Trezor Model T Review (Crypto Hardware Wallet) 2021

If you have a substantial amount of cryptocurrency, you’re going to want to store it in the most secure way possible, and setting up a hardware wallet is by far the best way to keep your coins safe.

In this review, we’re going to look at the features of the Trezor Model T Hardware Wallet. Trezor is one of the premier and most popular hardware wallet brands for cryptocurrency and is manufactured by the Czech company Satoshi Labs.

Their original model, the Trezor Model One, was the first commercially available wallet on the market (all the way back in 2013)! As well as this, the company’s founders developed the BIP-39 mnemonic recovery seed standard, These guys are trusted pioneers in the hardware wallet space!

Before diving into our review of the Trezor Model T, first, we’ll take a quick look at how hardware wallets work.

How Hardware Wallets Work

When you hold cryptocurrency, you actually own the keys to access and use the coins. These coins “live” on a blockchain (a type of cryptographically secure immutable ledger), and your keys allow you to transact with them.

Not your keys, not your crypto

There are two types of keys – public and private. Your public key acts a bit like an email address. This is the key you can give to someone if you want them to send you some crypto. It is 100% safe to share your public key with others. Your private key, on the other hand, should only be known by you and is never to be shared with anyone else.

Hardware wallets store your private keys offline on a device that is not connected to the internet. This means that your cryptocurrency will be less vulnerable to attacks by hackers and nefarious actors.

Hardware Wallet Recovery Phrase

When you set up your hardware wallet, a 12 or 24-word recovery phrase is generated. This string of words also referred to as a “seed” phrase is your only backup in the case that your hardware wallet becomes broken, lost, or stolen. It’s vitally important that you write it down carefully and store it offline, in a secure place. Never store it digitally, and never, ever take a picture of your seed phrase. If someone gets hold of your seed phrase, they will have access to your cryptocurrency!

Read more about hard wallets, seed phrases, and how to keep your cryptocurrency secure:

The Ultimate Guide to Keeping Your Crypto Safe in 2021

What to expect when unboxing your Trezor Model T

First of all, make sure you buy a brand new Trezor Model T directly from the manufacturers, Satoshi Labs. You can visit their official website here.

Before you open your hardware wallet, check if the hologram seal is still intact. If the seal is broken, the device may have been compromised and infected with malware. Do not attempt to use it and send it back to the manufacturer.

In your Trezor Model T box, you’ll get:

• Trezor Model T Hardware Wallet
• Magnetic Dock
• USB-C Cable
• Cards to write out your recovery phrase
• Set up guide and instructions
• Stickers

Trezor Model T Main Features

The Trezor Model T is a premium product, and as you would expect, the team at Satoshi Labs seems to have security in mind when designing this hardware wallet. Due to the fact that malware attacks are becoming more sophisticated, the Trezor Model T incorporates some extra-level security features, with the aim of keeping your coins a bit safer.

Touch Screen

The Trezor Model T comes with a full-color touchscreen. The touchscreen adds an extra layer of security and allows you to manage all your transactions and enter sensitive information directly on the device.

PIN Protection

This is a pretty cool security feature of the Trezor Model T, which scrambles your keypad each time you enter your PIN. This makes it more difficult for onlookers and malware to decipher your PIN code as you key it into your device.

Shamir backup

The Trezor Model T allows users to use the Shamir backup method, instead of the standard 12 or 24-word seed phrase. This advanced mechanism allows you to split your recovery seed, which then must be combined to access the device hardware wallet.

See Also

Ellipal Titan REVIEW: One of the Most Secure Hardware Wallets

This standard, known as SLIP-39, was also developed by the founders of Satoshi Labs. BIP-39 seed phrases involve a single point of failure, in the sense that if you lose your wallet and seed phrase, you will not be able to access your cryptocurrency.

The Shamir backup is an improvement on BIP-39 and derives multiple lists of words, which can be combined to create the recovery seed phrase. Exposing one list would not put your cryptocurrency in danger. As well as this, you can lose one of the lists and not lose access to your crypto.

Trezor Suite

Satoshi Labs have also recently released a new and improved desktop app, called Trezor Suite, which allows users to manage their Trezor Hardware Wallet and portfolio. Again, the focus is on security – the team decided a desktop app would be safer than a web app, as fraudsters sometimes set up phishing websites with similar domains. Simply misspelling the name of the website could lead you to a scammer’s website.

When setting up your Trezor Model T, Suite helps you assess the authenticity of your wallet (by educating you about the holographic seal and checking if there is any pre-loaded firmware on the wallet).

Additionally, you can turn on Tor with just one click.

What cryptocurrencies does the Trezor Model T Support?

The Trezor Model T supports over 1800 coins and tokens. As the list is updated frequently, you can check if your favorite cryptos are supported by clicking here.