This page explains exactly how CoinCrafty scores hardware wallets and crypto gear. If our published reviews ever drift from what is written here, this page is right and the review is wrong — tell us and we will fix it.
The weighted criteria
Every device is scored against six published criteria. Each is rated on its own merits, and the sub-scores and the reasons are shown in the review so you can weigh them for your own needs.
- Security model (30%) — secure element, open vs closed source, PIN/passphrase handling, supply-chain and firmware-verification protections.
- Ease of setup (20%) — how safely and clearly a first-time user reaches a backed-up, working wallet.
- Supported assets (15%) — coins, networks and third-party wallet compatibility.
- Build quality (15%) — materials, durability and everyday practicality.
- Value (10%) — price against what you actually get, not against hype.
- Support & longevity (10%) — documentation, firmware update track record and company reliability.
How our reviews are labelled — and what they are today
Every review currently published on CoinCrafty is research-based. That is not a hedge, it is the literal state of the section: we have not purchased, handled or bench-tested any of the devices we review. Each research-based review is built from the manufacturer’s own documentation, published security disclosures and audits, independent teardowns, and reputable public reporting — and every review page says so at the top, in the same words.
If the desk ever does carry out a genuine physical test, that review will carry a separate and clearly different label, will describe exactly what the test involved and over what period, and will be dated accordingly. Until such a test actually happens, no review on this site will imply one. We will never write that we bought, used or lived with a device we did not, and we will never quietly upgrade a research-based review into something it is not. This distinction is non-negotiable, and if you ever find a page that breaks it, that page is wrong — tell us and we will fix it.
No fabricated aggregate ratings
An editorial score is published as a Review reviewRating — a single, considered opinion from the desk. We do not emit an AggregateRating anywhere on this site, because we have not collected multiple independent ratings, and inventing a “4.7 from 312 reviews” badge to win a richer search result is exactly the dishonesty this section exists to avoid. You can verify this yourself by viewing the structured data on any review page.
The score is computed, not chosen
The overall score you see is the weighted average of the six sub-scores above, calculated from them directly. We do not decide on a headline number and then reverse-engineer the sub-scores to justify it. Because the weights and every sub-score are published on the page along with the reason for each, you can recalculate our arithmetic and disagree with any individual judgement on its merits.
Affiliate links never change a score
Some reviews contain affiliate links, disclosed plainly. The score is set before any commercial consideration and is never influenced by whether a link earns us anything. We do not take payment for a favourable review, and we keep affiliate links off pure safety and security content. See our affiliate disclosure.
Corrections
If we get a fact wrong — a spec, a security claim, a price — we correct it and log it openly on our corrections page. Accuracy matters to us more than being first.