Being in the crypto space for a little more than a year now, it is inevitable the amount of coins and tokens I collect has grown over time. In the past few months, as crypto and DeFi hacks are getting as common as rain in Malaysia, I worry of losing my assets to these hacks all the time. I had to secure my assets with a hardware wallet.

Until one day, my friend recommended the SafePal S1 hardware wallet from CryptoBilis (an Authorized Reseller in Malaysia), it’s also the first hardware wallet backed by Binance Labs. When I finally got my hands on it last week, I’ve unboxed, setup, and transacted crypto with my brand new SafePal S1. I loved it very much! And I will be sharing all about it in this article, plus some of the things I didn’t like about this device.

What is a Hardware Wallet (or a Cold Wallet)?

Hardware wallets store your private keys on a separate physical device. They isolate your private keys from your computer and the Internet so you don’t have to trust the software on your computer to hold your private keys (hackers could inject virus or malware to the software to steal your private keys easily). Using a hardware wallet mitigates the risks of your assets being compromised in an online attack.

When you are signing blockchain transactions, your computer sends transactions to the hardware wallet to be signed and then returned to your computer as signed transactions, then broadcasting the transactions to the blockchain network. This way, your private keys will never be accessed by anyone else other than through the device, making it impossible for anyone to forge your signature or make a transaction on your behalf without it.

Now that we know what a hardware wallet is, let’s look at the features of the SafePal S1.

SafePal S1 - Best for beginners to advanced traders

As a beginner to advanced level trader myself, I will consolidate the pros and cons of the SafePal S1, highlighting features that I find useful, so that you can make an informed decision if you decide to get your hands on a SafePal S1.

Feature 1: Coins and Tokens Support

As someone who has eventually dabbled into multiple coins and tokens, including projects that are newly launched, it is important for me that the SafePal S1 is supporting over 30,000 crypto coins and tokens across a total of 48 blockchains. You can find all the cryptocurrencies supported by SafePal on this page.

Another plus point for the SafePal S1 here is that it supports unlimited cryptocurrencies on the hardware wallet, meaning you can manage as many coins or tokens as you like on the device without taking up much of the device space.

Feature 2: Full-Scale Security

SafePal puts user security first on every step of the product experience. Before I get to unbox, I have to remove the security seal sticker on the box. If you believe the sticker has been tampered, it is recommended to report the product to your manufacturer or reseller. CryptoBilis also has a sticker at the back of the box that proves authenticity of the product - how thoughtful!

Upon first time activation of your SafePal S1, you will have to scan a QR to prove this device has never been authenticated by anyone else. If this is not the case, you should report this product. When you create a new wallet, there are 3 mnemonic cards provided where you can store the passphrases and private keys. You can always recover your wallet with the passphrase you have written down securely. After creating a new wallet, you will be prompted to set up a PIN of 6-12 digits for your hardware wallet that you will have to key in every time you sign a transaction.

The device is entirely offline with no Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth or USB connections, or other radiofrequency. It uses an air-gapped signing mechanism that is usually done through QR code communication via image recognition technology and thus does not rely on any internet or external signal. Besides, the device is built with a true random number generator to ensure a new private key is generated on a secure basis when a user creates a new wallet on the device.

SafePal S1 has also passed the highest level of security against penetration attacks (EAL5+), where going beyond EAL5+ does not provide a higher assurance. It has built-in multiple layers of security sensors to prevent attackers from gaining the private key easily, the full list can be found here. If any of the security sensors detects any attacks, the self-destructive mechanism will be activated, therefore you MUST be sure to save the passphrase offline and properly.

Feature 3: Conveniently Designed

It is a stylish black metal body design, only the size of a credit card (8.6 x 5.4 x 0.6). It comes with a control button and a 1.3 inch IPS clear display screen on the anterior to help confirm transactions offline. On the posterior, it comes with an inbuilt camera for high-speed QR code scanning to sign transactions offline. Therefore it is super light and easy to carry around so you can manage your crypto anywhere 24/7. It has a 400mAh size battery, which will stay on for 20 days if you use it for 10 minutes daily. It is charged with a Type C USB cable and comes with a free cable cord.

Feature 4: Ease-of-use

SafePal S1 offers easy portfolio management with its mobile app for Android and iOS devices, I can track and add/delete tokens as I wish. The SafePal app also integrates with many DeFi, dApp, and NFT websites, so I can freely explore Web3.

Cons: What I dislike

I dislike the fact that now I have to do a double QR scan + key in my PIN every time I make a transaction on the blockchain. However, using the SafePal S1 does take the worry off my mind for quite a bit, so I will treat this as a reasonable tradeoff.

Plus, at the current pace of development in the crypto space, it can be tough to support all the new coins out there in the market. So we might have to wait for firmware upgrades to get our favorite coins/tokens.

What’s In The Box

Setting up SafePal S1 - it took me just 10-minutes to set it up!

• Charge and power on the device using the power button. Install the SafePal app

• Authenticate the S1 hardware wallet

• Select, create a new wallet or restore one from a backup passphrase

• Pair the S1 device with the SafePal App

• Add your favorite coins/tokens in the wallet from the Coin Management setting

• Full guide here

Using the SafePal S1 device

I used the SafePal S1 to generate a QR code showing my Ethereum address, which I then send some Matic over the Polygon Network. The transaction showed up pretty quickly on the app as well as on the device.

I also tried making some transactions with my own dApp, where I have to use the SafePal S1 to scan my phone and vice versa, and having to key in my PIN. I find this process pretty straightforward and I can get used to it fairly quickly.

In short, I really like the security offered by the SafePal S1 as well as it is convenient to use with a small and light weight. I would highly recommend this device (5/5) to anyone looking to own their first hardware wallet.