From the winter vacation to summer vacation of 2020, have your kids lost control?
When kids take online courses at home, parents may feel less pressure. Now the summer vacation is around the corner. Considering the long-distance journey is currently unsafe, the children who have been quarantined at home for nearly half year can only have some fun in the playground downstairs or in the park. However, kids cannot be satisfied by taking a simple walk. They need a tool to have some fun and that must be a kickscooter.
In recent years, sales of kickscooters are surging. You can see the kids riding on the kickscooters in communities and parks. In this era, kickscooter has become a must for every kid. As there are too many kickscooters of different prices and quality on the market, how to pick a safe and cost-effective one has become a big problem facing the parents.
According to my knowledge of kickscooters, products of Segway-Ninebot are really reliable. Segway-Ninebot, a high-tech enterprise in the field of short-distance transportation and robotics, was founded in 2012. With the mission of “simplifying human and object transportation and creating an easier life”, it has always committed to changing human transportation modes and lifestyle with intelligent solutions. So far, products of Segway-Ninebot have been distributed in more than 100 countries and regions around the world, and it has 1,000+ industrial basic and core patents and patent applications worldwide. Its featured products include Ninebot S, Mi Electric Scooter, Ninebot Gokart Kit, Ninebot eScooter E, Ninebot eMoped C, etc. At present, Segway-Ninebot is a unicorn company in the field of intelligent mobility in the world and absolutely dominates the niche of electric balancing scooters and kickscooters.
Pictures of Segway-Ninebot’s factories
A few days ago, Segway-Ninebot released a new product, eKickScooter E8 soon after it had released Ninebot Nano for kids. According to its official positioning of a nicer, better, safer and easier kickscooter, this kickscooter is the industrial benchmark among electric toys for kids.
Pink and blue options available
In order to give you a better introduction of Ninebot eKickScooter E8, we will analyze this product in depth from all aspects.
In this review, I tested a pink Ninebot eKickScooter E8. The body is scattered with some sky blue color. Contrast of lively colors enhances the childlike sense of body and creates a lightsome feeling. Girls can’t resist such color combination at all and would fall in love with it at the first sight.
Ninebot eKickScooter E8
In terms of overall appearance design, Ninebot eKickScooter E8 keeps a simple style of Ninebot products. Thin and light body is only 3.4cm thick and weighs 8kg only. Decorative lines on the sides of body in conjunction with front and rear wheels highlight the features of body. Frosted dark color spraying process and color decorative lines create a sport sense and make the product look more interesting together with the bright colors.
Contour of Ninebot eKickScooter E8
The grips are covered with sky blue soft TPR grip sleeves, good-looking and distinct. More importantly, it’s more comfortable and anti-skid to better protect the safety so the kid can hold the grips more stably and firmly and have a better control of the kickscooter in riding. In addition, TPR is easy to clean.
Sky blue soft TPR grip sleeves
On the right of grip is a finger shifter accelerator. The child can control the speed easily with finger to fully enjoy the fun of riding.
Finger shifter accelerator
It’s worth noting that the difference between Ninebot eKickScooter E8 and other kickscooters on the market lies in the small- width brake lever especially designed for kids. With this brake lever, they can brake with single hand and protect themselves in case of any emergency.
Small-width brake lever
Moreover, this kickscooter can be folded in 3 seconds. With a convenient and stable folding mechanism, it can be folded with one button. The folded kickscooter is very compact and can be easily carried by the parent or put into the truck. You can just put it in the corner at home when not using it.
（ Fold it in 3s with one button ）
According to the product instructions, this Ninebot eKickScooter E8 has a firm body made of aviation grade aluminum alloy and two high-elastic and wear-resistant tires. It’s equipped with a 130W hub motor without a Hall sensor, 18650 dynamic lithium-ion battery cell and adopts a battery+BMS+controller integrated design. This kickscooter is IPX4 waterproof and passed UL2272 certification and its battery passed UL2271 certification.
Frankly speaking, I can tell Segway-Ninebot must have put great efforts in this kid’s kickscooter according to these outstanding parameters.
Of course, parameters are not convincing enough so the performance tests are indispensable.
★ Braking performance
Safety also comes first for kids’ toys. In terms of kickscooter toy, the first factor we need to consider is the braking performance. This Ninebot eKickScooter E8 has three brakes: Manual brake, EBS energy-recovering brake and splasher brake.
In the braking test, we saw the kid switched swiftly among three brakes. All the brakes acted rapidly and the kickscooter stopped in a short distance. The entire braking process was smooth. The kickscooter didn’t skid to the sideway when it was braking. The stability of the brakes is quite outstanding.
Besides, the user can jump off or use foot to brake this Ninebot eKickScooter E8. It is programmed to have a detection algorithm to collect speed and acceleration information and thus to determine if the user jumps off or not. If it finds the user has jumped off, it will slow down and brake immediately, which can better protect the safety of kid on the ride.
★ Speed and steering test
In terms of speed, I estimate the maximum speed could be 14km/h, which is enough for kids. As the response of kids is not as swift as adults, they cannot judge the situation rapidly and higher speed is dangerous for them.
On the right of grip is the accelerator to control the motor speed. Use the foot on the ground to start the movement and press the accelerator when speed of kickscooter is greater than 3km/h to continuously power the kickscooter. In the test, the accelerator acted fast, provided strong power and was user-friendly.
( Speed test )
In the turning performance test, we first turned grips to the left and right before it was started. The steering angles to the right and left are both 60 degrees. The steering performance of the head was surprisingly flexible. Then we tested the steering flexibility when the kickscooter was started. According to the test video, it could circle in a small area. If you have a large living room, your kid can still ride the kickscooter at home in bad weathers.
( Description for pictures )
( Steering test )
I bet you definitely underestimate the passing ability and shock absorption effect of this kids’ kickscooter! The test results prove that you were wrong about Ninebot eKickScooter E8.
We tested its passing ability on the speed bump and gentle slope. Although the standing platform of Ninebot eKickScooter E8 is only 10cm above the ground, it wasn’t jammed and passed the speed bump smoothly and steadily.
( Speed bump passing test of eKickScooter E8 )
In the gentle slope climbing test, this small Ninebot eKickScooter E8 easily climbed on a 7% gentle slope at a constant speed without any help.
( Slope climbing test of eKickScooter E8 )
We conducted a shock absorption system test after the passing ability test. We can see the shock absorption device on the front wheel of kickscooter. A shock-absorbing spring is wrapped in the telescopic rubber sleeve above the front suspension. So how’s the shock absorption performance?
We had a kid ride on a bumpy gravel road. During the entire ride, the kid or the kickscooter didn’t lose balance. When I asked the kid how she felt, she rode the kickscooter for another round. She really forgot the feeling. The result shows that Ninebot eKickScooter E8 can effectively mitigate jounce on a complex road and guarantee absolute comfort for the user.
The advertisement says the typical range of this Ninebot eKickScooter E8 is 10km. (Typical range: it is the maximum riding distance at ambient temperature of 25℃ when the fully charged kickscooter is driving at 60% maximum speed under a payload of 50kg.)
The typical range of 10km is enough for kids to play every day or ride in the park. The parents will also lose their patience when 10km typical range is reached.
It’s worth mentioning that it takes only 4 hours to fully charge the kickscooter when the battery is used up.
( Charging picture )
★ Test of three riding modes: Switch among three modes swiftly
Observing appearance design and performance, we find this Ninebot eKickScooter E8 has three riding modes: turbo/cruise/safe modes.
User only needs to press the start button to switch among three modes swiftly during the ride. The kickscooter will directly enter turbo mode every time it’s started. In this mode the indicator light is constantly on and is accompanied by a beep sound. Press start button, the indicator light slowly blinks and is accompanied by a short beep sound and now the kickscooter is switched to cruise mode. Press start button again, it is switched to safe mode. Now the indicator light blinks fast and is accompanied by a shorter beep sound.
( Example of switching among three riding modes )
Considering the safety of kids in riding the kickscooter and their exercise needs, Segway-Ninebot originated a new cruise mode.
Turbo mode is easy. When the speed is 3km/h or above, press the finger shifter accelerator to keep speeding up to the maximum speed of 14km/h.
The safe mode has the same principle as the turbo mode and is also known as “beginner mode”. Parents can limit the maximum speed of eKickScooter E8 at 10km/h in this mode so even the beginners can learn how to ride the kickscooter safely.
★ Design of details: You can feel the thoughtful design in every detail!
The details can best reflect the developer’s dedication to this product. We see many user-friendly and thoughtful details on this Ninebot eKickScooter E8.
Front and rear tires of eKickScooter E8 have water-repellent thread pattern. When the kid accidently ride on a wet road, he/she will not slip and fall because such thread pattern can effectively drain the water and make the ride steadier.
（ Tire picture ）
In terms of wiring, the brake line and accelerator line of this kickscooter are both wrapped inside the body in a way similar to wiring of a high-end bicycle. In this way, the body looks nice and neat and kid will not be trapped when riding the kickscooter in different situations.
（ Wiring picture ）
In addition to preventing the splashes of the mud, this splasher, like those of other traditional kickscooters, can also be used as a brake. The brake lever and splasher brake provide double protection during the ride.
（ Splasher picture ）
There is a distinct red reflective tape on the splasher to warn pedestrians and vehicles behind and further protect kid’s safety.
（ Red reflective tape ）
The standing platform of this kickscooter is large, coated with abrasive paper to increase the friction and comfortable for the kid to stand on it.
（ Standing platform picture ）
★ Overall product review: Ninebot eKickScooter E8 is much more worth having!
Ninebot eKickScooter E8 showed its advantages to the fullest in this review. Everything from appearance, performance, configuration to the design of details reflects the great importance Segway-Ninebot has attached to research and development of kids’ products.
