Finding the Best Bitcoin Wallet for You
A bitcoin is not actually a tangible "coin," and they're not something that can technically be stored. So, fittingly, a bitcoin wallet is not an actual wallet, something you can keep your bitcoins in and then attach to your jeans with a bitcoin wallet chain.
What is a bitcoin wallet? Essentially, it is a public key and a private key, each of which makes buying and selling bitcoins possible. Because it is basically just a series of keys, there are a wide variety of bitcoin wallet types with varying levels of security. All of them have their pros and cons.
Online & Mobile Wallets
The most convenient ones for casual bitcoin buyers are online wallets and mobile wallets. These allow for quick and easy access to bitcoin, but also puts your money in the hands of a third party and storing it in a cloud-based system. The best online wallets are fairly secure, but stay cautious regardless.
Coinbase is arguably the most popular bitcoin wallet, period. An online wallet with a mobile app, it's seen as the most convenient because it is also directly connected to a bitcoin exchange, simplifying the buying and selling processes (This is also true of another popular wallet, Blockchain.info). Coinbase also offers offline storage for added security.
Mobile App wallets
These and other online wallets have mobile apps as well, but there are also many wallets designed specifically for smartphones. While this means you can access your bitcoins anywhere you go, if your phone gets hacked, those coins are in danger of being lost to you forever.
Still, mobile apps are convenient, and the more successful ones have their own ways of working to secure your information. Airbitz (client-side encryption) and Mycelium (open protocol), JAXX, ENJIN are particularly successful mobile wallets that have focused on security.
Hardware and Software Wallets
Hardware wallets are a more secure bet for your bitcoins, especially if you're using them as an investment instead of spending them. Hardware wallets, aka wallets on a secure device, are the safest option; the drawback is that unlike popular apps and software, hardware wallets cost money.
Still, if you have some extra money and want to do your best to ensure safety, hardware is a solid bet. Trezor, for example, is a hardcore wallet that offers 2-factor authentication AND a password manager, while the popular Ledger wallets require a PIN code for access.
Software wallets aren't quite as secure; if a hacker gets your computer, they could steal your bitcoins. But if you stay vigilant about keeping your computer safe and malware-free, you could do far worse than a software wallet right on your desktop. Popular ones include Electrum (which has decentralized servers), Copay (which lets you store multiple wallets), and Jaxx (which can be used with many different cryptocurrencies).
Paper Wallets
Paper wallets are interesting. In theory, they should be more secure than any wallet - it's a piece of paper with your public and private keys printed on it, so it's not getting hacked into. Scan the printed QR codes onto an online or software wallet, and you can use them. But there are other risks - like losing it, or someone stealing it from your home, or just spilling water on it.
Be careful with paper wallets. Keep them tightly sealed. Fold it in a way where the private key can't be seen. Print it in a secure manner, such as via a USB on a printer not connected to a network. There are several services out there that will generate a paper wallet for you to print.