Ledger Nano S unboxing and initial thoughts

[smartins]

Finally, the long wait is over. My Ledger Nano S has finally arrived! Here’s my unboxing and initial thoughts.

I’ve been involved in Cryptocurrencies for a few months now, both as a miner and as an investor. Crypto wallet security has always been a great concern to me. If you store the private keys on your computer (for convenience and ease of use) and someone happens to get in (either remotely or locally) and finds your crypto data your funds are no longer yours.

Enter hardware wallets. They provide an additional layer of security so that even if someone gets into your computer the private keys are nowhere to be found. They are stored securely in the hardware device and require you to enter a pin and confirm the transaction before any funds can be moved.

The Ledger Nano S is one of the smallest hardware wallets and comes highly regarded by many users. It’s so popular that it’s out of stock and you need to order and wait a few weeks before it’s shipped (mine took roughly 4 weeks since ordering until delivery). Let’s get into the unboxing and initial thoughts.

This is what we get to see first when opening the box.

Beneath the black foam material holding the actual device you find a “Welcome” package, a USB cable to connect the device to your PC and some keychain accessories.

The actual device is quite small, the same size of a USB pen (SanDisk Ultra pictured side by side with the Nano S).

The device is controlled by the two buttons on the side, left or right for moving up or down and both buttons press to confirm an action.

Nano S startup screen after it’s been setup. Fail to enter the correct PIN 3 times and it reset itself — you’ll have to recover the device with the recovery phrase provided when setting the device up.

I’ll follow up with another post about the initial setup, recovery phrase (and tips where to store it), user interface and how to use it to store Bitcoin, Ethereum (using myetherwallet.com instead of the Chrome app) and more!

Thank you for reading. If this helped you please feel free to upvote and leave a comment below!

Comments

[cyncarlton]

Thanks for posting. Were there any other wallets that garnered your interest? What made you choose this particular wallet?

[smartins]

Thanks for reading! I considered both the Trezor and the Ledger Nano S but opted for the Ledger Nano S because:

• They are based in Europe (France) as am I (Portugal)
• Size (smaller and more streamlined than the Trezor)
• Cost per device is a bit lower than the Trezor
• There's a significant amount of development being made by the company on new coins support and improvements
• Their product seems to been very well tough out with no known issues

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