.st0{fill:#FFFFFF;}

Cobo Tablet Review 

 November 26, 2021

By  Brian Forester

This article will get you acquainted with Cobo Tablet – a device that allows its owner to safely store their digital wallet’s seed phrase. In the sections below, we will get you through the Cobo tablet review including the device’s specs, usage, and build quality, share our overall impression of the tablet, and give you a brief overview of the company that stands behind the Cobo crypto seed storage.

Introducing the Cobo Tablet

Cobo tablet is crypto seed storage designed and manufactured by the Cobo company. The device is sometimes referred to as a wallet, however, it is not 100% correct. In fact, a Cobo tablet is an accessory that a cryptocurrency investor may (or may not) use with their software or hardware wallet.

With a Cobo tablet, you will be able to safely store your seed words in a fireproof stainless steel case so that when you need to regain access to your crypto wallet, you will only need to open your Cobo tablet and enter the recovery seed phrase.

Why Would Anyone Need Cobo Tablet?

People that trade cryptocurrencies, use software or hardware wallets to store their assets to be completely sure that their funds are 100% unhackable and no one will have access to them. But sometimes a crypto trader may need to regain access to their software crypto wallet; hardware wallets may get broken or lost. In either case, a trader will not have an opportunity to use their wallet for crypto transactions.

To recovery access to a digital wallet, a trader will have to perform a certain procedure that takes entering a special row of words, commonly known as a recovery seed phrase. With a seed backup phrase, a trader will easily regain access to their wallet and continue trading cryptocurrencies.

But there is one thing each crypto trader must remember: if you happen to lose or forget a seed backup phrase, or someone steals it from you, you will have to say goodbye to your wallet and all your digital assets. In other words, you will need to take good care keeping recovery seed phrases safe and secure. No one must know what your recovery seed phrase is and where you store it.

Some choose to write them down on a piece of paper to keep in a safe. Some find other options. And some would choose something like a Cobo tablet – a full metal case with a collection of letter tiles that you use to comprise seed phrases and keep them tightly locked somewhere safe.

What’s in the box?

If you decide to try a Cobo tablet, it will cost you about $40. When the package arrives and you unpack it, you will see a black box that will include:

  • A stainless steel case;
  • A set of plates with letter tiles;
  • A screwdriver with a set of screws;
  • An instruction.

The Cobo tablet device itself looks like a thin stainless steel case. The manufacturer claims that the Cobo tablet case is heat-resistant, corrosion-proof, and mobile. The case is 1/4 inches thick, 4 1/8 inches wide, and 2 3/8 inches high.

How to Use a Cobo tablet?

Using a Cobo tablet is quite obvious – you just need to pick the necessary letters to comprise a row of 24 recovery seed words. Then you will need to secure the comprised words with a safety plate, using the screws that come with the service – it seems like a very simple process. However, in reality, things get a little bit more difficult than they may look on the paper. And here’s where the actual Cobo tablet review begins.

SPOILER ALERT:

  • Cobo tablet turned out to have too many flaws and drawbacks for such a simple device.

Why You May Not Like Cobo Tablet

Before we proceed with sharing our thoughts on using the Cobo tablet and how convenient it is, we cannot stress this enough by saying that everything that you are about to read below is our personal opinion. This Cobo Tablet review does not have a purpose to show the Cobo company’s product in a bad way, nor do we aspire to affect your own perception of the device. All we are trying to do is give you our own thoughts on this product and do it with as much respect towards the Cobo company and as much poise as possible.

Cobo tablet is not a universal recovery seed storage

What you must know from the very start before purchasing a Cobo tablet is that it will only suit storing BIP-39 seed backup phrases – the phrases that will only have letters in them. You will not be able to use the set of character tiles that come with the Cobo device to store private keys. Because private keys contain letters and digits. However, a Cobo tablet will work fine with hardware wallet products from Ledger and Trezor.

Tiny screws

Another thing to pay attention to is the size of the screws used in the setup. They seem ridiculously small. It is a no-brainer that using such screws may be a hassle, especially if you have big fingers.

What seems quite ironic is that the company itself seems to realize how insanely small the screws are. That is why the Cobo set includes several extra screws.

However, when we tested the device, the size of the screws felt too small indeed. So we feel obliged to bring this issue up in this review. After all, when you purchase a device that is claimed to be hackproof, you would expect such things as screws, holding the thing together to be longer and more reliable.

When we got the whole screwing procedure done, we notices that (and it came with no surprise) the screws did not seem to seal the case as tight as we hoped.

Putting in letters is not that easy

You may have expected that placing character tiles into the Cobo tablet slots would be a very simple process taking only a couple of minutes. Well, we are sure that for some it is really so. But in our case, we have to say that the process was really quite difficult. And here’s why.

First of all, before you put the letters into proper slots, you will need to take them out of letter plates. If you do it carefully, the letters will stay intact. However, we must warn you that letters are not too thick. So if you are not careful enough, you may damage some character tiles so that they will not fit too tight into slots.

Secondly, there comes placing the letters into the slots. The reason we say it may seem difficult to some users (like it did to us) is that there is a high risk of spiling the whole thing by accidentally spilling the already inserted letters out of the slots.

The thing is that there is no security grid or some kind of rails that would hold the inserted characters in place. So if you are not too delicate enough during the process, you may spill some of the seed phrase words out of the slots as you insert the next ones. This is especially annoying when you are halfway through or almost done.

Finally, the letters in the Cobo tablet set, as we said earlier, are not too thick so you may damage them during the process. Or you can accidentally insert the wrong letter being unable to take it out of the frame because it got stuck. When we were testing the Cobo tablet, the very same thing happened to us a couple of times. We tried to take the jammed letters out, but they would stay in place too tight. Finally, we managed to take the letters out but each time we destroyed the previously set recovery seed parts.

So at the end of the day, when you finally go through the hassle of inserting letters, you may find some of them damaged and having bent corners. Because of this, putting a top lid onto the words and fixing it tightly may be quite hard.

There are not enough characters

As we said earlier, the Cobo tablet only suits storing BIP-39 mnemonic seed phrase combinations. This means that you will only be able to comprise a seed phrase that consists of regular letters – there are no digits in the set. So you can’t use a Cobo tablet for private keys.

But there is another thing we must pay attention to: the letter set is quite limited. First of all, there are no uppercase letters, nor you will find any special characters in the set. Finally, some with some letters, you will need to use the same letter for different purposes by turning the letters 180 degrees. For example, you will have to make a “b” of out of “q”, and a “d” out of “p”.

So with such a set, you may come across the risk of running out of a certain letter if your crypto seed phrase has too many repeating letters.

A Quick Recap on Using a Cobo Tablet

So is a Cobo tablet all that bad? Not really. However, the device does come with some drawbacks that we have to mention:

  • Tiny screws that slip out of fingers, hard to handle, and don’t seem too reliable;
  • There is no safety rail to keep the inserted words in place;
  • Character tiles may get damaged – corners get bent;
  • A letter may get stuck inside a slot;
  • The set of letters may not suit some seed phrase combinations;

The Cobo Tablet Pros & Cons

So did we like or dislike the Cobo seed phrase storage? Let’s put it this way: while the device has its strong sides like a heatproof stainless steel case and an overall stylish look, at the same time the product does come with some cons that may leave some customers disappointed.

Pros

In terms of pros, we would name these:

  • Affordable price – the device is really budget-friendly;
  • Top build-quality;
  • Heat-resistant;
  • Stylish look.

Cons

As far as drawbacks go, they look like this:

  • Tiny screws;
  • Suits only BIP-39 seed phrase storing;
  • Character tiles are not easily installed.

A Cobo Tablet in a Nutshell

The Cobo tablet is a solidly built device to be used as a secure storage case to store mnemonic seed phrases. The device is heat-proof and is designed to resist pressure and acid. The package includes the product itself, the character tile plates, a screwdriver, and a set of screws.

The process of inserting letters in the slots may seem exhausting for some users. But if you consider that you will only have to do it once, this is not too big of a deal.

The case is full metal and durable with an average price of only $39, which makes the Cobo tablet a competitive device.

Alternative options

If you are interested in the closets rivals of the Cobo tablet, here’s a brief list of alternative products that you may consider:

  • Cryptosteel – the product comes at a price of about $46. The case is damage-resistant and waterproof.
  • Cryptotag – a more pricey option coming at about $130. The titanium-made case is heat and impact-resistant, it will resist corrosion, water, and fire.
  • Blockplate – this product has three models of different sizes ranging from $54 to $89.

A Few Words About the Cobo Company

Cobo is a Chinese blockchain company that specializes in security solutions for the cryptocurrency market. Among Cobo’s services and products are wallets, vaults, fund custodians, and seed phrase protection devices.

Today, the worldwide known corporation has two major headquarters in Shanghai and Seatle. Cobo is a highly regarded developer and provider of blockchain security products and services both software and hardware.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a quality seed phrase protection device, the Cobo tablet is a product for you to consider. While it may have several downsides such as a limited letter set, tiny screws, etc., still, considering the price of $39, the Cobo tablet is a great choice for crypto wallets using BIP-39 recovery phrases.

The online customer reviews are generally positive, so you may as well try this product and make up your mind about it. After all, it is really affordable it is worth every single penny spent if you take it for what it is.

FAQs

What does a Cobo tablet do?

A Cobot tablet is a device that stores crypto recover seed phrase – a set of words that you will need to use if your crypto wallet gets broken, lost, or stolen. This is a full metal case that can resist corrosion, fire, pressure, and even acid. With a price of $39, the Cobo tablet is a good choice for a budget-friendly seed phrase protector.

Who Should Buy a Seed Backup Device

A seed backup device is a product for those who trade cryptocurrencies and use software or hardware crypto wallets to store their funds. Such wallets have individually generated seed phrases that wallet owners will use to restore access to their funds.

What’s a Seed Backup?

A seed backup is a set of automatically generated words that serve as a tool to restore access to a cryptocurrency wallet in case a wallet owner loses it, or the wallet gets broken or stolen. A seed backup may include worlds consisting of letters, numbers, and special characters.

Is Cobo Tablet safe?

A Cobo tablet is a solidly built full metal case that can resist fire, pressure, and acid. It is highly sealed with screws so that a recover phrase stays securely stored until it is needed. The device is durable and safe to use.

Brian Forester


Brian is an experienced journalist and crypto enthusiast. Founder of CryptoCurry - famed for his insightful input on the future of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies.

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}
This website uses cookies and asks your personal data to enhance your browsing experience.