Trezor Vs. Ledger – An Updated Analysis
Trezor Vs. Ledger – An Updated Analysis
After you’ve made the choice to be part of the cryptocurrency craze, you’ve acquired Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin or other cryptocurrency and you’re HODLing. Now what? Well, your top priority is to protect your digital assets.
Hardware wallets are usually the safest and are the preferred method for many cryptocurrency holders. Typically, these wallets connect to a computer via a USB port or a handheld device via Bluetooth.
There are two mainstream hardware wallets on the market – Trezor and Ledger Nano S. Both have established themselves as popular cold wallet options.
Both wallets save your cryptocurrency private key in an offline environment, so that hackers can’t steal your private key. For anyone to steal your coins, they’d need to steal your hardware wallet and somehow get you to give them your password and PIN code.
Advantages of Hardware wallets
- The private key information is kept safe within the hardware and is never exposed to the working system.
- Hardware wallets are resistant to any malicious software designed to find to root out private keys and steal funds.
- If you happen to lose your wallet, you can always recover your coins using a seed recovery phrase.
- Before spending any coin, the hardware wallet will request you to confirm the transaction on your computer. This ensures no coin is spent without your knowledge.
- Wallets are secured by encryption with a PIN code like debit cards, which adds more security to your digital assets.
- Most hardware wallets are able to support multiple cryptocurrencies.
So which one is better – Trezor or Ledger?
Trezor
Trezor hardware wallet came in the summer of 2014 by a Czech-Republic-based startup – SatoshiLabs. It was the first Bitcoin wallet on the market and probably the most reputable one as well. It offers a combination of secure cold storage and the ability to spend cryptocurrencies with the same convenience as a hot wallet. It allows you to store your private keys and digitally sign transactions without any Internet connection.
Source: https://www.easycoinbuy.com
Ledger
The Ledger Nano S hardware wallet is the brainchild of eight experts from a France-based company called Ledger. Launched in 2014, Ledger is a very secure alternative for storing and managing cryptocurrencies. The Nano S offers a variety of nice features. In addition to the already appealing design, the hardware wallet based on the BOLOS platform is a small cryptographic wonder with high-security features like BIP39 Seed (12 to 24 words) and 4-digit login PIN code.
Source: ledger.com
User Interface And Design
In terms of design, the wallets are practically the same. Both are small and compact. They should comfortably fit in your pocket and be usable in one hand. However, Ledger Nano S has a slight advantage, in the sense that it boasts a stainless steel casing which is pretty robust. Trezor is made out of plastic but is more compact than Ledger Nano S.
Both products have two physical buttons that are used to confirm or deny the action. Moreover, each fully utilizes its screen which shows transaction information. It is worth noting that Trezor’s display is slightly larger than Ledger’s screen. However, that doesn’t have an impact on performance. Both wallets come in the form of a tiny attachment to the USB port. You can connect your device to a PC, smartphone or any other device using the USB cable.
Ledger’s weigh is 16.2 grams and its dimensions are – 98mm x 18mm long x 9mm thick. The Trezor Wallet weighs 12 grams and is definitely smaller (30mm x 60mm long and 6mm thick), which makes it more portable and easier to carry in your pocket.
What’s inside the Trezor and Ledger retail package?
Trezor
- Trezor device
- USB cable
- Strap
- User manual
- Two recovery Seed Cards
Ledger Nano S
- Ledger Nano S device
- Start manual
- Keyring, lanyard, and other resources
- Recovery card
- USB cable
Using The Device
Both Trezor and Ledger support a variety of operating systems (OS). They work with Windows, Mac and Linux Operating Systems. You will need to connect the devices to a computer via a micro-USB cable. Also, they both support nearly all Android devices. Trezor has a Google Chrome extension that features a standalone device management. The extension allows applications and websites to communicate with a Trezor device.
Ease of use
The set-up process for both devices is pretty straightforward. The process involves three steps – connecting your hardware to a computer using a USB cable, setting a PIN code, and writing down your backup recovery phrase.
Security
Unlike Trezor, Ledger S is not a completely open source system. Even though the Ledger Nano S is not truly open source, it is more secure with password encryption.
Cryptocurrencies Supported
Both Trezor and Ledger support most of the popular digital currencies. At the time of this writing, the Trezor’s and Ledger’s list of supported digital coins include:
Trezor
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Bitcoin Cash
- Litecoin
- Bitcoin Gold
- Ethereum Classic
- Dash
- DogeCoin
- Zcash
- NameCoin
- NEM
- Expanse
- ERC-20 Tokens
- UBQ
Ledger Nano S
The Ledger Nano S offers support for more cryptocurrencies than Trezor. Therefore, if you want to buy and sell multiple cryptocurrencies, Ledger may be more suitable. Cryptocurrencies supported by Ledger:
- Bitcoin
- Bitcoin Gold
- Bitcoin Cash
- Ethereum
- Ethereum Classic
- Ripple
- Zcash
- PIVX
- Digibyte
- Qtum
- Komodo
- Dash
- Litecoin
- Dogecoin
- PoSW
- Zencash
- BTCP
- Stealthcoin
- Neo
- Ark
- ERC-20 Tokens
- Stellar
- Stratis
- Ubiq
- Viacoin
- Vertcoin
Price
Trezor is available at a higher price point compared to Ledger. Trezor is available at a retail price of $169 while Ledger is priced at $99.
Final Thoughts
Our overall feeling is that both hardware wallets are good, safe and convenient. The difference is minimal, as both wallets are good options, but the Ledger Nano S is cheaper, supports more altcoins and is slightly more secure than Trezor. For that reason, it earns a slightly better recommendation from our analysis team here.
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