SafePal X1 Edition USDC - Unboxing

[joker_josue]

At the end of January 2023 I became aware of a campaign that SafePal was running, which offered the SafePal X1 Edition USDC hardware wallet, for just $10+shipping, and I decided to take advantage. Follow the necessary steps, and now that I have received the wallet, I now share my first impressions.



#Box

A simple and elegant box, very compact and with two security seals on each side of the box. Being the USDC version, it also includes a small cover indicating USDC.

After cutting the security seals, I had some difficulty opening the box lid, as it is very compact and tightly closed. During the unboxing I realized that everything is made to exact size, making the tube very compact and safe.


#Contents

Open box, we then have access to all its contents which include: hardware wallet (logically); a cleaning cloth; a charging cable; cards to register the seed; cards with instructions; 2 stickers with the SafePal logo. Let's look in detail.


Inside a very compact blue envelope, there are several cards (everything is so tight that it is difficult to remove the cards). It has 3 cards to write the 24-word seed, generated in the wallet, simple cards with a good space to write. Each card is 9.5x8.5cm in size. The back of the card has a simple message in several languages: "Keep this card in a safe place. Do not take photos of it or give it to anyone." In the envelope we also found two cards, with the QR code for downloading the app and another with the QR code for the instruction manual.


We have a USB-A to USB-C charging cable, approximately 30cm long. A small cloth to clean the wallet screen. And, of course, the hardware wallet, which has a sticker with a message indicating that only a DC 5V charger should be used.


#Wallet

Small and light, but with an interestingly sized screen (4x2cm). Note that it has a good construction and will have some resistance to falls, as long as they are not too high or too hard - logically. The only difference that seems to exist in relation to the normal edition, for this USDC edition, is that on the back of the wallet there is the USDC logo, but in a very soft way, which in some angles is barely noticeable.


#First Use
Once the unboxing is done, let's try it out. The first thing to do is choose the language, as the wallet offers a very varied number of languages. Next, we have to activate the wallet, and the only way to do this is via the app. In other words, we have to pair the smartphone via Bluetooth and activate the wallet. Following the steps we found on the website. Only after the wallet is active can the seed be created, and it is no longer necessary to be connected to the smartphone.

When the portfolio is created, the 24 words appear, 3 at a time. And then you are asked to enter the seed words, always with three options to choose from. The choice is made using the keys, some of which have a double function: 5/up, 7/left, 9/right, 0/down; and then we have the OK button to confirm. The entire process turns out to be simple, practical and quick.

Afterwards, management is done via the app, only the coins that the person chooses on the smartphone app appear in the wallet. The app also seems simple and practical to use, we'll see how the experience goes. I won't use it as the main backup, but it could be useful in some specific situations. For the price, it was worth it.


#Extra: $10 refund
The SafePal campaign included a $10 USDC credit, after receiving the wallet and activating it. And this is what happened. After configuring the entire wallet and app, all you had to do was open the app, open what they call Dapp - USDC Privileges, and then claim those $10 USDC, which enter the Polygon network. With this, I can say that this hardware wallet only costs shipping costs - $11. It was a good deal.



If you have any questions about this wallet, you can ask, so I can also explore this wallet further.

[1714605247]

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[1714605247]

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[1714605247]

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[Pmalek]

It looks a lot like a Coldcard, but probably not as feature-rich. The X1 is the closest Safepal model that Wallet Scrutiny came to verifying its source code, but they still couldn't do it.

Were they just giving these away for free (minus the shipping costs) to everyone or did you have to be a previous owner of a Safepal?
What's the deal with the USDC branding? Just marketing, I assume.
Did you have to undergo any sort of KYC to get that 10 USDC refund? Seems like a very cheap trick to connect a real name to a Safepal buyer, even though they already have all that on file if you purchased it with fiat and had it shipped to your home address.

[joker_josue]

Were they just giving these away for free (minus the shipping costs) to everyone or did you have to be a previous owner of a Safepal?
What's the deal with the USDC branding? Just marketing, I assume.
Did you have to undergo any sort of KYC to get that 10 USDC refund? Seems like a very cheap trick to connect a real name to a Safepal buyer, even though they already have all that on file if you purchased it with fiat and had it shipped to your home address.

It was for anyone, you just had to follow the steps requested on their website.
I don't see any difference, other than the USDC logo, nothing else.
I didn't have to go through any KYC process. It was just a matter of receiving the order and activating the wallet via the app.

[SFR10]

If you have any questions about this wallet, you can ask, so I can also explore this wallet further.

The last time I checked, it didn't have a feature to prove ownership of addresses directly on the wallet... I'm wondering if that's still the case.

The X1 is the closest Safepal model that Wallet Scrutiny came to verifying its source code, but they still couldn't do it.

Considering that they haven't made any changes to its "repository" in the past 7 months, I think it's safe to say X1 would be following in NGrave's footsteps ^{[unfortunately]}.
To those who might be interested, there are still roughly 3 months left till the end of the event:

• Event Duration
  24th Jan 10 AM UTC – 30th June 10 AM UTC 2024

[joker_josue]

If you have any questions about this wallet, you can ask, so I can also explore this wallet further.

The last time I checked, it didn't have a feature to prove ownership of addresses directly on the wallet... I'm wondering if that's still the case.

Prove how? See wallet addresses, is that it?
I can see the BTC addresses (for example) that are in my wallet, directly on the hardware.

[RickDeckard]

Prove how? See wallet addresses, is that it?
I can see the BTC addresses (for example) that are in my wallet, directly on the hardware.

SFR10 is probably talking about the feature that allows you to verify the ownership of addresses (see, for example, the concept in action in a Trezor device[1] - chapter "Verifying messages"). There are also hardware wallets that are able to verify if a particular address belongs to the hardware wallet, such as Passport Foundation[2] - see chapter "Verify Address".
[1]https://trezor.io/learn/a/sign-verify
[2]https://docs.foundationdevices.com/passport/account

[joker_josue]

Prove how? See wallet addresses, is that it?
I can see the BTC addresses (for example) that are in my wallet, directly on the hardware.

SFR10 is probably talking about the feature that allows you to verify the ownership of addresses (see, for example, the concept in action in a Trezor device[1] - chapter "Verifying messages"). There are also hardware wallets that are able to verify if a particular address belongs to the hardware wallet, such as Passport Foundation[2] - see chapter "Verify Address".
[1]https://trezor.io/learn/a/sign-verify
[2]https://docs.foundationdevices.com/passport/account

If so, no. It is not possible to sign messages directly from the hardware wallet.

Without a doubt, it would be an interesting feature.

[Pmalek]

SFR10 is probably talking about the feature that allows you to verify the ownership of addresses (see, for example, the concept in action in a Trezor device[1] - chapter "Verifying messages"). There are also hardware wallets that are able to verify if a particular address belongs to the hardware wallet, such as Passport Foundation[2] - see chapter "Verify Address".
[1]https://trezor.io/learn/a/sign-verify
[2]https://docs.foundationdevices.com/passport/account

Signing and verifying messages doesn't have to be done on the native hardware wallet software. For instance, you could use Electrum to sign a message with your bitcoin address on Ledger or do the same thing through Etherscan for Ethereum. But the problem with SafePal is that you can't pair it with any of the popular software wallets that most of us use. So unless they add the feature natively, tough luck. 

[joker_josue]

Signing and verifying messages doesn't have to be done on the native hardware wallet software. For instance, you could use Electrum to sign a message with your bitcoin address on Ledger or do the same thing through Etherscan for Ethereum. But the problem with SafePal is that you can't pair it with any of the popular software wallets that most of us use. So unless they add the feature natively, tough luck. 

This is why I don't feel motivated to use this wallet much. I like Electrum, and the fact that I can't use it with this wallet discourages its use.

They may change, I don't know if the community has put any kind of pressure in this direction or not. But I think it would be an added value, because from what I tested, it seems like a good piece of equipment.

[dkbit98]

At the end of January 2023 I became aware of a campaign that SafePal was running, which offered the SafePal X1 Edition USDC hardware wallet, for just $10+shipping, and I decided to take advantage. Follow the necessary steps, and now that I have received the wallet, I now share my first impressions.

Correct me if I am wrong but I think they still have this promotion available, last time I checked there was a lot more devices available.
Device looks cheap, but biggest issue for me is that they are advertising as having open source code, but that is not really the case  
Another big deal breaker for me is not having a coin control, and no support for third party wallets.
Still it's better than most hot wallets, and it was almost free, so it's not a bad deal.

One question I have for you is about the quality of those buttons feeling, soft and not easy to type or what?

[joker_josue]

Another big deal breaker for me is not having a coin control, and no support for third party wallets.

What do you mean, you don't have coin control?

One question I have for you is about the quality of those buttons feeling, soft and not easy to type or what?

They are easy to use. They are not very soft, but they are not difficult to use either.
In fact, it even emits a sound characteristic of numeric keyboards for blind people. It is true that it remains difficult for a blind person to use their wallet, especially because there are no accessibility features in the menu. But at least the person knows which keys they are clicking on, without looking.

[RickDeckard]

What do you mean, you don't have coin control?

dkbit98 is referring to the fact that SafePal X1 doesn't support a feature that allows you to choose which UTXO's you intend to spend from (more on that here[1]). This is a great feature especially, amongst other things, to prevent using coins that came from dust attacks[2].
[1]https://www.athena-alpha.com/coin-control/
[2]https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5175238.0

[joker_josue]

What do you mean, you don't have coin control?

dkbit98 is referring to the fact that SafePal X1 doesn't support a feature that allows you to choose which UTXO's you intend to spend from (more on that here[1]). This is a great feature especially, amongst other things, to prevent using coins that came from dust attacks[2].
[1]https://www.athena-alpha.com/coin-control/
[2]https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5175238.0

From the small analysis I did, this UTXO management is done via the app.
It's true that you can't do this management directly on the hardware. But, you can manage it via the app. In fact, you always have to use their app to use your wallet.

[dkbit98]

What do you mean, you don't have coin control?

You never heard about coin control in bitcoin wallets?

From the small analysis I did, this UTXO management is done via the app.
It's true that you can't do this management directly on the hardware. But, you can manage it via the app. In fact, you always have to use their app to use your wallet.

According to my research and information from thebitcoinhole website there is no coin control option in all Safepal devices, so you can't select different utxo's when you are sending transactions.
If this is wrong information I would like to see some proof, maybe Safepal made some changes recently, but I doubt that.
https://thebitcoinhole.com/hardware-wallets/safepal-s1

Another source by Crypto Guide:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/134GQ4nvOpAFNKO5w0ZvbNGmfczj1PF18AI0BJwzVXx8/edit#gid=0

[joker_josue]

According to my research and information from thebitcoinhole website there is no coin control option in all Safepal devices, so you can't select different utxo's when you are sending transactions.
If this is wrong information I would like to see some proof, maybe Safepal made some changes recently, but I doubt that.
https://thebitcoinhole.com/hardware-wallets/safepal-s1

Another source by Crypto Guide:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/134GQ4nvOpAFNKO5w0ZvbNGmfczj1PF18AI0BJwzVXx8/edit#gid=0

I believe this information is outdated.

Note the information you find on the official website:

What is the purpose of the UTXO management feature?
By default, when you transfer BTC, the system follows the 'first in, first out' (FIFO) principle, meaning it will prioritize the use of the UTXOs received earlier for the transfer. If you prefer a different order for the UTXOs to be used in the transfer, you can utilize the UTXO management feature to manually select specific UTXOs for the transfer. This feature is designed for more advanced users, and if you are a beginner, you may choose not to use this functionality.

Within the SafePal app, on my smartphone, when choosing the Bitcoin currency, I find the "Manage UTXO" option in the "three dots" in the top right corner. Then, all the UTXO in the wallet appear and choose the ones I want to use to send BTC.

Note the screenshots (they are in Portuguese = "Gestão UTXO"):