FLX Partnership Limited, a company launched by eSmart, has produced a new cryptocurrency hardware wallet that recently hit the market. In case that wasn’t news enough, the product is currently on its biggest sale ever at nearly half off its regular price.
Before we get too excited about the FLX One, let’s review cryptocurrency wallets and take a look at FLX.
Wait, What’s a Cryptocurrency Wallet?
If you are new to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, you might be wondering what a wallet is. A cryptocurrency wallet is how one organises and uses their cryptocurrency holdings.
There are three main kinds of cryptocurrency wallets. The first two are mobile and desktop wallets. The third one is a physical cryptocurrency hardware wallet, also referred to as cold storage. They are in the form of a small object that you can carry with you. Hardware wallets usually look like older model MP3 players. They have a small display, a couple of buttons, and some ports for cables. You can connect them to any Windows, Linux or Mac machine as an external device.
Mobile and desktop cryptocurrency wallets have a number of advantages. They’re convenient, easy to set up, usually free, and easily accessible, since they’re on your phone or computer. Using a mobile or desktop wallet also means that you don’t have one more thing to carry around. However, they are not as secure as hardware wallets.
Aside from the advantages, cryptocurrency hardware wallets have some disadvantages of their own. Using them means that you have one more thing to carry around, and they are not free. However, considering the level of security they provide, they are a necessary expense if you’re holding larger amounts of crypto.
A Look at the FLX One
FLX One looks pretty typical for a cryptocurrency hardware wallet. It’s about the size and shape of some old MP3 players, with a small digital display and a directional pad for easy navigation.
The hardware wallet works with a mobile app, available for Apple and Android devices. FLX One connects with the FLX wallet app and with your phone via Bluetooth or a wired connection. The app is free, but you need to purchase the wallet itself. It costs US$230, putting it well above the price of most of the hardware wallets out there. However, the company is currently running a holiday sale, so you can get it for US$130. FLX One is available on their website, or Amazon.
FLX boasts that their hardware wallet is “innovative” and while most of its features are pretty basic, it does have a couple of unique abilities. Most of these involve security. For example, the FLX One closes down your phone’s communications while you are accessing the app. The hardware wallet is also meant to shut down if it detects that it is being tampered with. Security features like these could help to justify that $230 price tag.
The FLX One comes with the unit, a key for backing up your account in case your FLX One is lost or damaged, an instruction manual, and cables for charging and transferring data. The wallet currently has two languages, English and Chinese, though the company plans to add French and Spanish in future updates.
A look at FLX
So, what do we know about FLX Partnership Limited? Not much.
The first sign of the company’s existence was in early October when they began launching social media pages, notably a Facebook and a Twitter. Another early communication by the site was a post to NewsWire. We don’t know when that post was originally made, as it was later edited (Is it paranoid to point out that the NewsWire post was edited on the same day that the first, out of two currently existing, Amazon review of the product was posted?).
FLX may not have been around for a long time, but they do claim an older provenance, as they are owned by eSmart. This Internet of Things company, based in San Diego, has been around since at least 2016. FLX is also partners with Crypto Beast, a UK cryptocurrency monitoring site that seems to have popped up earlier this year.
Should You Buy FLX One?
So far, we’ve seen (almost) nothing but good things said about the FLX One. Possibly all of those things, however, have been said by FLX and related companies — none of which have been in the game too long.
The only cons that Amazon users mention, are the fact that the wallet didn’t support Ripple (now apparently it does), and that pairing the bluetooth is “a bit funky” with older Android phones.
FLX One promises a lot of great features, and now would be a great time to try it out considering the holiday sale on their site. However, there are a lot of other great hardware wallets out there that are more affordable and come from older and more trusted companies. We’re eager to see what happens with FLX, but the cautious investor may first want to watch from a distance.
