Which hardware wallet?

[t0m3k123]

Which hardware wallet do you recommend for a newbie?

Ledger or Trezor?

[20kevin20]

Any of them are good, but I'd go for Trezor if I were you. Best thing you can do is make sure you check that the HW you buy supports the coins you're about to use it with. For example, Trezor One doesn't support XMR while Ledger Nano S does.

Also, it'd be a good idea to make sure you're ordering these on a fake name, through a PO box or something like that. Ledger had a quite bad database leak recently and personal information has been revealed to potentially bad actors.. so protect your personal info before ordering it.

If you care about the hardware being fully auditable and open-source, go for Trezor.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Both would be fine for a newbie. Both have all the basic functions you would require, both support almost all the same coins, both are reputable companies, both have been extensively tested for security, both come with their own software with a nice UX, but both can also be paired with other software to provide more functionality.

Is there anything in particular you want from a hardware wallet? Some of the models have unique features, such as the Ledger Nano X supporting Bluetooth for use with mobile phones, or the Trezor T providing optional SD card encryption.

[hichamito37]

Ledger NanoS and Trezor are two of the popular wallets found on the market today. The Ledger has the advantage of a very nice exterior design, full basic features, support for more crypto units and a better price than Trezor. Trezor is more expensive, but it comes with more efficient and secure software.

[Marvelman]

Which hardware wallet do you recommend for a newbie?

Ledger or Trezor?

I prefer Ledger Nano S, as it has enough capacity for my needs, it's cheaper than other hardware wallets, it's easy to use, can be used in the event of a hardware failure and can be used outside of Ledger Wallet software. But, Trezor is also very good. You cannot go wrong with any one of them.

[RickDeckard]

You already got some good points in the replies above mine, I'll just add a couple more that I believe you should inspect before you jump into your own purchase:

• What coin are you looking to store? - I know that this is BCT and that probably you'll store BTC, but if you're looking into other coins I would recommend that you check if the coin is supported in the model that you're looking at - For example if hold Monero (XMR) you will only be able to store it in Trezor Model T - the basic Trezor model isn't able to store it. Here's more information about the coins that each wallet support:

                        Ledger Supported coins - https://www.ledger.com/supported-crypto-assets
                        Trezor (Model One vs Model T) - https://trezor.io/coins/

• Open source philosophy or closed source? - This is perhaps one of the main differences - Trezor has been open source from the beginning[1] - and some people actually prefer this kind of transparency. Ledger, on the other hand, doesn't follow this route and keeps it's source closed - you will never know what runs behind their wallets / software, you'll just have to trust that they won't do anything malicious with it. Granted, we're talking about a very reputable company, but one never knows.
• Albeit not related with Ledger but with the company that ran it's end point of shopping - Shopify - they suffered a major data breach that led to the leak of the information of some of their customers (name, addresses ...)[2]. This recently led to some some complex scam attempts as reported here[3].
• Trezor also had some vulnerability discovered by Kraken[4] where if the attackers somehow managed to get physical access to your wallet + with the right hardware + knowledge, they would be able to extract your private keys. Take in consideration the amount of conditions that I've placed before but then again, I would like you to know most of the important information before you jump into any of these products.
  

After you do your research and finally decide on which vendor to go please, for the love of god, buy them from the main / official retailer - there have been thousands of users that ended up with their funds stolen because they either got them from Ebay (shady sources) or from some Amazon stores that claimed to be the "official" ones. Here are the main websites of each:

• Ledger - https://shop.ledger.com
• Trezor - https://shop.trezor.io/

As in regards with being user friendly, I'm sure that you'll find that they are aimed mostly at newcomers but also cater to more experienced users - you won't have any difficulty in using them. If you do please post here and I'm sure someone will be right here to help you out.
[1]https://blog.trezor.io/open-source-and-hardware-obsolescence-ce526d5eec8f
[2]https://cointelegraph.com/news/ledger-data-leak-a-simple-mistake-exposed-270k-crypto-wallet-buyers
[3]https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5344317.0
[4]https://cointelegraph.com/news/trezor-wallets-can-be-hacked-kraken-reveals

[Coin-Keeper]

I would pay more attention to WHERE you buy the device from.  Assuming you buy one of the two you are looking at, they are great products IF you get an authentic device.  Don't try and save a few bucks buying from someone other than the mfg directly.


BTW - I use more Trezors because I install their bitcoin-only firmware as a purest collector/user.  All the "fancy" firmware updates are just something to go wrong when I am hodling BTC only.

[20kevin20]

The Ledger has the advantage of a very nice exterior design

Honestly, design is the last thing you should be looking for when it comes to HWs if you truly care about safely storing your coins. Some HWs are really ugly but they do their job better than some fancy ones do. And at the end of the day, it's all that matters.

[dkbit98]

Which hardware wallet do you recommend for a newbie?

Ledger or Trezor?

I am always supporting Open Source devices and hardware wallets like Trezor, but they are not perfect and you should use passphrase to make it more secure against attacks.
Trezor is first hardware wallet ever made, it is easy to use and it has better working software called Trezor Suite, and so far they never had customer information leaks like ledger.
Some would say that bad thing about Trezor that it doesn't have secure element, but they are working on this and new generation Trezor will have their own open source secure element.
Other competition have secure elements but they are closed source and they can hide dormant malicious tracking for years, like we saw in case with Anom phones created by fbi.
Don't trust, verify.

[hugeblack]

Which hardware wallet do you recommend for a newbie?

Ledger or Trezor?

recommendation depends on the purpose of the purchase, why do you want to buy them? Are you thinking of a specific currency, a specific way to access your coins, using the phone, the interface?
Both contain the basic features. Read about their characteristics and choose the one that is right for you.
There are some price differences which make sense due to the different functions.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Trezor is more expensive, but it comes with more efficient and secure software.

In what way is Trezor's software suite more secure than Ledger's? Regardless, if you have any concern about the proprietary software, then you can just pair either of those wallets with some open source software such as Electrum, which also gives you more control over your keys and advanced options such as coin control, RBF, and partially signed transactions.

can be used in the event of a hardware failure

All good hardware wallets provide a seed phrase which can be used to restore access to your coins in an emergency, such as failure of your hardware device.

Before buying either device make sure to head to the subreddit of the one you choose and see if you can find a discount or referral code there. Usually there are a few kicking about which will net you a discount of between 10-20%.

[Pmalek]

After you do your research and finally decide on which vendor to go please, for the love of god, buy them from the main / official retailer - there have been thousands of users that ended up with their funds stolen because they either got them from Ebay (shady sources) or from some Amazon stores that claimed to be the "official" ones. Here are the main websites of each:

I just want to add that your warning about buying a hardware wallet from Ebay or Amazon is valid, however these companies have official resellers.

Ledger's Reseller Network consists of a group of official stores available worldwide. One can even apply to become an official Ledger reseller. A part of the reseller team is their Amazon Network with stores in the US, UK, France, Spain, Canada, Germany, Italy, and Japan. It's OK to buy from these stores as long as you reach out to them from Ledger's official website and not by searching for 'Ledger Nano S' on Ebay/Amazon, for example.

Trezor also links to a bunch of official resellers from their website. But none of them are on Amazon or Ebay.