The DCENT S card. Tap it on your phone to approve sends. The R3covery card stores the encrypted backup.

DCENT S Unboxing and Setup Tutorial

The DCENT S kit is two cards and the DCENT app. The larger S card is the wallet you tap when you send. The smaller R3covery card stores an encrypted backup. That backup card cannot send coins on its own.

This page follows the unboxing and first setup from the video. Most of it is tapping a card on the back of your phone.

Review: DCENT S review. Buy: Buy DCENT S + R3covery kit (discount via link). Official setup guide: DCENT S setup docs.

Use DCENT Wallet app version 9.2.0 or newer. Search DCENT Wallet on the App Store or Google Play.

What you need

  • The sealed DCENT S box
  • The S card and the R3covery card
  • A phone with NFC
  • A pen if you want the optional 24-word backup on paper

The cards have no battery and no screen. The app is where you read balances and payment details.

Open the box

DCENT S kit box before opening. Check the seal.
The DCENT S kit box before you open it.
DCENT S box opened showing the S card, R3covery card, and papers inside.
Inside the box: the S card, the R3covery card, and the papers.

You should find:

  • The main DCENT S card
  • The R3covery backup card
  • A start guide
  • Extra papers

The two cards look similar at a glance. The R3covery card is labeled so you can tell them apart.

The DCENT S card. This is the card you tap to approve a send.
The DCENT S card. This is the card you tap to approve a send.
The DCENT R3covery card. Holds an encrypted backup but cannot sign payments.
The R3covery card. This one only holds the backup. It cannot sign a payment by itself.

The cards are thin, about the size of a payment card.

Step 1. Install the DCENT app

On your phone, open the App Store or Google Play and install DCENT Wallet. Open the app after it installs.

DCENT Wallet app on the App Store or Google Play store listing.
DCENT Wallet in the App Store or Google Play. That is the official app for the S card.

Step 2. Choose Card wallet

The first time the app opens, it asks which wallet you are adding. Choose Card wallet. Allow the permissions it requests so it can use NFC.

DCENT app with Card wallet selected as the wallet type.
Card wallet selected in the DCENT app. That is the S card path.

Step 3. Tap the S card

Hold the main S card against the back of the phone until the app sees it. On many phones the NFC area is the upper half of the back.

Tapping the DCENT S card on the back of a phone for NFC registration.
Tapping the DCENT S card so the app can register it.

Step 4. Create the new card wallet

When the card is recognized, tap Create new card. That starts a fresh wallet on this S card.

DCENT app showing Create new card option after the S card is recognized.
Create new card. Use this for a first setup.

Step 5. Set the S card PIN

The app now asks for a PIN for the S card. You will type this PIN when you approve a send, and again when you copy the wallet onto the R3covery card. The PIN lives on the card, not in DCENT's cloud.

Set it, then type it a second time to confirm.

DCENT app PIN setup screen for the S card.
S card PIN. Write this down somewhere that is not sitting next to the card.

Step 6. Tap the S card again

The app asks you to tap the S card one more time to finish registering it.

DCENT app showing S card registration complete screen.
S card registration finished. Next is the R3covery backup.

Step 7. Start the R3covery backup

Tap Backup. This copies an encrypted backup of the wallet onto the R3covery card. You do not have to write 24 words for this part. The card holds that backup for you.

DCENT app backup screen for copying the wallet to the R3covery card.
Backup on the R3covery card. Do this before you move coins onto the S card.

Step 8. Tap the R3covery card, then the S card

The app asks you to tap the R3covery card first. Then it asks for the S card PIN you just set, and a tap of the S card. That second tap is how the backup is taken from the S card.

Tapping the R3covery card on a phone as part of the DCENT S backup process.
Tapping the R3covery card, then the S card, as the app asks. Use the card named on the screen each time.

Step 9. Set a separate PIN for the R3covery card

Now you create a PIN that belongs only to the R3covery card. Make it different from the S card PIN if you can keep both straight. You need this PIN later if the S card is lost and you restore onto a new S card.

Type it twice, then tap the R3covery card when the app asks.

DCENT app PIN setup screen for the R3covery card.
R3covery card PIN. Store this away from the R3covery card itself.

Step 10. Backup complete

When the app says the R3covery backup is done, the second card is ready. Keep it in a different place from the S card. If both sit in the same drawer and that drawer is lost, you lose both at once.

DCENT app showing R3covery backup complete screen.
R3covery backup finished. The S card still does the signing. This card is only for restore.

Step 11. Optional 24-word backup

During this same setup the app can also show the 24 recovery words. That list is a third way back in if both cards or both PINs are gone.

If you want those words, open that option while you are still on this screen and write them on paper. In the video this is the extra layer on top of the two cards. You can skip it if the two cards and two PINs are enough for how you store things.

DCENT app screen offering the optional 24-word seed phrase backup during setup.
Optional 24-word list during setup. Write it on paper if you want that extra backup.

Step 12. Open the wallet in the app

Tap Get started. You should land inside the DCENT app with the S card wallet ready. In the video this whole path took about two minutes.

DCENT app showing the S card wallet ready after setup is finished.
Setup finished. The S card wallet is now in the DCENT app.

From here you add the networks you need, receive a small test amount, then send a small amount back out and tap the S card to approve.

How the two cards fit together

Day to day you only carry the S card. You type the S card PIN in the app and tap that card.

If the S card is gone, you use the R3covery card plus the R3covery PIN, and a new empty S card, to bring the wallet back.

If you wrote the 24 words during setup, those words can restore the wallet even when the cards are gone.

A practical layout from the video: S card at home, R3covery card somewhere else, both PINs written down away from the cards.

Checklist

  • The box looked sealed
  • DCENT Wallet is installed from the App Store or Google Play
  • Card wallet is selected in the app
  • The S card is registered and has its own PIN
  • The R3covery card is backed up and has its own PIN
  • The two cards are not stored in the same place
  • I wrote the 24 words if I wanted that extra backup
  • The wallet is visible in the app

Review: DCENT S review | Compared with Tangem: DCENT S vs Tangem

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