SafePal X1 Review For Canadians

What Is The SafePal X1?

The SafePal X1 is a compact, Bluetooth-enabled cold storage device that hits the sweet spot between security and everyday usability. The SafePal S1 gets attention from power users who want full air-gap protection, and the X1 is built for people who want to use their wallet regularly without going through QR code gymnastics every time. At $69.99, it is one of the most affordable hardware wallets with a proper secure element chip and open-source code.

Let me share my findings and review for the SafePal X1 wallet.

What Security Does The SafePal X1 Have?

A certified secure element. The X1 stores your private keys in a secure element, the same kind of chip found in smart cards and government-grade security chips. SafePal's product page now lists it as EAL6+. Keys are generated inside the chip, never exposed to the outside world, and the chip resists side-channel attacks like voltage glitching. Most wallets under $100 cut corners here, and the X1 does not.

Open-source firmware. SafePal publishes the X1's code, making it, in SafePal's words, the first open-source Bluetooth hardware wallet it has made. Anyone can inspect and audit what runs on the device. For a budget wallet, that transparency is rare and meaningful. You are not trusting marketing copy alone.

True random number generator. Private keys are made with a hardware-based true random number generator during setup, which avoids predictable patterns and makes your wallet cryptographically unique from the start.

Self-destruct tamper protection. Several security sensors sit inside the device. If the X1 detects tampering or a physical attack, it wipes all wallet data and leaves nothing for a thief to recover. The threat model for most people is physical theft or loss, not sophisticated remote attacks, so I appreciate this more than most people probably do.

How Does The SafePal X1 Connect And Work?

Bluetooth 5.0. Unlike the older S1, which needed QR code scanning for every transaction, the X1 uses high-speed Bluetooth 5.0. Pairing with the SafePal app on iOS or Android is fast, and signing takes seconds. If you move crypto regularly, that is a big quality-of-life upgrade over older models and competing budget wallets.

Compact design. The matte black casing is durable without being bulky. The 1.8-inch LCD has three backlight levels and reads clearly in different lighting. The 12-button layout with a D-pad is more intuitive than it looks, and moving through menus, entering PINs and confirming transactions feels natural after a few uses.

Broad compatibility. The SafePal app works on iOS and Android, and a browser extension covers desktop. The X1 also supports QR code login scanning for some workflows, which keeps the private key isolated on the hardware device.

200-plus blockchains. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, TON, SUI, XRP, Cardano, Polygon, Avalanche and thousands of others run through the SafePal app, and you can add custom tokens by pasting a contract address. For a diversified portfolio, not juggling multiple wallets is a real convenience.

DeFi and DApps. Through the app, the X1 gives access to swaps, staking, yield programs and DApp connections. It is more than a cold storage brick: it lets you use DeFi without exposing your keys.

Backing. SafePal's site lists Binance Labs among its backers. Investor backing is not a security feature, so I give it no weight in the verdict.

What Are The SafePal X1 Pros And Cons?

Bluetooth And The Air-Gap Question

The X1 is not fully air-gapped in my view. Bluetooth, even encrypted, is technically a connection point that the S1 and S1 Pro avoid entirely. SafePal's product page lists "100% air-gapped signing" among the X1's features, which sits awkwardly next to Bluetooth 5.0 signing on the same page, so I would not rely on that phrase. Private keys never leave the device wirelessly, but if you hold a lot for the long term and worry about attack vectors, the air-gapped models are objectively safer. The X1 is built for active users, not cold storage vaults.

The Old EAL 5+ Versus EAL 6+ Point

I used to list the X1's EAL 5+ certification against the S1 Pro's EAL 6+ as a reason to step up. SafePal's page now lists EAL6+ for the X1, so that gap is no longer a reason on its own. The remaining reasons to pick the S1 Pro are air-gapped signing and a larger holding.

Support

SafePal gets praise for 24/7 availability and decent response times from some users, while others report slow resolution on complex technical issues. It is not a deal-breaker, but if something goes wrong and you are not tech-savvy, you may meet friction.

What Is My Personal Opinion On The SafePal X1?

The SafePal X1 makes the most sense for someone who wants a real hardware wallet, not a glorified USB stick, without paying $150 or more for a Ledger Nano X or a Trezor. At $69.99 you get a secure chip, open-source code, Bluetooth 5.0 and support for basically every blockchain you would want to use. That is a lot of value.

The interesting part is the Bluetooth question. Yes, it is not fully air-gapped. The S1 and S1 Pro offer that. But for someone who actively manages a portfolio, checking balances, signing transactions and swapping tokens, the QR code workflow of the S1 gets old fast. The X1 fixes that without breaking the basic guarantee: your private keys stay on the device and never touch the internet.

The self-destruct mechanism matters because most people lose a device or have it stolen far more often than they get hacked remotely. Knowing the device wipes itself if it is tampered with removes one of the bigger real-world risks.

Would I recommend the X1 over the S1 Pro for $20 more? If you hold a substantial amount, I would spend the extra $20 for the air-gapped signing. If you are newer to hardware wallets, building your first cold storage setup, or want something that works day to day with your phone, the X1 is one of the strongest options in its price range.

My recommendation:

• First hardware wallet: the X1 is one of the easiest to set up and use, without the QR learning curve of air-gapped models.
• Active users who move assets regularly: Bluetooth 5.0 and the SafePal app make daily management practical.
• Long-term storage of large holdings: step up to the S1 Pro for air-gapped signing.

At $69.99, the X1 is hard to beat if you want an open-source hardware wallet that does not require you to be a security researcher. See my best crypto wallets for Canadians for the alternatives, and my best crypto exchanges for where to buy the crypto you will store on it.

Has SafePal Had Security Problems?

Here is every documented security issue I could confirm for SafePal, newest first, with what it meant for owners and what was done about it.

• Aug 16, 2026: Customer order information accessed. An authorization flaw in an order-tracking plugin let others view order data for orders from March 2 2025 to April 11 2026. About 39,798 customers had name, email, shipping address, phone and purchase details exposed; seed phrases, keys and payment data were not; phishing risk, and SafePal says it saw claims of the data for sale. SafePal fixed the flaw, notified customers by email, hired outside investigators and reported phishing-site takedowns. (source)
• Feb 16, 2021: Kraken Security Labs findings on SafePal S1. Kraken found a firmware downgrade attack and tamper-detection weaknesses, disclosed to SafePal on November 18 2020. Physical access needed; Kraken did not steal funds but said future compromise might be possible. SafePal released firmware V1.0.24 to fix the downgrade issue. (source)

How Does SafePal X1 Compare?