Ledger Crypto Wallet Review

What Is Ledger?

Ledger was founded in 2014 and is a leading manufacturer of secure cryptocurrency storage devices. Ledger is headquartered in Paris. Ledger has a team of more than 130 professionals, and the company has raised more than $85 million in funding in four investment rounds. To date, the company has sold more than a million of its devices, indicating that they are in high demand among cryptocurrency holders. Two of the company's best-known products are the Ledger Nano S and Ledger Nano X hardware wallets. They are the ones we will talk about in this article.

Review Summary

Advantages and disadvantages

The Ledger Nano S hardware wallet is comfortable and compact. The device fits easily in your hand or pocket. The wallet's microchips are housed in a stainless steel casing, providing increased protection against adverse external influences compared to devices from some other manufacturers. Priced at £54.50

Scope of delivery

The Ledger Nano S scope of delivery includes:

Supported cryptocurrencies

Ledger devices are known for supporting a wide range of cryptocurrencies - this is what sets them apart in the wallet market. Ledger Nano S is no exception, it supports more than 1100 different types of crypto, including such popular coins as:

Many of the currencies supported by Ledger Nano S are not available on competing hardware wallets such as KeepKey or Trezor. For a comparison of Ledger Nano S and Trezor Model One wallets, read our review

Using Ledger Nano S

The experience of interacting with the Ledger Nano S is in many ways similar to other hardware wallets. The first time you connect it to your computer, you will be asked to set a PIN to protect the device from tampering by unauthorised parties to whom it may fall into their hands. You will then be presented with a 24-word phrase, which you can later use to regain access to the wallet. You should write these words down on paper and keep them in a safe place, but not on a computer, as this will entail additional risks of hacking.

The Ledger Nano S has two buttons that allow you to operate the device. The initial installation of the wallet is fairly straightforward and takes about three minutes. Most of this time will be spent writing down the phrase to restore access. Already at this stage you will have to use the Ledger Nano S display. Since no one knows how vulnerable your computer is, the wallet will display 24 words directly on its display.

Ledger Live

After the initial setup, you will also need to install the Ledger Live software. This is the interface through which you will be able to perform transactions on the wallet, such as sending or receiving bitcoins. 

At the time of writing, Ledger Live supports 27 cryptocurrencies and over 1,500 tokens. To interact with unsupported assets, it is possible to connect external wallets. For example, the hardware wallet can work with software wallets such as MyCellium, Electrum, NEON or MyEtherWallet. This way, you can use your Ledger Nano S to store most crypto assets available today, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Monero (XMR), XRP, Litecoin (LTC), Zcash (ZEC), Dash (DASH), Neo (NEO) and many more. The list of supported cryptocurrencies is constantly expanding. In addition, firmware updates are released from time to time, which must be installed to protect the device from new threats and to gain access to the latest features added by Ledger experts.

How to transfer cryptocurrency to Ledger Nano S?

How to send cryptocurrency with Ledger Nano S?

Ledger Nano X

Ledger Nano X is the latest development in the Ledger hardware wallet field, with enhanced functionality compared to Ledger Nano S. The wallet features the ability to store an increased number of different crypto-assets at a time and support for Bluetooth connectivity. As a consequence, the price of the device is higher than the previous model and is £109.00
The Ledger Nano X is similar to its ancestor in many respects, so in this part of the review we will focus on their key differences, including the drawbacks of the Ledger Nano S.

After getting to know the Ledger Nano X, you realize that the Nano S's protruding buttons were never the most convenient tool to interact with the device. In the Ledger Nano X, they are recessed into the case, which increases the streamlined nature of the device. Overall, the Ledger Nano X is a clear winner over the Nano S in terms of design.

Scope of delivery

The Ledger Nano X delivery set includes:

Supported cryptocurrencies

The list of cryptocurrencies supported by Ledger Nano X Crypto Wallet is similar to the list supported by the previous model.

Using Ledger Nano X

The initial installation of Ledger Nano X is no different from Nano S: the same PIN code and the same 24 words to restore access. But the connection to the mobile phone is an important feature, because of which many prefer the newer model. The previous version of the wallet from the French manufacturer was only controlled by the Ledger Live software for the computer. Users of Ledger Nano X now have the option of installing an app with the same name on their iOS or Android mobile device.

Ledger Social Media Contacts

FAQ

How do I migrate all my funds from one Ledger Nano S to a Nano X?

There are two options:

Can the Ledger Nano X be connected to a computer via Bluetooth?

Bluetooth connection is only supported with smartphones. The ability to connect to a PC is still in development.

Is the Ledger Nano X waterproof?

No! If the device gets wet, it must be switched off immediately and dried before being used again.

What is the battery life?

Ledger Nano X has a 100 mAh battery and can work for several hours or several months in standby mode when fully charged. It has a lifespan of 5 years.

Can the Ledger Nano X be updated via the mobile app?

Yes, the Ledger Live mobile app has a functional device manager. Application installation can be done on your phone. The firmware update function is not yet available.

What to do if Ledger Live app sees the wallet, but gives an error?

If Ledger sees the wallet but is running with errors, try the following:

How to restore the wallet?

To restore Ledger Nano S or Nano X hardware wallet you only need a seed phrase:

Conclusion

Ledger Nano S and Ledger Nano X are two popular cold storage solutions for cryptocurrencies from a leading and proven manufacturer. The choice of wallet depends solely on your own needs and preferences. If mobile control support and the ability to store multiple cryptocurrencies in different denominations at once are important to you, choose Ledger Nano X. If for you the hardware wallet is primarily a way to store bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies cold for a long time, that is "transfer and forget", perhaps there is no point in overpaying and it is better to take the simpler Ledger Nano S model, which is not inferior to Nano X in terms of security.