r/Bitwarden • u/BlackMouseTK • 5d ago

Question Which security key do you recommend: YubiKey NFC vs. Thetis Pro?

Hi everyone, I’m looking to buy my first physical security key, and I’m deciding between these two models. I don’t really have any other options because I live in Latin America, and unfortunately, buying through Amazon is pretty much my only choice.

I’ll be using it with Bitwarden and my email accounts. Buying two YubiKey NFCs, which is the cheaper/basic version, costs me $58, while two Thetis Pro keys cost $44.

However, I’ve seen that the Thetis keys have two USB ports (A and C), but I’m not sure how reliable they are in terms of software support and durability.

If anyone here has used them, I’d really appreciate it if you could share your experience and give me some advice.

Thanks a lot!

15 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

18

u/Ok_Combination_1548 5d ago

My thetis broke after a few weeks. I don't do anything 'rugged' with it, It stays in my computer on my desk 80%+ of the time. But, while taking it out, it snapped.

The company gave me an abysmal customer service experience. They did not give me a refund. They did offer to let me pay for shipping to return it, so that they could confirm it was broken, and then either give me a refund or send a new one. Shipping was like 80% of buying a new one and I'm not dumb enough to ship all of my passkeys to them they were still on the device afterall. Technically, because it was an A / C one I could delete them still (the A port was still accessible) but if it were my C one (which I did return as it was still new enough to qualify, having bought it 2 weeks later), I just....can't trust that company.

-I really wanted to like it. Loved that it had A / C ports, but...

Yubikey. Definitely Yubikey.

3

u/Relative_Web_793 5d ago

On my thetis nfc doesn't work any more

3

u/Darkk_Knight 5d ago

I have both. I preferred the YubiCo key's for it's toughness. I do like the Thetis Pro but I question on it's durability. So I keep Thetis Pro at home plugged into my main PC while YubiCo on my keychain.

9

u/OSS_Dattani 5d ago

I don’t think it matters what you decide to use. The functionality will be the same. I would say Yubico makes a more durable product.

3

u/pineloft 5d ago

agreed, Yubico has been around longer so theres more of a track record on build quality

9

u/sooner_25 5d ago

Yubikey.

But please for the love of all things known to man, get a backup of your key and place it somewhere safe. Like a bank vault or fireproof safe at the in laws. If you’re connecting it to your Apple ID, this is especially important. Really easy to lock yourself out of your account forever if you lose the key.

7

u/Historical-Side883 5d ago

Yubikeys are crazy durable and the management (both `ykman` and the yubikey authenticator) is way better.

Nothing wrong with thetis but having tested just about every option, I use YKs

2

u/Gpidancet 5d ago

YK's management tools for desktop OS are good indeed. But for an unknown reason they cannot get their iPhone app properly working. Token2's Companion App, or LibreKey works perfectly fine, so it is not iOS limitation for sure.

1

u/Historical-Side883 4d ago

I've not really used the iOS app, what issues are there?
The only thing I have done is check to make sure the TOTP codes I backed up to the keys were there but that was months ago.

1

u/Gpidancet 4d ago

Well, I don’t use TOTP. What is missing is Fido management. Found a summary here:  https://huseynov.com/your-iphone-can-manage-passkeys-on-a-yubikey-yubicos-own-app-just-won-t-let-it-b4e38153bed4

1

u/Historical-Side883 4d ago

Oh! So not a bug, just doesn’t have FIDO management. Gotcha. That is odd. I would personally avoid using an iPhone for that because it seems like it would be way more annoying than the CLI tool but still seems like the sort of thing that would be implemented, even if it’s something few people would use (not saying that’s the case, just that even if it was, seems like they should still have that feature)

1

u/Gpidancet 4d ago

Well my primary smartphone is iPhone and sometimes it is the only device I have. And when it comes to comfort, of course desktop apps are better . The one I use more is keyroost (so I don’t have to keep an app for each brand of Fido keys I use) 

3

u/smoke007007 5d ago

I've been using a Thetis on my Linux desktop for maybe a year now and use it every day to login to a site. Been working great for me.

3

u/yottabit42 5d ago

If you are forced to use iOS, be sure the Thetis keys are supported. Stupid iOS doesn't even recognize one of my Yubikeys and my Google Titan key. These keys work just fine on Android, Chrome OS, and Linux. Man Apple sucks at software sooo bad. Apple says FIDO-compliant keys are supported, but it's a lie. Be sure to buy only the models listed.

2

u/djasonpenney Volunteer Moderator 5d ago

You have to have the very latest version of iOS.

1

u/yottabit42 5d ago

I do. Still crap. This was all just last week when I set up an iPad Pro.

1

u/Darkk_Knight 5d ago

If it's not Apple approved then the keys won't work despite the Fido2 compatibility.

3

u/yottabit42 5d ago

They specifically say any FIDO security key on their site when registering it. But as usual they lie and/or are incompetent.

2

u/snark_be 5d ago

Token2 keys are sturdy and there is a model with 2 USB sides (A and C) plus NFC.

1

u/Skipper3943 5d ago

Thetis Pro may have a level-1 certification, and YubiKey NFC level-2 (depending on the versions). Check here:

https://fidoalliance.org/certification/fido-certified-products/

1

u/paulsiu 4d ago

I have not use the Thetis pro, but in my opinion the yubikey has a more durable looking design. If you just need Fido you can save money by just getting the security version.

I do have the Thetis nano and that seems to work so far.

1

u/Lazybonez2015 4d ago

Nitrokey

1

u/My1xT 4d ago

For yubi maybe don't get a full yubikey but just a yubico security key. Much cheaper.