Trezor reviewed: open code, prices in francs

Prague-based Trezor makes the maths easiest for anyone buying from Switzerland: the official shop lists prices directly in francs, from the Safe 3 at CHF 49 to the Safe 7 at CHF 229. On top of that you get fully open firmware, a Bitcoin-only edition of every model and a backup you can split across several places. For a first pot of bitcoin savings, or if open source is non-negotiable for you, Trezor is the natural pick.

It is a weaker fit if you mostly use your wallet on the move with your phone – Bluetooth only comes with the most expensive model. If you want a maker based in Switzerland and delivery without crossing a border, look at the BitBox from Adliswil. And if you juggle lots of exotic tokens, Ledger has the longer list – with the well-known caveats.

The three Safe models at a glance

Behind Trezor is Trezor company s.r.o., part of the SatoshiLabs group in Prague. It has sold hardware wallets since 2014 and currently offers three models in the Safe range.

Safe 3 (CHF 49): 0.96-inch monochrome display, two buttons, USB-C. It was the first Trezor with a secure element and is still the cheapest. In everyday use it lacks nothing essential; you simply enter your PIN and confirmations with the buttons.

Safe 5 (CHF 119): 1.54-inch colour touchscreen (240 × 240 pixels), also USB-C. The bigger screen makes checking long addresses more comfortable, and it handles much like a smartphone.

Safe 7 (CHF 229): 2.5-inch touchscreen (520 × 380 pixels) under Gorilla Glass 3, aluminium body. New are encrypted Bluetooth (which you can switch off), Qi2 wireless charging and a three-chip design: alongside the certified secure element sits the TROPIC01 chip, which Trezor calls «fully auditable».

All three come as a Universal edition for many coins and a Bitcoin-only edition. Bitcoin-only means firmware that knows bitcoin and nothing else: less code, smaller attack surface. If you only buy bitcoin to save, you lose nothing. One detail for Exodus users: according to its support pages, the software wallet does not work with Trezors running Bitcoin-only firmware.

Open source and the security model

Trezor’s slogan is «Security starts with open-source», and it is more than marketing: the firmware and the Trezor Suite management software are public. Independent experts can check what the device does instead of having to take the maker’s word for it. That is the key difference from Ledger, whose operating system inside the chip is not public.

The older Model One and Model T, however, had no secure elementA tamper-resistant chip of the kind found in bank cards. It makes extracting secrets much harder for someone with physical access to the device.. With physical access – after a burglary, say – extraction was in principle easier. The Safe range closes that gap with an EAL6+ certified chip. The Safe 7 goes further with the TROPIC01, a security chip whose design is publicly documented – an attempt to combine hardware protection with transparency.

Trezor also supports a passphraseAn extra word of your choosing added to the seed phrase. It opens a different wallet, so the words alone do not give access to your coins.. It protects your coins even if someone finds both the device and the words. It must be stored separately, though – and forgetting it means losing access.

Backup: word list or multi-share

Every Safe model can create a word list of 12, 20 or 24 words. What sets them apart is the multi-share backupA backup under the SLIP-39 (Shamir) standard: it is split into several shares, and a set number of them is enough to restore the wallet.: instead of one list you create several shares, for example three, any two of which are enough. A typical set-up: one share at home, one in a bank safe-deposit box, one with a trusted friend – or, for expats, with a family member back home. Anyone who finds a single share can do nothing with it; lose one and your coins remain reachable.

The trade-off: more shares, more organising. Write down how many shares exist and how many are needed, and run a test recovery with a small amount. For inheritance planning it is ideal, because no single person gets access alone.

Setting up in five steps

1. 1

   Order from the official shop

   On trezor.io or from a reseller Trezor names. Do not use second-hand or opened devices.

2. 2

   Download Trezor Suite

   Only from trezor.io. Suite guides you through first setup and the firmware installation.

3. 3

   Create the wallet and backup

   Pick the backup type (word list or multi-share), write the words by hand and confirm them on the device. Never photograph them.

4. 4

   Set a PIN and, optionally, a passphrase

   Enter the PIN on the device itself. Keep the passphrase apart from the words.

5. 5

   Check the address and test

   Compare the receiving address on the display, send a small amount, practise a recovery once, then move the rest.

The words belong on paper or a steel plate – never in the cloud, a notes app or a will. Our overview of crypto wallets in Switzerland sums up the other ground rules.

Buying in Switzerland: franc prices and VAT

Trezor is the only one of the big makers whose official franc prices we could confirm. Whether VAT, shipping and customs clearance are included only shows at checkout; we have not verified it. If Swiss import VAT is charged separately, it is 8.1% on the value of the goods plus shipping, and the customs office does not collect amounts up to CHF 5. For the Safe 3 at CHF 49, the VAT on the device is CHF 3.97, so it may stay under that line as long as shipping does not push the total above roughly CHF 62. For the Safe 5 it is CHF 9.64, for the Safe 7 CHF 18.55 – each plus VAT on shipping and any courier fee.

How Trezor compares

The Safe 3 is the cheapest device here that combines a secure element with open firmware. The BitBox02 Nova scores with Bluetooth, microSD backup and Swiss origin, the Ledger Flex with the longest coin list. More in our Ledger review.

Trezor Suite and the travel rule

You manage the Trezor in Trezor Suite. For Swiss users the «Sign & Verify» feature is especially handy: it lets you sign a message with a bitcoin address without moving funds and without revealing other addresses or your balance. That is exactly what many Swiss exchanges and banks ask for before your first withdrawal to an external wallet. The reason is the travel ruleThe rule that sender and recipient details must accompany a crypto transfer; in Switzerland providers therefore ask for proof that the receiving address is yours., which FINMA has applied since 2019 with no exemption for private wallets. One limitation, per Trezor: «Sign & Verify» is not available for Taproot accounts. Background in our guide to FINMA and crypto regulation.

Data leaks at service providers

Trezor customer data has leaked several times through outside providers. According to Trezor, devices and funds were not affected each time – the phishing risk, however, is very real:

• January 2024: unauthorised access to an external support portal; according to Trezor, up to 66,000 contacts with name and email. Some users were then approached and asked for their recovery words.
• August 2026: at logistics firm ShipMonk, order data (name, address, email, phone) was stolen – first reported as about 14,000 customers, later about 81,000. The orders named came from the US, UK, Sweden, Colombia, Brazil, Italy and Portugal – not Switzerland.
• September 2026: attackers hijacked the Brevo email service and sent phishing emails from help@trezor.io to about 347,000 newsletter subscribers, warning of an invented chip flaw and asking for the recovery words. About 2,500 people clicked before the link was taken down.

If you own a Model One or Model T

According to Trezor, both devices are «retired from sale, not from support». Critical security updates are promised until at least 2036, feature updates for the Model T until at least 2031; the Model One gets maintenance only. There is no need to switch right away. But since neither has a secure element, a passphrase – or moving to a Safe model with a fresh backup – makes sense for larger amounts.

Tax

Trezor does not issue tax statements. Self-custodied coins go into the securities schedule of your Swiss tax return as at 31 December, valued at the Federal Tax Administration’s year-end rate, and count towards wealth tax. The steps are in our guide on declaring crypto in your tax return.

Strengths and weaknesses

Who Trezor suits

For most bitcoin savers in Switzerland, the Trezor Safe 3 is the most sensible value: secure element, open firmware and multi-share backup for CHF 49. The Safe 5 is worth it if you check addresses often and want a large colour screen; the Safe 7 if you use the wallet over Bluetooth with your phone. If you buy bitcoin through a savings plan, for example with Relai, you can send it straight to the Trezor.

Alternatives: the BitBox02 Nova for a Swiss maker with microSD backup, Ledger for the widest coin choice, and for small everyday amounts an app such as Exodus, which connects to the Safe 3 and Safe 5 on desktop.