You can run electrum on an airgapped device and have the same security as a hardware wallet.


You can use electrum as a cold storage and that has nothing to with whether you are running a full node or not.


Assuming you are using electrum as a hot wallet, you are right. Any online device is always prone to hacking.
But as I already said, you can use electrum on an airgapped device and be completely safe.

First and foremost, it's not mandatory for everyone to have  a hardware wallet unless you have to , but for the experience I think you can put it on the bucket list just to make yourself a complete crypto user

Honestly if it's security you concerned about then a cold wallet it what you need, anything that has to do with the internet does kind of put your coins at risk especially with Blackhat hackers and scammers working tirelessly trying to get hold of our coins forcefully... But if you don't mind the risk and have great safeguards to protect your coins then you can go ahead with the hardware wallet...btw with one of these big brands in the hardware wallet business that got compromised awhile ago, I would advice keeping all coins in one basket, spread the risk to minimise the damage!!!

I want you to listen good. Using a hardware wallet doesn't mean you are 100% protected from scam or fraud or hack, the hardware wallet actually break down the probability of then getting to you because there is no internet connection to you but your own activity is what matter, you can still be careful and no scammer or hacker will get you or you can still be careless and hacker will drain your wallet or even your seed phrase carelessness and not properly backup can make you lose your coins and funds.

As for using electrum too, I wouldn't advice you that the practice is safe, you can be careful and noyhing will happen to your funds but it's not as safe like the hardware wallet. If you the amount of Bitcoin you are buying is in large amount, I will advice you to get a hardware wallet or Alternatively get a air gap device for better storage and make sure you also make a proper good use and care for it else you are as good as using a software wallet.

I don't agree, it should not be about what works for you or what you are used to, but what is safe and recommended, if you have not or cannot learn to use what is safe, then you should not buy BTC until you have that knowledge. It is not hard to use a hardware wallet, and not all hardware devices are 'expensive'.

Setting up an airgapped wallet, which is what the op is trying to do, is much more difficult for newbies to do in a safe environment, but a hardware wallet is easier for a newbie to use.

Practically, we don't need to acquire a hardware wallet if we are just a small investor or a beginner as Electrum is enough. In fact, most of us are using this and I haven't seen or heard huge complaints about losing control of their wallet which means that the majority are safe.
We can say that an offline wallet is highly recommended and more secure but we should not push ourselves to have it or take this as the priority but rather use the money to acquire more Bitcoin. We can secure our Electrum wallet if we are too careful and avoid clicking unsolicited messages that contain links. And much more avoiding exposing our keys to other people.

It is also important to keep in mind for how long you intend to keep your coins in that wallet.  Yes, for a small amount like $50 worth of Bitcoin, a hardware wallet might be overkill.  But imagine if you invested $50 worth of Bitcoin say 10 years ago? You never know how much value your bitcoins will be in the future, so it's better to take all the precautions to protect your wallet safely for a long time.

If you can't afford to buy a hardware wallet it means that you have very little amount of bitcoin because nowadays a good hardware wallet is like $60-70, nothing crazy. Of course if you have like $20 in bitcoin it doesn't make sense to buy one. On the other hand if you have a good amount of money invested in bitcoin buying a hardware wallet would give you more security and less stress, so you shouldn't see it as an expense but as an investment.

I was wondering if one will be able to receive payment into the wallet under this arrangement, I mean a case where the wallet is not connected to the internet. This may sound dumb to the experienced people here but I know some few others like me see this as a major concern. So I just checked the internet to see if there will be any help as that was not addressed in the various comments here. Below is one of the answer I got so I felt I should share for the sake of other curious minds like me.

The full detail is in this link:
https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/18125/must-my-wallet-be-connected-to-the-internet-to-receive-payments

But if we only invest 20 or 50 USD in bitcoin, what benefit will it bring because that amount is very small and insignificant. If we plan to accumulate $20 or $50 per week or per month (DCA), then owning a hardware wallet is something we should consider. Many people always think that they have too little bitcoin and that owning a hardware wallet is a bit wasteful or unnecessary, but if we have long-term plans with bitcoin, we should know that it is very important. Don't wait until we lose all our bitcoins to realize the importance of hardware wallets.

What do you mean by a hardware key. If you want to make tx's in an airgapped wallet, you simply create the tx in your complementary online watch only wallet and sign the tx in your offline device. However, if it is a hardware wallet, you create the tx in your interface software wallet and sign it with your hardware device, the purpose of your offline device is to sign tx's. Take note that you can connect a wallet like Electrum to your hardware wallet.