Trezor Safe 3 Review 2026: Open Source, Higher-Certified Chip
How we reviewed this: from the manufacturer’s own documentation and published security research.
A higher-rated security chip than any Ledger, firmware anyone can audit, and Shamir backup at entry-level money. The catches are a tiny screen, no Bluetooth, and an iPhone app that cannot send.
By the CryptoNorth Team
Who This Is For
The Safe 3 is for people who want the strongest available chip and the ability to verify what the device is doing, without paying flagship money. It is the answer to a specific objection: that you are asked to trust a hardware wallet manufacturer's word about code you cannot read. Trezor publishes its firmware[1], so you do not have to take their word for it — or, more realistically, you can rely on the researchers who do read it.
It is a poor choice if you are an iPhone user who wants to send crypto from your phone, if you have vision or dexterity difficulties, or if you plan to interact with complex DeFi contracts that need a big screen to read safely[3].
Specifications
Trezor lists the Safe 3 at CAD $89 on trezor.io[2]. Check the current price before assuming either figure.
The Chip, and Why the Safe Line Exists
The Safe 3 carries an Infineon OPTIGA Trust M V3 secure element certified to Common Criteria EAL6+[1][2]. That matches the EAL6+ element in Ledger's Nano S Plus and sits a tier above the Nano X, which is EAL5+. Certification alone therefore does not separate the Safe 3 from its closest Ledger rival — the firmware does.
Older Trezors — the Model One and Model T — have no secure element: no tamper-resistant chip guarding the keys. In 2019 researchers at Kraken Security Labs found a way to attack the general-purpose chip those models use and pull the recovery seed out of it. Trezor published its own account of the attack and did not dispute it.[5]
Two details matter and most write-ups drop them. The seed that comes out is encrypted, so a strong PIN or a passphrase still stands between an attacker and your coins. And the attack needs specialist equipment and the casing physically opened, which Trezor notes leaves “visible signs of tamper”.[5] It is a real weakness, not a remote one — it costs you your device first. The Safe line closes that gap by adding a secure element, which Trezor describes as protection specifically against physical attacks.[6] If you are eyeing a cheap second-hand Model One, this is the reason not to.
Note what the certification does and does not cover. EAL6+ describes the secure element's resistance to physical attack by someone with the device in hand. It says nothing about whether you will be tricked into typing your recovery phrase into a fake website, which is how the overwhelming majority of losses actually happen.
Coins: What Is Actually Supported
Trezor markets “thousands of coins and tokens”, and as with every hardware wallet that figure is mostly tokens riding on a much smaller number of chains. The honest picture: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, XRP, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Zcash and Ethereum Classic natively, plus the major EVM chains — Polygon, BNB Smart Chain, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism — with ERC-20, BEP-20 and SPL tokens on top[2][4].
Cosmos is not supported; Avalanche is, through Trezor Suite or a third-party wallet. In February 2025 Trezor dropped Dash, Bitcoin Gold, DigiByte, Namecoin and Vertcoin from Trezor Suite — they remain in device firmware and stay usable through third-party wallets[1]. Support can be withdrawn from a device you already own, so if one particular asset is your reason for buying, confirm it on Trezor's official list first. Ledger supports a wider native range.
For anyone holding Bitcoin, Ethereum and mainstream assets — which is most Canadians — none of this will bite. It matters if you are deep in a smaller ecosystem.
Setup, and Shamir Backup
Setup runs through Trezor Suite on a computer: create the wallet, record your backup, set a PIN, optionally add a passphrase — an extra word only you know, which opens a separate hidden wallet. Budget twenty minutes and do it somewhere private.
The interesting option here is Shamir backup, which most wallets at this price do not offer. Instead of one recovery phrase that is a single point of failure, it splits your backup into shares with a threshold — say five shares of which any three restore the wallet[1]. Losing one share costs you nothing, and someone finding one share gains nothing.
- Never type your recovery words into anything — no genuine app ever asks.
- Never photograph them or put them in cloud storage or a password manager.
- Verify the receiving address on the device screen, not just on your computer.
- Send a small test amount and confirm it arrives before moving the rest.
- With Shamir, store shares in genuinely separate places or the split achieves nothing.
Trezor Suite also includes Tor support for Bitcoin privacy[1]. Note that Suite’s CoinJoin feature was discontinued on 1 June 2024 when its coordination partner withdrew, so it is no longer a reason to choose Trezor.
Living With It
The compromises are all about the interface rather than the security:
- iPhone users cannot send. The iOS app tracks balances, buys and receives, but sending requires a desktop or an Android phone over USB-C[2]. This is the biggest practical limitation.
- Long addresses scroll across a 0.96 inch screen, and you do need to check them carefully[3].
- Passphrase entry with two buttons is genuinely tedious.
- The plastic screen scratches if you carry it loose with keys[3].
- No battery or Bluetooth, so it is a desk device, not a commute device.
None of these are defects. They are what a $89 device gives up to keep a $199 device's chip. Reviewers who use it daily report being satisfied with the balance[3], The Safe 3 is not, however, without a disclosed weakness: in November 2024 Ledger’s Donjon lab showed that its supply-chain tamper countermeasures could be bypassed by voltage-glitching the STM32 microcontroller, allowing firmware readout. Trezor published the finding itself and notes the Safe 5 is unaffected because it uses a newer microcontroller. It requires physical possession of the device before you receive it, which is why buying direct still matters.
Safe 3, Safe 5, Safe 7, or a Ledger?
You want open-source firmware and an EAL6+ chip for entry-level money, and you will use it from a desktop. Best value in the Trezor range.
You want a colour touchscreen. Same EAL6+ secure element, same firmware, still no Bluetooth — you are paying purely for a better screen and faster approvals[1].
You want Trezor's flagship: a 2.5 inch touchscreen, Bluetooth and wireless charging[1]. We review it in full on our Safe 7 page.
You need wider native coin support, or you want an iPhone-capable option in the range. You accept partial-open firmware and an SE low-level NDA in exchange. (The Nano S Plus is also EAL6+.)
Buy new, from Trezor directly. Never from a marketplace or a reseller, however good the listing looks.
Pros and Cons
Frequently Asked Questions
On the chip, no — they are level. The Safe 3 uses an Infineon OPTIGA Trust M V3 at EAL6+ and the Nano S Plus uses an ST33K1M5, also EAL6+. (The pricier Nano X is a tier lower at EAL5+.) The real difference is that the Safe 3 is fully open source, so its firmware can be independently audited, while Ledger’s is partial-open with the secure element’s low-level documentation under NDA
Only partially, and this catches people out. The iOS app can track balances, buy and receive, but it cannot send. To move crypto out you need a desktop computer or an Android phone connected over USB-C. If you are iPhone-only and want full control from your phone, this is the wrong device.
Instead of one recovery phrase, Shamir splits your backup into several shares with a threshold - for example five shares where any three restore the wallet. It removes the single point of failure of one piece of paper. It is worth using if you can genuinely store the shares in separate secure places; if they end up in the same drawer, you have added complexity for no benefit. A single 12 or 24-word phrase remains a perfectly sound choice.
Trezor advertises thousands, which counts tokens on a much smaller set of chains. Natively you get Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, XRP, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Zcash and Ethereum Classic, plus major EVM chains with their token standards. Cosmos and Avalanche are absent, and Trezor removed Dash, Bitcoin Gold, DigiByte, Namecoin and Vertcoin in February 2025. Check the official list if a specific asset is your reason for buying.
The Safe 5 costs roughly twice as much and gives you a colour touchscreen. The secure element, the firmware and the security model are identical. If you approve transactions often, the touchscreen genuinely improves the experience and makes contract details easier to read. If you are setting up cold storage you will touch a few times a year, the Safe 3 does the same job for half the money.
This review is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. Prices are Trezor CAD list prices from trezor.io and can change with promotions. Supported assets change and can be withdrawn — confirm current details with Trezor before buying. Links to Trezor on this page are affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Our rating is set by the published methodology on our About page and is unaffected by it.
Buy new, direct from Trezor. Never buy a hardware wallet second-hand or from a marketplace — a tampered device looks identical to a genuine one.
