Thursday 29 October 2020

Turboant X7 Pro review

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Turboant’s X7 is an electric scooter we liked quite a lot when we reviewed it in 2019. Since then, we’ve seen identical scooters being sold by other companies, including those in the UK and Europe.

That’s relatively common with ‘white-label’ products, but Turboant now has a new offering: the X7 Pro.

And like Xiaomi’s Mi Scooter Pro 2, the Pro suffix means it has a bigger-capacity battery for better range. Bigger wheels are fitted, too, which do a better job of soaking up the bumps, making for a much nicer ride.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the motor: Turboant lists both the X7 and X7 Pro as having a 350W motor in the front wheel.

Features & Design

Design is virtually unchanged too: the battery lives in the steering tube rather than under the deck, as is the case with most electric scooters.

Turboant X7 Pro review

The folding mechanism remains the same, as does the braking system which consists of a rear disc, foot brake (again on the rear wheel) and motor braking for the front wheel.

There’s no energy-recovery system as you get with the Mi Scooter Pro 2, nor is there a companion app (which some will see as a pro rather than a con).

As mentioned, unlike the X7 and the Mi Scooter with their 8.5in wheels, the X7 Pro has 10in rims. Pump them up to about 35psi using a regular bike pump and they really do offer a much smoother and more comfortable ride over bumpy pavement than the other two.

Turboant X7 Pro review

Note that there isn’t a spare tyre and innertube in the box like the Mi Scooter Pro 2.

There’s cruise control and a decent display which shows current speed, battery level and mode, and built-in front and rear lights. At the front, the X7 Pro goes one better than Xiaomi as it’s a 3W LED rather than 2W. Both are nice and bright in use, though, and help to ensure you’re seen.

Turboant X7 Pro review

The battery is a 10Ah unit (360Wh), compared to 6.4Ah (23Wh) in the X7 and 13.1Ah (474Wh) in the Mi Scooter Pro 2. Turboant claims a typical range of 30 miles (48km), but that’s in ideal conditions with a 75kg rider.

This is ambitious: Xiaomi claims a 28-mile range for the Pro 2 even with its much bigger-capacity battery. Expect somewhere around the 20-mile mark in real world use, but that’s still very respectable.

The advantage of the X7 Pro is that the battery unclips from the scooter without the need for tools, and so can be stored and charged indoors.

Turboant X7 Pro review

It’s also possible to buy spare batteries from Turboant, and at $199.98 (approx. £155), they’re not ludicrously expensive.

The company says the battery takes 4-6 hours to charge, and that’s true. The ‘fast charging’ claim isn’t.. all batteries for scooters and e-bikes take a long time to charge.

Because of the battery’s weight and location, the X7 Pro suffers the same design flaw as the X7. Try to push it up a hill and it has a tendency to tip forward because the deck and rear wheel are lighter. The rear wheel comes off the ground and, likely as not, bashes you in the leg before you can stop it.

The answer is to hold the stem lower down instead of pushing on the handlebars, but it’s a problem the Mi Scooter Pro 2 doesn’t have. The battery isn’t removable in the Pro 2, so there are pros and cons to each approach.

Turboant X7 Pro review

At 15kg (33lbs), the X7 Pro is a heavy scooter: 0.8kg heavier than the Mi Scooter Pro 2.

There are three modes: Beginner (6mph), Eco (10mph) and Sports (20mph). In Sports, you get maximum power from the 350W motor. It’s enough to get you up fairly steep hills without needing to kick the scooter along yourself as with lower-powered scooters.

Turboant X7 Pro review

At the time of review, the UK government still hadn’t legalised electric scooters, but electric bikes are limited to a 250W motor and 15.5mph. It’s likely the same figures will be applied to scooters, but currently, it’s a risk to buy any electric scooter (as it might not comply with regulations) unless you plan to only ride it on private property.

Read more about the law on e-scooters in the UK.

Warranty

It’s worth mentioning warranty because when you’re spending this much money, you expect that any issues will be resolved by the company you’re buying from.

Turboant offers a one-year warranty, and adds an extra six months on for scooters bought via its website. You can apply for the warranty extension if you buy from Amazon, but at the time of review the X7 Pro wasn’t available from Amazon UK or US.

If you needed to make a warranty claim, you’d have to ship the scooter back to China at your own expense, which is considerable.

This is one reason why the Mi Scooter Pro 2 will be more tempting for a lot of UK buyers.

Price & Availability

Without the discount, which appears to be permanent, the Turboant X7 Pro costs $699.98, which is roughly £540. Add VAT to that (because you’re importing from outside of Europe and the UK) and that becomes £648. You’ll also have to pay import duty, which can be up to 30% of the value of the scooter.

At the discounted price of $499.98 it works out around £387, which is £464 with VAT.

Delivery time to the UK is 5-10 business days.

For alternatives see our roundup of the best electric scooters.

Verdict

The Turboant X7 Pro is a great scooter. It has plenty of power, plenty of battery capacity and is reasonably priced – if you buy at the discounted rate.

If you’re ordering from a country where you won’t have to pay import fees – or you can find the scooter for sale on Amazon – then it’s good value. But if you do end up paying VAT and import duty on top, it’s much worse value.

Warranty is also a issue and why, for buyers in the UK and other countries, it’s an advantage to buy a scooter locally.

Specs

Turboant X7 Pro: Specs

  • 10in wheels with innertubes
  • E-ABS braking system (front), mechanical disk brake (rear)
  • Braking distance: 5m
  • IPX4 water resistance
  • 3W LED headlight & tail-light
  • max speed: 25km/h
  • max distance: 20-30 miles (30-48km)
  • max load: 125kg (275lbs)
  • 10Ah lithium-ion battery, charges in 6 hours
  • 108x42x112cm / 42.6×16.5×46.7 inches
  • 15kg
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Source

The post Turboant X7 Pro review appeared first on abangtech.



source https://abangtech.com/turboant-x7-pro-review/

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