it. After that, go to trezor.io/start and then choose connect your Trezor device.
At the next stage, you have to set up the wallet. Then, backing up the recovery seed will be required. This can be done following on screen prompts. Finally, setting up a pin code for payment tasks is what you have to do.
Once you have done these, accessing the wallet using the Trezor Bridge app is simple. The noteworthy thing is, you have to use both the PC screen and device display for setup- a clever move by the company.
- Features and functionality
It is a first generation crypto wallet and so some new features found in rival wallets are not found. You will not get Bluetooth support for example. Trezor One works with popular operating systems, and MacOS and Linux, Windows are supported. Trezor Bridge lacks iOS support though.
You can use the Trezor wallet as U2F security key (two-factor authentication) for services like Dropbox, Google, GitHub.
- Crypto asset support
SatoshiLabs has loaded the Trezor One to the hilt, as far as crypto currency support, is concerned. It supports more than 1000 crypto assets. Crypto currencies like BTC, ETH, LTC, USDT, XLM and BCH are supported. However, it scores less than sibling Trezor Model T- in this segment. Lack of support for Ripples is disappointing.
- Security
A hardware crypto wallet that lacks stringent safety features cuts no ice! The Trezor One scores well in this department. The device stores the crypto asset private keys offline, to begin with. So, typical hacking methods will not yield results when you use this device. The enclosure is sealed using ultrasound.
You can also boost safety level of the device by setting up a PIN. It is near impossible to bypass this PIN by brute force. The device gets wiped after 16 failed attempts. Even after it is wiped, you can use its 24-word recovery seed for restoring wallet. You may also set up customized home screen on it. SatoshiLabs has also used write-protected bootloader to thwart attempts of any making firmware modification.
Should you buy it?
It depends on what your usage needs and priorities are. Even in 2020, the Trezor One remains a worthy crypto wallet. There are many things to like about the device. It is lightweight, built rugged and comes with enough safety features the users can think of. Setting it up is also painless and does not need much time. OS support is good and same can be said about crypto asset support. The affordable price tag sweetens the deal.
However, the Trezor One is not the perfect hardware wallet-anymore! There are a few shortcomings that are rather hard to overlook. The provided USB cable is very short. There is no wireless protocol support included and iOS support is also missing. While build quality is good, it pales in comparison with rivals like Ledger Nano X-in terms of styling.
If you are looking for a safe, functional hardware wallet and have modest budget, then you cannot go wrong with this one.
