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Ledger Nano X Review 

 July 14, 2021

By  Brian Forester

This guide is an in-depth review of Nano X, Ledger’s latest hardware wallet to date. The review is based solely on the personal experience of using the Ledger Nano X device. Read the whole guide to know if Ledger Nano X is deemed the best hardware wallet for trading cryptocurrencies.

As an additional part, we will also compare Ledger Nano X with its closest rivals – Trezor One, Trezor Model T, and another Ledger’s device – Ledger Nano S bitcoin wallet.

If you are new to the whole topic of hardware wallets and cryptocurrencies, we invite you to read this article in full, starting with the introductory section of what hardware wallets are and why you might need one. But if you know enough about hardware wallets and are reading this post only for the Ledger Nano X review, please skip the first section and proceed with the rest of the article.

What Are Hardware Wallets?

A hardware wallet is a tiny device that has a digital key for your cryptocurrency operations.

The main feature of hardware wallets is that with them, you totally secure your key since it never gets exposed online really. Such a type of offline storage is called cold storage. For instance, when you want to perform a transaction using your hardware wallet, the transaction will be processed through the device itself, bypassing the computer it is connected to.

Due to this feature, hardware wallets can be connected to any laptop or desktop computer with no risks of a cryptocurrency key being leaked anywhere online.

That is why those who deal with cryptocurrencies regularly choose hardware wallets, preferring them to software wallets. By the way, another term for software wallets is hot wallets. That is because, with software wallets, your key is at risk of getting exposed online and is not 100%-secured.

The Ledger Company Quick Overview

Before we proceed with the Ledger Nano X review, let’s take a quick look at Ledger, the manufacturer company.

Being one of the two biggest hardware wallet manufacturers (with its closest rival is Satoshi Labs – the Trezor devices manufacturer), Ledger has been in business since 2014. Today, Ledger provides high-quality solutions for security and infrastructure for cryptocurrencies and blockchain apps, being the leader in the field.

With more than 130 crypto experts in the staff, Ledger releases a wide array of products and provides services for crypto assets security. Ledger’s latest product is the Nano X hardware wallet.

With Nano X, Ledger now lets users control their hardware wallet from their smartphone via Bluetooth connection. No desktop computer connection is required.

The Ledger Nano X Hardware Wallet Review

The previous hardware wallet by Ledger was Nano S – a high-quality crypto assets security device that lacked one substantial feature, and that is why it was one small step from perfection. The said feature is the support of mobile connectivity. With Nano X, Ledger added this option. Now you can get a modern-day crypto assets security device that you can control from your smartphone via Bluetooth with no need to plug it into your laptop or desktop computer. This feature is especially crucial when you have to buy or sell cryptocurrencies away from your home using a compromised PC. But more on that later.

1 – Unboxing the Ledger Nano X device

The Ledger Nano X package includes:

  • The Nano X hardware wallet (using its own operating system called BOLOS)
  • USB-C cable
  • Instructions
  • Recovery sheets

The Nano X device is beautifully designed with its buttons carefully integrated into the device’s body, which makes them practically unnoticeable — a much better solution compared to the design of the Nano S that had bigger buttons.

2 – The Ledger Nano X setup procedure

Before you are able to use Ledger Nano X for crypto coins operations, you must first set up the device.

This procedure takes five steps:

Step One: Creating a PIN code

When you turn on Ledger Nano X, the device will ask you to come up with a security PIN code. Such a code must contain from four to eight digits. Dialing the code is performed via the two control buttons on the device’s body. When you’re done dialing the PIN code, push the two buttons simultaneously to confirm it.

Step Two: Writing down a recovery phrase

A recovery phrase (or a recovery seed phrase) is a set of words that you only you should know. These recovery seed words will be displayed by the device upon its initializing. Be sure to write these words down and store them in a safe place. The recovery phrase will help you to restore your funds should you happen to lose your private key. Private keys sometimes get broken or stolen. When that happens, private key holders have the opportunity to gain access to their cryptocurrencies using recovery words.

After you have written the words down, you will need to confirm them. Unlike the Trezor model, Ledger Nano X will not allow you to skip this step. This nuance may be regarded as a downside of the Nano X wallet by some customers.

  • It is important to stress that a recovery phrase must be kept secret. You must not give this information to anyone. Nor your Nano X device will ever ask your recovery words after you have initialized it.

To write down your recovery seed phrase, you may use recovery sheets that are included in the Ledger Nano X package.

Step Three: Using Bluetooth to pair Nano X with your smartphone

As we said earlier, Ledger Nano X can be controlled via Bluetooth from a mobile device using a Ledger Live app. On the one hand, this is a great upgrade and a modern-day improvement that will allow you to use your Nano X without connecting it to a computer. But as convenient and secure as it may look, this upgrade also has its downsides.

Although connecting Nano X to a smartphone through the Ledger Live app was conceived to be an easy and quick procedure, in reality, it is a bit more difficult. In our personal case, it took two attempts to pair Ledger Nano X with a smartphone successfully.

Controlling a Ledger wallet through a smartphone is also not as easy as it should be:

  • Quite often, when you perform an action within the Ledger Live mobile app, you must wait for the app to find the Bluetooth connection to approve the action on the Nano X wallet.
  • Another thing that bugged us while testing the Ledger Live app controlling possibilities is that Nano X sometimes would not show the “approve” option. When that happened, we had to wait a few moments for auto-approval.

Step Four: Installing third-party applications

When you have paired the Ledger Nano X with your mobile device, you can download and install various apps that you will use for different crypto coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, etc.

What coins does the Nano X Ledger wallet support?

  • Ledger Nano X supports more than a thousand different crypto coins and tokens. The device gives the options of sending and receiving coins through the Ledger Live app. The set of top crypto coins that you can trade using Nano X Ledger wallet includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP (Ripple), Dogecoin, Dash, Stellar.
  • Bitcoin options are represented by BTC, BCH, and BTG.
  • Ethereum is represented by ETH and Ethereum Classic.
  • To trade less common tokens and coins like ERC-20 that is used in Initial Coin Offerings, you will need to install additional applications like MyCryptoWallet or MyEtherWallet.
  • For the complete list of all the supported crypto assets for Ledger Nano X follow the link.

Step Five: Adding accounts

This step is one of the more confusing steps in the whole setting-up procedure. For instance, if you install a Bitcoin app, it does not mean that you are all set and ready to trade coins with the Nano X Ledger wallet. The trick is that you must add a Bitcoin account first. The task becomes more difficult when you realize that you can’t do that through the user interface.

Even though the Ledger team will help you out with the detailed Ledger Live onboarding tips on their website, we still have to say that this part of the Nano X setting up procedure could have been more user-friendly.

3 – Overall impressions of the Ledger Nano X hardware wallet

Out of the box, the Nano X Ledger wallet is a significant step ahead of the previous Nano S device. It has a number of design improvements as well as the new long-awaited feature of Bluetooth connection. And Ledger Nano X surely gives the impression of being better than most hardware wallets out there. But is it the best hardware wallet, or can we say that this hardware wallet is perfect in its own right?

The truth is that Nano X could have been better. It is in no way a bad hardware wallet. The device is really great, but it has certain downsides that we can’t omit in our Ledger Nano X review:

  • First of all, it’s the Ledger Live mobile app workflow that surely needs a bit of tweaking. As we mentioned above, sometimes it takes time to wait for the action to get approved. From time to time, the Ledger Live app gets you waiting for it to restore the Bluetooth connection.
  • The second downside is that the interface could have been more user-friendly.

We can’t tell what the cause of these downsides was. Maybe it’s the technical limitations that the Ledger team could not overcome at the time of manufacturing the device. Anyway, we hope that Nano X is yet to be improved in the nearest future in order to become the number one customer choice for the best crypto assets security device on the market.

4 – The price

If you decide to buy Ledger Nano X, it will cost you $119. Comparing to the Ledger Nano S device, the price is twice as high. The second half of the Ledger Nano X price seems to be the result of a Bluetooth add-on and the larger amount of coins you can hold with a Nano X Ledger wallet (the available amount is 100 crypto assets).

While some might see this as a huge price difference, after having some time using the Ledger Nano X hardware wallet, we would say that it is worth it. Especially regarding the capacity for coins – with Ledger Nano S you don’t get the luxury of being able to hold up to 100 assets at a time.

As for the opportunity of using the Nano X Ledger Live app to control the wallet, we would also say that it’s a big plus and a really modern upgrade (despite minor nuances of using the app that we already mentioned above).

Ledger Nano X Alternatives

Today, there are three main options you can consider as alternatives for the Ledger Nano X hardware wallet. These three hardware wallets are:

  • Ledger Nano S
  • Trezor One
  • Trezor Model T

Now, we will take a closer look at these models to see what they have in store, and they are any good competed to Ledger Nano X.

Ledger Nano S

Ledger Nano S is the previous model by Ledger. This hardware wallet has a lower coin capacity. It cannot be controlled via an app and comes at a price of $59. Customers rated Ledger Nano S five stars which makes it the closest match to the Nano X, Ledger-s latest model.

Trezor One

Trezor One is a hardware wallet by Satoshi Labs, the closest rival to Ledger. Trezor One wallet comes at the price of $80 and has no additional features. It is fair to say that Trezor One is out of competition with the security Ledger Nano X model.

Trezor Model T

Another device by Satoshi Labs, the Trezor Model T wallet, has a price of almost $170 and is equipped with a touchscreen. Frankly speaking, we don’t think that this model is anywhere near the Nano X Ledger wallet since a touch screen is not something that can be regarded as a must in any hardware wallet’s design. It does not add anything crucial in terms of functionality when buying or selling cryptocurrencies. Coming at $170 and with only four out of five stars from customers, the Trezor Model T hardware wallet doesn’t seem to be worth it. But again, this is our opinion.

Ledger Nano X: a Quick Recap

Let’s do a quick recap of what Ledger Nano X is about, and it is worth it.

With Nano X, Ledger’s crypto experts managed to create an almost perfect model of a modern hardware wallet to work with cryptocurrencies. The model is beautifully designed. It has a Bluetooth connection and an app to control the device from a mobile phone and boasts an extended coin capacity that allows users to hold up to 100 coins. With such features, Nano X is definitely worth its price.

But we would still like to mention that we hope Ledger will improve the model in terms of intuitiveness since we found some aspects of the interface not quite user-friendly.

Finishing our Ledger Nano X review, we would like to praise Ledger for making such an effort to create this high-quality device that may be regarded as a new standard for crypto private keys. This tiny device combined with the Nano X Ledger Live app creates an ultimate tool in terms of cryptocurrency security and managing crypto assets. There is no doubt that in the nearest future, other manufacturers of private keys all over the world will look at the Ledger Nano X device as a reference while designing products of their own.

But again, in terms of user experience, we must add that Ledger Nano X definitely needs some tweaking. There are still minor nuances related to Bluetooth connection and the setting up procedure.

As far as functionality goes, Ledger Nano X is the best option if you’re looking for security in cryptocurrency trading.

What Customers Usually Ask About Ledger Products

What is Ledger Live?

  • Ledger Live is software that you use to control your Ledger Nano X device. Ledger Live can be downloaded and installed on your computer, or you can install it as an app on your mobile device to then control Nano X via Bluetooth.

How to Send Bitcoin to Ledger wallet?

  • Perform the Ledger Nano X setting up
  • Connect your wallet and choose the Bitcoin app
  • Run the Ledger Live app and add your Bitcoin account
  • Hit the “receive” option (after that, you will see your Bitcoin wallet’s address).
  • You can transfer bitcoins to this address at any time without the need to connect your Ledger Nano X to a computer.

Can Bluetooth connection threaten the security of the Nano X wallet?

  • The private keys are secured at all times and always stay offline;
  • The Bluetooth connection of Ledger Nano X is encrypted and 100% safe;
  • Scammers will never gain access to the private keys stored in hardware wallets.

Can I turn off the Bluetooth option?

  • Yes, you can. You may use your Ledger Nano X by plugging in directly to your computer using a USB port. Ledger Nano X comes with a USB-C cable.

Is the Nano X rechargeable?

  • Yes, it is. You can recharge the Nano X device via USB. Use the included USB-C cable for it.

Does Ledger Nano X support Cardano?

  • Yes, it does. Cardano is supported by both the Nano S and the Nano X models.

What apps does the Nano X wallet support?

  • With Nano X, you can use all the apps supported by the previous model (Nano S).
  • To run the apps, you may use whether a USB-C cable for connecting to your computer or a Bluetooth connection to control the Ledger Nano X remotely.

FAQs

Is the Ledger Nano X worth it?

Today, Ledger Nano X may be easily called the best option if you’re looking for a high-quality tool to exchange crypto coins and tokens compared to all the other hardware wallets on the market. Among the pros of choosing the Ledger Nano X are:

  • The ability to use up to 100 crypto apps for various cryptocurrency orders;
  • More than one thousand crypto coins and tokens are supported. Cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Ripple, and more;
  • A Bluetooth connection that allows users to control their wallets remotely and exchange cryptocurrencies through the Ledger Live app for mobile devices.

What does Ledger Nano X do?

Ledger Nano X is a hardware wallet that lets users buy/sell, and manage their crypto assets using the highest security standards. Being a “cold storage,” Ledger Nano X holds the private key for cryptocurrency transactions offline, unlike software wallets that can be hacked and used by scammers.

What sets Ledger Nano X from other hardware crypto wallets is that it has a new feature that allows users to control it remotely from their smartphones.

Which is better, Ledger Nano S or X?

Ledger Nano S is the previous model by Ledger, which is twice as cheaper as Nano X. But that is not the only difference between the two. With Ledger Nano S, you get a limited coin capacity which may be a huge dealbreaker for you. If you are planning to perform multiple crypto orders using a wide variety of cryptocurrencies, your best option is to go with Ledger Nano X. The X model gives a lot more functionality for a bitcoin trader to manage their assets.

Is it safe to buy Ledger Nano X from Amazon?

Despite there are customers who successfully bought their Ledger Nano X devices from Amazon and using them with no issues, we would not advise you to do so. When you don’t buy hardware wallets from an official retailer, there is a risk that you will receive a hacked item. Whereas with such products as hardware wallets to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, you count on the highest security standards. If you unknowingly bought a hacked item, you may lose all your funds one day.

So the best way to buy Ledger Nano S or Ledger Nano X is to buy them directly from Ledger on their website.

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.

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