Ledger Nano S Plus Review 2026: Widest Coin Support at the Lowest Price
How we reviewed this: from the manufacturer’s own documentation and published security research.
The ST33K1M5 chip, rated CC EAL6+ — bank-card-grade security, one tier above the Nano X — at CAD $74. What you give up is Bluetooth, a battery and iPhone support — and for most people storing crypto at a desk, none of those are losses.
By the CryptoNorth Team
Disclosure up front: our Ledger links are referral links, so we may earn a commission if you buy through one. We only ever link to Ledger's own shop — never a marketplace listing — because a hardware wallet bought second-hand or from a reseller is the single most common way Canadians lose their coins.
Who This Is For
The Nano S Plus exists to answer one question: what is the cheapest device that still keeps your keys genuinely offline, without cutting the corner that matters? Ledger's answer was to keep the secure element and strip out the conveniences.
It suits you if you are moving crypto off an exchange for the first time, you use a Windows, Mac, Linux or Android machine, and you expect to sign transactions sitting down rather than on a bus. It does not suit you if you use an iPhone and want to manage holdings from it, or if you want a touchscreen for reading complex DeFi contracts.
Specifications
Ledger lists the Nano S Plus on ledger.com. Shown here as CAD $74. Treat any listing far below that as a reason to check you are on Ledger's actual website.
The Chip: EAL6+, a Tier Above the Nano X
The Nano S Plus uses an ST33K1M5 secure element certified to Common Criteria EAL6+, per Ledger's own product page and comparison table[1]. The more expensive Nano X uses a different element, the ST33J2M0, certified one tier lower at EAL5+. Paying more for the Nano X buys Bluetooth and a battery, not a better chip.
What the secure element buys you is a chip designed to resist someone who has the device in their hands — power analysis, fault injection, physical decapping. It is the same class of hardware used in passports and bank cards[3]. It is not a defence against you typing your seed phrase — the 24 recovery words — into a phishing site, which remains how nearly everyone actually loses funds.
Coins: What the Headline Number Means
Ledger's marketing headlines 15,000+ coins and NFTs, while its own specification lists 500+ supported natively in the Ledger Wallet app[1]. Both are true and they measure different things, so it is worth unpacking before you buy on the strength of a number.
The headline count includes assets you can only reach by pairing the device with something like MetaMask[1]. That still keeps your keys on the Ledger, which is the point, but it means a third-party interface sits between you and your coins rather than Ledger's own software.
The practical limit is the app storage. Around 100 apps fit at once, and apps can be removed and reinstalled freely without touching your coins — your assets live on the blockchain, not on the device. Running out of space is an inconvenience, never a risk. For the overwhelming majority of Canadians holding Bitcoin, Ethereum and a handful of others, none of this will ever be a constraint.
Setting It Up
Expect about twenty minutes for your first device. The sequence is: plug it in over USB-C, set a PIN on the device itself, and let it generate a 24-word recovery phrase which it displays one word at a time on the small screen. You write those words on the supplied cards. Then you install Ledger's desktop app and add the coin apps you need.
- Never type your 24 words into anything. No legitimate app, Ledger included, will ever ask for them.
- Never photograph them or store them in a password manager or cloud note.
- Send a small test amount first and confirm it arrives before moving the rest.
- Verify the receiving address on the device screen, not just on your computer.
- Store the phrase somewhere that survives fire and flood, and consider a second copy elsewhere.
The 24 words are BIP39 standard, which matters more than it sounds: if Ledger disappeared tomorrow, that phrase restores your funds into a Trezor or any other compatible wallet. You are not locked into the manufacturer.
Ledger's Track Record
No Ledger device has been remotely compromised and no customer has lost funds through a flaw in the hardware. Ledger's problems have been with its business, not its chips — but two of them have real consequences for owners:
Ledger’s own account: approximately 1 million email addresses leaked, along with approximately 292,000 personal information records — first and last name, phone number, postal address and products purchased.[2] Ledger’s first estimate in July 2020 was 9,500 people; the full extent only became clear when the database was dumped publicly that December. For a company whose customer list is by definition a list of people holding crypto, that created a physical safety problem as well as years of convincing phishing. Devices and funds were not affected.[2] Ledger published a separate notice in 2026 about an incident at Global-e, the provider handling its online orders.[5]
An optional paid service that splits an encrypted backup of your seed across three custodians. The backlash was not really about the product — it was the realisation that the device could send seed material out at all, which contradicted how many owners understood “keys never leave the device”. Ledger’s own description is that the secure element “duplicates, encrypts, and splits an encrypted version of the seed phrase… into three fragments”, that you “need to physically consent to it using your signer”, and that encrypted fragments leave the device “only if you choose to subscribe”.[4] All three of those are true at once, which is why the argument never resolved.
Ledger's firmware is partial-open; the secure element's low-level documentation is under NDA, so the community cannot independently verify the SE the way it can with Trezor. That is a reasonable dealbreaker for some people, and it is the strongest single argument for buying a Trezor instead. It is a question of who you are willing to trust, not of a known defect.
Nano S Plus, Nano X, or Trezor Safe 3?
You hold assets beyond the majors and want them supported natively, you are on desktop or Android, and you are content to plug in when you transact. If you only hold mainstream coins, the Trezor Safe 3 is also EAL6+, with open-source firmware.
You use an iPhone, or you genuinely want to sign transactions from a phone over Bluetooth. The Nano Gen5 also does iPhone, with a touchscreen and the same EAL6+ chip as this device, at CAD $269. The Nano X uses a different chip (ST33J2M0, CC EAL5+), not the S Plus ST33K1M5 CC EAL6+.
Open-source firmware and independently auditable chip documentation matter to you. Both devices carry an EAL6+ element, so certification is not the deciding factor. You give up Ledger's wider native coin support.
Whichever you pick, buy it new and directly from the manufacturer. Compare all of them on our wallets page.
Pros and Cons
Frequently Asked Questions
It is secure enough. It uses an ST33K1M5 secure element certified to EAL6+ — a tier above the pricier Nano X, which is EAL5+ — per Ledger’s own specifications. The extra money on a Nano X buys Bluetooth, a battery and iPhone support, not better protection. Spending more does not buy a higher-certified chip: the Trezor Safe 3 and Safe 5 are also EAL6+. What a Trezor buys is open-source firmware and auditable chip documentation.
No. The Nano S Plus works with Windows, macOS, Linux and Android, but has no iOS or iPadOS support whatsoever. If you are an iPhone user who wants to manage crypto from your phone, the Nano X (CAD $119) or the Nano Gen5 (CAD $269, touchscreen, EAL6+ chip) is the Ledger that does that. If you are happy to use a computer, the iPhone limitation costs you nothing.
Nothing, provided you still have your 24-word recovery phrase. Your coins live on the blockchain, not on the device; the device only stores the keys that prove ownership. Buy a replacement, enter the same 24 words, and everything reappears. Because the phrase is BIP39 standard, the replacement does not even have to be a Ledger.
Not in the way most people read that. Around 500 assets are handled natively in Ledger’s own app, and the headline figure counts assets reachable by pairing the device with third-party wallets such as MetaMask. The practical ceiling is app storage: roughly 100 coin apps installed at once, which you can add and remove freely without affecting your holdings.
Directly from Ledger’s own shop, and nowhere else. Never buy a hardware wallet from Amazon, eBay, Facebook Marketplace or any reseller, however well reviewed. A tampered device pre-loaded with someone else’s recovery phrase looks identical to a genuine one, and the coins drain the moment you fund it. If a device arrives with a recovery phrase already printed, it is a scam - a real device generates yours during setup.
This review is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. The price is Ledger's own Canadian listing on ledger.com, read on 31 August 2026. Specifications and firmware change — confirm current details with Ledger before buying. Links to Ledger on this page are referral links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you, and it does not affect what we have written above.
Buy new, direct from Ledger. Never from a marketplace or reseller — a tampered device looks identical to a genuine one.
