Trezor Model T crypto wallet

VERDICT: The Trezor Model T is one of the most expensive hardware wallets available, but makes up for its price with premium features, universal support and ease of use.

Pros:

Open source

Color touchscreen

Easy to setup and use

Supports over 1600 coins

Cons:

Costlier than its peers

Mobile support for Android-only

The Trezor from SatoshiLabs is one of the oldest cryptocurrency hardware wallets on the market. First released in 2014, the Trezor Model T is the company's premium offering, designed to suit both HODLers and active traders alike. 

Everything about the Trezor Model T, from its hardware specifications to the software that powers it, is released under an open source license, which is a definite plus.

A built-in touchscreen, meanwhile, gives the Model T a premium feel and enables you to enter the PIN and passphrase on the device itself, which is very convenient. 

Price

The premium Trezor Model T will set you back by around €160.

The closest competitor to the Trezor comes from a company called Ledger. The premium Ledger Nano X costs about €100, while the Ledger Nano S is available for about €50.

The third most popular hardware wallet for cryptocurrency is the KeepKey, which costs only about €40, but doesn’t offer the same features as the Ledger and the Trezor.

Interface and ease of use

By default, the Model T can handle multiple cryptocurrencies, but users can also switch to a Bitcoin-only firmware that has been designed to exclusively tackle Bitcoin operations. 

The device also gets exclusive security features such as the Shamir Backup, which can create up to 16 shares that you can use to recover your crypto if something untoward happens to your device.

In terms of operating system compatibility, the Trezor works with Windows, macOS and Linux, as well as with Android via OTG support. There’s no support for iOS though.

To get started you’ll have to use one of the four documented mechanisms to get the Trezor to communicate with its browser-based Trezor Wallet app. Trezor Bridge is the recommended option. Once it’s installed you can fire up one of the supported browsers, namely Chrome and Firefox, and head to the Trezor Wallet website. 

The wallet website will help you set up the device and manage your crypto. It has native support for Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Litecoin, Dash, Zcash, Dogecoin and Vertcoin. For everything else you’ll have to rely on a third-party wallet.

The app is fairly intuitive and you can use it to configure two-factor authentication through the Universal Second Factor (U2F) standard. The device can also be used as a FIDO2 security key on supported services as well. 

In addition to the web-based Trezor Wallet app, SatoshiLabs is also working on a new desktop app called Trezor Suite, and is currently in public beta.

Final verdict 

All things considered, the Trezor Model T is one the best hardware wallets for anyone that wants to HODL crypto. That's because the device can hold a larger variety of crypto than most of its peers and its open source nature makes it more compatible with third-party wallets. 

The only real challenger to the Trezor Model T is the Ledger Nano X. However, Ledger recently suffered a data breach that exposed  information about thousands of customers. While there is a known flaw that can reveal seeds from the Trezor Model T, the exploit requires physical access to the wallet, making it less severe than the Ledger breach.

With everything taken into account, the Trezor's ease of use, open source architecture and extensive support offering is enough to tip the scales in its favor.