Trezor Safe 3 Review 2024
The latest hardware wallet in the Trezor family has been the Trezor Safe 3 since the end of 2023. It is considered particularly beginner-friendly thanks to its improved design and usability. The highest level of security is guaranteed by the built-in secure element and the well-known open source architecture. You can find out whether the Trezor Safe 3 can keep these promises in this detailed test report.
First Impression
Buy Trezor Safe 3 online
The Hardware Wallet is best ordered directly from the manufacturer Trezor in the online store. This is currently available there at a price of 79,00 € (click here to check the current price). Numerous payment methods are available, including Google and Apple Pay. Standard shipping is free of charge in most cases.
Hardware Wallets should preferably be ordered directly from the manufacturer or official resellers if possible. Dubious stores or private sellers on platforms like ebay or amazon could manipulate the devices for their own purposes or trick the buyer. This way, the thieves can steal all the coins from your hardware wallet at a later time. Unfortunately, there have already been such cases in the past.
What’s in the box?
The hardware wallet is delivered in minimalist, environmentally friendly, recycled packaging. I already like that very much. The first security step is to tear open a cardboard seal on the right-hand side.
You can then open the box and remove the lid.
The entire scope of delivery
Now the scope of delivery comes to light: a small cardboard case with the quick start guide, two cards for the recovery seed and stickers, a USB-C cable and of course the Trezor Safe 3 hardware wallet, which is protected by a black protective film on the front and back and the USB-C port is sealed.
Overall, the packaging is very well thought out and makes a very good impression. Everything you need to get started is included, and great importance is attached to sustainable packaging, so that even the USB-C cable is held together with paper strips.
The Trezor Safe 3 hardware wallet
Now I will take a closer look at the hardware and design of the Trezor Safe 3.
As already mentioned, the hardware wallet arrives sealed and taped. This allows you to check whether the hardware wallet has been tampered with since it left the warehouse. The device has a 0.96″ 128 x 64 pixel monochromatic OLED screen on the front and two buttons for operation. Because the buttons are now so close together, both can be held simultaneously with one finger, which makes operation easier. The front is now simpler, as the display is not recessed into the device. Only the buttons stand out a little.
The different Trezor Safe 3 colors
Another new feature is the brushed aluminum back, which significantly enhances the Hardware Wallet. The back is available in different colors, with the following crazy color names: Cosmic Black, Arctic Pink, Sun Gold and Star Silver.
Size and design comparison of the three Trezor hardware wallets: Trezor Model T, Trezor Model One and Trezor Safe 3
In terms of the shape and arrangement of the elements, there is not much difference to the other models from Trezor. With a size of 59x32x7.4mm and a weight of 14g, the Safe 3 plays in the same league as the Model One.
I think that the Trezor Safe 3 has been significantly enhanced by the colored aluminum back. The simpler design of the front is also very appealing.
Setting up the Trezor Safe 3
Now I will take a closer look at the Trezor Safe 3 setup process.
Never use a hardware wallet that is already set up. You must choose your own PIN code or password and do the backup yourself. This is not given by anyone!
Download Trezor Suite
Setting up the Trezor Safe 3 is straightforward. The quick start guide takes you directly to the trezor.io/start page. To set it up, you need the Trezor Suite, which you can use to manage your hardware wallet and later your cryptocurrencies. This can be used both on the web and as a desktop application. The latter offers more features, so I download the Trezor Suite to my PC.
The Trezor Suite recognizes the safe 3 and you can start setting it up
If you now connect the Trezor Safe 3 to the PC, it will be recognized by the suite. The first step is to ensure that the hardware wallet is really secure and has not been tampered with. You are then guided through the setup process, which is always similar and in this case takes less than 5 minutes.
Download firmware update
The latest firmware is installed on the device and a scan of the hardware is carried out to ensure that only genuine Trezor components are installed and that the Trezor Safe 3 is unadulterated. This is followed by a short tutorial on the hardware wallet itself on how to use the buttons.
Set up wallet
The next step is to create the wallet
Then set up the wallet. Here you can either import an existing one with the help of a recovery seed. Or you can generate a new wallet. Then you can choose between two backup variants. Either the standard version, where you receive a single list of words, or the Shamir backup, where you receive several lists that you can store in separate locations.
Your Recovery Seed is the backup key to all your cryptocurrencies and apps. The Recovery Seed (backup) can only be viewed once. Never make a digital copy of the Recovery Seed and never upload it online. Keep the Recovery Seed in a safe place, ideally also safe from fire and water. Special backup products, for example Billfodl are suitable for this.
No one but yourself can be held liable for any financial losses caused by improper handling of sensitive data.
In both cases, the seed is then shown on the Trezor Safe 3 display. You write this down. Both the hardware wallet itself and the software point out the explosive nature of the words and provide tips on how to deal with them. Finally, random checks are made to determine whether the recovery seed has been noted correctly.
Set up PIN protection and select coins
You must then create a PIN. This prevents unauthorized persons from accessing your Trezor Safe 3. This can be between 4 and 50 characters long. Finally, you can choose which coins you want to activate in the Trezor Suite
Installation completed
This completes the setup process and you can now change the name and background of the lock screen.
Conclusion of the Setup
To summarize, I can say that great importance is attached to safety when setting up. Questions are asked of the user and software checks are carried out to ensure that the hardware has not been tampered with. The security-relevant part of wallet generation explains exactly what needs to be observed when handling the recovery seed and confirmation is obtained from the user.
The user interface is also very user-friendly. However, this is only available in English.
Handling the Trezor Safe 3
Now I’ll look at how to work with the Trezor Safe 3 Hardware Wallet in everyday life. Of course, the Trezor Suite is still mainly used for this.
To do this, reconnect your Trezor Safe 3 to the PC and enter the selected PIN. The Trezor Suite unlocks and you can open your standard wallet or a wallet protected by a passphrase. The dashboard then opens, from where you can perform all the desired actions.
Trezor Suite Dashboard
Here you can see your overall portfolio at a glance, broken down into the individual assets and the security status of your wallet. You can also buy, sell, send or receive coins directly. Or even spend them via the partner Bitrefill, where you can exchange your coins for vouchers, for example.
Confirmation required on the Trezor Safe 3
Every transaction in the Trezor Suite naturally requires your explicit confirmation directly on the Trezor hardware wallet. All transaction details are shown on the display of the hardware wallet for checking. If everything is correct, you must confirm the transaction by pressing a button.
Special features of the Trezor Suite
In addition to classic coin management with sending, receiving and trading coins, there are a number of other features.
It is therefore possible to create several wallets with a Trezor Safe 3 in order to better manage your cryptocurrencies.
There is also a Trezor Suite Lite app for smartphones, which you can use to view your cryptocurrencies on the go. The app only has read-only access to your accounts, so there is no increased risk.
Another special feature is the integrated security features. This allows you to better protect your identity with features such as the Tor connection, Coinjoin or Coin control. But more on this later at the end of the test report in the safety section.
Supported cryptocurrencies and devices
The Trezor Safe 3 can be used with MacOS or Windows, as well as mobile under Android or iOS. You can then use the Trezor Suite on the web with your smartphone browser or the Trezor Suite Lite app to receive coins and view your account balances. Here is the list of supported operating systems:
Furthermore, over 9.000+ (to the complete list) crypto assets are supported, including the following:
- Bitcoin
- Solana
- Ripple
- Vertcoin
- Viacoin
- Stellar
- DigiByte
- Bitcoin Private
- ZenCash
- Zcoin
- Monero
- Wanchain
- Pirl
- Akroma
- Atheios
- Ether-1
- GoChain
- Callisto
- Cardano
- Tezos
- Decred
- Lisk
- Monacoin
- SmartCash
- Bitcore
- Feathercoin
- DIMCOIN
- Myriad
- Flashcoin
- Musicoin
- QWARK
- Pesetacoin
- Ellaism
- Fujicoin
- CEFS
- Ethereum Social
- Koto
- MUE
- Rsk
- Ubiq
- Expanse
- Bitcoin Gold
- Ethereum
- Litecoin
- Dogecoin
- Zcash
- Dash
- Namecoin
- Bitcoin Cash
- Ethereum Classic
- ERC-20 Tokens
- NEM
The constantly updated list of all supported cryptocurrencies can be found here trezor.io/coins. If you only hold and trade Bitcoin anyway, you can also switch to the Bitcoin-only firmware in the options.
It also supports numerous third-party tools and websites. Among them are the following:
- Mycelium
- Tor
- Passwort Manager
- efolio
- Osclass
- Strip4bit
- Copay
- Electrum
- MyEtherWallet
- Bitstamp
- cashila
- coinpayments
- bitpay
- bitwala
- SSH Agent
- FIDO/U2F
- MultiBit
- ArcBit
- Coinmap
- Encompass
- wordpress
Documentation and Support
The documentation is integrated directly into the Trezor Suite, but is also available on the Trezor website. You can also contact support here or post your questions in a separate Trezor forum. The content is only available in English.
Safety aspects of the Trezor Safe 3
A hardware wallet is the most secure way to store cryptocurrencies. This is because these devices store the private keys that provide access to your cryptocurrencies. Only a hardware wallet can effectively protect private keys through numerous security measures. Even though all hardware wallets are considered very secure, there are small differences between each model. In addition, even with a hardware wallet, it cannot be 100% ruled out that a hacker can extract information with physical access with great effort.
The safety of the Trezor Safe 3 starts with the packaging. The cardboard seal and the seal over the USB-C port ensure that the device has not been tampered with on its way home from the warehouse.
Then, all Trezor wallets use public, open-source code designs that theoretically allow anyone to verify the integrity of any process. This way, everyone benefits from the wallet’s community-tested design, which provides robust protection against real-world threats.
A new feature of Trezor Safe 3 is the Secure Element, which is already used by many other hardware wallets. This is a super secure chip that also protects the data in credit cards, passports or hardware wallets, for example, and is unbeatable even against the most sophisticated attacks. The Secure Element in this model is certified to Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) 6+ and is therefore more highly certified than current ledger models.
Security features on the software side
Numerous software features then offer increased security. The hardware is checked by the Trezor Suite during setup. Or you can add a passphrase for the next security level. This means that another wallet can be hidden behind each passphrase. With Coinjoin, you can improve the privacy and security of your transactions by making it much more difficult for others to track and analyze your transaction history. Activating the Suite’s connection to the Tor network makes it more difficult to trace the Internet activities generated by the Suite. And you can even optionally restrict the firmware of your Trezor Safe 3 to Bitcoin only to benefit from increased security.
The Shamir backup function has also been added to the Trezor Safe 3.
Native support for Shamir Backup with the Trezor Safe 3
Unlike the Model One, the new Trezor Safe 3 can also do the Shamir backup. The Shamir backup is a method to increase the security of private keys. It is a way of splitting the recovery key that adds redundancy. With Shamir Backup, for example, you can create a 3-of-5 recovery key, where you write down 5 lists of recovery words and later only need 3 of these lists to restore the wallet. Shamir Backup is a revolutionary way to store and protect your private key backup. SatoshiLabs has developed this feature and it is already available on the Trezor Model T.
Product Specifications
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FAQ 2
Ask your own questionWhat’s the difference between Trezor Safe 3 and Model One?
The Trezor Safe 3 hardware wallet has an integrated Secure Element chip, which gives your private data an extra layer of armor. The Model One, on the other hand, has been the MVP of the crypto hardware wallet game for over 10 years. Both wallets sport a nifty OLED screen for top-notch display and a user-friendly button interface.
Where can I buy a Trezor Hardware Wallet?
For a secure purchase of a new Trezor Hardware Wallet, head over to the official Trezor Shop or check out one of our trusted resellers. Going through these channels is your top choice to guarantee that your device is genuine, unaltered, and absolutely legit. If you have any questions with your Trezor purchase, reach out to Trezor Support.