Crypto hardware wallet comparison Keystone 3 Pro vs Trezor Safe 3
Our impressions
Keystone 3 Pro
Trezor Safe 3
- Supports 3 concurrent seed phrases
- Convenient user experience with the huge touchscreen
- Completely autonomous device with long lasting battery lifetime (should be at least 100+ hours in sleep mode when using the device a couple times per day, 18+ months when turned off)
- Easy process for online Device Verification
- Small form factor and very portable
- Excellent value at an affordable price point
- Phenomenally intuitive and efficient on-device recovery, PIN and seedphrase entry
- The airgapped QR code paradigm requires a camera on the paired device for certain interactions
- We love their dedication to open source “EVERY SINGLE LINE” of code they write, including their hardware designs. As long as they do not deliver on their promise, it sadly still is a closed source product.
- Requires constant USB connection to operate
The Keystone 3 Pro is a device that we can see in a “broad adoption of everyday Crypto financial transactions” scenario. It is a fully air-gapped, autonomous device that has great battery life with an easy to use interface on a convenient 4-inch touchscreen. We would add it to our everyday carry in an instant, in a world where QR code based Crypto payments are available at every shop and venue.
Finally the first line of Trezor products incorporating a secure element has arrived. In our opinion it easily takes the lead in the current Trezor product lineup – in terms of security and portability. Even with the launch of the newer Trezor Safe 5 it’s easily our price/performance winner.
Even though the device uses only two buttons for input, like the Model One did, and does not offer a touch-screen, like the Model T and Safe 5, its on-device recovery, PIN and seedphrase entry are phenomenal. Trezor really did something truly special with the way they handle user input despite the minimalist form factor. At less than half the price of the Trezor Safe 5 it is an easy recommendation.
Read more about the new generation of Trezor Safe 3 products.
Disclaimer: Our impressions are based on a compilation of factors tailored to the average user’s perspective. It is also important to note that whether a feature is a “pro” or “con” can depend on your situation and preferences. What may be an advantage in one scenario could be a challenge in another, and vice versa. Therefore, while reviewing these points, it’s essential to consider your unique requirements and circumstances when making decisions. This list aims to provide an idea of what to anticipate, but it is not the ultimate guide to determining whether something will work for you or not.
Key features
Keystone 3 Pro
Trezor Safe 3
2023
2023
Supports multiple coins
5000+ Coins Supported (Bitcoin & EVM chains)
Bitcoin-only Firmware is supposedly in the works, with an estimated release date some time before the next Bitcoin halving
Source: Comment on reddit.com
Supports multiple coins, Bitcoin-only mode available
- BTC, ETH, LTC, XLM , DOGE, DASH, ZEC, NEM,
- and a thousand others. See a full list at trezor.io/coins
- Planned
The Keystone team is working on also open sourcing “EVERY SINGLE LINE of code we’ve written”, including their hardware design, with an announced release date in November 2023. The announcement is worded in a way that it leaves some room of what we really can expect to be released and if they can meet their own release date.
Source: Official blog post concerning Open Source
As the focus of the Keystone 3 series is on 3rd party app compatibility the previous companion software will be faded out in the future.
Source: second hand user comment on reddit.com
- Firmware
- Companion software
- BIP-39 (Mnemonic phrase)
- SLIP-39 (Shamir backup)
- Passphrase
- Multiple seedphrases on one device
- BIP-39 (Mnemonic phrase)
- SLIP-39 (Shamir backup)
- Passphrase
- Secure element
- On device PIN entry
- Factory reset with wrong PIN
- On device passphrase entry
- On device recovery
- Fingerprint sensor
- Air-gapped QR code
Triple Secure Element Chips
USB & MicroSD Card Firmware Upgrading
PCI Anti-tamper Feature
- Secure element
- On device PIN entry
- Factory reset with wrong PIN
- Factory reset with decoy PIN
- On device passphrase entry
- On device recovery
Secure Element protected Certified Chip EAL6+
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
- Android
- iOS
- ChromeOS
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
- Android
- iOS
- ChromeOS
iOS view only, ChromeOS is not officially supported, but it should work via Google chrome WebUSB protocol.
- FIDO U2F
- FIDO2 Webauthn
- SSH
Technical specifications
Keystone 3 Pro
Trezor Safe 3
62.44 mm x 103.9 mm x 12.08 mm
2.46 in x 4.09 in x 0.48 in
59 mm x 32 mm x 7.4 mm
2.32 in x 1.26 in x 0.29 in
103 g
3.63 oz
14 g
0.49 oz
- Color
- Touchscreen
4-Inch LCD TFT Touchscreen
480 x 800 pixels
- Monochrome
- OLED
Monochrome display
128 x 64 px
- USB-C (limited to charging and firmware updates)
- Bluetooth
- USB-C
- microSD card
n/a
180MHz embedded ARM processor (Cortex M4)
PCI security standards
CE and RoHS certifications
Airplane and X-ray safe
Black plastics (PC + ABS)
Robust plastics
Available in black and multiple colors