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Ledger Nano X review: still the easiest hardware wallet to live with

Bluetooth, broad asset support and a polished app make the Nano X the default recommendation — provided you are comfortable with a closed-source secure element and the company's data-breach history.

4/5Ledger Nano X · Hardware wallet
By /DeFi & Protocols Reporter
Published
The Ledger website home page displaying its hardware wallet range
Screenshot: ledger.com

Buy a hardware wallet and you are buying two things: a device that keeps a private key away from an internet-connected computer, and a workflow you will tolerate often enough to actually use it. The Ledger Nano X wins mostly on the second.

Setup is unremarkable in the best sense. Generate a seed, write it down, set a PIN, install the chain apps you need. Bluetooth pairing then removes the single biggest annoyance of cold storage — being tethered to a laptop to approve anything — and mobile signing through the phone app works reliably enough that we stopped planning transactions around a desk.

Asset coverage is the other reason the Nano X keeps its recommendation. If you hold anything beyond the majors, this is the device most likely to support it on day one, and Ledger Live has matured into a competent portfolio, staking and swap surface rather than a thin installer.

The criticisms are structural, not cosmetic. The secure element and its firmware are closed source, so users are trusting a certification process and a company rather than a codebase they can audit. Reasonable people disagree about how much that matters; if it matters to you, it disqualifies the device outright.

Then there is the 2020 breach of Ledger's e-commerce customer database, which exposed names, addresses and phone numbers of buyers. The devices themselves were never compromised, but the leaked list still feeds targeted phishing and physical-threat scams years later. Anyone buying today should assume their purchase details could circulate and treat unsolicited Ledger correspondence as hostile by default.

Smaller irritations accumulate. Two buttons make verifying a long address a chore, which is precisely the moment you should not be rushing. The battery cannot be replaced by the user, giving the device a finite life even though the seed obviously outlives it.

Rating: 4 out of 5. For most people holding more than pocket money across several chains, the Nano X is still the wallet we would hand them — with an explicit warning about phishing and a suggestion to buy direct from the manufacturer.

The verdict

Ledger Nano X

4/5

The Nano X remains the most convenient hardware wallet on the market, with the widest asset coverage and the best mobile experience. Points come off for closed-source firmware and a customer-data breach the company has still not fully lived down.

What we liked

  • Bluetooth pairing makes mobile signing genuinely practical
  • Supports thousands of assets across more chains than any rival
  • Ledger Live is the most complete companion app in the category
  • Certified secure element with a strong record against physical extraction

What we didn’t

  • Firmware and secure element remain closed source
  • The 2020 e-commerce customer database leak still generates phishing
  • Two-button navigation is fiddly for long addresses
  • Battery is not user-replaceable
Price
Around $149 direct from the manufacturer
Tested on
Firmware 2.x with Ledger Live on macOS and Android, August 2026
Maker
Ledger

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