Trezor Model T: Is it worth it?

Real user comparison of the new Trezor Model T vs Trezor One.

I’ve been a Trezor user for about a year. I’ve used both the Trezor One and the new Model T. Should you splurge and buy the new one? Will you be just as happy with the old one? Depends. There are things I like about both of them - as well as some issues with both of them. Overall - you really can’t go wrong with either! Figure out what is important to you and buy the one you need.

I also have the Ledger Nano S - but don’t really use it. I prefer the Trezor (either one) to the Nano S. I got the Nano S in anticipation of their Monero support - which is yet to go production.

Features

When it comes to raw feature count - the Model T is the clear winner. It supports many more currencies than the One. If you need to store one of the currencies that the One doesn’t support, your stuck with paying up for the Model T. That being said, other than more coin support, the extra features offered on the Model T don’t seem very impressive to me. The notable hardware difference is the color touch screen (more on that in the Interface Section) and the SD Card reader.

So far the SD Card reader seems like a future feature as I really don’t think it does anything at the moment. Based on the Trezor site, you’ll soon be able to use it as an encrypted storage device and as a local password manager. Honestly, Until I was writing this post and looked at the feature list on the Trezor site, I didn’t even know my Model T had an SD Card reader - oops!

Speaking of Password manager - both support it, but its really not very useful compared to other password managers. The biggest issue - you can’t use it for your mobile devices like you can with Lastpass (and others). I think the best use for the password manager is to create and store the Master Password of your other - more useful - password managers!

The Model T is also bigger than the One. Its ALMOST too big, but still usable. I initially went with Trezor One over the Keepkey for this very reason - it was smaller and easier to conceal. Hopefully the next Trezor will stay the same size or get smaller.

One of my favorite features of the Model T is that it has a magnet inside it! Very useful for hiding it in plain sight. You can stick it to anything metal - like the inside of a desk drawer.

Interface

Here is where it gets tricky. The Model T has a bigger screen and its a touch screen, where as the One has a tiny display and two physical buttons. Well guess what - when the screen is only 1 inch x 1 inch its freaking hard to USE! I have issues putting in my pin about 25% of the time I use it. I never had this issue with the One. With the One you put in the pin on a scramble pad on your computer - much easier and still as secure.

But here is the flip side - on the One the screen was so small that it was hard to read. Especially straining on the eyes when trying to confirm the BTC address and fee was correct. The Model T doesn’t have this problem - BTC addresses and fees are very vibrant and use large font.

Verdict

What’s my daily driver? Its the Model T. Why? because my son needed his own hardware wallet and I gave him the old one. Otherwise its a toss up for me. They are both great devices. You should pick the one that you need based on the features, but if you can get away with using the One - go for it.

Disclaimer: I did NOT get compensated for this review. I purchased all the hardware I used for this review.