Trezor Safe 3 vs Model One 2026: Which Is Better?

Welcome to our Trezor Safe 3 vs. Trezor Model One comparison — refreshed for 2026 to reflect the Model One’s discontinuation after a 12-year production run, the longest of any Trezor device. The Model One was the wallet that started the entire hardware wallet category back in 2014: no touchscreen, no Secure Element, just a small OLED screen, two buttons, and rock-solid open-source fundamentals. The Safe 3 is its modern successor in spirit and in practice, built around the same compact button-and-screen format but with a decade of security hardening baked in.

This comparison now serves two audiences: people deciding between a secondhand/clearance Model One and a brand-new Safe 3, and existing Model One owners who want to know exactly what they’d gain by upgrading. Let’s get into the numbers first, then the detail.

Trezor Safe 3 vs Trezor Model One: Quick Comparison

Feature	Trezor Safe 3	Trezor Model One
Availability	✅ Currently sold by Trezor	❌ Discontinued (Jan 8, 2026) — resellers only
Price	$59	Was $69 official; now often $19–$49 on clearance/resale
Launch year	2023	2014 (12-year production run)
Screen	0.96″ monochrome OLED, 128×64px	0.96″ monochrome OLED, 128×64px
Input	Two-button pad	Two physical buttons
Connectivity	USB-C	Micro-USB (older standard)
Processor	180 MHz ARM Cortex-M4	120 MHz ARM Cortex-M3
Secure Element chip	✅ EAL6+ certified	❌ None
Supported coins	8,000+	~1,000–1,200+ (narrower due to older hardware)
Backup options	Standard & Shamir (SLIP39)	Standard (12/18/24-word); Shamir added via later firmware
Passphrase entry	On-device	Typed on connected computer (no device screen for it)
Privacy features	CoinJoin, coin control, Tor	CoinJoin, coin control, Tor (via Trezor Suite)
Size / weight	59 × 32 × 7.4 mm / 14 g	60 × 30 × 6 mm / 12 g
Long-term support	Actively developed, full roadmap	Maintenance to 2031, security fixes to 2036

Prices and reseller availability shift quickly for discontinued hardware — always confirm current figures before purchasing.

Availability: What “Discontinued” Actually Means

The Model One had the longest run of any Trezor device — 12 years on the market before Trezor retired it on January 8, 2026, in the same announcement that ended sales of the Model T. Trezor’s position is unambiguous: existing Model One owners face no immediate risk. Devices already in circulation will keep receiving maintenance until at least 2031 and critical security patches until at least 2036.

What’s gone is the ability to buy a brand-new unit at a fixed manufacturer price. The Model One now shows up mainly through clearance listings and resellers — we’ve seen pricing swing anywhere from roughly $19 on liquidation-style deals up to $49–$69 depending on the seller and stock. That volatility, plus the usual counterfeit-hardware risk that comes with buying discontinued electronics outside official channels, is the main practical downside for a new buyer today.

Protection and Security Architecture

This is where more than a decade of hardware evolution shows. The Model One was groundbreaking for its time, but it predates nearly every security refinement Trezor has since introduced.

Secure Element: The Real Dividing Line

The Safe 3 includes a dedicated EAL6+ certified Secure Element chip — tamper-resistant hardware built to the same standard used in passports and payment cards. It protects your PIN from extraction and encrypts your recovery seed at the hardware level. The Model One has no equivalent chip; its security rests entirely on Trezor’s open-source firmware and general-purpose microcontroller, which was state-of-the-art in 2014 but offers materially less resistance to a determined physical attacker today.

PIN Codes and Passphrases

Both devices use a randomized on-screen PIN matrix to block keylogging, and the Safe 3 supports PINs up to 50 digits. The meaningful gap is passphrase handling: the Safe 3 lets you enter your passphrase directly on the device, keeping it off your computer entirely. The Model One, lacking a touchscreen or comparable input method, requires the passphrase to be typed on the connected computer — a small but real reduction in protection against a compromised host machine.

Backup Seeds

Both wallets generate a standard recovery seed at setup (12, 18, or 24 words for the Model One; 12–24 for the Safe 3). Shamir Backup (SLIP39), which splits your seed into independent recoverable shares, shipped natively with the Safe 3 and was added to the Model One later via firmware update — worth confirming your specific unit is running current firmware if this feature matters to you.

Privacy Features

• CoinJoin: Combines your transaction with other users’ transactions, making it harder for outside observers to trace fund origin and destination.
• Coin control: Lets you manually choose which UTXOs/coins are spent in a transaction rather than leaving it to automatic selection.
• Tor support: Routes Trezor Suite traffic through the Tor network, hiding your IP address when broadcasting transactions.

Read also! Trezor Safe 3 Review

Screens and Interface

Unlike the Model T comparison, screen size isn’t really a differentiator here — the Safe 3 and Model One both use a compact 0.96″ monochrome OLED at 128×64 pixels, and both rely on two physical buttons rather than a touchscreen. If you liked the Model One’s simple, button-driven interface, the Safe 3 will feel immediately familiar; you’re not trading away usability to gain security here, which isn’t the case with every “old vs. new” hardware wallet comparison.

Ports

This is where the practical, everyday difference actually shows up. The Safe 3 uses USB-C, the connector standard now on virtually every modern laptop and Android phone. The Model One uses the older Micro-USB standard, which means digging out a legacy cable or adapter if you don’t already have one lying around — a small but real inconvenience for a device you’ll be plugging in regularly.

Cryptocurrency Support

This is the widest practical gap between the two devices. The Safe 3 supports 8,000+ coins and tokens through Trezor Suite and third-party integrations. The Model One’s older hardware and firmware limit it to roughly 1,000–1,200+ assets — still enough for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and most major coins, but noticeably narrower if you hold newer tokens, alt-L1 assets, or want broad third-party wallet compatibility. If your portfolio has grown beyond the basics since you bought your Model One, this is the category most likely to push you toward upgrading.

Unique Features

Price Comparison

Trezor lists the Safe 3 at $59. The Model One’s official $69 price no longer applies since Trezor stopped selling it directly — reseller and clearance pricing has actually made it cheaper than the Safe 3 in many listings, sometimes as low as $19–$49.

That’s a genuinely different situation than the Safe 3 vs. Model T comparison, where the discontinued device got more expensive. Here, a Model One can be found for less than a new Safe 3 — but you’d be paying less for meaningfully weaker security, an outdated port, and a fraction of the coin support. For most buyers, the Safe 3’s extra $10–$30 buys a real, measurable security upgrade rather than just newer branding.

Long-Term Support Timeline

Trezor’s official commitment for both discontinued models (Model One and Model T) is identical:

• New feature and chain support: guaranteed until at least 2031
• Critical security fixes: guaranteed until at least 2036
• Core wallet function: expected to keep working after that window, but Trezor can’t fully guarantee behavior once official support lapses

A Model One bought secondhand today would still get roughly a decade of security patching. That’s a solid runway for someone who already owns one and just wants continued peace of mind — but it doesn’t change the fact that a brand-new Safe 3 gets you the same runway plus a Secure Element, for a price that’s often in the same ballpark.

Model One or Safe 3 – Which One Should You Buy in 2026?

If you’re upgrading from a Model One specifically because you want a bigger screen and don’t mind spending more, the more relevant next comparison is Safe 3 vs. Trezor Safe 5 — Safe 5 adds a full-color touchscreen on top of everything the Safe 3 already improves on the Model One.

Trezor Safe 3 vs Model One — Final Verdict

The Model One earned its place as the device that proved hardware wallets could work — 12 years in the field is a track record almost nothing else in crypto can claim. But it was designed for a much smaller, simpler market than the one that exists in 2026. The Safe 3 keeps everything that made the Model One easy to use — the compact size, the two-button simplicity, the low price — and closes every real security and compatibility gap it had. For new buyers, the Trezor Safe 3 is the clear choice, and even existing Model One owners with a growing portfolio have a straightforward, affordable upgrade path waiting for them.

Read also! ⚠️ Trezor Safe 3 vs Trezor Model T

Read also! ⚠️ Trezor Safe 3 vs Trezor Safe 5

Frequently Asked Questions