Crypto Hardware Wallets: Trezor One vs KeepKey*

In my quest for building a sovereign financial life and with the decision to dive headfirst into the world of crypto, seeing it as one of the major potential tools to facilitate this wish to achieve a certain level of financial independence and sovereignty.

The past 2 months I ordered a KeepKey Hardware Wallet and since I wanted another wallet for other purposes I decided to try out the Trezor One as well for that one.

Having had the chance to experience both of them and to test them out in a variety of ways. I quickly noticed some serious flaws with the keepkey, but also a few minor ones with the Trezor One.

Security:

Secured via PIN, both display a number pad on their screens. Which is displayed as a grid without any symbols on the computer screen, where you dial the proper location according to what is displayed on your screen, this unlocks the device! Furthermore both KeepKey and Trezor require any outgoing transactions be confirmed by the physical button confirmation on the device itself which signs the transaction and sends it out.

Accessibility of Hardware Wallet

1.KeepKey only through the beta.shapeshift.com interface, although you do not need to create an account with them to access the wallet, this remains the only way I managed to make work to access the hardware wallet. There is a plugin for the browser which is supposed to allow the same, but I could not get it to pair with the KeepKey.

_{The Shapeshift Interface through which the KeepKey must be accessed}

Furthermore I was entirely unable to make the KeepKey work with Windows 10, managed to update the device and firmware but after hours and hours of troubleshooting I have yet to manage to pair it to access the wallet. I tried different browsers, uninstalling/reinstalling device driver, updating usb drivers, KEEPKEY does not work with WINDOWS 10 is my conclusion.

On a mac it connects like a charm though, you quickly go through the pairing process and have full access to send-Receive assets and funds.

2.Trezor One is already on a different level in terms of accesibility, there is a wide range of desktop wallets that can integrate with the trezor. I particularly fell in Love with the combination of Exodus together with Trezor as combo, the portfolio creation tool in exodus allows easy categorising of funds into separate portfolios. Together in combination with the Hidden Wallet function on the Trezor, with which you can Hide a Wallet within your Wallet within You Wallet, each layer protected by its own unique passphrase. Furthermore Exodus easily allows the access of even those hidden wallets through its interface.

I have had no issues in connecting the trezor initially through the trezor start-up page, I also used the Trezor Suite which is a Desktop App for managing the Trezor, it is here where you can create the Hidden Wallets and manage some of the more advanced settings capabilities of your trezor. All of these have worked without any issues so far, accessibility of the device has been guaranteed so far no matter what platform, OS, Client I attempted to use.

_{This is the Trezor Suite Desktop App. Works like a charm.}

My recommendation though and favorite way to use it is in combination with Exodus.

Asset functionality

KeepKey, seems to support all major crypto assets. But it has a smaller number available than Trezor. They both would suffice for my personal needs to be honest though. The Crypto Geek should definitely stick to the Trezor. While someone with a more moderate approach to crypto should be more than pleased with the KeepKey especially.

*Trezor literally supports 1000's of Coins.

Special Features**

Trezor shines in this department, but it is also here where it one ugly flaw, namely one of my favorite features which could have been really powerful, is the Password manager they have devised for Trezor, but its major flaw is, that first of all you need a dropbox or google account for it to work, and while it worked flawlessly for the first day, ever since I can not get it to pair the Trezor with the Password Manager anymore, it keeps saying the Trezor is not up to date, although it is fully updated. So has been unusable for that purpose since.

Also the fact that my Password data is sitting on a centralised cloud server, even if it is encrypted does not seem to me to be aligned with the true vision of crypto. But if the device could act as a true all-round vault and treasury and safekeeper of my keys/passwords, that would be something powerful to hold in ones pocket.

They are apparently planning on updating this feature for the Trezor T I believe where you will be able to store the password file on a SD on the Trezor itself instead of on one of those centralized cloud storage sites.

Final Note on Aesthetics

The KeepKey has a more solid, aluminium build, it is bulkier though as well. It does make a nice chic appearance. The Big screen is also quite easy to read.

The Trezor is made of plastic, but it does not feel less sturdy to be honest, it feels lightweight but strong and durable, it is not a gimmicky cheap plastic housing. Less appealing aesthetic, but more practical, would easily fit onto a keychain without bothering much.

So far the Trezor has been my favorite and clear winner, if I had to choose I would go for the Trezor One, and if I was asked what I would try out next, it would be the Trezor T especially once it also supports integrating the password manager with micro sd functionality instead of relying on Google and Dropbox.

_{Plus the Guy Fawkes Background Logo one can choose on the Trezor One does give it that extra edge.👺}

Currently I am using the KeepKey as more of a Long Term Storage I do not need to access very much. The Trezor is my active use Wallet, functioning for several practical purposes with the help of the hidden wallets, holding unique portfolios in each. In tandem with Exodus, I find it very easy to manage my crypto.

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