Ledger Nano X Review

A polished, broadly compatible hardware wallet with a certified secure element — held back for some readers by closed-source firmware and the company's trust history.

By the CoinCrafty editorial desk · Updated 25 Jul 2026

8.5

out of 10

Research-based

How to read this review. This is a research-based assessment, compiled from Ledger's own documentation, published security disclosures and reputable public reporting. We have not purchased or used this device and do not claim to have done so. The score is a weighted editorial opinion produced by our published method — not financial advice, and not a recommendation to buy.

Who it is for

Someone holding a varied mix of assets who wants one device, a well-supported companion app, and Bluetooth for phone use. Less suited to a reader whose first requirement is fully open-source firmware they can audit.

The scorecard

Criterion	Why	Score
Security model 30% weight	Certified secure element and mandatory on-device confirmation, offset by closed-source firmware and a company trust history that some readers weigh heavily.	8.0
Ease of setup 20% weight	One of the smoother first-time setups in the category, with the recovery-phrase confirmation properly enforced.	9.0
Supported assets 15% weight	Very broad asset and network coverage through the companion app plus third-party wallet integrations.	9.5
Build quality 15% weight	Solid metal-and-plastic construction with a swivel cover; the screen is small but legible for address verification.	8.5
Value 10% weight	Priced above entry-level options; the Bluetooth and capacity justify it for some readers and not for others.	7.5
Support & longevity 10% weight	Extensive documentation, a long firmware-update track record and a well-established company.	8.5
Overall weighted	The weighted average of the six published criteria above, computed rather than chosen.	8.5

Security model

Keys are generated and held in a certified secure element, and every transaction must be confirmed physically on the device's own screen. The device firmware is closed-source, which Ledger argues is a condition of its secure-element certification and which critics argue removes the ability to independently verify what the device does. The 2020 breach of Ledger's e-commerce customer database exposed customer contact details (not funds or keys) and led to years of targeted phishing against buyers, which is a genuine consideration when judging the company rather than the hardware. The 2023 announcement of an optional key-recovery service prompted significant public debate about the assumptions users had made about key extraction.

Setup difficulty

Straightforward. The companion app walks you through PIN selection and recovery-phrase generation on the device, and the confirmation step is enforced rather than skippable. For a device-agnostic walkthrough of doing this properly, see our hardware wallet setup guide and our seed-phrase backup guide.

Pros and cons

Pros

Certified secure element with on-device transaction confirmation
Very wide asset and network support in one device
Bluetooth makes phone use genuinely practical
Mature documentation and a long update history

Cons

Device firmware is closed-source and cannot be independently audited
The 2020 customer-database breach led to sustained targeted phishing of buyers
The optional recovery service changed how some users understood the security model
Small screen makes long address verification tedious
Costs more than entry-level alternatives with comparable core security

Where to buy

Buy direct from Ledger or an authorised reseller listed on their own site — never second-hand, and never from a marketplace listing, because a pre-initialised device is the most common physical scam in this category. We do not currently run an affiliate link for this device; if that changes, this section will say so plainly and the score will not move. See our affiliate disclosure.

Alternatives

Trezor Safe 3 — 8.6/10Open-source firmware with a secure element, if auditability is your priority Blockstream Jade — 7.6/10A lower-cost, fully open-source Bitcoin-focused option

Frequently asked questions

Does the closed-source firmware make it unsafe?

Not inherently — it means you cannot personally verify the code and must instead trust the certification and the company. Whether that trade-off is acceptable is a judgement call, and reasonable people land in both camps. We flag it because it is a real limitation, not because it is a defect.

Was anyone's crypto stolen in the 2020 breach?

The breach exposed customer contact data from Ledger's e-commerce system, not private keys or funds. The lasting harm was a long tail of highly targeted phishing and physical-threat attempts against people known to own hardware wallets.

Is Bluetooth a security risk?

Transactions still require physical confirmation on the device, so Bluetooth does not bypass the security model. It does add surface area, and readers who want the smallest possible attack surface tend to prefer a device without it.

Sources

Spotted something wrong? Tell us via contact — corrections are logged publicly at corrections.